Space Angel

{{short description|American animated science fiction television series}}

{{Infobox television

| image = SpaceAngel.jpg

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| genre = Science fiction

| creator =

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| developer =

| writer = Clark Haas
Dick Darley

| screenplay =

| story =

| director = Dick Darley
Alex Toth

| creative_director =

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| country = United States

| language = English

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| executive_producer =

| producer = {{plainlist|

Dick Brown
Dick Darley
Clark Haas

}}

| news_editor =

| location =

| cinematography = Edwin Gillette

| animator =

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| runtime = 30 minutes

| company = Cambria Productions

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}}

Space Angel is an animated science fiction television series produced in the United States from early 1962 through 1964. It used the same Synchro-Vox lip technique as Clutch Cargo, the first cartoon produced by the same studio, Cambria Productions.{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946–1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series |date=1983 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=0-8108-1557-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool |url-access=registration |access-date=22 March 2020 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/childrenstelevis0000wool/page/n283 262]-263}} The show was created by Dick Darley, who also created the 1950–1955 live-action series Space Patrol.{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Hal |title=Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 |date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=McFarland & Co |isbn=978-1476665993 |pages=765–767}}

The series chronicled the adventures of three astronauts who worked for the Earth Bureau of Investigation's Interplanetary Space Force on board the spaceship Starduster: Captain/Pilot Scott McCloud, also known as "the Space Angel" (voiced by Ned Lefebver), Electronics/Communications expert Crystal Mace (voiced by Margaret Kerry), and the immensely strong Scottish-born Gunner/Engineer Taurus (voiced by Hal Smith).{{cite book |last1=Perlmutter |first1=David |title=The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows |date=2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1538103739 |page=568}}

Setting and themes

The character name the Space Angel was a secret identity. Scott McCloud had an eyepatch; when he appeared as Space Angel, he would lower the dark-tinted visor on his helmet to conceal his identity.

Apart from the use of Synchro-Vox, animation was very limited, but the static panel art by the renowned Alex Toth was often well-drawn. Story lines were serialized over five episodes which ran 5 minutes each, the idea being that stations could show one episode per weekday, with the climax coming on Friday. Cliffhangers were sometimes used, as in an episode with McCloud finding a derelict spacecraft beyond the light barrier, looking inside and exclaiming "Oh, my God!" Another memorable sequence occurred with the heroes involved in a best two-of-three gladiator battle, using future visions of Roman combat.

There were several episodes involving space combat between the Interplanetary Space Force and various enemies. After the Space Angel and his crew had discovered the villains' plans or forces, he would call in reinforcements made up of one or more squadrons of the ISF. Squadrons were organized by planetary patrol areas such as the Venusian Squadron, Mars Squadron, etc. The identifying squadron symbols on the ISF ships were the ones used in astronomy charts of the time to identify the planets, such as the female symbol for the Venusian Squadron, the male symbol for the Mars Squadron and a circle with an enclosed plus sign for the Earth Squadron.

The main antagonists in the show were the Anthenians, who were modelled on a combination of Ancient Rome and Sparta; their home planet is shown in the episode involving the gladiatorial games. The city looks like Rome, including a Colosseum. The civilians are dressed in togas and the soldiers are wearing a combination of Greek/Roman armor with Corinthian-style helmets. They are armed with blaster rifles.

Another antagonist is Zorra, the Evil Queen of Space, who resembled Nefertiti, and her henchmen, "the General" and "the Major", who all spoke with Central European accents. Predating the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror", their claim to fame is an invisible spaceship they use to disrupt interstellar trade.

In the opening sequence of "Space Hijackers (Solar Mirror)" a delta-winged spacecraft, the Starduster, docks with a space station. The ship matches velocity and rotation with the station and is talked in with instrument assist. This sequence foreshadows the space dock sequence of the delta-winged Orion from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, which would be made seven years later.

The Starduster contains a smaller vessel, a space fighter flown by the Space Angel, which looks like the XF-92 and is about the same size, though with a pointed nose. It is called the "Space Dart".

The first season theme music is credited to Geordie Hormel. The second season theme music was written by Walter Greene and was originally used in Roger Corman's film War of the Satellites (1958).

Episodes

There are 52 Space Angel stories, each in five parts, totaling 260 episodes.[https://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/C/Cambria_Productions/Space_Angel/ Big Cartoon Database: Space Angel Episode Guide]{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" border="1" \|+ List of Space Angel stories
scope="col"\| Title !scope="col"\| Episodes
scope="row"\| Space Hijackers (Solar Mirror) \| 1–5
scope="row"\| The Little People \| 6–10
scope="row"\| The Wizard of Eden \| 11–15
scope="row"\| Incident of the Loud Planet \| 16–20
scope="row"\| Expedition to a New Moon \| 21–25
scope="row"\| Cosmic Combat \| 26–30
scope="row"\| The Gladiators \| 31–35
scope="row"\| The Light Barrier \| 36–40
scope="row"\| The Slave World \| 41–45
scope="row"\| The Exiles \| 46–50
scope="row"\| The Saucer Caper \| 51–55
scope="row"\| Death of a Galaxy \| 56–60
scope="row"\| There Goes Danny \| 61–65
scope="row"\| Visitors from Outer Space \| 66–70
scope="row"\| Rescue Mission \| 71–75
scope="row"\| Space War \| 76–80
scope="row"\| Dragon Fire \| 81–85
scope="row"\| Flight of Hotshots \| 86–90
scope="row"\| The Fugitives \| 91–95
scope="row"\| The Encoder \| 96–100
scope="row"\| Project Hero \| 101–105
scope="row"\| The Frozen Planet \| 106–110
scope="row"\| The Plagued Planet \| 111–115
scope="row"\| The Donavan Plan \| 116–120
scope="row"\| Cosmic Search \| 121–125
scope="row"\| The Plot \| 126–130
scope="row"\| Name, Rank, and Serial Number \| 131–135
scope="row"\| Crystal's Anti Boy Friend \| 136–140
scope="row"\| They Went Thatta' Way \| 141–145
scope="row"\| Power Failure \| 146–150
scope="row"\| Scratch One Chimp \| 151–155
scope="row"\| Red Alert \| 156–160
scope="row"\| The Day the Earth Went Dark \| 161–165
scope="row"\| The Queen of the Three Suns \| 166–170
scope="row"\| Once Upon a Rainbow \| 171–175
scope="row"\| Welcome, Neighbor \| 176–180
scope="row"\| Space Angel Meets a Devil \| 181–185
scope="row"\| Top Secret \| 186–190
scope="row"\| How To Win a Space Race Without Really Trying \| 191–195
scope="row"\| The Gold City Blues \| 196–200
scope="row"\| The Not So Mythical Beast \| 201–205
scope="row"\| Count Down \| 206–210
scope="row"\| The Abominable Moon Man \| 211–215
scope="row"\| Dr. Kinkaid, I Presume \| 216–220
scope="row"\| Crisis in Orbit \| 221–225
scope="row"\| The Great Plain Robbery \| 226–230
scope="row"\| Take Me to Your Leader \| 231–235
scope="row"\| The Ghost and Crystal Mace \| 236–240
scope="row"\| The National Bank Chase \| 241–245
scope="row"\| Big Bertha Makes Peace \| 246–250
scope="row"\| Gopher Broke \| 251–255
scope="row"\| Conflict Nola \| 256–260

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

|+ List of Space Angel stories

scope="col"| Title

!scope="col"| Episodes

scope="row"| Space Hijackers (Solar Mirror)

| 1–5

scope="row"| The Little People

| 6–10

scope="row"| The Wizard of Eden

| 11–15

scope="row"| