''Eagle Riders'' (also known as Saban's Eagle Riders) is an animated television adaptation of the Japanese

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series '' Gatchaman II'' and ''

Gatchaman Fighter is the direct sequel to ''Gatchaman II''. In the continuing saga, a surviving fragment of Leader X mutates into Leader Z, and recruits megalomaniac Count Egobossler to create an army to conquer the world. In order to defeat this new enemy, th ...

'', which have been combined. It was produced by

Saban Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and ...

. 65 episodes aired in Australia on Network Ten from August 14, 1997, to December 4, 1997. In the United States, 13 episodes had previously aired in first-run syndication during the fall of 1996 and 1997.

Premise

Earth is under siege from the alien menace known only by the name Cybercon and its legion of android forces, the Vorak. The Global Security Council convenes to address this problem, and calls upon Dr. Thaddeus Keane for assistance. They remember the aid they had received from Keane's special force, the Eagle Riders, in years past. Keane assures them that the Eagle Riders are still together, still strong, and armed with brand new weapons.

Production

Saban first trademarked the show's name in 1995, and recorded their dub afterwards. In a 2006 interview, one of the writers,

Marc Handler Marc Handler is an American writer, producer and voice director best known for his work on '' Cowboy Bebop'', ''Astro Boy'', ''FLCL'', ''Stitch & Ai'', and ''Voltron''. He is a pioneer in bringing Asian animation to Western audiences, and is the ...

, stated that ''Eagle Riders'' was "not a good rendition", and that the scripts often lacked continuity with each other. Several episodes were credited as being written by R.D. Smithee, a pseudonym similar to the Alan Smithee pseudonym that has been used when writers and directors are too ashamed to have their names credited in projects they have worked on.

Adaptations and changes

Both series were heavily edited when it came to the adaptation process, with controversial elements removed, as well as the entire soundtrack being replaced with a new one by

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as '' The Real Ghostbuster ...

and Larry Seymour and the entire sound effects being replaced with new ones. As with previous English adaptations of ''Gatchaman'', character names and terms were also changed in the localization. One notable example of the changes made to the series is the removal of Mallanox (Gel Sadra)'s origin and transformation, which happened in the premiere episode of the original ''Gatchaman II''. The character was also changed from female to male, though her correct gender and origin were reinstated in later dub episodes. Another change, made to segue the two series together, involved the finale of ''Gatchaman II'' and the first episode of ''Gatchaman Fighter'' being merged, as well as the death of Gel Sadra being cut. Instead, Mallanox is said to have been transformed into a new form, named Happy Boy (originally, the ''Gatchaman Fighter'' villain Count Egobossler). The final eight episodes of ''Gatchaman Fighter'' were never translated, due to the objectionable content involved. Instead, the 15th episode of ''Gatchaman Fighter'' served as the series finale.

Release and reception

During its 1996–97 syndication run in the US, the show was being aired alongside the first season of '' Dragon Ball Z'', another anime that had been adapted in conjunction with

. At the time, the two programs attracted minor controversy. A 1997 report on violence in television by

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

stated that "''Eagle Riders'' and ''Dragon Ball Z'' both contain images of mean-spirited, glorified fighting. One episode of ''Eagle Riders'' shows a hero viciously throwing metal stars in the faces of different villains." Even after the syndication run had ended, the initial 13 episodes were still being aired on certain local stations as late as summer 1997, before the remaining 52 episodes saw a release in Australia from August 1997 to December 1997. They aired at 7.30am Mondays to Thursdays on the morning cartoon block

Cheez TV ''Cheez TV'' was an Australian children's cartoon show, hosted by Ryan Lappin and Jade Gatt, that aired on weekday mornings on Network Ten. It began broadcasting on 17 July 1995 and it ended on 31 December 2004 with the presenters leaving. A ...

. Some episodes that never aired in the USA were shown at the 1997 GachaCon fan convention, which had ''Eagle Riders'' producer Rita Acosta as a guest. Ken Innes of ''Absolute Anime'' wrote in his review, "The first thirteen episodes were a nearly straight translation of ''Gatchaman II'' with a few embellishments .. If there is any hope for a further US release, it will be on cable. Unfortunately, it appears this is as good as it gets. I had the opportunity to preview some of the later episodes in July 1997. They were a major disappointment." He also states that "the new background music is intrusive and doesn't compare to

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with '' The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his re ...

's work in ''Battle of the Planets'', but it is an improvement over the original ''G-II'' background music."

Stations

Home video

''Eagle Riders'' has never been released on home video or streaming, and only exists via US and Australian television recordings. The current American ownership of the series is unclear, but all of Saban's rights to the ''Gatchaman'' property were originally set to expire on September 7, 2004. However, in 2001 Saban was purchased by

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, with Disney presumably losing the rights in 2004.

Episodes

Character variations

Team variations in different versions

Other character variations across different versions

Other notable changes

‡The original Japanese-language version of Gatchaman contains a small amount of words in English.

