80s Cartoons
penny February 10th, 2007
I took a break from a long afternoon of pencil-pushing. I was told that it is good for the mind to focus even on times of relaxation, rather than let it wander aimlessly amidst an activity as knitting. Well, I guess there is no harm in watching TV then!
But since I’ve been overloaded with the current TV series the past weeks, I wanted to see something else. I spent 10 minutes finding something good to watch and found Visionaries again. I’m sure Ajay has this stashed somewhere, but seeing I can only browse online for old shows like this, YouTube thankfully did not let me down this time.
It is a time when magic is more powerful than science, and only those who control magic control destiny… They, are the Visionaries.
I hadn’t been too attentive to details when I watched this (Something to do with my brother’s tendency to get annoying while we watch TV, like when GIJoe plays and it’s all “Yo Joe!” all day and all night) but I knew I loved it, much like I did cartoons as Ghostbusters (I was so annoyed at the Ghostbusters aired in RPN9 with a distorted drawing style. Peter Venkman looked horrible!), Voltron (lions!!), Silver Hawks, Transformers, Tiger Sharks and Thundercats. There’s this other show with a “bionic” family that I can’t remember the title of…
Hehe, it’s always fun to remember shows from childhood. There were only a few cartoons but most of them were interesting. Or was it the scarcity that compelled us to watch them? Hehe, no matter how scarce, I still didn’t watch My Little Pony (Sunday mornings?) nor Camp-mini-mon (Friday nights). But I did watch Smurfs and Rainbow Brite.
But definitely, Visionaries was one of the best ones. I wonder if someone will coin the concept for a modern version. It didn’t seem to have universal appeal, now that I read about it in Wikipedia. It gained popularity in Manila when it was shown dubbed in Filipino. I wonder if anyone remembers any of the Pinoy verse chants? (Eh, I would think there would be at least one person who does… ^^)
The names of the characters have a Celtic feel to them. Guess it was meant to be that way, being called knights after all. I mention here the only ones I remember. Galadria I always remember when I see Galadriel in LOTR. I was never happy about Leoric’s face with the moustache. Back then, I wanted the lead character to look neat most of the time. (So those guys with long hair bothered me too.) Mortdredd did not sound original at all being homonymic to an Arthurian knight, but it felt apt given his nature. (addendum: ahh yes, obviously, Merklyn is a rip-off from Merlin the wizard as well.)
Leoric (Wisdom)
“Whispered secrets of a shattered age,
I summon you: renew this sage!”
Galadria (Healing)
“By warmth of heart, your pain I feel.
Grant me the power, your wounds to heal!”
Mortdredd (Flight)
“Wings of steel shall ride the breeze.
Invade the air, the land, the seas!”
I suppose Jie’s persona is based on this character?
Witterquick (Light Speed)
“Sheathe these feet in the driving gale,
Make swift these legs o’er land I sail!”
Trivia: A Harry Potter line is spoken in Episode One: The Age of Magic Begins.
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There was this other cartoon series that I wanted to watch but was in conflict with other shows at the time… Dungeons and Dragons. It would be interesting to see now. If I get the time I will report about it here. And I found one of the first cartoon-movies that made me cry on DVD in a store in Kingsford! The Last Unicorn. I am debating with myself whether to buy it or not. (it’s a bit pricey for a poor-quality video) My goodness, it’s one of those things like the Peter Rabbit books that are so difficult to let go of!
I still think witterquick should be spelled whitherquick.
I’m used to how you spell it, I never knew how it was spelled before. =)
bionic family…
are you referring to: Bionic Six?
Yun nga! Hehe. Naka 2 seasons pala yan.
i remember when a big bunch of our group stayed at rex’s place in batangas and we had a blast… specially with Weng rambling about the cartoons you’ve mentioned. I guess he’s the one you’re referring to (Eh, I would think there would be at least one person who does… ^^)
sana makalabas ulit ang grupo.
Palawan!