Galaxy Rangers: As Aventuras dos Cavaleiros da Galáxia

I thought I was the only one who remembered this gem from the '80s! Ok there are very few of us who still recall this one, but I'm sure there would be many new fans of this show if some network, like, oh I don't know, maybe some network that is devoted to showing CARTOONS, would pick it up! Too bad it was so short-lived. I think it could have lasted much longer if it had been around earlier, but in the late '80s it seemed like cartoons were really dying out. Anyhow, I still remember this cartoon and it rocked!! :)

Before I knew what Anime was, before I knew what noir was, what frontier Sci Fi was all about... before there were shows like Firefly, Star Trek: DS9, and now my beloved Cowboy Bebop, there were the Galaxy Rangers.

Growing up as a youngster of the 80s, I'd been force fed 30 minute cartoon-mercials such as Care Bears, Transformers, GI Joe and anything else that had toys or figures to buy. Much like today's kids have the seemingly infinite derivation of card game or toy tie-ins, there seemed no respite for quality writing with good moral lessons wrapped in an innovative setting with three-dimensional characters.

Voice casting was purely genius for this rough and tumble collection of humans and aliens trying to live on frontier worlds. While I look back now at the animation and see how primitive it was in certain episodes, there were still flairs of brilliance in some of the motion sequences. There was even a flavor in the Galaxy Rangers that would wind itself into graphic novels with neo-horriffic characters like Scarecrow, The Queen, even the cyber-steeds our heroes found themselves on were an innovative graphic design. The transformation sequences cued by a hero touching his or her badge "implant" were creative and ushered in a new way of showing a "power up" through animated sequences. The writing for most of the episodes was tight, the storylines mature. If this were to have been created in the past 5 years, it most surely would have found itself on Adult Swim on the Cartoon Network.

Why no brave organization has sought to run this in syndication, I honestly do not know. It would most certainly draw a certain cult crowd to an otherwise dead time slot. Having been one of the loyal few who woke up Sundays at 6AM to watch it here locally, I can certainly attest to that.

I remember the opening theme for this show. I can't seem to remember any particular episodes though. I do remember this show being above and beyond

almost all the other cartoons at the time. Robotech was better, but nothing else I've seen. This was one of the few 80's cartoons that didn't insult your intelligence. Check it out if you can. Although I wouldn't get my hopes for a DVD release. Not likely to happen. The original master tapes of this cartoon are probably decomposing in a studio archive vault somewhere.

Someone earlier mentioned that Galaxy Rangers pre-dated the cartoon\toy tie-in craze. That's not true. The toy cartoon\tie-ins you see now, began in the early 80's. The toys were made before many of the 80's cartoons were even produced yet. He-Man comes to mind but that's another story.

This show was quite a big hit in Germany. Although no one can really recall a single episode everybody remembers how good GR was. It's rather sad that this great series sort of disappeared. I wonder how I'd like it now that I am an adult?

What I personally remember were really good and intelligent story lines, something totally novel for cartoons at that time (80s). Being a big fan of Anime by now I am still amazed at how far ahead of it's time GR was, especially for an American production. I can't think of anything from the US or Europe that ever came close to it.

Obviously it's finally being released on DVD now, and I'll happily spend some bucks on it.

Don't get me wrong, I loved "Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers!" It outright combined two of my favorite genres, sci-fi and westerns -- I remember an article in STARLOG describing the show as "if Sergio Leone had directed STAR WARS."

Honestly, though, it was doomed. An intelligent, well-written show with memorable, individualistic characters? A truly unique premise? No action figure tie-ins? Doomed. After all, this is TV, a medium that rewards idiocy and punishes quality. For every intelligent, unique show that succeeded, we all know dozens that faded away.

I hope someone picks up this show, or releases more episodes on video. This could be a great cult show if it gets exposure. Sci-Fi Channel, Cartoon Network, wake up and start showing this gem!