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	; Voltron: Defender of the Universe
Genre	; Science fiction, Adventure, Mecha, Superhero;
	; Anime television series
; Lion Force Voltron; (Based on Beast King GoLion);
Directed by	; Space Kitty
Produced by	; Ted Koplar, Peter Keefe
Written by	; Jameson Brewer
Music by	; John Petersen
Studio	; World Events Productions; Toei Animation (epis. 1–52);
Licensed by	; NBCUniversal Television Distribution;
Original network	; First-run syndication;
Original run	; Part I:; September 10, 1984 – ; November 27, 1984; Part II:; October 21, 1985 –; November 18, 1985;
Episodes	; 72 (List of episodes);
	; Anime television series
; Vehicle Team Voltron; (Based on Armored Fleet Dairugger XV);
Directed by	; Franklin Cofod
Produced by	; Ted Koplar, Peter Keefe
Written by	; Jameson Brewer
Music by	; John Petersen
Studio	; World Events Productions; Toei Animation
Original network	; First-run syndication
Original run	; December 14, 1984 – February 18, 1985;
Episodes	; 52 (List of episodes);
	; Anime and Manga portal;

Voltron: Defender of the Universe is an American animated television series that features a team of space explorers who pilot a giant Super Robot known as "Voltron". Produced by Ted Koplar through his production company World Events Productions, Voltron was an adaptation of several Japanese anime television series from Toei Animation. The original television series aired in syndication from September 10, 1984 to November 18, 1985. The first season of Voltron, featuring the "Lion Force Voltron", was adapted from the series Beast King GoLion. The second season, featuring the "Vehicle Team Voltron", was adapted from the unrelated series Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.

Voltron was the top-rated syndicated children's show for two years during its original run,^[1] and it spawned three follow-up series, several comic books, and a line of toys.

2 Variations
- 2.1 Lion Force Voltron (Voltron of the Far Universe; Voltron III)
- 2.2 Vehicle Team Voltron (Voltron of the Near Universe; Voltron I)
- 2.3 Gladiator Voltron (Voltron of the Middle Universe; Voltron II)
- 2.4 Subsequent projects
  - 2.4.1 Fleet of Doom (1986)
  - 2.4.2 The Third Dimension (1998)
  - 2.4.3 Voltron: Defender of the Universe (plans for a live-action movie, 2005–)
  - 2.4.4 Voltron Force (2011)
  - 2.4.5 Legendary Defender (2016)

3 Episodes

4 Characters

5 DVD releases

6 Digital releases
- 6.1 Soundtracks

7 Comic books
- 7.1 1980s
- 7.2 1990s
- 7.3 2000s

8 Toys
- 8.1 Matchbox
- 8.2 Panosh Place
- 8.3 Trendmasters
- 8.4 Toynami
- 8.5 Mattel
- 8.6 Playmates Toys
- 8.7 Bandai
- 8.8 Lego

9 Other merchandise

10 Video games

11 Changes from the Japanese version
- 11.1 Plot changes
  - 11.1.1 GoLion

12 Animation staff

13 References

14 External links

Development

Ted Koplar assembled a team in Los Angeles to transform Golion into what would become Voltron. Peter Keefe was brought aboard as Executive Producer, with Franklin Cofod as the Director. Since they had no means of translating the Japanese series into English, Keefe and Cofod surmised the plots, commissioned writer Jameson Brewer to write all-new dialogue, edited out the more violent scenes, and remixed the audio into stereo format. The series was an immediate hit in the United States, topping the syndication market for children's programs in the mid-1980s.^[1]

The Japanese Future Robot Daltanious series was originally planned to be adapted by World Events Productions as part of Voltron. When requesting master tapes from Toei Animation for translation purposes, the World Events Productions producers requested "[the] ones with the lion." Mistakenly, Toei then proceeded to ship World Events copies of Beast King GoLion, another "combining-robot" cartoon which featured lion-shaped fighting robot starships. Because the World Events producers greatly preferred GoLion to Daltanious, the GoLion episodes were adapted instead, going on to become the most popular portion of the original Voltron run. A third version/series of Voltron based on yet another Japanese series, Lightspeed Electroid Albegas, was also in progress, but it was dropped when World Events Productions joined with Toei to make new GoLion-based shows, due to that show's popularity over the Dairugger run.

