| Flash Gordon | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover of pilot movie | |
| Genre | Superhero |
| Based on | Flash Gordon byAlex Raymond |
| Developed by |
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| Directed by |
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| Voices of | |
| Composer | Edmund Eagan |
| Country of origin |
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| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Gerald Tripp |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | |
| Release | September 1996 (1996-09) – 1997 (1997) |
Flash Gordon is a 1996 animated television series based on the sci-ficomic strip of the same name.[1] The character, who had been around in the comics pages sinceAlex Raymond created him in 1934, had recently starred in severalfilm serials, a1980 feature film, and two earlier cartoon series —The New Adventures of Flash Gordon andDefenders of the Earth.[2]
In the series, the dashingblond hero was regressed to his teenage days, and he employed ahoverboard. As in previous versions, Flash teamed up withDale Arden (also a teenager) and balding, bespectacled scientistHans Zarkov. Both Flash and Dale are children ofUnited States Air Force personnel. Flash's parents were Americanastronauts who were in space duringMing the Merciless’ initial assault on Earth, and barely escaped his dimensionalwormhole and the "spacetorpedoes" used by Ming's forces.
The trans-dimensional portal was placed there by Ming the Merciless, thedespoticemperor of the planetMongo, who hoped to provide open access for hisinvading armies. In this series, Ming hadreptilian humanoid characteristics, and seemed to have a human wife, who was long dead (it was implied in some episodes that she had gone to Earth).
When the Airforce escort sent to bring Flash and Dale to a secure location is knocked unconscious mid-flight, Dale and Flash manage to crash land the small aircraft they are on board in a marshy area with no one hurt in the crash. Flash and Dale set out to find help for the pilot and come across the laboratory of Dr. Zarkov. Zarkov mistakes them for two crew members that were supposed to bring him an important piece of his near completed inter dimensional rocket craft.
Flash and Dale unknowingly are brought along for the experiment and by the time anyone realizes the mistake it is too late. The three are brought aboard Ming's ship. Once there they become aware of Ming's plans, and Ming takes a dislike to Flash immediately. With help from Ming's daughterPrincess Aura, the three earthlings manage to free a child prisoner of Ming's, escape and destroy his portal generator, closing the wormhole to Earth.
Without the part Zarkov was expecting, and with the portal closed, Flash and crew were stuck on the Mongo side. The rest of the show follows the earthlings adventures as they discover other nearby planets with anti-Ming factions and put together a loose coalition, determined to overthrow Mongo's evil emperor and return Princess Thundar, Flash, Dale, and Zarkov to their native planets and restore Mongo to independence and freedom from Ming's cruelty.
A multinational co-production,Flash Gordon came into weekly YTV, syndication andChannel 4 in Fall 1996. 26 episodes were produced.
Voice talent:
| No. | Title | Written by | Original release date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Marooned on Mongo!"[3] | Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 301 |
Earth teenagers Flash Gordon and Dale Arden, and their reluctant friend Dr. Zarkov, journey to the fantastic planet Mongo where they fight to defeat the evil planetary dictator, Ming the Merciless. | ||||
| 2 | "Jaws of the Jungle!" | Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 302 |
Flash, Dale and Dr. Zarkov rescue the Lionid princess Thundar from Ming and the treacherous Vine People. This feat earns them the respect of Prince Talon and renews the rebellion against Ming. | ||||
| 3 | "The Caves of Doom!" | Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 303 |
Flash races time to save Dale and Dr. Zarkov from being sacrificed to a volcano by the Trogs, a tribe of suspicious cave dwellers. | ||||
| 4 | "Vandals from the Void!" | Alan Swayze,Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 304 |
When Mongo is attacked by a fleet of UFOs, only Flash questions Ming's attempts to form an alliance with the Rebel forces. | ||||
| 5 | "Fangs of Fury!" | Alan Templeton and Mary Crawford | TBA | 305 |
