Ulisse 31

I was about 13 when this cartoon came out and used to race home after school to watch it. The animation was amazing and still holds up today and each episode always had a moral or meaning behind it. I won't put any spoilers down just watch and enjoy like I'm going to again and I'm in my early 50s. 10/10

This French cartoon series is a wonderful modern take on the ancient Greek legends about Ulysses.

Having rescued his children from being a sacrifice to the Gods of Mount Olympus, the futuristic Ulysses, sees the crew of his space ship frozen and his ship cast off into deep space at the mercy of the Gods. What follows is a series of adventures, based on the legends, that Ulysses, his children, and one of comic my hero's, NoNo have to pass in order to reach the Kingdom of Hades and the way back to earth.

A wonderful series to introduce todays young children to the lessons of the Greek legends, as it did me ten years ago.

I decided to watch one of the episodes of this series on FOX Kids, and here is what I think of the series after one episode; it's pretty good!

Ulysses 31, I think, uses a clever and inventive way of re-telling Greek mythology in this science fiction fantasy environment. It might be commonplace now for most kids' science fiction programmes today, but this might have been something different when it was first transmitted in 1981.

The dubbing is just adequate, but, as someone who is now used to watching foreign animation with sub-titles, I think that I might enjoy the dialogue more in its original French language, with English subtitles (hope that's one of the features on the upcoming DVD). The animation is just what you except from a TV animated series aimed at kids for from this era (watching Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors after this, the animation is pretty conventional). I do admire how they done the spaceship, when it is moving in space and remains quite static. Also, the attention on the spaceship is somewhat realistic (yes, I know it's a cartoon, but I pay attention to this sort of stuff!). Anyway, great work on the spaceship! I was skeptical on using this 2D cell animation for this programme, but, as I started to enjoy and progress further into the episode's narrative, it doesn't seem to bother me. Also, the music is pretty good throughout the programme too! Overall, pretty good series, but I will need to see more episodes to understand why this series is well celebrated.

I found this on IMDB but mistake - I didn't realise that they would list it.

This has to be one of the best animated shows ever - made in France and developed in Japan, it's Homer's Odyssey, set in the 31st Century.

Ulysses upsets the Gods and has to fly his ship to the Kingdom of Hades to unfreeze his crew and return to Earth. On the way, all manner of obstacles get in the way as he flies across the Universe desperately seeking the Kingdom.

Top stuff - just such a shame it's not available on DVD (hint)!

This was one of the great cartoons of the 1980's. Ulysse 31 introduced kids to the world of greek mithology in an exciting and fantastic adventure. This cartoon was a futuristic version of the classic tale "The Odyssey" writen by Homer, set in outer space instead of the Mediterranean Sea. Of course to make it a bit more interesting the cartoon had some things added. Without a doubt a great cartoon.