Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Videos shown aired between February and November 1995. With Battle of the Planets having run its course on U.S. television, Sandy Frank Entertainment, still holding the rights to the original Gatchaman series, partnered with Turner Broadcasting to create a newer, more faithful adaptation of Gatchaman, which would be easier to accomplish with the newly relaxed television standards of the Reagan era-1980s. (Themes such as violence, death and destruction in cartoons were heavily edited during the 1970s.) Turner executives believed that the series still had potential, and in turn acquired the rights from Sandy Frank to begin work on what would come to be known as G-Force (the same title given to the collective group of protagonists in Battle of the Planets, which in turn would be used for the same purpose on the new version).
To develop this project, Turner enlisted the help of Fred Ladd, a pioneer in the field of translating and distributing Japanese animation in the U.S. (with famous works such as Astro Boy, Gigantor and Kimba the White Lion, under his belt) to produce the adaptation. Ladd, through his production company "Sparklin' Entertainment", put together two "test" pilot episodes chosen by Turner, and sent them in for approval. Within days, Ladd and his company were given the greenlight to produce the adaptation, and work on G-Force began in the fall of 1986. Despite it being handled by Turner & Fred Ladd, Sandy Frank ultimately held the copyrights to the series (along with international distribution rights), while Turner, through its subsidiary Turner Program Services, and King Features Entertainment held limited distribution and syndication rights.
For Turner's G-Force, none of Battle of the Planet's original elements (such as 7-Zark-7, 1-Rover-1, the concept of space travel and space battles, and all of the added American footage) were retained, replaced instead with a more accurate translation of the original Gatchaman series with far less alterations. Most of the plot, backstories, violence and deaths remained intact, only edited or "softened" with added dialogue where it was too explicit (i.e. profanity, certain on-screen gun usage, deaths via firearms and/or overly violent means and inter-team violence).
Unlike Battle of the Planets, which bounced around the Gatchaman episode order and adapted them as the producers saw fit, G-Force followed the original Gatchaman episode order for its entire run, only skipping Gatchaman episodes 81 (due to strong content) and 86 (for unknown reasons) for a total of 85 dubbed episodes. However, only the first 87 (85) of Gatchaman's 105 episodes were adapted for G-Force which resulted in the adaptation ending on a cliffhanger, with no definitive ending.
Videos shown aired between February and November 1995. With Battle of the Planets having run its course on U.S. television, Sandy Frank Entertainment, still holding the rights to the original Gatchaman series, partnered with Turner Broadcasting to create a newer, more faithful adaptation of Gatchaman, which would be easier to accomplish with the newly relaxed television standards of the Reagan era-1980s. (Themes such as violence, death and destruction in cartoons were heavily edited during the 1970s.) Turner executives believed that the series still had potential, and in turn acquired the rights from Sandy Frank to begin work on what would come to be known as G-Force (the same title given to the collective group of protagonists in Battle of the Planets, which in turn would be used for the same purpose on the new version).
To develop this project, Turner enlisted the help of Fred Ladd, a pioneer in the field of translating and distributing Japanese animation in the U.S. (with famous works such as Astro Boy, Gigantor and Kimba the White Lion, under his belt) to produce the adaptation. Ladd, through his production company "Sparklin' Entertainment", put together two "test" pilot episodes chosen by Turner, and sent them in for approval. Within days, Ladd and his company were given the greenlight to produce the adaptation, and work on G-Force began in the fall of 1986. Despite it being handled by Turner & Fred Ladd, Sandy Frank ultimately held the copyrights to the series (along with international distribution rights), while Turner, through its subsidiary Turner Program Services, and King Features Entertainment held limited distribution and syndication rights.
For Turner's G-Force, none of Battle of the Planet's original elements (such as 7-Zark-7, 1-Rover-1, the concept of space travel and space battles, and all of the added American footage) were retained, replaced instead with a more accurate translation of the original Gatchaman series with far less alterations. Most of the plot, backstories, violence and deaths remained intact, only edited or "softened" with added dialogue where it was too explicit (i.e. profanity, certain on-screen gun usage, deaths via firearms and/or overly violent means and inter-team violence).
Unlike Battle of the Planets, which bounced around the Gatchaman episode order and adapted them as the producers saw fit, G-Force followed the original Gatchaman episode order for its entire run, only skipping Gatchaman episodes 81 (due to strong content) and 86 (for unknown reasons) for a total of 85 dubbed episodes. However, only the first 87 (85) of Gatchaman's 105 episodes were adapted for G-Force which resulted in the adaptation ending on a cliffhanger, with no definitive ending.