Production staff

*Owned and distributed by:

*Executive Producer: Eric S. Rollman *Producer & Story Editor: Rita M. Acosta *Writer (ADR Script): R.D. Smithee,

*Voice Directors:

Richard Epcar Richard Epcar is an American voice actor, voice director, and writer who has voiced over 1,200 characters in animation, video games and anime. Some of his major roles include Raiden in the ''Mortal Kombat'' franchise, The Joker in several proje ...

, Steve Kramer,

Heidi Noelle Lenhart Heidi Lenhart is an American actress best known for her lead role in the ''Au Pair'' film series and the sitcom ''California Dreams''. Family She is the daughter of Cheryl Saban and Ray Lenhart, a disc jockey. She has an older sister, Tifani ...

(uncredited),

Michael Sorich Michael John Sorich ( , born March 23, 1958) is an American actor, writer and director. Biography Sorich has been a prominent and ever-present voice actor for many different characters in the ''Power Rangers'' franchise (until the end of the '' W ...

*Production Assistant & ADR Coordinator: Gregory C. Ireland *Executive in Charge of Sound Operations: Clive H. Mizumoto *Sound Operations Manager: Xavier Garcia *Sound Effects Editors: Keith Dickens, Martin Flores, Zoli Osaze, Ron Salaises, John Valentino *Re-Recording Mixers: Michael Beirenger (uncredited), Mark Ettel, R.D. Floyd, Wayne T. O'Brien *ADR Recordists: Carl Lange, Kevin Newson, David W. Barr *Foley Artists: Susan Lewis (uncredited), Kalea Morton, Taryn Simone *Audio Assistants: Brian Densmore, Andrew Kines, Don Sexton *Music by:

, Kussa Mahchi *Executive in Charge of Music: Ron Kenan *Music Supervisor: Lloyd Michael Cook II *Music Editors: Barron Abramovitch, Bill Filipiak *Music Engineer: Barron Abramovitch *Second Engineers: James Dijulio, Frank Bailey-Meier *Music Assistants: Jeremy Sweet, Tim Gosselin *Offline Editor: Terry Marlin *Video Traffic Coordinator: Jerry Buetnner *Post Production Audio: Advantage Audio *Sound Effects Editor: Robert Duran *Dialogue Editor: Robbi Smith *Music Editor: Marc S. Perlman *Audio Transfer: J. Lampinen *Re-Recording Mixers: Fil Brown, Ray Leonard, Mike Beiriger, Jim Hodson, Mellisa Gentry-Ellis *Online Editors: Michael Hutchinson, Harvey Landy (Hollywood Digital Inc.), John Bowen, David Crosthwait (Modern Videofilm) *Telecine: Lee Ann Went (Varitel Inc.), Greg Hamlin (Film Technology, LA), Larry Field (Editel), Brent Eldridge (Ame, Inc.) *Post Production Supervisor: John Bryant *Post Production Coordinator: Francesca Weiss *Executive in Charge of Production: Dana C. Booton

Voice cast

*Hunter Harris:

Richard Cansino Richard Elias Cansino (born August 10, 1953) is an American voice actor. He is also known as Richard Hayworth because he is the nephew of Rita Hayworth. Richard is best known for his voice work as Kenshin Himura in the anime adaptation of ''Rurou ...

*Joe Thax:

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–20 ...

*Kelly Jenar:

*Mickey Dugan:

Mona Marshall Mona Marshall is an American voice actress, known for her work in a number of cartoons, anime shows, films and video games. Her major credits include ''South Park'', where she voices many of the female characters on the show; '' Fraggle Rock: The ...

*Ollie Keeawani:

Paul Schrier Paul Schrier II (born June 1, 1970) is an American actor, director, and artist. He is known for his role of Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier in the ''Power Rangers'' series. He portrayed the character for seven seasons from 1993–1999, returning in 20 ...

*Dr.Thaddeus Keane: Greg O'Neill *Dr.Francine Aikens:

Lara Cody Lara Cody is an American voice actress. She also goes under the name Deanna Morris and is best known for voicing Rosemary in '' Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty'' and '' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots''. Roles Anime *''A Little S ...

*Auto: Dena Burton *Mallanox:

R. Martin Klein R. Martin Klein is an American theater, film, and voice actor who went under the alias name Bob Marx in his earlier dubbing work during the '90s. He's best known for playing Gomamon/Ikkakumon in '' Digimon: Digital Monsters'', Fukurou in ''Noein ...

*Cybercon:

Peter Spellos Peter Spellos is an American voice actor. Notable roles Animated Television Series * BattleTech: The Animated Series - Captain Miles Hawkins * Bureau of Alien Detectors - Moose Trengganu Anime * '' Black Jack'' - Mr. Brane * ''Bleach'' - ...

*Misc. (uncredited): Joshua Seth,

Bob Bergen Robert Bergen (born March 8, 1964) is an American voice actor. He voices Warner Bros. cartoon characters Porky Pig and Tweety and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted the children's game show '' Jep!'', ...

Julie Maddalena Julia Maddalena is an American voice actress who has worked on dubs of Japanese anime, cartoons, and video games. Some of her major voice roles are Silvia Maruyama from ''Ground Defense Force! Mao-chan'', Arusu from ''Tweeny Witches'', Hikaru Shi ...

References

External links