Defenders of the Earth
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| Country: |  USA / English
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Defenders of the Earth is an animated television series featuring Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician -battling Ming the Merciless. Supporting characters include Rick Gordon, Jedda Walker, Kshin, Lothar, and Lothar's son L.J. The series lasted for 65 episodes.
Premise
Year 2015: The planet Mongo is dying. Ming the Merciless chooses Earth to be his next home, and to enslave its people.
Flash Gordon heads to Earth to warn everyone of this new threat. But just as he arrives his spacecraft is shot down. Luckily he crashed near the home of Mandrake. Flash tells Mandrake and Lothar about the impending invasion and that Ming has kidnapped Dale and Rick (his wife and son). Mandrake and Lothar offer to help rescue Flash’s family, by returning to Ming’s home planet of Mongo.
At Mongo Dale was killed by Ming during the rescue attempt, and Ming escaped to Earth where he would coordinate his plans to take over the Earth. To stop this happening a new organisation was setup -The Defenders of the Earth. This consisted of Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, Lothar and their children. A new base was built, called Monitor, which was housed inside of a volcano and used geothermal power to run it. Monitor also housed Dynak X, a super computer.
Cast & Crew
Director
- Bill Hutton
Producer
- David J. Corbett
Music and theme
- Rob Welsh and
- Tony Pastor
Lyrics
- Stan Lee
Protagonists
- Flash Gordon (voiced by Lou Richards)
- Mandrake (voiced by Peter Renaday)
- The 27th Phantom (voiced by Peter Mark Richman)
- Lothar (voiced by Buster Jones)
- Dale Gordon / Dynak X (voiced by Diane Pershing)
- Richard Gordon, son of Flash and Dale Gordon(voiced by Loren Lester)
- Kshin, adopted son of Mandrake (voiced by Adam Carl)
- Jedda Walker, daughter of the Phantom (voiced by Sara Partridge)
- LJ, Lothar junior (voiced by Dion Williams)
Antagonists
- Ming the Merciless (voiced by Ron Feinberg / William Callaway)
- Octon, a metallic maschine
- Garak, leader of the Ice Robots
- Mongor, serpent-like pet of Ming
- Kurt Walker, older brother of the Phantom
- The Sky Band, space pirates
Episode guide
| # | Episode title | # | Episode title | # | Episode title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Escape from Mongo" | 23 | "The Would-Be Defender" | 45 | "The Time Freezer" |
| 2 | "The Creation of Monitor" | 24 | "Doorways into Darkness" | 46 | "The Prince Makes His Move" |
| 3 | "A Demon in His Pocket" | 25 | "Deal with the Devil" | 47 | "Prince Triumphant" |
| 4 | "A House Divided" | 26 | "Terror in Time" | 48 | "The Prince Weds" |
| 5 | "Bits and Chips" | 27 | "Ming's Household Helpers" | 49 | "The Prince's Royal Hunt" |
| 6 | "The Root of Evil" | 28 | "The Starboy" | 50 | "The Prince is Dethroned" |
| 7 | "Cold War" | 29 | "The Gods Awake" | 51 | "Lothar's Homecoming" |
| 8 | "The Sleeper Awakens" | 30 | "The Ghost Walks Again" | 52 | "Suspended Sabotage" |
| 9 | "The Revenge of Astra" | 31 | "The Book of Mysteries" | 53 | "The Call of the Eternals" |
| 10 | "The Hall of Wisdom" | 32 | "The Future Comes But Once" | 54 | "The Return of Doctor Dark" |
| 11 | "The Mind Warriors, Part 1" | 33 | "Kshin And The Ghost Ship" | 55 | "The Deadliest Battle" |
| 12 | "The Mind Warriors, Part 2" | 34 | "The Carnival of Dr. Kalihari" | 56 | "The Necklace of Oros" |
| 13 | "The Lost Jewels of Tibet" | 35 | "The Mystery of the Book" | 57 | "Torn Space" |
| 14 | "The Evil of Doctor Dark" | 36 | "Flash Times Four" | 58 | "Ming Winter" |
| 15 | "Diamonds are Ming's Best Friends" | 37 | "The Frozen Heart" | 59 | "The Golden Queen" |
| 16 | "The Men of Frost" | 38 | "Rick Gordon, One Man Army" | 60 | "The Gravity of Ming" |
| 17 | "Battleground" | 39 | "The Rites of Zesnan" | 61 | "Flesh and Blood" |
| 18 | "The Panther Peril" | 40 | "Audie and Tweak" | 62 | "Drowning World" |
| 19 | "Fury of the Deep" | 41 | "Return of the Skyband" | 63 | "The Adoption of Kshin" |
| 20 | "Family Reunion" | 42 | "Dracula's Potion" | 64 | "Street Smarts" |
| 21 | "The Defense Never Rests" | 43 | "One of the Guys" | 65 | "The Thunder Lizards of Ming" |
| 22 | "Like Father, Like Daughter?" | 44 | "100 Proof Highway" | - | - |
Note
As a marketing ploy, the Sunday strips of Flash Gordon, The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician all mentioned the Defenders of the Earth on the strip of September 28, 1986. This is the only appearance of the Phantom and Mandrake in the Flash Gordon newspaper strip, as well as the only appearance of Flash Gordon in the Phantom and Mandrake newspaper strips. Since the Defenders of the Earth storyline was out of continuity for all three newspaper strips, this sequence was shown as an alternate reality.
"Flash Gordon" by Dan Barry
"Mandrake the Magician" by Fred Fredericks
"The Phantom" by Sy Barry
See also
External links
| Team Ups, Mandrake outside the comic strips, Varia | |
|---|---|
| Team Ups |
Defenders of the Earth • Kings Watch • King: Mandrake the Magician • Kings Quest |
| Adaptations |
1939 Movie Serial • 1940 Radio Show • 1954 TV Pilot • 1967 Killing vs Mandrake • 1979 TV Movie • Unproduced and Unfinished Films • Musical: Mandrake the Magician and the Enchantress • Prose Stories • Defenders of the Earth • Comics on TV • Pop Art |
| Memorabilia | |
| Other |
Easter Eggs and Cameos • Fanzines and Fan Magazines • Reference Books |