So what is the best way to begin……an 80’s montage of awesomeness?? How about that scene where the dreamy girl climbs out of the pool and walks towards you??? Or maybe one of those weird commercials with kids playing with outdated action figures in a sandbox?? Perhaps I’ll just skip the cliche moments and just get to the good part….That’s right I’m talking about this guy……..

 

 

 

 

 VOLRTON!!!

 

 

So imagine being a kid and you turn on the tv to hear what sounds like Optimus Prime narrating the intro of this cartoon about the Defender of the Universe fighting off evil monsters!!! Man the chills of awesome tingling all over…But it isn’t Optimus  like most 80’s cartoons the voice talents were used on multiple shows as many different characters,  so now your confused right?? Yeah but remeber your a kid so it doesn’t really matter because the cartoon is awesome and has your undivided attention….Now lets fast forward to the present where everything supposedly makes more sense and there is 2 Voltrons!!! Holy Crap how awesome does that sound?? Well sit back and lets take a look at both and see what they offer…..VOLTRON -VS – VOLTRON FORCE

(Now since the modern Voltron has only  one season it is only fair to compare it to season 1 of old school Voltron)

So back to the part where we are introduced to Voltron the mighty robot and his story…

Old School Intro

All through the intro there is plenty of animation that coincides with how the narrator (Peter Cullen: Who voices Coran, the intro, and also the voice of Optimus Prime in gen 1 transformers) tells the Legend of Voltron, how he was defeated by the villains and split apart into pieces. Then the Galaxy alliance, which is formed during peace before voltronis defeated, sends specially trained explorers to find Voltron and bring him back…Then there is the Mighty Voltron and the cool synthesized voice. Basically very little music mostly focuses on the Legend of Voltron.

New School Voltron aka Voltron Force Intro

This intro again has animation mostly of the lions flying around with some random action shots of characters and villains, ending with the formation of Voltron. There isn’t a narrator or any focus on a told story, or any legend of Voltron, more of a straight up music video type intro. The song is a rap / rock mix with some lyrics and the main emphasis on “Lets Voltron”. Seems more like a music montage of the lions leaving the story to be told in the episodes.

If you haven’t seen both intros I suggest you check them out that way  if your lost, what you have read above might make more sense. Now lets move on and introduce the characters….

Voltron

Most of the characters are young, inexperienced, and adventurous! Most battles outside the lions are with blasters / guns or hand to hand.

Keith – Has a mullet! Always wears red and is the leader of the level headed captain of the group and pilots the black lion (Voltron’s Head). Has feelings for and becomes the love interest of Allura.

Lance – Also has a mullet!!  Wears the color blue. He is the 2nd in command and the teams smart mouthed trash talking hot head. Pilots the red lion (Voltrons Right Arm).

Pidge – Has the oddest green indiand tasseled looking clothes with poofy hair and glasses, looks like a odd styled girl but is the groups techno geek / nerd. Has a slight napoleon complex but is a help to the team. Wears green (Actually matches lions color) and pilots the green lion (Voltrons Right Arm).

Hunk – He is the teams muscle with an odd taste for a yellow/orangish colored outfit. Mostly worried about getting justice for innocent people and helping the team. Pilots the yellow lion ( Voltron’s Left Leg)

Sven – I’m guess in is from Norway or somewhere but does’t look the part also had a mullet!. He’s the teams navigator and was the original pilot of the Blue Lion (Voltron’s Right Leg) until he was hurt by Haggar.

Princess Allura – Royalty of Planet Aurs, Daughter of the late King Alfor usually seen wearing pink. Kind of insecure about making decisions. Becomes the love interest of Keith and Lotor. Took over as pilot of the Blue Lion (Voltrn’s Right Leg)

Coran – Was close to the late king. Advisor to the princess and later the lion force team. Narrates the Legend of Voltron.

Zarkon – Is a fish head monster looking guy. King of Planet Doom. Wants to rule the galaxy and take over Arus.  Father of Lotor.

Haggar – Witch that helped disassemble Voltron. Works and plans with King Zarkon to take down Voltron and Arus.

Lotor – Prince of planet doom. Son of Zarkon. Always on the front lines of his fathers plans and is obsessed with Princess Allura.