Variations

Lion Force Voltron (Voltron of the Far Universe; Voltron III)

The first series was primarily edited from Beast King GoLion (Hyakujû-ô Goraion), and it features a team of five young pilots commanding five robot lions which can be combined to form Voltron. In this undefined future era, the Voltron Force is in charge of protecting the planet Arus (ruled by Princess Allura) from the evil King Zarkon (from planet Doom), his son Lotor, and the witch Haggar, who creates huge "ro-beasts" to terrorize the Arusian people.^[2] Despite being the first of the two robots to appear on American television, the "GoLion" version of Voltron was regarded as "Voltron III" within the storyline because, within the original planned "three-Voltron" continuity, Arus was the furthest setting from Earth's side of the universe ("Voltron I" being intended for the Near Universe, and "Voltron II" being intended for the Middle Universe).^[3]

Vehicle Team Voltron (Voltron of the Near Universe; Voltron I)

The second series was primarily edited from Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (Kikô Kantai Dairugger XV), with the storyline considerably changed. In this iteration of Voltron, the Galaxy Alliance's home planets are now overcrowded, and a fleet of explorers is sent to search for new planets to colonize.^[4] Along the way, they attract the attention of the evil Drule Empire, long engaged in an ongoing war against the Alliance, and the Drules proceed to interfere with the mission of the explorers and the colonists. Since the Arusian Voltron is too far away to help these explorers, a totally new Voltron has to be constructed to battle the Drule threat.^[5]

This Voltron Force consists of fifteen members, divided into three teams of five, known respectively as the Land, Sea, and Air Teams.^[6]
Each team is specialized in gathering data or fighting in their area of expertise. Each team can combine their vehicles into a bigger machine, with each combined vehicle differing among the three teams. These fighters are:

The Aqua Fighter (Sea Team)

The Turbo Terrain Fighter (Land Team)

The Strato Fighter (Air Team)

When necessary, all fifteen vehicles combine to form the mighty Voltron.^[7] In the toyline this Voltron was referred to as Voltron I because it was set closest to Earth.^[8] However, the assembly of the Vehicle Team Voltron could not be maintained for longer than five minutes at a time; it was explained in the first episode that when it was combined, the Vehicle Team Voltron only had enough stored solar energy to operate for five minutes.

Gladiator Voltron (Voltron of the Middle Universe; Voltron II)

The proposed third season was to have been based on Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (Kosoku Denjin Albegas). Although Matchbox did produce and market toy versions of the three robots (Black Alpha, Blue Beta, Red Gamma) under the "Voltron II" name,^[9] the series never actually aired. Due to the extreme popularity of the Lion Force Voltron and the lack of popularity of the Vehicle Team Voltron series, World Events Productions eventually elected against another alternate Voltron, and plans to adapt Albegas were aborted.

Subsequent projects

Fleet of Doom (1986)

In 1986, World Events hired Toei Animation to produce the one-off crossover television special Voltron: Fleet of Doom, which mixed in GoLion and Dairugger XV footage with new animation. The special was made for the international market and, as of the middle of September 2016, it had not been released in Japan.

The Third Dimension (1998)

After some initial interest,^[who?] the computer-generated series Voltron: The Third Dimension was released in 1998, set five years after the end of the original Lion Voltron series. The series was met with a mixed response, due to various changes, such as the revamped looks of the Lion Voltron, King Zarkon, and Prince Lotor. The series served as a sequel to the Lion Force Voltron series; among the tools used to bridge the gap between the two series was an official starmap as designed by Shannon Muir and finalized in partnership with World Events Productions.^{[citation needed]} After Voltron: The Third Dimension, World Events Productions went back to the drawing board to develop a more traditionally animated series in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the original.^[10]

Voltron: Defender of the Universe (plans for a live-action movie, 2005–)

