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The Legend of Zelda (television series)
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The Legend of Zelda is an animated television series based on the first two The Legend of Zelda games, The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. The series consists of 13 episodes, and it ran from September 8 to December 1, 1989. It was produced by DiC Entertainment and was part of the same syndication package as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which was also produced by DiC Entertainment.
Overview[edit]
Each episode follows the adventures of Link and Princess Zelda as they defend Hyrule from Ganon, who somehow came into possession of the Triforce of Power. Most episodes consist of Ganon (or his minions) either trying to steal the Triforce of Wisdom from Zelda, kidnap Zelda, or otherwise conquer Hyrule. In some episodes, Link and Zelda are accompanied by a fairy-princess, Spryte.
A recurring joke of the series is Link's repeated failure to convince Zelda that he deserves a kiss for his heroic deeds. Whenever it seems they are going to kiss, they are interrupted. Link usually meets Zelda's angry remarks with his sarcastic catchphrase, "Well, excuse me, Princess!".
The show is one of the few instances of Link having dialogue in The Legend of Zelda franchise. The games intentionally do not give Link dialogue. As Eiji Aonuma said, "since people have played Zelda over the years, they have their ideas of how Link might sound. If we were to put a voice in there that might not match up with someone else's image, then there would be a backlash to that. So we've tried to avoid that."[1]
Broadcast history[edit]
While The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was broadcast five days a week, Mario cartoons only aired from Monday through Thursday. On Fridays, a The Legend of Zelda episode would premiere, and was accompanied by a live-action The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! segment. Some of these segments were included as part of The Legend of Zelda's later DVD release because Mario, Luigi, and/or the guest star would speak out to the audience to promote that week's The Legend of Zelda episode, showing a preview consisting of scenes from the then-upcoming episode.
From 1991 to 1992, the series was syndicated on the Family Channel. From 1992 to 1993, edited versions of the episodes were included as a part of the Captain N & The Video Game Masters syndication package.
As of 2014, The Legend of Zelda television series has been made available for streaming on WildBrain's YouTube Channel "WildBrain - Cartoon Super Heroes", although the live action segments have yet to be included by the channel.
Characters[edit]
Link[edit]
Link is a fifteen year-old Hylian with dark brown, mullet-like hair that is side-parted in the front, has sideburns going down to just above his earlobes, and goes down to the base of his neck at the back, brown eyes, a rounded nose and pointed ears. His typical outfit consists of a dark green Phrygian cap-like hat with a gold or, occasionally, light green rim, a dark-green tunic with a semi-spread collar and a single orange "x" stitch, a brown belt with a gold buckle, a dark green pouch on his left side and a dark grey scabbard on his right side, an orange long-sleeve shirt and long pants that he wears under his tunic, and brown boots with yellow cuffs and light grey soles. He also has a light blue tunic with white boxers with a red heart print that he wears at night. His weapon of choice is the Crissword, a magic sword which is capable of firing pink sword beams that can send Ganon and his minions back to the Evil Jar.
He is an adept swordsman and a quick thinker, but is rather arrogant and somewhat childish. He often tries to get kissed by Princess Zelda after saving her and will also attempt to avoid responsibilities that do not have to do with fighting Ganon and his underlings or other heroic activities, and he can wind up in more trouble than he predicts because of this. Despite his character flaws, he has a very noble heart and will go out of his way to protect anyone, especially Princess Zelda, who is his girlfriend.
Princess Zelda[edit]
Princess Zelda, like Link, is a fifteen-year-old Hylian. She has blond, shoulder-length hair, pink eyeshadow and lipstick makeup and green eyes. Her typical outfit is made up of a blue linked tiara with a red jewel, a pair of red orb earrings, a blue vest and a purple undershirt with long balloon sleeves and gold rings, a belt with a yellow buckle with a blue triangle on it and a brown pouch on her side, a pair of light pink pants and a pair of reddish-brown thigh-high boots.
Her personality is somewhere between stuck-up and compassionate; while she can be hot-headed and feisty, she would die to protect her kingdom from harm. At one with the Triforce of Wisdom, she is well-versed in its magics and can wield its power, even being able to carry the relic with a chain while it floats. She is also quite skilled with the bow and the boomerang. While she can be irritated by his arrogance and childishness, she secretly loves Link, though she does not tell him because she does not want it to go to his head.
Ganon[edit]
Ganon is an evil wizard who is the main antagonist of the series. He is a dull yellow anthropomorphic pig with a boar-like face, complete with a pair of tusks and pointed ears, solid red eyes and hands with green claws. He wears a violet, helmet-like hat with a singular row of three spikes, a violet triangular scarf with a red bordering, a dark purple robe with a red waistband and violet sleeve rims and a pair of dark violet low turnshoes. He is also shown to be in possession of a blue hooded robe in “The Ringer”, which he uses to disguise himself when he heads to the Amateur Magician’s Contest at North Castle. His voice can range from a high, shrill one to a deep, guttural one.
