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Presented below is most likely the first article to ever mention Battle of the Planets in France. It was featured in the February 3, 1979 edition of Tele Seven Days magazine.

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(Caption) Five characters that will become familiar to TF1 viewers in a few weeks. From left to right, the small Keyop, Dr. Henderson, Jason, the princess and Mark the commander¹.

With Battle of the Planets

TF1² launches robots against Goldorak³

With “Battle of the Planets,” TF1 wants to strike a blow against… “Goldorak.” The expression, however, may not be entirely appropriate. Resolutely “anti-violence,” the first order is not to show “blows.” Nor to show “battles.” That may not be a precise name in the end. “Battle of the Planets” is the working title of this great animated program from the US, which will soon have thirteen episodes broadcast⁴. We don’t want to assault our viewers in words or pictures. We’re looking to give it a different title.

As in “Goldorak,” “Battle of the Planets,” since we must call it by its provisional name, places the good guys against the bad guys. The Governor of planet Spectra, the very spirit of evil, embodied by a pair of glowing eyes, dispatches the demonic Zoltar to conquer Earth. The Terrans try to intercept the invaders with the help of their spaceship, “Phoenix.” The tiny intrepid “G-Force” squad head out on board the “Phoenix.” Commander Mark, his assistant Jason, the beautiful princess with the stuttering athletic boy Keyop and Dr. Henderson, head of security. Their secret weapon: the robot 7-Zark-7 with his escort robot dog, 1-Rover-1, capable of leaving the ship in flight to operate in weightlessness⁵. The heroes of “Battle of the Planets” are not infallible. Sometimes they fail in their mission. They are not supermen.

Missing neither rhythm nor punches, “Battle of the Planets” does not cultivate aggression for the sake of aggression. An "anti-Goldorak" in short, less violent, more humorous and even a bit sentimental.

Lise Genet

(The rest of the article goes on to discuss plans to make French TV more appealing to adolescents.)

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1 - Since this article pre-dates the airing of Battle of the Planets in France, they are still using the American names - obviously "Dr, Henderson" is incorrect and also incorrectly applied to Tiny.

2 - TF1, a national French television channel

3 - Goldorak is the French title for UFO Robo Grendizer

4 - The actual airing date for the series in France didn't happen until more than seven months after this article. Sandy Frank was unhappy with the proposed initial order of only 13 episodes. So he held up the sale until he could negotiate a number that made it more worth his while. He was wildly successful - the initial order ended up being for 52 episodes, which began airing in France on September 15, 1979.

5 - Where this idea came from is anybody's guess.