In July 2005, producer Mark Gordon (Grey's Anatomy, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) announced plans to create a live-action film adaptation of the Voltron franchise in collaboration with producers Pharrell Williams, Mark Costa, and Frank Oelman. Pharrell Williams was also reported to compose the musical score the film.^[11] The project's development was funded by Jim Young's Animus Films.^[12] In December 2006, screenwriter Enzo Marra was announced to have completed a script for Gordon.^[13] In August 2007, the production entity New Regency entered negotiations with The Mark Gordon Company to adapt Voltron. Interest in the property heightened after the box office success of Transformers, another film involving shape-changing robots.^{[citation needed]} Marks's script was described as "a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City...[in which] five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth's invaders."^[12] " On August 18, 2008, Relativity Media entered negotiations with New Regency to finance and produce the film, though on a more moderate budget, utilizing cost-saving CGI techniques such as those used in 300. Max Makowski was slated to direct. As of the end of August 2008, the title had been set for Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Relativity would've released the film in North America while New Regency's distribution partner, 20th Century Fox, would handle international distribution.^[14] But at that time, Ted Koplar, through his World Events Production Company (Koplar took over the company as the health of Peter Keefe declined; Keefe died in 2010 at age 57), was fighting a legal battle with Toei Company Ltd. over the movie rights as of November of that year.^[15] On September 16, 2010, concept art for the movie was released.^[16] On March 8, 2011, it was announced that Relativity Media and World Events had entered a bidding war on who would make the film. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer entered into collaboration on writing the script.^[17] On July 21, 2011, Atlas Entertainment & Relativity Media announced they would bring Voltron: Defender of the Universe to the big screen.^[18]Relativity Media would distribute. On July 30, 2015, Relativity filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York after lawsuits and missing loan payments,^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22] and the film rights reverted back to Classic Media. On November 4, 2016, three months after the completion of NBCUniversal's acquisition of Classic Media's parent company, DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion,^[23]^[24] it was announced that Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation will make the film with David Hayter writing the script.^[25]

Voltron Force (2011)

The animated series Voltron Force premiered on Nicktoons in June 2011. The series follows the exploits of a group of three young cadets brought together by the original members of the Voltron Force to defend the galaxy against a resurrected Lotor, now ruling the planet Drule after a military coup d'état. Voltron Force is a World Events Production in conjunction with Kick Start Productions and Classic Media.^[26]

Legendary Defender (2016)

The Netflix exclusive series Voltron: Legendary Defender, produced by DreamWorks Animation, is a reboot of the Voltron story. The series premiered on June 10, 2016, with Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery serving as showrunners.^[27] On January 5, 2016, Netflix announced that Voltron would debut in 2016 as an original animated Netflix series in partnership with DreamWorks Animation (DWA), part of an expanded multi-year agreement between the two groups.^[28]^[29] In February, teasers revealed the title of the new series to be Voltron: Legendary Defender.^[30] On March 25, 2016, a teaser trailer was released, announcing that the first season, consisting of 13 episodes, would premiere June 10, 2016.^[31] A second season premiered on Netflix on January 20, 2017.^[32] The third season premiered on Netflix on August 4, 2017, and consisted of 7 episodes while the fourth season premiered on October 13, 2017, and consisted of 6 episodes. The fifth season premiered on March 2, 2018, and consists of six episodes.[5] The sixth season premiered on June 15, 2018 and consists of seven episodes. The 7th season premiered August 10th 2018 and consists of 13 episodes. The series' success has spawned several comics, action figures, and other toys.

Episodes

Characters

DVD releases

In Australia, DVDs of all episodes of Voltron were released by Madman Entertainment as the 20th Anniversary Edition, Lion Force Voltron Collection. The original series was released in five volumes between August 2004 and July 2005, under the name Voltron: Defender of the Universe. Each box was in the color and style of one of the lions with a metallic glossy inner DVD-case. Another three volumes of "Vehicle Team Voltron" were released between August and December 2005. In addition, a "Best of" 2-DVD set released in November 2006 featured five episodes from each series.^[33] Finally, a 24-disc boxset subtitled The Lion and Vehicle Force Complete Collection was released on June 24, 2009.^[34] Madman Entertainment has since relinquished the rights to the Voltron series and has since been re-released by Beyond Home Entertainment. Previous licensees of Voltron in Australia have been CBS/Fox Video and Manga Entertainment.

Prior to the release of the boxed sets, a promotional DVD was released for Voltron. It was packed in a threefold glossy cardboard folder. The folder featured full-color artwork and text about the then-upcoming release of Voltron on DVD. The disk had an image of Voltron, and was labeled for promotional use only.^{[citation needed]} It featured the first episode, "Space Explorers Captured", and several promos for other series.

