''Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension'', sometimes shortened as ''Galidor'', is a 2002 television series that ran on YTV in Canada and
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized as FOX KIDS) was an American children's block programming, programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channel ...
in the United States in 2002 with a total of 26 half-hour episodes. The series was created by
Thomas W. Lynch
Thomas W. Lynch (born February 25, 1956 in Los Angeles, California) is an American television series creator and executive producer who is the head of his own production company, Tom Lynch Company (previously Lynch Entertainment which is owned b ...
, the creator of ''
The Secret World of Alex Mack
''The Secret World of Alex Mack'' is an American television series that ran from October 8, 1994 to January 15, 1998, on Nickelodeon (part of the SNICK line-up). The series was co-created by Ken Lipman and Thomas W. Lynch and was produced by Lync ...
'' and ''
The Journey of Allen Strange
''The Journey of Allen Strange'' is an American television series that aired on Nickelodeon's SNICK block of programming for three seasons from November 1997 to April 2000.
Premise
The series follows the story of a young Xelan alien (Arjay Smit ...
''; and funded and owned by
the Lego Group
Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aroun ...
. It was the final series to launch on Fox Kids, as the brand folded in the United States only 7 months after its debut.
Plot
The show is centered upon Nick Bluetooth, a 15-year-old boy led (with his best friend Allegra Zane) by an extraterrestrial map to a spacecraft nicknamed the Egg, which moves them into an "Outer Dimension" threatened by Gorm. They are now there to protect the story's eponymous dimension. To defeat Gorm, Nick must find all the pieces of a key that will unlock the sealed gates to the kingdom of Galidor, one of many realms comprising the dimension.
Characters
Heroes
* Nicholas "Nick" Bluetooth (played by Matthew Ewald) – A boy of 15 years' age, able to transform his limbs into the limbs of other species or specialized machines (called "glinching"). Reckless, but anxious to correctly answer the given situation. His surname refers to the Danish king
Harald Bluetooth
Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson ( non, Haraldr Blátǫnn Gormsson; da, Harald Blåtand Gormsen, died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway.
He was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 95 ...
, who unified
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
and
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
.
* Allegra Zane (played by Marie-Marguerite Sabongui) – Nick's best friend and a
karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
expert, and often sedate in his moments of recklessness. Anxious to return to Earth until persuaded otherwise by natives.
* Jens (performed by Sam Magdi, voiced by Michael O'Reilly) – The Chief Scientist of the Royal Court of Galidor. Originally
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
-like creature called a Wexer, his body was burned by Gorm and his mind was placed into a
robot
A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...
body. Usually appears panicky and speaks in a high-pitched voice. Halfway through the show, his claw-like hands are replaced with more articulate gloves.
* Euripides (performed by Jeff Hall, voiced by Georges Morris) – The
Scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...
of the Royal Court of Galidor. He is a large anthropomorphic
frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...
-like creature called an Amphibib and is the last of his species. Euripides is Nicholas's advisor and capable of
telekinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
with his staff and limited heat generation. He is named for the ancient Greek tragedian
Euripides
Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian
Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...
.
* Nepol (performed by Claude Girous, voiced by
Walter Massey) – A blue-furred, large-eyed humanoid called a Siktari who was reduced in size by Gorm. Visually impaired, he needs glasses. He wields a luka (an icy-looking spear), runs at great speed, and can project ice or cold to freeze anything.
Supporting characters
* Samuel "The Stranger" Bluetooth (played by Randy Thomas) – Father of Nicholas. An adventurer and
scientist
A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...
who constructed the Egg and underwent adventures in the Outer Dimension, eventually gaining a seat on Galidor's council before marrying Queen Riana. In the beginning of the series, he is seen falling into a chasm, but shown as Gorm's captive in the final episode's cliffhanger.