Voltron Force

The lion force are now older and battle hardened veterans, but they are introduced to a few younger characters that are inexperienced and adventurous as they were. The force are introduced to wrists band units that produce energy weapons and power the lions. Once Voltrons new powers are unlocked each color becomes the head and his weapons resemble theirs.

 

 

 

 

 

Keith – Still has a mullet for a few episodes! Starts the series as an outlaw and still is love interest of Allura. Now wears black to match his black lion until replaced by Daniel. Power weapon is a sword like Volrton’s.

Lance – Has a newer type of mullet / modern hair..Still the smart mouthed trash talker but isn’t as hot headed as before. Wears red  (brown flight jacket) to match his lion. Power weapon is 2 energy pistols.

Hunk – Looks bigger and muscular than before. Still the teams muscle but has his comic relief moments. Wears Yellow to match his lion. Power weapon is an energy hammer.

Pidge – Grown up, still wears green, and doesn’t look like a girl. Wears more  modern glasses. Still the teams techno guy and makes new weapons and defenses for the castle. Pilots the green lion until he is replaces by Vince.

Princess Allura – Arus Royalty. Older but still insecure about making decisions. trains her niece Larmina. Wears Blue to match her lion until she is replaced by Larmina. Has stronger feelings for Keith. Power weapon is an energy bow and arrow.

Coran – Still advises the team but spends his time working for the alliance after the skymarshall is defeated.

Larmina – Niece of Allura. Spends time training on Arus alone until the lion force returns. Takes over as Blue Lion Pilot. Power weapon is an energy bo staff.

Vince – Friend of Daniel’s at the alliance academy, has telepathic powers with a link to Daniel. Takes over as Green Lion Pilot. Power weapon is the energy force and can power up team members and Voltron’s weapons or abilities.

Daniel – Narrates the change between the Voltron Series and is a fan of Voltron. Trouble maker and very out spoken. Super eager to jump into battle and fight. Takes over as Black Lion Pilot. Power weapon is lion claws on hands and feet, has speed ability.

Lotor – A reincarnated clone of the original prince. Older and has some new powers but wants to continue with his old plans.

Maahox – A new character. responsicle bringing Lotor back. Is a mad science genius with a creepy robot eye that flies around. Wear robotic legs that eventually comes off to reveal his true form and true motive.

Skymarshall Wade – A leader in the alliance that seems power hungry. While in charge of the academy he kind of shows that he is after money and power. Is responsible for disbanding Voltron and hides the lions to do research of his own.

Voltron and Lions

The Legend

Voltron

Season 1 is mostly about the Legend of Voltron and the introduction of the characters, their struggles or battles, and good vs evil. Since there are 52 episodes in season 1 and that would take forever to explain in detail, I’ll just focus on a basic overview of the story. We are introduced to space explorers who have been captured by King Zarkon and imprisoned on planet Doom. The explorers escape imprisonment and make their way to planet Arus and find the Castle of Lions where they meet Princess Allura and Coran who reluctantly help them find the lions. Now that they have the lions the explorers are now know as the Voltron Lion Force and get some pretty decent pilot uniforms. With Voltron back the Lion Force does battle with King Zarkon’s forces on planet Arus and later throughout the galaxy trying to end Zarkon’s reign. Prince Lotor (Zarkon’s son) is usually on the front lines carrying out every plan that Zarkon and his witch Haggar conjure up and put into action against Voltron. After a few episodes in Sven is hurt and the Princess steps in to pilot his lion, even though she is the princess Keith is the Lion Force leader. The feelings situation gets more interesting because as she builds feelings for Keith, Prince Lotor becomes obsessed with Allura. Nothing wrong with a lil  good vs evil one sided love triangle! As the season progresses almost every episode each character has some sort of situation or struggle plus they have to battle more and more of Zarkon and planet doom’s monsters. Eventually  Zarkon’s failures lead to Lotor overthrowing him and rising to power. Once in power he still battles Voltron and tries to capture Arus, but eventually Haggar is removed from the picture. This eventually opens up planet doom to an attack from Voltron!

