The Legend of Zelda: The Animated Series

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The Legend of Zelda Franchise
Legend of Zelda + Zelda II + A Link to the Past + Link's Awakening + Ocarina of Time + Majora's Mask + Oracle of Ages + Oracle of Seasons
Four Swords + The Wind Waker + Four Swords Adventure + The Minish Cap + Twilight Princess + Phantom Hourglass + The Animated Series


The Legend of Zelda

Franchise: The Legend of Zelda
Publisher: Nintendo
Premier Date: Sept. 15th 1989
Canceled Date: Dec. 8th 1989
Syndication Dates: 1989 - 1990
Running Time: 15 Min.
No. of Episodes: 13
DVD Release: Oct. 18th 2005

Contents

[edit] Show premise

Each episode of Zelda followed the adventures of the hero Link and the royal Princess Zelda as they defended the kingdom of Hyrule from an evil wizard named Ganon. Most episodes consisted of Ganon (or his minions) either attempting to capture the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda, kidnap Zelda herself, or use some other villainous scheme to conquer Hyrule.

A common running joke of the series was Link’s repeated failure to convince Zelda that he deserved a kiss for his heroic deeds (whenever it seemed they were going to kiss, something bad would happen, or Link would say or do something that put Zelda off). Link’s fairy friend, Sprite, was always willing to give him a kiss for free, but due to her small size he never seemed to take serious notice. This theme was most likely inspired by the final moments of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and may itself have influenced the common belief that Link and Zelda are romantically involved in the subsequent games, an idea only rarely hinted at in the games themselves.

Link usually met Zelda’s obstinate rejection with his trademark sarcastic catchphrase, “Well! Excuuuuuse me, Princess!” which became popular in gamer culture of the period. This line was possibly adopted from the standup comedy ofSteve Martin due to his popularity at the time.


[edit] North American Releases

The Zelda cartoons were first shown every Friday as part of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, from 1989 to 1990. The Super Show introduction and live action sequences were kept intact, as they were the base format for the series, but Zelda was shown in place of the animated Super Mario Bros. series which ran during the rest of the week. Each episode ran around fifteen minutes. The series was produced by DiC Entertainment, and were made in association with Nintendo of America. Due to the syndicated nature of the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, only one season of sixty-five episodes was made, and Zelda was aborted after only thirteen episodes. However, the characters of Link and Zelda, together with their original voice actors (Jonathan Potts and Cynthia Preston, respectively), were later transplanted into Captain N: The Game Master, also produced by DiC Entertainment.

Along side the Super Mario Bros. cartoon, Zelda was first released to the public in the form of two-episode VHS tapes in the early 1990s. Only three volumes were issued, and the color of the VHS slipcases attempted to match the gold color of the original NES games.

The initial release of Zelda on DVD was by the animation company Allumniation Filmworks, in the early 2000s. The first DVD, Ganon's Evil Tower, was released on July 22, 2003. It included three episodes of the Zelda cartoon and two episodes of Sonic Underground. The second DVD was released on September 27, 2005 and was titled Havoc in Hyrule. This DVD contained a further five Zelda episodes.

The complete Zelda series was subsequently released on October 18, 2005 by Shout Factory, and included extra bonus features such as interactive DVD games and line art from the series.

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] Episodes

  1. The Ringer (Originally Aired 9/15/1989)
  2. Cold Spells (Originally Aired 9/22/1989)
  3. The White Knight (Originally Aired 9/29/1989)
  4. Kiss ’N Tell (Originally Aired 10/6/1989)
  5. Sing for the Unicorn (Originally Aired 10/13/1989)
  6. That Sinking Feeling (Originally Aired 10/20/1989)
  7. Doppelganger (Originally Aired 10/27/1989)
  8. Underworld Connections (Originally Aired 11/3/1989)
  9. Stinging a Stinger (Originally Aired 11/10/1989)
  10. A Hitch in the Works (Originally Aired 11/17/1989)
  11. Fairies in the Spring (Originally Aired 11/24/1989)
  12. The Missing Link (Originally Aired 12/1/1989)
  13. The Moblins are Revolting (Originally Aired 12/8/1989)

[edit] Trivia

  • The incarnations of Link and Zelda from this series also made appearances in three episodes of the cartoon Captain N: The Game Master, "Having a Ball", "The Trogan Dragon", and "Quest for the Potion of Power". Ganon also appears in Quest for the Potion of Power.
  • Zelda actually does kiss Link in the Captain N series - albeit only on the cheek.
  • Link is right-handed in the cartoon, but left-handed in most Zelda video games. The cartoon keeps with medieval tradition, in which the sword was kept in the right hand, while the left was normally used for shield defense. However, in every Zelda game except for the Wii version of Twilight Princess, Link is left-handed.
  • Link carries a sword in the series but never actually stabs anyone with it, and rarely even attempts to. This was perhaps due to broadcast standards and practices of the time. Instead, Link shoots pink beams from his sword, as he does in the first Legend of Zelda game when he has full hearts.
  • Zelda is a blonde in the cartoon, although she had red hair in both The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link. However, in all of the other Zelda games, she is portrayed with blonde hair. Link, on the other hand, has brown hair in the cartoon just as he did in The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link, however in later games, his hair color, like Zelda's, was changed to blonde.
  • Link did not have a fairy sidekick in The Legend of Zelda and The Adventure of Link (though fairies were prevalent), but has one in this series named "Sprite". Years later, in Ocarina of Time, Link would be given a fairy sidekick named "Navi", whose voice is nearly identical to Sprite's.
  • In episode 7, "Doppelganger", Link is whistling the Super Mario Bros. theme while practicing his swordplay skills.
  • Clips previewing the episodes were shown in the middle of the live-action segments when Mario's cartoon was shown. These clips were cut from most of the video releases as well as Yahooligans! TV, but restored for the Super Mario Bros. Super Show DVD set (except for "King Mario of Cramalot").
  • Over the course of the show's 13 episodes, Link utters his "Excuse me, princess" catchphrase a grand total of 29 times.[1]
  • The only items that didn't appear in the cartoon are Raft, Letter, Red Ring, Blue Boomerang, Silver Arrows, Candles, Enemy Bait, Water of Life, and the Magic Book. Design changes include that Bombs in the cartoon have spikes, while in the game they are just blue and the Bow is now made of bones when it was made of Wood in the game. The Bow was commonly replaced by the crossbow in the cartoon, however. Finally, the Magic Wand is now Ganon's and is commonly refered to as "Staff of Power" or "Capture Staff".
  • The only enemies in the game that didn't appear in the cartoon were Peahat, Leever, Ghini, Wallmaster, Wizzrobe, Bubble, Lanmolas, Moldorm, Manhandla, and Digdogger, though Darknut was thought not to be in the series as well, It appears in the episode "That Sinking Feeling", and is the holder of the Power Bracelet.
  • Ganon commonly yells "You idiots!" at his troops when they fail. In "The Moblins are Revolting", a Moblin does the same thing, even saying "Now I know how Ganon feels" when one of his troops drops a magic staff, breaking it.
  • The series was to be continued but was cancelled along with The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.
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