* Queen Riana (played by Tara Leigh) – The Queen of Galidor and mother of Nicholas. Appears in the series mostly as a mental
hologram
Holography is a technique that enables a wavefront to be recorded and later re-constructed. Holography is best known as a method of generating real three-dimensional images, but it also has a wide range of other Holography#Applications, applic ...
that only Nicholas can see, offering cryptic advice and warnings. In "Relativity," it is revealed that Queen Riana has a sister named Tyreena who lives in a village on Elta-Siktar, Nepol's home realm.
* Lind (played by
Karen Cliche
Karen Cliche (; born July 22, 1976) is a Canadians, Canadian Actor, actress. She is known for her roles as a regular on the television series ''Vampire High'', ''Adventure Inc.'', ''Mutant X (TV series), Mutant X'', ''Young Blades'' and ''Flash G ...
) – A native Galidorian who can dissolve at will into a purple gel. Originally trained by Gorm to take his place as chief counsel to the Outer Dimension, she defects to Nick's cause.
Villains
* Gorm (performed by Derrick Damon Reeve and Steven P. Park, voiced by Ian Finlay) – The main antagonist of the series. Once the chief advisor of the Royal Court of Galidor, he plotted against Sam and Queen Riana by causing a riot on Kek. After his plot was exposed, Queen Riana repelled him and banished him from Galidor. Since then, Gorm has conquered many realms, wiped out some species (like the Amphibibs), shrunk Nepol, burned Jens' body, and made a virus in the Outer Dimension's Maps. As such he is known as the "Conqueror of a Thousand Worlds." Gorm has since sought to take over Galidor and has enlisted many allies to help him in his quest. He has the ability to glinch, which is amplified by a device on his chest. Among Gorm's other skills are his immense strength, telekinesis, intellect, and ability to create illusions.
* Bala (played by Sean Devine) – A
cyborg
A cyborg ()—a portmanteau of ''cybernetic'' and ''organism''—is a being with both organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. humanoid called a Herpitoid, Bala is a
bounty hunter
A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...
working for Gorm. He attacks with an energy bolt that becomes a claw upon impact.
* Tager – Gorm's righthand advisor who influenced Gorm's conquest.
* Caliphonic – The leader of the anthropomorphic lizard-like Aquart race and an ally of Gorm.
Episodes
Season 1
# Identity (written by
Thomas W. Lynch
Thomas W. Lynch (born February 25, 1956 in Los Angeles, California) is an American television series creator and executive producer who is the head of his own production company, Tom Lynch Company (previously Lynch Entertainment which is owned b ...
, directed by
George Mihalka
George Mihalka (born 1953) is a Hungarian-born Canadian filmmaker. He is known for his 1981 slasher film '' My Bloody Valentine'' which was remade in 2009.
Career
In Canada since 1963, George Mihalka studied film at Concordia University in Mo ...
)
# Euripides, Please (written by Thomas W. Lynch, directed by
Giles Walker
Giles Walker (January 17, 1946 - March 23, 2020) was a Scottish-born Canadian film director.
Biography
Giles Walker, born in 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, received a B.A. from the University of New Brunswick and an M.A. from Stanford University ...
)
# All For One, One For Nepol (written by Jonas Agin and Vijal Patel, directed by
Jim Donovan)
# Bouncing Off The Walls (written by Shari Goodhartz, directed by George Mihalka)
# Dust Til’ Dawn (written by Jonas E. Agin and Vijal M. Patel, directed by Giles Walker)
# Belonging (written by Chad Fiveash and James Stotereaux, directed by
Adam Weissman
Adam Weissman is an American television director.
Career
Weissman is from New York City, beginning his career as a production assistant in the 1980s before directing television commercials.
In 1990, Weissman wrote, produced, directed and fina ...
)
# Crack In The Map (written by Doug Cooney, directed by George Mihalka)
# Seeing Is Just Seeing (written by Terry Saltsman, directed by Giles Walker)
# Truth, Lies, And Videotape (written by
Alex Epstein, directed by Jim Donovan)
# Just Because You're Paranoid (written by Alex Epstein, directed by Adam Weissman)
# Frozen Feud (written by Vijal M. Patel, directed by George Mihalka)
# Relativity (written by
Damian Kindler
Damian Kindler (born May 31, 1968) is a television and film writer, director and producer. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Kindler's family swiftly emigrated to Toronto, Canada, where he was raised. He currently resides in Venice, California, US.
