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Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2021 8:43 pm
by Cure DragonEagle 255
Despite being quite infamous for censorship, Battle actually got away with stuff that could have never been allowed on a kids show airing outside of cable or streaming.

Name as many as you can list!

-Many of the "Children in Peril" scenes, specially when Zoltar threatens to kill Buddy (Even if only Makoto from Gatchaman got the gun directly pointed at him) and MOST DEFINITELY when he runs into the burning airport.

-The talk about bodies and casualties in the same episode.

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:25 pm
by Bobkat
Another part is the sexual innuendo between Zark and Susan. They're downright racy and risqué! :lol:

Yes, people died in Battle whether anyone wants to admit it or not. :D

-The wheelchair bound scientist died in an explosion with one of Zoltar's captains (I think) in "The Perilous Pleasure Cruise". Ultimately, he saved his granddaughter.

-There was also Debbie's father (I can't remember the ep) dying after falling into a crevasse despite Mark's efforts to save him. One of my favorite interactions happen later in the ep when Mark offers Debbie the red button to destroy the mecha. He says something to the effect, "Revenge never helped anyone anyway." Then Jason does his job in destroying the mecha. Pretty potent stuff for a 'kid's show'.

-Lucy was killed/self-destructed after the African 9000 race in "Race Against Disaster".

I'm sure I'm missing others but these the ones I can recall off the top of my head and are indisputable since they're seen on screen.

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2021 4:53 pm
by The Other Jason
Hi Bobkat,
Bobkat wrote: Tue Jan 19, 2021 6:25 pm Another part is the sexual innuendo between Zark and Susan. They're downright racy and risqué! :lol:

Yes, people died in Battle whether anyone wants to admit it or not. :D

-The wheelchair bound scientist died in an explosion with one of Zoltar's captains (I think) in "The Perilous Pleasure Cruise". Ultimately, he saved his granddaughter.

-There was also Debbie's father (I can't remember the ep) dying after falling into a crevasse despite Mark's efforts to save him. One of my favorite interactions happen later in the ep when Mark offers Debbie the red button to destroy the mecha. He says something to the effect, "Revenge never helped anyone anyway." Then Jason does his job in destroying the mecha. Pretty potent stuff for a 'kid's show'.

-Lucy was killed/self-destructed after the African 9000 race in "Race Against Disaster".

I'm sure I'm missing others but these the ones I can recall off the top of my head and are indisputable since they're seen on screen.
Yep, good examples! A few other unquestioned deaths in the series included Akkadan (in Changu), Dr. Strecker and the death of Zeno, which was the result of one of the Federation's most shameful treatments of a supposedly friendly alien. We also got to see the skeleton of Uncle Ajeeb, whom Zoltar impersonated.

The series also didn't constantly beat the idea of Spectra's goon army being "robots" or "androids" into viewers' minds like G.I. Joe, or later related shows like G-Force and Eagle Riders did. I don't remember ever considering them as anything other than people when I watched Battle.

I'm sure if Battle had been produced later, it would have been much different. There was a lot of gunplay left in it for example. In later children's programs, that would be forbidden. At least when they were aiming at other people. I think most of the instances of young children directly in peril would also have been cut Battle.

I remember reading production guidelines for Batman: The Animated Series, and the amount of subjects they had to keep in mind when producing the series was incredible. I looked around for the information online but could not find it.

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:20 pm
by Cure DragonEagle 255
I love how Race Against Disaster basically is a covert criticism of the whole "They are robots. They can die. They dont matter" thing without even intending to be lol.

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:12 am
by Bobkat
The ending of "Race Against Disaster" makes me mad. Not that Lucy self-destructs, but Zark's attitude toward the whole situation. This is going to be with Jason for a long time. He won't just "get over it." :evil:

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:50 pm
by The Other Jason
Hi Cure DragonEagle,
Cure DragonEagle 255 wrote: Tue Apr 27, 2021 7:20 pm I love how Race Against Disaster basically is a covert criticism of the whole "They are robots. They can die. They dont matter" thing without even intending to be lol.
That's very true. I wonder if anyone ever considered that while putting the episode together? Viewers weren't supposed to feel anything about robots being destroyed, then they made this episode where caring about the surprise robot reveal was a key element.

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Thu Jun 10, 2021 7:52 pm
by The Other Jason
Hi Bobkat,
Bobkat wrote: Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:12 am The ending of "Race Against Disaster" makes me mad. Not that Lucy self-destructs, but Zark's attitude toward the whole situation. This is going to be with Jason for a long time. He won't just "get over it." :evil:
Yeah, I completely agree. I know a lot of fans who were pretty ticked at Zark's flippant attitude about Jason's feelings at the end. Good thing he didn't hear Zark's comments. He might have asked Zark how quickly he'd get over it if Spectra took out Susan!

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2021 2:55 pm
by Bobkat
Ok, The Other Jason -

You've already given me ideas about fanfic, you don't need to be adding to it! :lol:

But that is an excellent question you have posed! :)

Re: Things Battle Of The Planets got away that could never happen in a kids show today

Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2022 10:17 pm
by Cure DragonEagle 255
I have a new one!

The torture scene on Raid of the Red Scorpion. Good guys do not use torture on kids tv nowadays.