The Legend of Zelda (TV series)
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| The Legend of Zelda | |
|---|---|
 Title screen, shown at the beginning of each show |
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| Format | Animated television series |
| Starring | Cyndy Preston Jonathan Potts Len Carlson Colin Fox Elizabeth Hanna |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Syndication |
| Original run | September 8, 1989 – December 1, 1989 |
The Legend of Zelda was an American animated series loosely based on the first and second The Legend of Zelda games for the Nintendo Entertainment System.
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[edit] Show premise
Each episode of Zelda followed the adventures of the hero Link and the royal Princess Zelda as they defended the kingdom of Hyrule from an evil wizard named Ganon. Most episodes consisted of Ganon (or his minions) either attempting to capture the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda, kidnap Zelda herself, or use some other villainous scheme to conquer Hyrule. Link and Zelda are in some episodes assisted and accompanied by a fairy-princess, Spryte.
A common running joke of the series was Link’s repeated failure to convince Zelda that he deserved a kiss for his heroic deeds; whenever it seemed they were going to kiss, something bad would happen. This theme was most likely inspired by the final moments of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and may itself have influenced the common belief that Link and Zelda are romantically involved in the subsequent games, an idea only rarely hinted at in the games themselves.
Zelda also had more of a protagonist role in the show than in the video games up to that point, where she is simply the character the player must rescue. While Link did have to save Zelda in a few episodes, she mostly battled side by side with Link, often preferring the bow and arrow as her weapon of choice. Some later games in the series continued the trend of making Zelda more and more of an ally to Link and hero in her own right.
Link usually met Zelda's obstinate rejection with his trademark sarcastic catchphrase, "Well! Excuuuuuse me, Princess!" which became popular in gamer culture of the period. The series was to be continued but was canceled along with The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! The series is still (as of 2008) one of only three productions in which Link talks, the other two being CD-i Games.
[edit] Game references
While direct referencing of the game is very loose the series did feature a number of recognizable monsters, items and locations (Death Mountain) from the game. The seemingly impossible amount of items that Link and Zelda are able to carry is not directly explained in the series but instead in the episodes the items they carry (shields, bows, bombs etc.) are magically shrunk when the items are placed in pouches or pockets (usually accompanied by a sound-effect taken directly from the game).
Rather than arrows the bows in the cartoon shoot beam-like projectiles as does Link's sword (this happens in most Zelda games when Link's hearts are full). Link's beams will zap most monsters away (who appear in the Evil Jar at Ganon's lair afterwards from which they can be resurrected by Ganon) but not people as shown in the episode Sing for the Unicorn. Link's body temporarily ended up in the Evil Jar when he was caught in an explosion with some of Ganon's monsters, with his spirit remaining, only seen by Zelda.
Some of the monsters seen in the series included the Moblins, an Octorock, Gohma, Aquamentus, Keese and Ropes. Rupees appear but are called Rubies. The series uses sound-effects as well as renditions of background tunes from the games.
[edit] Release
[edit] North American releases
The Zelda cartoons were first shown every Friday as part of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, in 1989. The Super Show introduction and live action sequences were kept intact, as they were the base format for the series, but Zelda was shown in place of the animated Super Mario Bros. series which ran during the rest of the week. Each episode ran around fifteen minutes. The series was produced by DiC Entertainment and distributed for syndicated television by Viacom (now CBS Television Distribution), and were made in association with Nintendo of America. Due to the syndicated nature of the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, only one season of sixty-five episodes was made, and Zelda was aborted after only thirteen episodes. However, slightly modified versions of the characters of Link and Zelda, together with their original voice actors (Jonathan Potts and Cynthia Preston, respectively), were later transplanted into Captain N: The Game Master, also produced by DiC Entertainment.
Clips previewing the episodes were shown in the middle of the live-action segments when Mario's cartoon was shown. These clips were cut from most of the video releases as well as Yahooligans! TV, but restored for the Super Mario Bros. Super Show DVD set (except for "King Mario of Cramalot").
Alongside the Super Mario Bros. cartoon, Zelda was first released to the public in the form of two-episode VHS tapes in the early 1990s. Only three volumes were issued, and the color of the VHS slipcases attempted to match the gold color of the original NES games.
The initial release of Zelda on DVD was by the animation company Allumniation Filmworks, in the early 2000s. The first DVD, Ganon's Evil Tower, was released on July 22, 2003. It included three episodes of the Zelda cartoon and two episodes of Sonic Underground. The second DVD was released on September 27, 2005 and was titled Havoc in Hyrule. This DVD contained a further five Zelda episodes.
The complete Zelda series was subsequently released on October 18, 2005 by Shout! Factory, and included extra bonus features such as interactive DVD games and line art from the series.
[edit] United Kingdom
The Zelda cartoons were originally shown in the UK on the early morning TV show, TV-am in the early 1990s, they were shown during the Half-Term holidays around 9am. They were never commissioned for a second rerun though. They were also shown on CITV in the 1990s within the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, they also were shown on Channel 4 on its Sunday morning kids line up that included the likes of Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.
In 1992, Tempo Video had released two videos with three episodes per tape. The Legend of Zelda also shared a tape with Captain N: The Game Master which included the episode Underworld Connections.
Shout Factory was unable to distribute the DVD in the UK or in Region 2 format DVD, as it does not have the licensing rights in the UK. It is rumoured that the TV Channels Jetix and Boomerang both have the rights to air the cartoon on their respective channels.
[edit] Voice cast
- Cyndy Preston – Princess Zelda
- Jonathan Potts – Link
- Len Carlson – Ganon, Moblin
- Colin Fox – King Harkinian
- Elizabeth Hanna – Triforce of Wisdom
- Paulina Gillis – Spryte, Sing
[edit] Episodes
| # | Title | Original airdate | Prod. # |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Ringer" | September 8, 1989 | 101 |
| 2 | "Cold Spells" | September 15, 1989 | 102 |
| 3 | "The White Knight" | September 22, 1989 | 103 |
| 4 | "Kiss 'N Tell" | September 29, 1989 | 104 |
| 5 | "Sing for the Unicorn" | October 6, 1989 | 105 |
| 6 | "That Sinking Feeling" | October 13, 1989 | 106 |
| 7 | "Doppelganger" | October 20, 1989 | 107 |
| 8 | "Underworld Connections" | October 27, 1989 | 108 |
| 9 | "Stinging a Stinger" | November 3, 1989 | 109 |
| 10 | "A Hitch in the Works" | November 10, 1989 | 110 |
| 11 | "Fairies in the Spring" | November 17, 1989 | 111 |
| 12 | "The Missing Link" | November 24, 1989 | 112 |
| 13 | "The Moblins Are Revolting" | December 1, 1989 | 113 |
[edit] Reception
IGN rated the DVD release of The Legend of Zelda a 3.0, or "Bad", citing poor writing, repeated plots, and over the top acting.[1] Link's catch phrase "Excuuuuuse Me, Princess!" is a commonly used in-joke used by video game players.[1]