Volrton Force

Season 1 is about half the length of the original Voltron but again I’ll try and keep it basic. Voltron Force is set in the future around 7 years after the end of the original series. The new character / narrator Daniel tells how Lotor has been defeated and the galaxy is in full support of Voltron, but at a ceremony the unmanned lions go haywire and attack everything. The result is that Voltron is disbanded and hidden away by a new skymarshall forcing some of the lion force to go  on the run as fugitives while the others become instructors at the alliance academy. Princess Allura returns home to Arus training her niece and staying away from the alliance, jumping forward in time the character Daniel is in enrolled in the alliance academy. He questions everything while still in support of the forbidden Voltron and you guessed it that gets him into trouble. Once in trouble Daniel and Vince introduced to Lance, Pidge, and Hunk who work for the academy but are secretly hunting for the hidden lions. On the run as an outlaw Keith is also hunting down the lions while trying to avoid the alliance. Further into the series the lions are taken back from the Skymarshall and returned to Arus to be repared. Voltron has to do battle against the alliance,  Skymarshall Wade, and his version of lions. Meanwhile on planet doom Lotor is resurrected by Maahox and they begin to plan on taking down Voltron. They begin using Hagars essence from space to begin making new monsters and rebuilding the castle & planet doom. After Skymarshall Wade is defeated Voltron begins to battle Lotor and his monsters, during these battles the newer and younger characters begin to earn new powers and take over in the lions. With Daniel, Vince, and Allura’s niece Larmina now in the lions the battles are different and Voltron even has new powers and weapons to fight with. At the end of the season Lotor is cast aside or overthrown by Maahox, who takes the castle to attack the alliance and fight Voltron and the young new pilots. He’s defeated but Lotor is alive and some the essence of Haggar is inside Daniel who at the end turns his lion against some of the others.

Just like any fan out there I could write on and on for days nit picking or discussing many different areas of these two legends. Since I’m not writing a book or anything, I’ll just touch on some aspects that I think are important. (Remember some of this is just my opinion)

The Story…Well I consider the stories for both series pretty solid. The original is based mostly on a good vs evil storyline with a large amount of character development focused around the lion force. Over time there is some extra development with the evil side and even some love emotions show up on bot sides. Over has some old school cheese but a solid story… Now the best part about the Voltron Force storyline is that it is not a remake! Having it written as a continuation of the original is what I like best about the story, plus they keep many things from the original. I like the improved flying castle, the new style of lion keys, taking the zip-line down the the tunnels, how the lions come from the hiding places (lava,  water, etc), the energy weapons. I like the direction that was taken by being different but also keeping to the roots of the original.

The Animation…. This is where Voltron Force lost me with the 3d computer animation .I think it just looks cheap(maybe that’s just me) I’m a fan of the good hand drawn style of animation, mostly because in the original series it doesn’t look cheap or rushed. The change in the style of the lions and Voltron isn’t that great either. I like that the older lions look like cats with the ears and the box shaped mouths with the teeth. Then when they form Voltron he has that robotic look but at the same time there is a hint of an indian warrior in his face add the wings sticking up behind him….Awesome!! Now the new lions have that bulky over muscular look (some are kind of sleek looking) with the heads and mouths being reshaped for a different look. The positive side of these lions is their weapons and the ability for them to be used when they switch places and form new styles of Voltron(a very clever move). The more modern style Volrton has that sleek robotic look with less of the warrior look, but at least he has the new weapons plus the original sword. At the end of the day I like the look of the original but am a fan of the new characters, abilities, and weapons.

The Formation…. Man this part is always great and again its a huge part of the legend and a part of every episode! Nothing like hearing the lion force and then watching the lions fly upward in the sky while the trumpets sound. Lightning everywhere while the lions combine and for Voltron followed by that close up of each lion head and hearing them roar before heading to battle..again Awesome! But wait Voltron Force has this too! They even have the trumpets and the lions roar as well, now they do change a few things up and add a different style but it has some awesomeness!

The Impact… If you look at the story  you can see it everywhere, it is a group of kids / friends that team up to fight off evil. Yes they get cool lions that form into a bigger robot that has to fight off over-sized monsters. Now fast forward guess who else did that…yeah the vr troopers, then power rangers (they even had animal robots that formed a robot warrior) or the beetle borgs. Guess you can say Voltron started it all.

So like anything this has to come to an end, but I would like to thank you for reading. This is where I have to find one of those cliche moments and bring this to and end! Nahhh again I’ll save you the trouble and just be somewhat normal….Basically you have to ask yourself that one simple question — Who’s Your Defender???