Flash Gordon...
I picked up the animated Flash Gordon box set yesterday and watched most of the first season.
This incarnation of the Flash Gordon franchise takes some cues from the movie serials, but, its artwork and story are mainly inspired by the original comic books. This print appears to be a fairly clean transfer from the original source material. It was interesting to learn that the animators based a lot of their work on models filmed in live-action and stop-motion animation. More than twenty years after the series aired on TV, the artwork and story-telling still hold up very well.
I have some of the original movie serials on VHS tape. I'm seriously considering repurchasing them on DVD. It's been a while since I last saw the serials. A few months ago, my nephew came over and we got to talking about the different versions of Flash Gordon. He wasn't even alive when the serials were last broadcast on any of the local TV stations, so, I broke out my tapes and played a few choice segments for him. He was not very impressed. He did laugh, though.
The set includes both the first and second seasons on four DVDs and some extras on the fourth DVD. There are also little tidbits scattered throughout the chapter selection menus on each DVD. I wasn't too thrilled with the packaging. The DVD case is extra wide with spindles inside for four DVDs. The DVDs partially cover each other so that you have to remove one disc to access another disc underneath. I've never liked that type of case. On the bright side, there were some nice goodies inside.Though it only aired for two seasons, the 1979 Flash Gordon cartoon series is fondly remembered for its innovative use of rotoscoping (a form of animation that involves tracing over live-action footage for a remarkably kinetic effect). Closely adhering to the style and storyline of Alex Raymond's classic 1930s comic strip the series followed the intergalactic adventures of Flash Gordon as he his girlfriend Dale Arden and their scientific companion Dr. Han Zarkov fought to save the universe from the evil plotting of tyrannical space lord Ming the Merciless.
This incarnation of the Flash Gordon franchise takes some cues from the movie serials, but, its artwork and story are mainly inspired by the original comic books. This print appears to be a fairly clean transfer from the original source material. It was interesting to learn that the animators based a lot of their work on models filmed in live-action and stop-motion animation. More than twenty years after the series aired on TV, the artwork and story-telling still hold up very well.
I have some of the original movie serials on VHS tape. I'm seriously considering repurchasing them on DVD. It's been a while since I last saw the serials. A few months ago, my nephew came over and we got to talking about the different versions of Flash Gordon. He wasn't even alive when the serials were last broadcast on any of the local TV stations, so, I broke out my tapes and played a few choice segments for him. He was not very impressed. He did laugh, though.
