Eagle Riders

Eagle Riders (also known as Saban's Eagle Riders) is an American animated television adaptation of the Japanese anime series Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter, which have been combined together.[2] It was produced by Saban Entertainment.[3][4] All 65 episodes aired in Australia on Network Ten from August 14, 1997, to December 4, 1997.[5][6] In the United States, 13 episodes had previously aired in first-run syndication during the fall of 1996 and 1997.[7][8]

Eagle Riders
Also known as	Saban's Eagle Riders
Based on	Gatchaman II and Gatchaman Fighter by Ippei Kuri
Written by	R.D. Smithee Marc Handler Dayna Barron Melora Harte Michael Sorich Richard Epcar Ronni Pear Steve Kramer Tom Wyner Winston Richard
Voices of	Dena Burton Richard Cansino Lara Cody Bryan Cranston R. Martin Klein Heidi Lenhart Mona Marshall Greg O'Neill Paul Schrier Peter Spellos
Theme music composer	Shuki Levy Kussa Mahchi Jeremy Sweet
Composers	Shuki Levy Kussa Mahchi Larry Seymour[1]
Country of origin	United States Japan
Original language	English
No. of episodes	65 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Eric S. Rollman
Producer	Rita M. Acosta
Production company	Saban Entertainment
Distributor	Saban International (later BVS International)
Release
Original network	First-run syndication (1996) Network Ten (1997)
Original release	September 9, 1996 – December 4, 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,[9] and recorded their dub afterwards.[10] In a 2006 interview, one of the writers, Marc Handler, stated that Eagle Riders was "not a good rendition", and that the scripts often lacked continuity with each other.[11] 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.[12]

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 and Larry Seymour.[13] 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 Saban Entertainment.[14][15] At the time, the two programs attracted minor controversy. A 1997 report on violence in television by UCLA 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."[16]

Even after the syndication run had ended, the initial 13 episodes were still being aired on certain local stations as late as summer 1997,[17][18] before the remaining 52 episodes saw a release in Australia from August 1997 to December 1997.[19] They aired at 7.30am Mondays to Thursdays on the morning cartoon block Cheez TV.[6] Eagle Riders has never been released on home video or streaming, and currently only exists via US and Australian television recordings.

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."[19] He also states that "the new background music is intrusive and doesn't compare to Hoyt Curtin's work in Battle of the Planets, but it is an improvement over the original G-II background music."[19]

Stations

City	Station
Boston	WLVI 56[20]
Chicago	WFLD 32[21]
Cincinnati	WSTR 64[22]
Fort Pierce	WTVX 34[23]
Fort Myers	WFTX 36[24]
Hartford	WTIC 61[25]
New York	WPIX 11[26]
Orlando	WKCF 18[27]
Pittsburgh	WPTT 22[28]
Portland	WPXT 51[29]
Providence	WNAC 64[30]
Salinas	KCBA 35[31]
San Francisco	KOFY 20[32]
St. Petersburg	WTTA 38[33]

Episodes

Character variations

Team variations in different versions

Gatchaman	Battle of the Planets	G-Force	Eagle Riders	OVA (Harmony Gold dub)	Rank	Bird Uniform	Weapon	Mecha	Voice actor (Gatchaman)	Voice actor (Gatchaman OVA)	Voice actor (BOTP)	Voice actor (G-Force)	Voice actor (Harmony Gold OVA dub)	Voice actor (Eagle Riders)	Voice actor (ADV TV/Sentai OVA dub)
Ken Washio	Mark	Ace Goodheart	Hunter Harris	Ken the Eagle	G1	Eagle	Razor boomerang	Airplane	Katsuji Mori	Masaya Onosaka	Casey Kasem	Sam Fontana	Eddie Frierson	Richard Cansino	Leraldo Anzaldua
George "Joe" Asakura	Jason	Dirk Daring	Joseph "Joe" Thax	Joe the Condor	G2	Condor	Pistol	Race Car	Isao Sasaki	Kōji Ishii	Ronnie Schell	Cam Clarke	Richard Cansino	Bryan Cranston	Brian Jepson
Jun	Princess	Agatha "Aggie" June	Kelly Jennar	June the Swan	G3	Swan	Yo-yo	Motorcycle	Kazuko Sugiyama	Michiko Neya	Janet Waldo	Barbara Goodson	Lara Cody	Heidi Noelle Lenhart	Kim Prause
Jinpei	Keyop	Pee Wee	Mickey Dugan	Jimmy the Falcon	G4	Swallow	Bolo	Dune Buggy	Yoku Shioya	Rica Matsumoto	Alan Young	Barbara Goodson	Mona Marshall	Mona Marshall	Luci Christian
Ryu Nakanishi	Tiny Harper	Hoot "Hooty" Owl	Ollie Keeawani	Rocky the Owl	G5	Owl	Pistol	God Phoenix	Shingo Kanemoto	Fumihiko Tachiki	Alan Dinehart	Jan Rabson/ Gregg Berger	Richard Epcar	Paul Schrier	Victor Carsrud

