''Space Angel'' is an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

produced in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from early 1962 through 1964. It used the same Synchro-Vox lip technique as ''

Clutch Cargo ''Clutch Cargo'' is an American animated television series created by cartoonist Clark Haas and produced by Cambria Productions, and syndicated beginning on March 9, 1959. The series was notable for its limited animation yet imaginative stories ...

'', the first cartoon produced by the same studio, Cambria Productions. The show was created by Dick Darley, who also created the 1950-1955 live-action series '' Space Patrol''. The series chronicled the adventures of three

astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

who worked for the Earth Bureau of Investigation's Interplanetary Space Force on board the spaceship ''Starduster'': Captain/Pilot Scott McCloud, also known as "the Space Angel" (

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer ...

by Ned Lefebver), Electronics/Communications expert Crystal Mace (voiced by

Margaret Kerry Margaret Kerry (née Lynch; born May 11, 1929) is an American screen actress, dancer, voice artist, camera double, radio producer, director and host and media personality, best known for her work as a model for Walt Disney Pictures, where she ser ...

), and the immensely strong Scottish-born Gunner/Engineer Taurus (voiced by Hal Smith).

Setting and themes

The character name the Space Angel was a secret identity. Scott McCloud had an eyepatch; when he appeared as Space Angel, he would lower the dark-tinted visor on his helmet to conceal his identity. Apart from the use of Synchro-Vox, animation was very limited, but the static panel art by the renowned

Alex Toth Alexander Toth (June 25, 1928 – May 27, 2006) was an American cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but he is also known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout ...

was often well-drawn. Story lines were serialized over five episodes which ran 5 minutes each, the idea being that stations could show one episode per weekday, with the climax coming on Friday.

Cliffhanger A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...

s were sometimes used, as in an episode with McCloud finding a derelict spacecraft beyond the light barrier, looking inside and exclaiming "Oh my God!" Another memorable sequence occurred with the heroes involved in a best two-of-three

gladiator A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

battle, using future visions of

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

combat. There were several episodes involving space combat between the Interplanetary Space Force and various enemies. After the Space Angel and his crew had discovered the villains' plans or forces, he would call in reinforcements made up of one or more squadrons of the ISF. Squadrons were organized by planetary patrol areas such as the Venusian Squadron, Mars Squadron, etc. The identifying squadron symbols on the ISF ships were the ones used in astronomy charts of the time to identify the planets, such as the female symbol for the Venusian Squadron, the male symbol for the Mars Squadron and a circle with an enclosed plus sign for the Earth Squadron. The main antagonists in the show were the Anthenians, who were modelled on a combination of

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...

and

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

; their home planet is shown in the episode involving the gladiatorial games. The city looks like Rome, including a Colosseum. The civilians are dressed in togas and the soldiers are wearing a combination of Greek/Roman armor with Corinthian-style helmets. They are armed with blaster rifles. Another antagonist is Zorra, the Evil Queen of Space, who resembled

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in whic ...

, and her henchmen, "the General" and "the Major", who all spoke with Central European accents. Predating the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' episode "

Balance of Terror The phrase "balance of terror" is usually, but not invariably,Rich Miller, Simon Kennedy'G-20 Plans to End 'Financial Balance of Terror' After Summit,'Bloomberg 27 February 2009. used in reference to the nuclear arms race between the United State ...

", their claim to fame is an invisible spaceship they use to disrupt interstellar trade. In the opening sequence of "Space Hijackers (Solar Mirror)" a delta-winged spacecraft, the ''Starduster'', docks with a space station. The ship matches velocity and rotation with the station and is talked in with instrument assist. This sequence foreshadows the space dock sequence of the delta-winged Orion from

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

's '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', which would be made seven years later. The ''Starduster'' contains a smaller vessel, a space fighter flown by the Space Angel, which looks like the

XF-92 The Convair XF-92 (re-designated from XP-92 in 1948) was an American, delta wing, first-generation jet prototype. Originally conceived as a point-defence interceptor, the design was later used purely for experimental purposes and only one was ...

and is about the same size, though with a pointed nose. It is called the "Space Dart". The first season theme music is credited to Geordie Hormel. The second season theme music was written by Walter Greene and was originally used in Roger Corman's film '' War of the Satellites'' (1958).

Episodes

There are 52 ''Space Angel'' stories, each in five parts, totaling 260 episodes.

''Space Angel'' in other media

drew a ''Space Angel'' six-page story for children's magazine '' Jack & Jill'' in 1963 to promote the ''Space Angel'' cartoon. The episode "The Gladiators" was featured on ''

Cinema Insomnia ''Cinema Insomnia'' is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo. Format Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic (such as ''Creatu ...

''. On July 29, 2008, VCI Entertainment released a DVD that contained nine ''Space Angel'' stories.

References

External links

''Space Angel'' collection at the Internet Archive

''Space Angel'' at the Big Cartoon Database

* {{imdb title, id=0264997, title=Space Angel 1960s American animated television series 1962 American television series debuts 1964 American television series endings American children's animated science fiction television series American children's animated space adventure television series English-language television shows Television series about astronauts Television series by Cambria Productions