Galtar and the Golden Lance (1985–1986) User Reviews

Double Bladed Lance Action

[hellraiser7 · 8/10 · 8 June 2022]

One of the things I love about under the radar gem hunting is that it shows how decades, and a visual medium still has plenty to offer, and this show is one of them. I'm a kid from the 80's decade and I honestly never knew this show ever existed, and as a fan of "He-Man" and sci-fi fantasy in general this show was a pleasant surprise.

This show of course came out at a time when the fantasy genre was on the rise and really thrived in animation. It's true this show never became as legendary as other animated fantasy shows from the 80's decade like "He-Man", "Dungeons and Dragons" and "Thundercats". But it could have been, as this show in my book is another of those almost classics; had the show been given a little more time, it really did have potential to go even further.

Though I think the real reasons this show never got up there is mainly because of bad timing as this show came out at a latter period of the fantasy genre in the 80's just when it was starting to fade a little, but also from the amount of competition this show had it just didn't stand a chance. Yeah, it's true this show does take its cues from a lot of other sources most notably "Star Wars". Personally, I honestly don't mind and same can be said about a lot of other shows out there that take inspiration and cues here and there it's a common thing, what matter to me is that the execution is good, let alone the show is fun.

The animation I personally feel is excellent, it is just top notch and really show how advanced animation was becoming. This show looks almost like it could have been an animated show for the 90's. From the color aesthetic and the attention to detail enough to satisfy your eyes to drink up. I like the world much like with the world in "He-Man" and "ThunderCats" it's a mix of both magic and technological science, fantasy and sci-fi which is always a perfect mix. The plot is good though nothing special, it's the typical one from most fantasy's where heroes must go on a long quest to free the land from evil, nothing new but everything done right. Even like the music like that intro which is good if nothing too memorable, but still some of the music and that epic announcement of the main hero's name it just really gets you pumped up from an epic fantasy adventure and the double light bladed lance action.

The main protagonists are solid their as good as they come. Really like the character designs of both Galtar and Princess Goleeta, it's funny how both look like Fred and Daphne from "Scooby Doo". Which I think is kind of cool, if you want to you could say the show could be an Elseworlds tale where Fred and Daphne are a prince and princess from a fantasy world, fighting to free the land from evil. Both have a good back and forth chemistry with one another, really buy that both care for each other deeply.

Even like the main villain Tormack whom is pretty much the archetypical evil overlord you've probably seen in dozens of fantasies or sci-fi fantasy stories but still gets the job done all the same. It's probably really the performance of him that really stands out, that could make anyone nervous.

Action is solid as it's well choregraphed, there is a good mix from shootouts, magic battles but of course the best is the sword-on-sword action. Really like the Golden Lance weapon, their obviously light saber like weapons. However, the unique thing about them is that fact that he can put both swords together and he has a double-bladed sword. That was cool but predated the double-bladed light saber from "Star Wars Episode One" which came out several years' latter.

The show surprising has a really good voice cast, from Mary McDonald Lewis who of course is well known to voice Lady Jaye from "G. I. Joe", it was interesting seeing her voice this role. Brock Peters another of my favorite voice actors, he of course is no stranger to voicing animated villains as he was the voice of Bloth on "Pirates of Dark Water" another under the radar gem and one I reviewed. He just has that beautiful deep booming voice which reminds me of James Earl Jones, but other than that his voice fits like a glove and really makes you believe he's an evil voice that could break you probably with just a mere sound of his voice. And there are other voice actors like "Transformers" alum Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, and Corey Burton. There is even Helen Hunt way before silver screen stardom.

One of the things that make this show unique from all the others (to me anyway) is that it has a mature feel to it. I like this because it shows how animation and even TV shows in general were starting to take the next step in storytelling. From the plotline despite nothing special is pretty dark which I love which to me really gives the adventure weight to it, that it really does matter whether the heroes win or lose.

But also, that both leads are in a relationship. This was uncommon with animation at the time as most characters of the opposite sex either had a platonic relationship or sometimes it was hinted at they were more or wanted to be more but never a pay off, which as a kid I always found weird and sometimes disappointing much with a certain bad season of a favorite show say "Once Upon a Time" that constantly builds up but fails to add up to anything good at the end. You can also say this show sort of acknowledges the 80's decade once again as romantic duos were a thing from shows like "Hart to Hart" and "Remington Steele".

It would be cool if this show had a revival, that way there can be more depth into the world of Galtar, a better Rogue and Ally gallery, but also elaborate and deepen the relationship between Galtar and Princess Goleeta more. Though doubtful this will ever happen as the fanfare for this show isn't that big, but still a thought to consider.

Overall if you're a vintage 80's cartoon fan or even a fan of fantasy shows in general, this hidden golden gem is worth a swing.

Rating: 3 stars.

To quote Hanna-Barbera... Funtastic!