Other character variations across different versions

Gatchaman	Battle of the Planets	G-Force	Eagle Riders	OVA (Harmony Gold Dub)	Voice actor (Gatchaman)	Voice actor (Gatchaman OVA)	Voice actor (BOTP)	Voice actor (G-Force)	Voice actor (Eagle Riders)	Voice actor (Harmony Gold OVA dub)	Voice actor (ADV TV/Sentai OVA dub)
Dr. Kozaburo Nambu-hakase	Chief Anderson	Dr. Benjamin Brighthead	Dr. Thaddeus Keane	Dr. Kozaburo Nambu	Tōru Ōhira	Alan Dinehart	Jan Rabson/Gregg Berger	Ikuya Sawaki	Michael McConnohie	Greg O'Neill	Andy McAvin
ISO Director Anderson	President Kane	Anderson / Cmdr. Todd (some episodes)	Anderson	Director Anderson	Teiji Ōmiya	Michael Rye	Jan Rabson/Gregg Berger	Yonehiko Kitagawa	Michael Forest		Marty Fleck
Red Impulse / Kentaro Washio	Col. Cronos	Red Impulse / Kendrick Goodheart	Red Impulse / Harley Harris	Red Spectre / Kentaro Washio		Keye Luke	Cam Clarke	Unshō Ishizuka	Bob Papenbrook		John Tyson
Berg Katse	Zoltar	Galactor	Lukan	Solaris	Mikio Terashima	Keye Luke	Bill Capizzi	Kaneto Shiozawa	R. Martin Klein		Edwin Neal
Sosai (Leader) X	O Luminous One / The Great Spirit	Computor	Cybercom	Lord Zortek	Nobuo Tanaka	Keye Luke	Jan Rabson/Gregg Berger	Nobuo Tanaka	Ralph Votrais	Peter Spellos	Winston Parish
Gel Sadra			Mallanox		Masaru Ikeda						R. Martin Klein
Sylvie Pandora-hakase			Dr. Francine Aikens		Dr. Sylvie Pandora	Miyuka Ieda					Lara Cody
Announcer						Hideo Kinoshita/Shūsei Nakamura	William Woodson (Main) / Alan Young (Zark)	Norm Prescott			George Manley

Other notable changes

Variations	Gatchaman (Japanese)	Battle of the Planets	Guardians of Space	Eagle Riders	OVA (English, Harmony Gold)	Gatchaman (English)
Identity change command	Bird, go!‡	Transmute!	G-Force, transform!	Eagle Mode, now!	Ken Eagle One, transform! Joe Shapeshift, Condor! June Swan Mode, now! Jimmy Falcon Tracker, transform!	Bird, go!
Enemy planet	Selectol	Spectra	Galactor	Vorak	Galactor	Selectol
Enemy civilization	Galactor (Gyarakutā)	Spectra	Galactor	Vorak	Galactor	Galactor