...
, directed by
Jean-Claude Lord
Jean-Claude Lord (6 June 1943 – 15 January 2022) was a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He was one of the most commercial of the Québécois directors in the 1970s, aiming his feature films at a mass audience and dealing with political ...
)
# It's Deja Vu All Over Again (written by Tom Chehak, directed by Adam Weissman)
# The Road To Kek (written by Tom Chehak, directed by George Mihalka)
# A Room With No View (written by Leila Bensen and Dave Preston, directed by Adam Weissman)
# Escape From Kek (written by Alex Epstein, directed by Adam Weissman)
Season 2
# Pieces Of Nick (written by Tom Chehak, directed by
Patrick Williams)
# A Tale Of Two Nicks (written by Laura Kosterski, directed by Roger Cantin)
# Go For The Bronze (written by Jana Veverka, directed by Patrick Williams)
# State Of The Art (written by John Mandel, directed by
John L’Ecuyer)
# The Great Glinch Switch (written by Thomas W. Lynch, Jonas E. Agin, and Vijal M. Patel; directed by Adam Weissman)
# Mr. Tager Goes To Earth (written by Therese Beaupre, directed by Sean Dwyer)
# Area 51 (written by Erik Saltzgaber, directed by Adam Weissman)
# Recalling The Past (written and directed by Tom Chehak)
# The Gates Of Galidor Part 1: The Gauntlet (written by Alex Epstein, directed by Giles Walker)
# The Gates Of Galidor Part 2 (written by Tom Chehak, directed by Adam Weissman)
Toy line
A Galidor-themed
Lego
Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...
toy line of the same name was produced by the Lego Group in 2002. Unlike other Lego themes, these were simply action figures with swappable body parts, akin to a simplified version of Lego's
Bionicle
Bionicle was a line of Lego construction toys, marketed primarily towards 8-to-16-year-olds. The line originally launched in 2001 as a subsidiary of Lego's Technic series. Over the following decade, it became one of Lego's biggest-selling prop ...
theme. The theme was considered a commercial failure, due to over specialized parts and limited compatibility with other Lego themes. The Lego designers who worked on the theme were also heavily disappointed with the quality of the TV series, expecting Galidor to be a larger success after their recent work on Bionicle and
Lego Star Wars
Lego ''Star Wars'' is a Lego theme that incorporates the '' Star Wars'' saga and franchise. Originally it was only licensed from 1999 to 2008, but The Lego Group extended the license with Lucasfilm, first until 2011, then until 2016, then ag ...
. Other Lego designers blamed Galidor's failure to being a case of
self-competition {{unreferenced, date=March 2009
In business, self-competition is competition by a company with itself for customers. This can include one product or retail location competing with another.
Types
Product self-competition
Any company which provi ...
due to being launched while Bionicle was at its peak popularity. Only 15 Galidor sets were released overall, with 2 sets in limited quantities and 2 cancelled sets. The specialized molds of Galidor along with those for other less successful themes such as Scala,
Znap and
Primo contributed to an inflated Lego production catalog from 6,000 parts up to 12,000; which became a major sunk cost in tooling for the company.
Despite these issues Galidor did offer several innovative accomplishments for Lego, including the electronic Kek Powerizer figure that interacted with the television show. The Kek Powerizer included lines of dialogue delivered via
Brian Hamilton (actor) and a small electronic screen with mini-games on it. The socket joint introduced in Galidor would later be adapted for use in Bionicle,
Lego Alpha Team and notably in
Lego Exo Force with the gradual introduction of new pieces that allowed Galidor parts to easily connect with
Lego Technic
Lego Technic is a line of Lego interconnecting plastic rods and parts. The purpose of this series is to create more advanced models with more complex technical functions, compared to the simpler brick-building properties of normal Lego.
Overview ...
and System style sets.
Galidor along with other failures of the era lead to Lego's near bankruptcy in the early 2000s. Lego designer Mark Stafford would later comment that he believed Galidor was the biggest contributor to the era's fiscal failures. A Lego fan subculture for Galidor has emerged in the years since fueled by both nostalgia and ironic enjoyment, most notably with Lego designer Nick Vas; who helped contribute to the design of the 2017 ''
The Lego Ninjago Movie
''The Lego Ninjago Movie'' is a 2017 computer-animated martial arts comedy film produced by Warner Animation Group, RatPac Entertainment, Lego System A/S, Lin Pictures, Lord Miller Productions, and Vertigo Entertainment, and distributed by Wa ...
'' set
Ninjago
Lego Ninjago is a Lego theme that was created in 2011 and a flagship brand of The Lego Group. It is the first theme to be based on ninja since the discontinuation of the Lego Ninja theme in 2000. Whilst it retains some elements of the previous ...
City which contained a minifigure wearing a Galidor shirt, along with a Galidor sticker element featuring Nick and Allegra depicted as traditional Lego minifigures as a nod to the former series and its place in Lego history.,
The theme was referenced in ''
Lego Marvel Super Heroes
''Lego Marvel Super Heroes'' is a 2013 Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft W ...
- Guardians of the Galaxy: The Thanos Threat'' where
Star-Lord
Star-Lord (Peter Jason Quill) is a fictional character and superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character, created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan, first appeared in ''Marvel Preview'' #4 (January 1976) ...
and
Gamora
Gamora is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jim Starlin, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #180 (June 1975). Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, and ...
discussing directions should they take to reach the
Avengers
Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to:
Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe
* Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes
**Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
, Peter mentions that one of the planets is named Galidor.
Video game
An eponymous
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
adaption of ''Galidor'' was developed for
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
by
Tiertex Design Studios
Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms.
As a video game ...
, and for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
,
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
and
GameCube
The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
by Asylum Entertainment. In May 2002, publisher
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...
first displayed the Game Boy Advance and PlayStation 2 versions at
E3 2002
E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publisher ...
.
The Game Boy Advance game was released by
Lego Interactive
Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark, Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amus ...
and Electronic Arts on October 29, 2002, to the
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n market. The game received a mixed reception, with reviews usually citing repetitive gameplay and unresponsive controls. Asylum Entertainment's take on the game was initially scheduled for a release in early 2003, and in July 2003, Electronic Arts announced that would be released in September of that year;
however, on September 3, 2003, Asylum Entertainment announced that, due to financial instability, they had cancelled their ''Galidor'' game for all platforms, and laid off the game's team. The unfinished PC version was eventually found in various budget re-releases of individual Lego video games, or Lego video game bundles, released by
Focus Multimedia
Focus Multimedia Ltd is a multi-faceted publisher and retailer of video games, consumer software and mobile apps. Founded in 1995, the company is headquartered in the town of Rugeley in Staffordshire, England, and has about 30 employees.
The c ...
and
ValuSoft in Europe and North America, respectively.
[https://www.lego.com/cdn/cs/set/assets/bltd6c9fecf8bee9f9b/bits_n_bricks_s03e37_feature_and_transcript.pdf ]
References
External links
*
*
{{Fox Kids
2002 American television series debuts
2002 American television series endings
2002 Canadian television series debuts
2002 Canadian television series endings
2000s American mystery television series
2000s American science fiction television series
2000s Canadian science fiction television series
American action television series
American adventure television series
American science fiction television series
American television shows featuring puppetry
Canadian action television series
Canadian adventure television series
Canadian mystery television series
Canadian science fiction television series
Canadian television shows featuring puppetry
English-language television shows
Fox Broadcasting Company original programming
Fox Kids
YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming
Television series about teenagers
Television series reboots
2002 video games
Action-adventure games
Game Boy Advance games
Tiertex Design Studios games
Lego video games
Video game reboots
Windows games
Cancelled PlayStation 2 games
Cancelled GameCube games
Video games developed in the United Kingdom