Voltron is an animated television series franchise that features a team of space explorers who pilot a giant super robot known as "Voltron". Produced by Peter Keefe (executive producer) and Ted Koplar through his production company World Events Productions, Voltron was an adaptation of several Japanese anime television series from Toei Animation. The original television series aired in syndication from September 10, 1984, to November 18, 1985. The first season of Voltron, featuring the "Lion Force Voltron", was adapted from the series Beast King GoLion. The second season, featuring the "Vehicle Team Voltron", was adapted from the unrelated series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.
Voltron: Defender of the Universe was the top-rated syndicated children's show for two years during its original run, and it spawned three follow-up series, several comic books, and a line of toys.
Television series
Lion Force Voltron ("Voltron of the Far Universe"; Voltron III)
The first series was primarily edited from Beast King GoLion (), and it features a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions which can be combined to form Voltron. In this undefined future era, the Voltron Force is in charge of protecting the planet Arus (ruled by Princess Allura) from the evil King Zarkon (from planet Doom), his son Lotor, and the witch Haggar, who creates huge "ro-beasts" to terrorize the Arusian people. Despite being the first of the two robots to appear on American television, the "GoLion" version of Voltron was regarded as "Voltron III" within the storyline because, within the original planned three-Voltron continuity, Arus was the furthest setting from Earth's side of the universe ("Voltron I" being intended for the Near Universe, and "Voltron II" being intended for the Middle Universe).
Vehicle Team Voltron ("Voltron of the Near Universe"; Voltron I) The second series was primarily edited from Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (), with the storyline considerably changed. In this iteration of Voltron, the Galaxy Alliance's home planets are now overcrowded, and a fleet of explorers is sent to search for new planets to colonize. Along the way, they attract the attention of the evil Drule Empire, long engaged in an ongoing war against the Alliance, and the Drule proceed to interfere with the mission of the explorers and the colonists. Since the Arusian Voltron is too far away to help these explorers, a totally new Voltron has to be constructed to battle the Drule threat.
This Voltron Force consists of fifteen members, divided into three teams of five, known respectively as the Land, Sea, and Air Teams. Each team is specialized in gathering data or fighting in their area of expertise. Each team can combine their vehicles into a bigger machine. When necessary, all fifteen vehicles combine to form the mighty Voltron. However, the Vehicle Team Voltron only had enough stored energy to operate for five minutes at a time.
In the toy line, this Voltron was referred to as Voltron I because it was set closest to Earth.
Gladiator Voltron ("Voltron of the Middle Universe"; Voltron II) The proposed third season was to have been based on . The series would have centered around three teenage geniuses who each created a humanoid robot that were then modified for battle to combat an alien threat. Unlike the Lion Force Voltron or the Vehicle Force Voltron, both of whom were composed of machines that combined to form them, Gladiator Voltron's three components actually disassembled and reassembled into one large robot. This allowed for multiple different combinations with different functions and skills depending on the situation. There were also three jets that the team members would fly into hatches on the backs of their robots to pilot them that could also combine into one large jet, which were later replaced with other jets that could transform into smaller bipedal robots and could also combine to form a larger robot. Although Matchbox did produce and market toy versions of the three robots (Black Alpha, Blue Beta, Red Gamma) under the "Voltron II" name, the series never actually aired. Due to the extreme popularity of the Lion Force Voltron and the lack of popularity of the Vehicle Team Voltron series, World Events Productions eventually elected against another alternate Voltron, and plans to adapt Albegas were aborted.
Voltron: Fleet of Doom (1986)
In 1986, World Events hired Toei Animation to produce the one-off crossover television special Voltron: Fleet of Doom, which mixed in GoLion and Dairugger XV footage with new animation. The special was made for the international market and, as of the middle of September 2016, it had not been released in Japan.