''The Freedom Force'' is a 1978 animated television series produced by

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and pr ...

and aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

as a segment of ''

Tarzan and the Super 7 ''Tarzan and the Super 7'' is a Saturday morning cartoon series, produced by Filmation and originally airing from 1978–1980 on CBS. The show consisted of separate installments featuring seven groups of adventurers: * ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle ...

''. It showcased a superhero team gathered by the heroine

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

from around the world to help fight evil. Isis had previously appeared in the live-action television series, ''

The Secrets of Isis ''The Secrets of Isis'', originally broadcast as ''Isis'', is an American live-action superhero television series produced by Filmation from 1975 to 1976 for CBS's Saturday morning lineup. The series was renamed ''The Secrets of Isis'' in syndic ...

'', although the actress who portrayed her,

Joanna Cameron Patricia Kara Cameron (September 20, 1948 – October 15, 2021), sometimes credited as JoAnna Cameron, was an American actress and model, perhaps best known for her portrayal of the title role on ''Isis'', a 1970s children's television series, wh ...

, did not reprise the role for the cartoon. Only five episodes of the series were produced.

Team members

Merlin Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...

* Sinbad *Super Samurai - alter ego of Toshi, a young Japanese boy. *

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

- alumnus from

the Space Sentinels ''Space Sentinels'' (originally titled ''Young Sentinels'' and renamed midway through its only season) is a Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation which debuted on the American NBC network on September 10, 1977 and ran for thirtee ...

Voice cast

* Michael Bell - Merlin; Toshi / Super Samurai; Sinbad *

Diane Pershing Diane Pershing (born May 27, 1943) is an American voice actress. She began her singing career as a back-up singer for Johnny Mathis and went on to appear in the show group, The Establishment, on tour and on TV. She also voiced Poison Ivy in th ...

- Isis * Bob Denison - Hercules

Episodes

# The Dragon Riders (written by Don Heckman) - The Freedom Force must end a war between two tribes who dogfight in the air. # The Scarlet Samurai (written by Gerry Boudreau) - Toshi's new friend is jealous of his powers, and an evil wizard plans to exploit this for revenge against the boy's father, a wizard who defeated the evil wizard long ago. # The Plant Soldiers (written by Tom Swale) - An evil wizard steals the Necklace of

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He was ...

using it to control the Nile and a magical army of walking plant soldiers. # Pegasus' Odyssey (written by Gerry Boudreau) - Pegasus is captured by an evil sorceress out to seek revenge on Hercules. # The Robot (written by

Buzz Dixon Buzz Dixon (December 7, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, film, and cartoons. He has written comics for multiple companies, including Eclipse Comics (where he wrote ''Destroyer Duck'' alongside Steve Gerber), Marvel Comics, and a ''Bu ...

) - An inventor's mechanical giant is out to prove itself more powerful than the Freedom Force.

Home media

BCI Eclipse LLC (under its Ink & Paint classic animation entertainment brand) (under license from

Entertainment Rights Entertainment Rights PLC (formally known as Sleepy Kids) was a British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that specialized in TV-shows and cartoons, children’s media, films, and distribution. In May 2009, the company was ...

) released all 5 episodes of ''The Freedom Force'' on DVD in Region 1 on August 22, 2006, along with all 13 episodes of ''

Space Sentinels ''Space Sentinels'' (originally titled ''Young Sentinels'' and renamed midway through its only season) is a Saturday morning animated series produced by Filmation which debuted on the American NBC network on September 10, 1977 and ran for thirtee ...

'', presented uncut, digitally remastered for optimum audio and video quality, and in story continuity order, an earlier series that featured several of the same characters. The digitally-remastered presentation features scripts and

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...

tracks for all 5 episodes, a gallery featuring original images, early presentation images, trivia and interviews with creators Lou Scheimer, Buzz Dixon, Darrell McNeil, Michael Reaves, Robert Kline and David Wise, as well as numerous special features related to ''Space Sentinels'' and Filmation in general. As of 2009, this release has been discontinued and is out of print as BCI Eclipse has ceased operations. In addition, a single episode, "The Plant Soldiers", was included as a bonus feature on the DVD release of the live-action ''

'' series.

References

External links

Freedom Force Entry at International Super Heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedom Force, The (Tv series) 1970s American animated television series 1978 American television series debuts 1978 American television series endings American children's animated superhero television series American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series CBS original programming Superhero teams Television series by Filmation Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios Crossover animated television series