Note: Many times when I’m thinking of blog topics, I only go forward with them if I can reach a point or conclusion of some kind. I’ve decided that, instead of working that way, I’m going to just write those as more personal blogs. Recollections, if you will. What better place to start than Voltron.
So many of us, as kids (and adults), are mesmerized by giant robots and/or monsters of some description. I’m guilty here. Pacific Rim is one of my favorite movies of the past few years. I shamefully go see the Transformers films. There’s something magical about watching these behemoths go into battle.
For me, that fascination didn’t start with Transformers, as it seemed to with most kids in the late 80’s. For me, that started with Voltron. We didn’t have cable or satellite when I was a kid. I grew up, like many people in that time period, with the outside antennae that you had to go turn if you wanted a different channel. This meant that I often explored the video rental stores in search of new cartoons to watch. One such show I was drawn to was Go-Bots but, even more so than Go-Bots, I fell in love with Voltron.
We had two rental places in my town. One had a few videos that had a couple of episodes each. The bowling alley though, had a VHS that had about eight episodes, including the origin “movie.” God only knows how many times I rented that video and watched it over and over again while I had it. There was no buying these videos in the stores I went to, so renting is how I got my fix. When I couldn’t get videos, I would find the book/record or cassette tape sets based on Voltron episodes. I also made Voltron and Robeasts out of Legos. Before that, I would draw them, color them, then cut them out and have them do battle. I may have been a little bit obsessed.
Voltron – Tape
As much as I love many of the episodes, I will always remember the rush of the origin movie/episodes. To this day, I can still feel the excitement when the fifth key is found after the other four lions have been beaten down by the robeast. The thrill when they are finally able to form Voltron is as fresh now as when I was 10 or 12 years old. I make no excuses for that as a 34 year old. I’m sure it’s a nostalgia thing, but it’s definitely there.
Voltron – Robeast
As I’ve gotten older, my love of Voltron has stayed strong. I have the DVD collection now, and have finally seen all those episodes I had only read a bit about or heard of. I even watched the one season of Voltron Force that aired. It wasn’t great, but it did honor the original series while acting as a continuation, and I appreciated that approach and what the show’s creators were trying to do. I’ve been a bit sad because no season two ever materialized, which signaled to me that Voltron was probably going to be dead for the foreseeable future. I’m so very happy to have been wrong on this.
In January of this year, Netflix and Dreamworks announced that a new Voltron series would be coming in 2016. For a few minutes, I was a kid again. One of my favorite shows was getting new life. New life in the hands of two companies that have a fairly stellar track record. Once that new series launches, I am sure that I will be binge-watching it. Again, no shame there. It may equal or even best the original series. It may be a bit more sub-par, such as Voltron Force which I mentioned above. However it goes, I’ll be there, on the couch, watching with wide eyes (hopefully with my 9 year old beside me), and experiencing that same excitement I used to get when I’d get home with my latest Voltron rental. When it comes to Voltron, I’m most definitely still a kid at heart. And I love that.
Brandon Nicholson is a blogger for TMRzoo.com and the founder of Just Another Video Game Blog and covers all gaming consoles and platforms including Sony Playstation 3 and PS4, Microsoft XBOX One and XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP and computer games designed for Mac OS, Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. Brandon provides his readers with reviews, previews, release dates and up to date gaming industry news, trailers and rumors.