[DarthBill · 7/10 · 30 October 2016]

On what may or may not be a faraway world or perhaps our world in the distant past, an evil tyrant, Tormack, will stop at nothing to acquire the supernatural weapon known as the Golden Lance, which when combined with the indestructible Sacred Shield that he stole from the royal family of Bandisar, the king and queen of whom he assassinated when he usurped the city of Bandisar, will make him invincible. The surviving Bandisar royalty, Princess Goleeta, rightful heir to the Shield, and her younger brother Prince Zorn, join forces with the warrior Galtar, who is entrusted with the Golden Lance by the wizard Ither, to overthrow Tormack and fight off other threats along the way, including but not limited to Tormack's scheming niece Rava and a father/son con artist team.

Part of that wave of what you might call "Kid Friendly Conan" type shows that followed the success of the 1982 Conan film that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, thus inspiring a renaissance of sorts for low fantasy, Hanna-Barbera decided to toss its hat into the ring by including this in its "Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera" block in 1985, though it is believed Galtar was created in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of the better known/remembered "He-Man & The Masters of the Universe".

And one can definitely see the influence of He-Man on this series as well as "Thundarr the Barbarian", "Dungeons & Dragons" and even Hanna- Barbera's own "Herculoids" among others. The hero Galtar looks like a cross between Thundarr the Barbarian, Hank the Ranger from D&D and even Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker. Princess Goleeta looks and feels like a cross between MOTU's Teela, "Thundarr"'s Princess Ariel and HB's own Daphne Blake from "Scooby-Doo", etc. Meanwhile Galtar's faithful steed Thork looks as though he escaped from HB's earlier sci-fi series/fantasy series "The Herculoids".

One interesting thing about the series, sadly cut short at 21 episodes (it apparently lacked a toy-line, yet somehow generated Valentine Day cards), is that it initially presented itself as having a somewhat darker tone than other action-fantasy shows of the time period. The pilot is pretty straightforward about the fact that its villain Tormack is a mass murderer (compare & contrast that with Skeletor from MOTU or Mumm-Ra & the Mutants from "Thundercats") and Galtar & Goleeta are both motivated by a desire to get revenge on him for killing their families and people, adding shades of gray to the otherwise morally upright stalwart hero and his tough but still feminine partner/love interest. This aspect of our hero and heroine is downplayed in later episodes.

Still, while it may not have been quite as dynamic as say "Thundercats", "Galtar" is a fun little series in its own right, moving along briskly and showcasing likable characters with kid friendly action and jokes. Part of the fun in watching the show now is spotting all the familiar 1980s era voice actors, among them the usual suspects from G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS such as Michael Bell, Corey Burton, Peter Cullen, industry veterans such as the late Don Messick and Frank Welker, the series even acquired voice actors from the very shows it obviously sought to mimic - THUNDARR's own lead Robert Ridgely and Henry Corden, MOTU's Linda Gary, etc.

Speaking of GI JOE the series heroine Goleeta was voiced by Mary McDonald-Lewis, best remembered by 80s fans for her voice work as Lady Jaye on GI JOE, and she manages to recycle the best aspects of that performance here, imbuing our heroine with warmth and strength while still making Goleeta just different enough from Lady Jaye to not feel like a clone of her. Meanwhile Lou Richards manages to imbue Galtar with just enough boyish charm to make an engaging protagonist out of him (the character's build may be closer to Thundarr's but his personality is closer to that of He-Man or perhaps Prince Adam if he didn't have to be He-Man), and David Mendenhall (who voiced Daniel son of Spike in the last stretch of the 1980s wave of "Transformers") acquits himself nicely in the role of Zorn, one of the better tag along kid characters of shows like this, helped by the fact that for the most part the writers managed to avoid having Zorn fall into the traps and tropes that usually derail characters of his archetype.

And who can forget the late great Brock Peters voice work as the series Christopher Lee inspired villain Tormack? Peters was no stranger to villains and authority figures (he substituted for James Earl Jones as Darth Vader in the Star Wars radio dramas as he was quite possibly the only actor available at the time with a deep enough voice to match Jones's) and his signature deep, commanding voice, practically a force of nature unto itself, fits the sinister Tormack like a glove, elevating him into a genuinely intimidating figure even when he suffers the embarrassments that 1980s cartoon villains were obligated to endure - though Tormack doesn't suffer nearly as many as more iconic fiends such as Cobra Commander or Skeletor. One of the reasons it's a shame the series didn't last longer is that Tormack could have been one of the iconic cartoon villains of the 80s, if only for Brock's excellent voice work.

Also of interest is that this was an early pre-"Mad About You"/"As Good As It Gets" fame job for Helen Hunt as the voice of Tormack's wild card femme fatale niece Rava, who played the evil Veronica to Goleeta's heroic Betty when it came to Galtar while still working her own agendas here and there.

For fans of the 80s and sword and sorcery this series is highly recommended despite ending with the usual "and the adventure continues" manner that many 80s cartoons ended on.