Space Angel
Encyclopedia
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series produced in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from early 1962 through 1964. It used the same Synchro-Vox lip technique as Clutch Cargo
Clutch Cargo
Clutch Cargo is an animated television series produced by Cambria Productions and syndicated beginning on March 9, 1959. Notable for its very limited animation, yet imaginative stories, the series was a surprise hit at the time, and could be seen on 65 stations nationwide in 1960.- Plot :The...
, the first cartoon produced by the same studio, Cambria Productions
Cambria Productions
Cambria Productions was the West Hollywood, California animation production studio most famous for its wide usage of the Syncro-Vox technique of animation developed by Edwin Gillette, who was a co-partner in the studio.Owned by Clark S. Haas, Jr...
.
The series chronicled the adventures of three astronauts who worked for the Earth Bureau of Investigation's Interplanetary Space Force on board the spaceship Starduster: Captain/Pilot Scott McCloud, also known as "The Space Angel" (voiced by Ned Lefebver), Electronics/Communications expert Crystal Mace (voiced by Margaret Kerry
Margaret Kerry
Margaret Kerry is an American actress, motivational speaker and radio host best known for her 1953 work as the model for Tinker Bell in the Walt Disney Pictures animated feature, Peter Pan.-Career:...
), and the immensely strong Scottish born Gunner/Engineer Taurus (voiced by Hal Smith
Hal Smith (actor)
Harold John "Hal" Smith was an American character actor and voice actor. Smith is best known as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, and was the voice of many characters on various animated cartoon shorts...
).
Setting and themes
The character name Space Angel was a secret identity. Scott McCloud had an eyepatch; when he appeared as Space Angel, he would lower bulging sunglasses from his helmet to cover it.Apart from the use of Synchro-Vox, animation was very limited, but the static panel art by legend Alex Toth
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...
was often well-drawn. Story lines were serialized over five episodes which ran five minutes each, the idea being that stations could show one episode per weekday, with the climax coming on Friday. Cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
s were sometimes used, as in an episode with McCloud finding a derelict spacecraft beyond the light barrier
Light barrier
The term light barrier to several different concepts:* The theoretical maximum speed that any physical object or information can travel at is the Speed of light.* An opto-electronic device used in security applications, also known as a light curtain....
, looking inside and exclaiming "Oh my God!" Another memorable sequence occurred with the heroes involved in a best two-of-three gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
battle, using future visions of Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
combat.
There were several episodes involving space combat between the Interplanetary Space Force and various enemies. After the Space Angel and his crew had discovered the villains' plans or forces, he would call in reinforcements made up of one or more squadrons of the ISF. Squadrons were organized by planetary patrol areas such as the Venusian Squadron, Mars Squadron, etc. The identifying squadron symbols on the ISF ships were the ones used in astronomy charts of the time to identify the planets, such as the Female symbol for the Venusian Squadron, the Male symbol for the Mars Squadron and a circle with an enclosed plus sign for the Earth Squadron.
The main antagonists in the show were the Anthenians, who were modelled on a combination of Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and Sparta
Sparta
Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...
; their home planet is shown in the episode involving the gladiatorial games. The city looks like Rome, including a colosseum. The civilians are dressed in togas and the soldiers are wearing a combination of Greek/Roman armor with Corinthian-style helmets. They are armed with blaster rifles.
Another antagonist is the Evil Queen of Space, who resembled Nefertiti
Nefertiti
Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they started to worship one god only...
, and her henchmen, "The General" and "The Major", who all spoke with Central European accents. Predating the Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode "Balance of Terror
Balance of terror
The phrase "balance of terror" is usually used in reference to the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War....
", their claim to fame is an invisible spaceship they use to disrupt interstellar trade.
In the opening sequence of "Space Hijackers (Solar Mirror)" a delta-winged spacecraft, The Starduster, docks with a space station. The ship matches velocity and rotation with the station and is talked in with instrument assist. This sequence resembles the space dock sequence of the delta-winged Orion from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" which would be made seven years later.
The Starduster contains a smaller vessel, a space fighter flown by Space Angel, which looks like the XF-92 and is about the same size, though with a pointed nose. It is called the "Space Dart".
The theme music was written by Walter Greene and was originally used in Roger Corman's film "War of the Satellites" (1958).
Episodes
- Abominable Moon Men
- Big Bertha
- Crystal's Anti Boy Friend
- Power Failure
- Space Hijackers (Solar Mirror)
- The First Episode
- Project Hero
- The Frozen Planet
- Wizard of Eden
- The Plagued Plant
- The Donovan Plan
- The Plot
- Name Rank and Serial Number
- They Went That A'Way
- Scratch One Chimp
- Red Alert
- Incident of the Loud Planet
- The Day the Earth Went Dark
- Once Upon a Rainbow
- Welcome Neighbor
- Meets a Devil
- How to Win a Space Race Without Really Trying
- The Gold City Blues
- The Not So Mythical Beast
- Expedition to a New Moon
- Crisis in Orbit
- Gopher Broke
- Conflict Nova
- Cosmic Combat
- The Gladiators
- The Light Barrier
- The Slave World
- Dr. Kinkaid I Presume
- The Exiles
- The Saucer Caper
- Death of a Galaxy
- The Little People
- There Goes Danny
- The Visitor from Outer Space
- Rescue Mission
- Space War
- Dragon Fire
- Flight of Hotshots
- The Fugitives
- The Encoder
Space Angel in other media
Alex Toth
Alexander Toth was an American professional cartoonist active from the 1940s through the 1980s. Toth's work began in the American comic book industry, but is known for his animation designs for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1960s and 1970s. His work included Super Friends, Space Ghost, The...
drew Space Angel six page story for children's magazine Jack & Jill
Jack and Jill (magazine)
Jack and Jill is a bimonthly American magazine for children 7 to 10 years old which takes its title from the nursery rhyme of the same name. It features stories and educational activities....
in 1963 to promote the Space Angel cartoon.
The episode "The Gladiators" was featured on Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo.- Format :Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic ; however budgetary limitations, acts of God or other circumstances...
.
In July, 2008, VCI Entertainment released a DVD that contained nine episodes of Space Angel.