Thundar's mother falls fatally ill, and only Ming holds the antidote. His price for the cure is Flash Gordon and Thundar is forced to decide. | ||||
| 6 | "Terror Beneath the Waves!" | Gerald Sanford | TBA | 306 |
Queen Kayla and her Shark People hold Flash captive underwater while Ming prepares a sneak attack on the Rebel forces. | ||||
| 7 | "Wings of Destruction!" | Story by: Alan Templeton, Mary Crawford,Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens Teleplay by:Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 307 |
Flash competes against Aura in the Mongonian Aerial Games. Although a truce is in effect during the games, Ming attacks. | ||||
| 8 | "The Invisible Claw!" | Alan Templeton, Mary Crawford,Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 308 |
Sulpha, Ming's dragon scientist, creates an army of invisible Rock People to conquer a peaceful desert kingdom. | ||||
| 9 | "The Pit of the Tigrons!" | Alison Lea Bingeman | TBA | 309 |
While Ming is away, Aura takes command of Mongo. She offers a truce if Flash will agree to marry her and rule Mongo at her side. | ||||
| 10 | "Cry of the Pantheron!" | Gerald Sanford | TBA | 310 |
Kobalt the mercenary pretends to fall in love with Thundar, raising Flash's suspicions when he joins an attack on Ming's bomb factory. | ||||
| 11 | "The Dragon Strikes!" | Mary Crawford & Alan Templeton | TBA | 311 |
Flash, Dale and Dr. Zarkov discover Mongo's legendary lost Hall of the dragons. Surprisingly, Sulpha helps keep the secret from Ming. | ||||
| 12 | "The Wrath of Ming!" | Hope Liebowitz | TBA | 312 |
Believing that Ming has lost his mind, Aura and Kayla hatch separate plots to overthrow Ming and take the throne of Mongo. | ||||
| 13 | "Rocket to Oblivion!" | Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 313 |
Flash, Dale and Dr. Zarkov set off for Earth in an experimental space ship, unaware that Sulpha has hidden a bomb in the ship. | ||||
| 14 | "Ambush in Arboria!" | Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 314 |
Dale joins forces with one of Ming's loyal supporters, handsome Prince Barin of Arboria, supposedly betraying Flash and the rebel forces. | ||||
| 15 | "Moon of Mystery!" | Mary Crawford & Alan Templeton | TBA | 315 |
Flash and Aura form an uneasy alliance to protect the peaceful inhabitants of a previously undiscovered moon from Ming's wrath. | ||||
| 16 | "Revenge of the Dragon!" | Gerald Sanford | TBA | 316 |
Sulpha finds a cache of what seem to be dragon eggs, and asks Flash to stall Ming while she searches for the secret to her lost race. | ||||
| 17 | "The Fiendish Experiment!" | Alan Swayze | TBA | 317 |
Zarkov literally loses his mind in a dangerous Dynacrystal experiment, enabling Ming to lure Flash and Dale into a deadly trap. | ||||
| 18 | "Dungeons of Despair!" | Alan Swayze | TBA | 318 |
Ming throws Lynch in jail, but his replacement performs so well that Flash, Aura and Barin trick Ming getting Lynch back. | ||||
| 19 | "Treasure of the Depths!" | Gerald Sanford | TBA | 319 |
Talon discovers Ming's powerful energy source, a priceless hoard of Dynacrystals hidden deep in a mountain lake. | ||||
| 20 | "The Fortress of Fear!" | Alan Templeton & Mary Crawford | TBA | 320 |
Ming prepares to attack King Vultan of the Hawk People. It's up to Flash and Talon to keep Hawk City from being blown from the sky. | ||||
| 21 | "Palace of Peril!" | Alan Swayze | TBA | 321 |
Ming's Imperial Palace becomes a battleground when Flash reprograms a factory to turn out Rock Warriors with minds of their own. | ||||
| 22 | "Shadow of the Shark!" | Alison Lea Bingeman | TBA | 322 |
Ming's plan to invade Earth threatens Kayla's underwater kingdom. Flash must prevent a war between them before it destroys Mongo. | ||||
| 23 | "Double Disaster!" | Hope Liebowitz | TBA | 323 |
Flash shoots down Ming's Megaraptor with Ming himself aboard, but the mysterious double of Ming takes his throne. | ||||
| 24 | "The Fur Flies!" | Alan Swayze | TBA | 324 |
When Ming fires Kobalt, the Pantheron mercenary goes into business for himself, posing a threat to a secret Rebel mission. | ||||
| 25 | "Enemy Ming!" | Alan Swayze | TBA | 325 |
When Aura, Ming and Flash crash land on a barren moon, they must work together to against space squids. | ||||
| 26 | "Escape to Earth!" | Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens | TBA | 326 |
Earth is placed in jeopardy when Flash and Dale's parents attempt to rescue their children by reopening the black hole doorway. | ||||