My Voltron Story

How a Cartoon Robot Opened Up the Universe to a 10-Year-Old Boy

From Days of Long Ago…

In 1984, local TV station KPLR Channel 11 began teasing a new show. Of course, none of us knew what it was. However Channel 11 was known as the “kids station,” so we were all excited.

Little did we know a TV show unlike any other we had ever seen was about to premiere: Voltron: Defender of the Universe.

This reworked Japanese anime became the talk of the playground, the classroom, the evenings, and the weekends. Many friends and I lived, breathed, slept, and ate Voltron.

Perfect Timing

As I look back and reminisce, it is clear that I was Voltron’s prime audience.

Return of the Jedi was released just the year before. I was obsessed with Star Wars. One of my earliest memories is seeing Star Wars: A New Hope at a drive-in theater and being carried away to a galaxy long ago.

Another faint memory is watching a few episodes of Battle of Planets. I was captured by the art and clearly remember being terrified by the villain, Zoltar.

After Saturday morning cartoons ended, reruns of Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica filled my early afternoons. Apollo and Starbuck’s missions thrilled me and filled me with wonder. What if there were “brothers of man out there among the stars…?” The ship designs and model work fascinated me. I remember reading articles on how model building and motion control camerawork were changing filmmaking at the time.

On Sunday evenings, I was able to boldly go to new worlds as I followed the adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and Dr. McCoy. I do not remember a time when I did not watch Star Trek.

After school, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was a staple. One evening a week was dominated by Knight Rider.

I also spent time adventuring in worlds of my own, just a year before I was introduced to role-playing games. Dungeons & Dragons, Marvel Superheroes, and Star Frontiers constantly had me exploring new lands, and new planets, and took me to new heights of imagination.

I was 10 years old and I was primed for a cartoon like Voltron.

Even though my body was here on Earth, my spirit floated in realms of fantasy and science fiction. I longed for the fantastic and lived for dreaming.

The Legend of Voltron

When the time came and the first episode of Voltron: Defender of the Universe appeared on our old TV set, I was hooked. When I say I was hooked, I mean I was a fan of the show after probably only 5 or 10 seconds.

The art and the story transfixed me.

Voltron became the center of my day. I woke up in the morning and thought about Voltron. I went to school and thought about Voltron. At recess, I thought about Voltron. In the car ride home I would tell my mom all about Voltron. As soon as I was in the door, the TV was on, and Voltron would soon begin.

I memorized everything: the intro, the history of Voltron, the power sources of the lions, and information about King Zarkon, Prince Lotor, and Arus. I memorized the credits. I knew the names of every person who worked on the show.

I began creating characters and storylines. I begin filling in my own history of King Zarkon and Planet Arus. I created Prince Lotor’s twin brother. I created other planets and other star systems, and I populated them with kings, queens, princesses, and princes of their own.

All of the school kids loved Voltron, but I was that one kid. You know, the strange one who took Voltron just a little too seriously.

Everything was Voltron to me and Voltron was everything.

The Near Universe

One day at school, a close friend of mine told me that there was another Voltron.

I staggered and swayed in disbelief. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. His words confused me. Images and ideas swam in my head.

He couldn’t give me many details, but he told me it was on Channel 11 at 2 or 3 a.m. Why was it on so late? He didn’t know. He just knew it was.

One Friday night, I stayed up later than I ever had.

I stayed up past all the evening sitcoms. I stayed up past the reruns of M.A.S.H. I stayed up after the music video shows. Then there was another Voltron.

I was even more confused. There were no robot lions. Vehicles formed Voltron. I didn’t understand it. I had landed in the middle of some storyline void of context.

I have to say I loved it, and I became fascinated with it. However, I only managed to watch one or two more episodes. Staying up that late for a 10-year-old wasn’t easy.

I never understood why Vehicle Voltron (officially called Voltron of the Near Universe) was on so late at night instead of in the afternoon. Now, I know it never gained the popularity of Lion Voltron (officially Voltron of the Far Universe). It was mostly likely pushed out of the way by more viable shows. 

I keep telling myself I will watch the whole series someday.

Zod

My love of Voltron spilled over into my own invention. I created a super robot of my own called Zod (I got the name from Superman 2).

I took on the persona of Emperor Admiral Zinn (I got the name Zinn from an episode of the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon). I recruited my friends to form a club.

We created a ruling council. Even though I was the commander of the Zod Force, one of my other friends was the head of the council. No doubt this idea was inspired by the ThunderCats, which began its run in January 1985.

Zod was basically a clone of Voltron. He was a giant super robot that all of us would form.

However I allowed my team members to construct their vehicles, so we had different robot animals and vehicles that formed Zod. I piloted a robot wolf that formed the body and the head.

Zod functioned pretty much as a club throughout the entirety of 5th grade. I drew pictures, created planets and star systems, and experimented with forms of governance. At one point, when one of our friends was deemed to be a traitor, we held a trial.

When a rival club stole a folder of my drawings, I had a secret agent infiltrate it and steal back what was rightfully mine. Great times.