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

Production staff

• Owned and distributed by: Saban Entertainment
• Executive Producer: Eric S. Rollman
• Producer & Story Editor: Rita M. Acosta
• Writer (ADR Script): R.D. Smithee, Marc Handler
• Voice Directors: Richard Epcar, Steve Kramer, Heidi Noelle Lenhart (uncredited), Michael Sorich
• 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: Shuki Levy, 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
• Joe Thax: Bryan Cranston
• Kelly Jenar: Heidi Noelle Lenhart
• Mickey Dugan: Mona Marshall
• Ollie Keeawani: Paul Schrier
• Dr.Thaddeus Keane: Greg O'Neill
• Dr.Francine Aikens: Lara Cody
• Auto: Dena Burton
• Mallanox: R. Martin Klein
• Cybercon: Peter Spellos
• Misc. (uncredited): Joshua Seth,[34] Bob Bergen,[35] Julie Maddalena, Richard Epcar

References

1. "Resume" (PDF). www.larryseymour.com. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
2. Barder, Ollie. "'Gatchaman Complete Collection' BluRay Review". Retrieved 20 December 2016.
3. "RIAP Writes". EX. Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
4. "RIAP Writes". EX. Archived from the original on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
5. Pierce, George (2018). Introducing Translational Studies. Scientific e-Resources. p. 240. ISBN 9781839473005. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
6. "Gatchaman in Australia and New Zealand". Oocities.org. 1997-08-14. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
7. Trish, Ledoux; Ranney, Doug (1997). The Complete Anime Guide: Japanese Animation Film Directory & Resource Guide. Tiger Mountain Press.
8. "Editor's Note". EX. Archived from the original on 2007-10-27. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
9. Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Trademarks. U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office. 1995.
10. "FAQ". www.grnrngr.com. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
11. 2006 interview with Marc Handler, Anime World Order Show
12. van Heerden, Bill (2008). Film and Television In-Jokes: Nearly 2,000 Intentional References, Parodies, Allusions, Personal Touches, Cameos, Spoofs and Homages. McFarland. p. 264.
13. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 122–124. ISBN 978-1476665993.
14. Animerica, October 1996 (Volume 4, Number 10)
15. "TV's Fall Animation Lineup". Awn.com. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
16. "Television violence report" (PDF). www.digitalcenter.org. 1997. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
17. Sandusky Register, Jun 18, 1997, p. 34
18. Hays Daily News, Aug 8, 1997, p. 21
19. https://www.absoluteanime.com/eagle_riders/
20. "Retro: Boston/Providence/Manchester, Sunday, Dec 1, 1996". Radio Discussions. December 1, 2019.
21. "Retro: Chicago TV - Fall 1996 - 9/21 - Saturday". Radio Discussions. February 27, 2012.
22. "Cincinnati/Dayton Sat, Mar 1, 1997". Bluenoser's TV Listings Archive. February 23, 2016.
23. "Retro: Boca Raton, FL, Saturday, June 7, 1997". Radio Discussions. May 24, 2019.
24. "Retro: Tampa Bay/Southwest Florida Sat, July 12, 1997". Radio Discussions. July 16, 2009.
25. "Retro: Hartford New Haven TV - Spring 1997 - Fox 61 UPN 20 WB 59 WTWS 26". Radio Discussions. April 18, 2006.
26. "New York City Sun, Sept 22, 1996". Bluenoser's TV Listings Archive. September 24, 2016.
27. "RETRO: ORLANDO - 11/03/1996". Radio Discussions. November 22, 2011.
28. "RETRO: PITTSBURGH - 9/28/1996". Radio Discussions. October 27, 2011.
29. "Retro: Bangor, ME, Sunday, May 25, 1997". Radio Discussions. August 5, 2017.
30. "Retro: Boston/Manchester/Providence: Saturday, September 28, 1996". Radio Discussions. May 31, 2020.
31. "Retro: San Francisco Bay Area, Sat. July 5th, 1997". Radio Discussions. October 25, 2017.
32. "Retro: San Francisco Bay Area, Sun. July 6th, 1997". Radio Discussions. August 10, 2017.
33. "Retro: Orlando, Sat. August 16th, 1997". Radio Discussions. December 20, 2015.
34. "Joshua Seth biography". Film Reference. Retrieved 2009-06-07.
35. "Interview with Derek Stephen Prince". Film Reference. Retrieved 2009-06-07.

Further reading

• G-Force: Animated (TwoMorrows Publishing: ISBN 978-1-893905-18-4)

External links

• Eagle Riders at IMDb
• Eagle Riders at TV.com
• Eagle Riders (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia