Created in 1981, this 26-part DIC - Tokyo Movie Shinsha animated series brought a new spin on Homer's The "Odyssey", setting the adventures of Ulysses not in the past, but in the future universe of the 31st Century. The cartoon has obtained cult status in Western Europe, and due to its recent release on some cable channels recently, after a long hiatus, is finally being released on DVD.
The story lines, just as they were with Homer's original story, are engaging and thought provoking. Through their journey, our heroes make many friends and enemies and losses. And when losses are made the cartoon never pulled any punches, a realistic approach that was lost on many cartoons for the next two decades. This unique style and presentation of the story make it difficult to sum up in a paragraph. Most of the episodes borrow ideas from Homer's book, but the concepts used to execute them in most cases radically differ from the original.
The series itself kick's off with Ulysses indeed blinding and going as far as destroying the Cyclops, a huge one-eyed metal monster. However this is in an attempt to rescue his own son Telemachus and two alien sibling children, Numinor, and Umi, the female lead in the cartoon (who have been abducted by the followers of the Cyclops as sacrifices). As with Homer's original story, the god Poseidon, still active even in the 31st Century, condemns Ulysses, family and friends to wander the dimension of Olympus. Their only way back home is to find the equally mythical Kingdom of Hades, but a further twist is added when Ulysses' shipmates, or "Companions" as they are called in the series, are made as "lifeless as stone". That is, they look and are as good as dead for most of the journey.
At 23 years old on writing, the series still contains a wealth of high concept imagery. "The Odyssey", the name of our heroes ship resembles a giant eye (the power source, referred to as "The Iris" actually looks like an iris with its own metallic lids), but the detail is staggering. Its central computer, Shurka, is an almost maternal figure, female in voice and often considered to be one of the main protagonists in the story. Character animation is first rate, with some impressive action sequences strewn throughout. The technology will stick in most people's minds, as Ulysses himself epitomised childhood cool with his gun that was also a laser sword, his thruster belt that enables him to fly of sorts, and his energy shield that just simply has to be seen in action to show what it does.
Robots, THE toy of the 80's, have a strong recurring theme throughout the cartoon - with the Companions as good as dead a plethora of different robots have to help run the ship, whether its catering, cleaning or fire-fighting. And of course there's the trusty robot side-kick, No-No, another main character considered by many to be the token comedy-relief character - an unavoidable sign of the times but done with enough gravitas as to not suffer the same fate of other side-kicks. That is, being remembered as 'the annoying one'.
One criticism that could be levelled at the series is a result of that age old problem dubbing. The voices were originally cast in Japanese, and whereas the English voice cast do a more than sterling job, dialogue can sometimes come across as wooden. At the same time however, it is so infrequent it's barely noticeable.
Ulysses 31 tackled serious issues in a time when cartoons could be serious. It showed that cartoons could be intelligent and entertaining, which has endeared it both to children and adults. And lets not forget the rocking theme tune! Contemporary animation is starting to capture this mood again, and after the super-politically correct offerings that have dominated the airwaves until recent years, I feel privileged to have seen such a work of art.
The story lines, just as they were with Homer's original story, are engaging and thought provoking. Through their journey, our heroes make many friends and enemies and losses. And when losses are made the cartoon never pulled any punches, a realistic approach that was lost on many cartoons for the next two decades. This unique style and presentation of the story make it difficult to sum up in a paragraph. Most of the episodes borrow ideas from Homer's book, but the concepts used to execute them in most cases radically differ from the original.
The series itself kick's off with Ulysses indeed blinding and going as far as destroying the Cyclops, a huge one-eyed metal monster. However this is in an attempt to rescue his own son Telemachus and two alien sibling children, Numinor, and Umi, the female lead in the cartoon (who have been abducted by the followers of the Cyclops as sacrifices). As with Homer's original story, the god Poseidon, still active even in the 31st Century, condemns Ulysses, family and friends to wander the dimension of Olympus. Their only way back home is to find the equally mythical Kingdom of Hades, but a further twist is added when Ulysses' shipmates, or "Companions" as they are called in the series, are made as "lifeless as stone". That is, they look and are as good as dead for most of the journey.
At 23 years old on writing, the series still contains a wealth of high concept imagery. "The Odyssey", the name of our heroes ship resembles a giant eye (the power source, referred to as "The Iris" actually looks like an iris with its own metallic lids), but the detail is staggering. Its central computer, Shurka, is an almost maternal figure, female in voice and often considered to be one of the main protagonists in the story. Character animation is first rate, with some impressive action sequences strewn throughout. The technology will stick in most people's minds, as Ulysses himself epitomised childhood cool with his gun that was also a laser sword, his thruster belt that enables him to fly of sorts, and his energy shield that just simply has to be seen in action to show what it does.
Robots, THE toy of the 80's, have a strong recurring theme throughout the cartoon - with the Companions as good as dead a plethora of different robots have to help run the ship, whether its catering, cleaning or fire-fighting. And of course there's the trusty robot side-kick, No-No, another main character considered by many to be the token comedy-relief character - an unavoidable sign of the times but done with enough gravitas as to not suffer the same fate of other side-kicks. That is, being remembered as 'the annoying one'.
One criticism that could be levelled at the series is a result of that age old problem dubbing. The voices were originally cast in Japanese, and whereas the English voice cast do a more than sterling job, dialogue can sometimes come across as wooden. At the same time however, it is so infrequent it's barely noticeable.
Ulysses 31 tackled serious issues in a time when cartoons could be serious. It showed that cartoons could be intelligent and entertaining, which has endeared it both to children and adults. And lets not forget the rocking theme tune! Contemporary animation is starting to capture this mood again, and after the super-politically correct offerings that have dominated the airwaves until recent years, I feel privileged to have seen such a work of art.