5 September 2015

The Mysterious Cities of Ulysses 31 the Barbarian

To misquote Gaj's Warhammer for Adults blog's strapline, do you remember when cartoons were inspiring fiction and not just extended adverts for toys?

I do, and they looked like this:

Ulysses 31
(plenty of RT inspiration)

Mysterious Cities of Gold
(for planning expeditions to Lustria)

Thundarr the Barbarian
(Realms of chaos? Skirmishes on low tech worlds for RT?)


I thought about analysing style, storylines, theme music, characters, international collaborations of animators... but like so much of the nostalgia-rush that is Oldhammer, I am chary of spoiling the magic by peeking behind the wizard's curtain. So I shan't! Are there any other cartoons (apart from Dogtanian, naturally) that should also be included? I nearly included the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon but my recollection is that the stories were a bit cheesy, and the characters fairly irritating. I still watched it, of course!

Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the magic. That is all,
Rab

15 comments:

  1. God, these take me back! Am I right in recollecting that Ulysses 31 was shown on a Sunday morning and that Mysterious Cities of Gold was shown in the week, after school?

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    1. In retrospect, it was probably repeats of Ulysses 31 which I saw on Sunday mornings.

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    2. MCoG was definitely an after-school treat of the highest order. I remember Ulysses 31 being on at unexpected times, so perhaps I'm getting the weekday/Sunday morning mix-up as well? I think Thundarr was on the Cartoon Network so came a bit later when we got next door's cast-off satellite dish.

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  2. For once french people did something good (they had to be helped by the japanese though...)
    Oh that's the opening you're looking for :
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZFUOmU-nzI

    ^^

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    1. That is ace - never heard that version before!

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  3. Oh yeah! All classic cartoons, realy like how MCoG ties in with the Ancient Astronauts stuff, and thus Warhammer. For other suggestions, the Filmation Flash Gordon is really good and full of inspiration. Just watched Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1985) for the first time the other day, and couldn't help thinking how Rouge Trader it is.

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    1. I keep meaning to watch Nausicaa; this gives me extra impetus to do so.

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  4. Never seen Thundaar before but I did make my eldest daughter watch cities of gold on a dodgy bootleg I got from a mate. I think I still have it. Loved Ulysses but I thought it was on in the afternoons?

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    1. Can't remember - too long ago! I loved it, whatever time they showed it. I'm not ashamed to admit that for most of my teenage years I sort of subconsciously assumed that I'd grow that beard and hair combo when I became a grown-up. My dad looked a bit like that, too, so I had no chance of remaining beardless!

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  5. I remember all those old cartoons, used to watch them when once I got a satellite hook up. Used to watch Ulysses 31 in French because we lived off post when I was a kid. Oh and there is this show Prince Valiant. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZFUOmU-nzI

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    1. Prince Valiant... that wan't the one with the American football team sent back to Arthurian times, was it? Hang on... google says otherwise. Nope, Prince Valiant completely passed me by; they don't mind a high body count for a kids' programme, do they?!

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    2. Nope its a different show. This it was some thing like young Author and the round table or some thing like that. ether way that show sucked, so never bothered to watching it.
      And yes they really didn't pull pounces with the death toll in PV. This was another good one. Even for a show that was there to sell toys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7ktkOEeFw

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    3. Another new one! I'd never heard of Exo Squad before. So many cartoons, so little time...

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  6. Have to say, I watched loads of Japanese Animation back in the mid-80's here in the states, and I never heard of Ulysses 31. Just watched it with my 9 year old who thought it was "pretty cool" and "interesting." Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Rab!

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