Ganon is short-tempered, and his plans are often flawed by the ineptitude of his servants. He is in possession of the Triforce of Power and uses an endless supply of magic to aid him in his schemes to obtain the Triforce of Wisdom and rule the kingdom of Hyrule, though his magical powers are limited in the Overworld, leaving him to summon his minions from the Evil Jar to do his bidding much of the time.
Spryte[edit]
Spryte is a recurring character in the cartoon and is the daughter of King Oberon, the king of the fairies. She has short, cropped sandy blond (sometimes darker brown) hair, blue eyes, pink eyeshadow and lipstick makeup and, as with the other fairies, a pair of large insect wings. She wears a short, pink sleeveless tunic with a red waist band.
She is smart-mouthed, quick, and very skillful in using magical energy. She works as an assistant and servant of Princess Zelda. Like Zelda, she also has a crush on Link, though is more obvious with it, constantly flirting with Link, who usually brushes it off due to his attraction to Zelda.
King Harkinian[edit]
King Harkinian is the ruler of Hyrule and the father of Princess Zelda. He is a tall, somewhat rotund Hylian with black eyes and a snow white hair and a beard with a mustache. He wears a gold crown with a red jewel, a red cape with gold bordering, a dark blue robe with short sleeves, a pair of gold wristbands, a gold belt with a round buckle, light blue pants and dark blue shoes.
Although somewhat dimwitted as a father, being rather forgetful, he has a knack for ingenuity, is loyal to his country and possesses a profound insight into those around him. In spite of his forgetfulness, he is a wise ruler, though fearful of Ganon.
The Triforces of Wisdom and Power[edit]
The Triforces of Wisdom and Power are important objects in the animated series. They are both depicted as glowing triangular prisms, with the Triforce of Wisdom being cyan and the Triforce of Power being red. Whoever manages to obtain both Triforces will be able to rule the land of Hyrule.
Both Triforces are depicted with the ability to speak, with the Triforce of Wisdom having a feminine voice that gives sage advice in rhyme while, exclusively in “The Ringer”, the Triforce of Power has a dominating masculine voice that speaks more casually, as seen when it admonishes Ganon for his plan to impersonate an amateur magician to obtain the Triforce of Wisdom.
Voice cast[edit]
- Jonathan Potts — Link
- Cyndy Preston — Princess Zelda
- Len Carlson — Ganon and Moblins
- Colin Fox — King Harkinian
- Allen Stewart-Coates — Triforce of Power
- Elizabeth Hanna — Triforce of Wisdom
- Paulina Gillis — Spryte and Sing
- Don Francks — additional voices
- Marvin Goldhar — additional voices
- Christopher Ward — additional voices
Episodes[edit]
| Episode no. | Name | The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! live action segment |
Premiere date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Ringer" | "Slime Busters" | September 8, 1989 | |
| 2 | "Cold Spells" | "Magic's Magic" | September 15, 1989 | |
| 3 | "The White Knight" | "Wild Thing" | September 22, 1989 | |
| 4 | "Kiss'n Tell" | "Mommies Curse" | September 29, 1989 | |
| 5 | "Sing for the Unicorn" | "Fred Van Winkle" | October 6, 1989 | |
| 6 | "That Sinking Feeling" | "Tutti Frutti, Oh Mario" | October 13, 1989 | |
| 7 | "Doppelganger" | "The Magic Love" | October 20, 1989 | |
| 8 | "Underworld Connections" | "Defective Gadgetry" | October 27, 1989 | |
| 9 | "Stinging a Stinger" | "The Great Hereafter" | November 3, 1989 | |
| 10 | "Hitch in the Works" | "Treasure of the Sierra Brooklyn" | November 10, 1989 | |
| 11 | "Fairies in the Spring" | "Pizza Crush" | November 17, 1989 | |
| 12 | "The Missing Link" | "Tutti Frutti Mario" | November 24, 1989 | |
| 13 | "The Moblins are Revolting" | "The Ghoul of My Dreams" | December 1, 1989 |
Trivia[edit]
- The The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Stars in Their Eyes" has aliens known as the Quirks singing The Legend of Zelda theme near the end of the episode. Similarly, "Doppelganger" depicts Link whistling the Super Mario Bros. theme while practicing with his sword.
- In the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Mama Mia Mario", it is said that The Legend of Zelda is Mama Mario's favorite show.
- On June 13, 2019, Twitter user @hour_mario, who had obtained various production material for DiC Entertainment shows from the estate sale of a former DiC Entertainment employee, posted an image of a slide featuring artwork for what appeared to be a continuation of the cartoon titled The Adventures of Link. Little else is currently known about the cartoon, but, judging by the contents of the slide and another slide featuring the same artwork, the cartoon would have been part of a block titled Captain N & the Power Hour and would have been based on Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.[2][3]
References[edit]
- ^ "Miyamoto and Aonuma on Zelda". IGN. Published December 4, 2002.
- ^ "Is this never before seen concept art for an Adventures of Link cartoon?" - @hour_mario
- ^ "More goodies just went live on my eBay 🤑 #powerhour" - @hour_mario