In Region 1, Voltron was released on DVD in its original broadcast form and remastered by New York–based distributor Media Blasters in eight volumes between September 2006 and July 2009. The volumes contain approximately fifteen episodes each, along with special features such as interviews with producer and director Franklin Cofod, and various others involved in the original and current productions. The first five volumes together contain all the Lion Force episodes, which were broadcast as seasons 1 and 3, while the next three contain the Vehicle Team episodes, broadcast as season 2.

The Fleet of Doom special was released on DVD early in 2007, as an online Voltron.com exclusive. Fleet of Doom was a special crossover film where the Vehicle and Lion Voltrons joined forces to defeat the "Fleet of Doom" (Doom and Drule Empires). The special was originally released in 1986, but was never released in Japan. Media Blasters released Fleet of Doom on July 28, 2009 as a full retail release.^[35] A Blu-ray version was planned, but it was delayed many times and was finally officially canceled.

The first volume of the original series was released in the UK in 2007 by Manga Entertainment.

According to TVShowsOnDVD.com, Voltron: The Third Dimension was to be released on DVD at some point, but no release date has been announced currently.^{[citation needed]}

Media Blasters also released the two Japanese shows that made up Voltron — Beast King GoLion and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV — each in their original, unedited Japanese form, with English subtitles.^{[citation needed]} Volume 1 of GoLion was released on May 27, 2008,^[36] Volume 2 on August 12, 2008, and Volume 3 on November 25, 2008. GoLion was re-released as a complete chronology set with all 52 episodes on April 13, 2010. The first Dairugger XV DVD collection was released on February 23, 2010, the second Dairugger XV collection was released on May 25, 2010.^[37] The third and final collection was originally scheduled to be released in September 2010, but was repeatedly delayed and finally released on January 4, 2011.

As of mid-2011, Classic Media (DreamWorks Classics) now owns the rights to Voltron on DVD.

On 2019, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released Voltron: Defender of the Universe: The Complete Collection on DVD and Blu-ray in Region 1. The 3-disc set as well as all 72 episodes from Voltron 84 on DVD for the first time. The series is also scheduled for DVD releases in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Germany.

Digital releases

As of July 2011 all Lion Force episodes have been released on Hulu. Netflix also has both Lion Force and Vehicle Force available for instant streaming. Minisodes of the first twenty episodes of the first season can be streamed for free online on Crackle.^[38]

Following the success of Voltron: Legendary Defender, Netflix released 12 episodes of Defender of the Universe as Voltron '84 on March 24, 2017. Each episode is introduced by members of the cast and crew of Legendary Defender.^[39]^[40]^[41]

Release	Australia (Region 4)		North America (Region 1)
Lion Force Voltron Collection 1	September 22, 2004	Black Lion	September 26, 2006	Blue Lion
Lion Force Voltron Collection 2	November 19, 2004	Red Lion	December 19, 2006	Yellow Lion
Lion Force Voltron Collection 3	February 23, 2005	Green Lion	May 8, 2007	Green Lion
Lion Force Voltron Collection 4	April 13, 2005	Blue Lion	September 25, 2007	Red Lion
Lion Force Voltron Collection 5	July 20, 2005	Yellow Lion	December 11, 2007	Black Lion
Vehicle Force Voltron Collection 1	August 31, 2005	Air Team	December 23, 2008	Air Team
Vehicle Force Voltron Collection 2	October 19, 2005	Land Team	March 24, 2009^[42]	Land Team
Vehicle Force Voltron Collection 3	December 7, 2005	Sea Team	July 21, 2009^[43]	Sea Team
Fleet of Doom	Unreleased	Unreleased	July 28, 2009	Team-Up

Soundtracks

The Voltron television franchise has produced soundtracks for three of its series which have been released exclusively on the iTunes and the Google Play stores. The first soundtrack release was on September 27, 2012 for the original Lions series with music composed by John Petersen.^[44]^[45] The second soundtrack release was on October 1, 2012 for the Third Dimension series with music composed by Stephen Martson^[46]^[47] and the third release on July 21, 2016 for the first season of the Legendary Defender series with music composed by Brad Breeck, Brian Parkhurst and Alex Geringas.^[48] Currently there are no plans to release any of the soundtrack to a non-digital version such as a physical album or CD.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe Track Listings

Track No.

Song Title

Run Time

Note

01

Voltron Opener (Narration)