Tuesday, June 1, 2010

FamilyTime (Memories Of StarFleet)

Just remembered upon responding to a fellow Twitter pal that there was a time when my days growing up with cable TV brought about great surprises in strange places. Among them were often shown on afternoon blocks for kids, most notably Showtime's FamilyTime block (which ran from 3 - 5pm Monday thru Friday, I believe). Other than showing the requisite family-themed movies of the era, we also were exposed to some interesting imports.

Among the most significant was Manson Films' re-edit & dubbed version of Miyazaki's Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind. Retitled, Warriors Of The Wind, the film went on to make a great dent in the minds of both myself and brother to which we made it a habit to catch the film anytime it aired. And even though we figured the film was missing something, it hardly mattered at the time. Overall, it was still a remarkable experience that I wouldn't trade for anything.



-That said, I'm still confused by that gender bias in the ad campaign. Greh..80s..

And on the other side of strange discoveries came the live-action Gerry Anderson-esque puppet saga serial known as StarFleet. Clearly licensed and dubbed in England, with some very catchy tunes composed by Brian May, StarFleet was shockingly not only a japanese take on Star Warsism at a time when this was king, but featured design work by none other than Go Nagai!

Puppets, giant robots, Go Nagai? Heh. We were sold.



For those curious about the English revamp..



Because some of us can't get enough Brian May head!

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