Hometown Voltron

One day after watching Voltron, something tipped me off that the show was owned by a company based in St. Louis, Missouri. I’m not sure if it was a copyright or trademark, but whatever it was, I was shocked.

I realized the cartoon that consumed my young life was produced and owned by a company based in my hometown.

I turned to my older brother. I said, “I think Voltron is made in St. Louis.” He brushed me off and curtly replied, “Cartoons are not made in St. Louis.”

Even though my brother’s comments disheartened me, I was not dissuaded. I gathered up my drawings, storylines, and ideas.

I approached my mother.

I demanded she drive me to the headquarters of Channel 11, so I could present my drawings and storylines to the producers. My mother, being a sensible adult, said that we could not just drive to Channel 11’s offices.

My child’s mind wondered why we couldn’t. It couldn’t be that far away, could it? It was the same city after all. I persisted in asking. My mother maintained her position. She reasoned we would not be let in the building.

I knew then my dream of visiting the TV station would never come true, so I resigned myself to that fate.

No More Voltron

There came a day when the episodes of Voltron began to repeat.

I still watched them as closely as ever and with the same interest. I would gather names and places and memorize bits of history. I would still listen to every word of the intro. I would still read every name in the credits.

Someone at school said there would be no more episodes of Voltron. I didn’t believe him.

I flew into a rage. Like mighty Achilles pursuing valiant Hector around the walls of Troy, so I pursued him around the school grounds.

Okay, I guess that didn’t happen. However, I blew him off and told him he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Sadly, it was I who didn’t know what I was talking about. All the episodes of Voltron had finished airing. There were no more episodes. Yes, they ran for a while on TV, so I got to enjoy the adventures over again.

But my adventures in the universe of Voltron had come to an end. Or at least on television, they had. I continued to dream about Voltron. I continued to write my stories and create my worlds, and Zod lingered on as I considered (naively) writing a novel.

Other cartoons sought to usurp Voltron’s crown. ThunderCats, Robotech, and Silverhawks were incredible shows that captured my imagination.

Still, none captured it as Voltron did.

As a side note, the cartoons in the 1980s pushed the envelope of children’s programming. I clearly remember watching Robotech early one Sunday morning as Minmay disrobed and showered in the nude. I cast a nervous glance at my parents’ bedroom door, hoping they were still asleep.

Voltron: The Third Dimension

Almost out of the blue in 1998, I remember hearing Voltron was being brought back as a computer-animated show.

By this time, I was working and going to school. I only managed to catch one episode. Even to this day, I have only seen that one episode.

I was perturbed. I remember thinking I would have taken the show in a completely different direction. For the life of me, I can’t remember what made me feel that way.

I had hoped the show would catch on again. Perhaps the magic of Voltron would spread, but that wasn’t the case.

The Legacy of Voltron

Years later in the early 2000’s, I was able to rewatch some episodes of Voltron.

I hadn’t seen them in years. I enjoyed them greatly. I remembered the episodes with a heightened sense of wonder and imagination.

However, I could see why the show captured my childhood imagination so thoroughly. The mythic quality of Voltron plus the heroism of the pilots is quite infectious.

At a St. Louis filmmaking event in the mid-2000s, I met someone who worked at World Events Productions, the company that owns Voltron.

I gushed about my love of the show. I informed him that it influenced me to become an independent filmmaker.

He told me to send in my resume. I did so, but alas, no job came through. However, he sent me some great Voltron swag.

Voltron Force

In 2011, Voltron Force premiered. I watched four or five episodes, but having the hectic schedule of a full-fledged adult, I could not keep up with the show.

For me, it lacked the magical spark of the original.

However, I still had high hopes that this show would create a new generation of Voltron fans and the legacy of Voltron would be carried into the future.

Voltron: Legendary Defender

Earlier this year, I heard the announcement of yet another Voltron remake. I began looking into the history of Voltron as well as current Voltron fandom.

I stumbled upon the official Voltron podcast called Let’s Voltron. I’ve been listening to the episodes and enjoying them greatly. The podcast contains the right mix of nostalgia and new fandom content.

The new show, Legendary Defender, is being produced by Dreamworks and the team behind Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. If you haven’t seen some of the video clips, please check out the trailer and the sizzle reel. The craftsmanship looks astounding.

More information can be found at Voltron.com. On June 10^th, the new series premieres on Netflix.

My hopes are fairly high, I must admit. Again, I find myself wishing and hoping that a new generation will discover Voltron.  I long for a legion of 10-year-olds with their imaginations set aflame by a super robot from days long ago.

I will be watching the new episodes, hoping there’s a spark of magic again.

Perhaps I will be able to feel like a 10-year-old again, pretending I’m riding on the shoulders of the black lion, forming Blazing Sword, or defending the beautiful princess Allura and Planet Arus.

Even if the new show does not remind me of that magical time when I was 10 years old, I will always have those two or three years when the original Voltron: Defender of the Universe sparked my creativity and kindled a fire in my soul.

A time when good fought evil and a hero in the form of a giant robot could save the galaxy over and over again. A time when five young Space Explorers could defend the universe with a little help from the wishes of a 10-year-old earth boy.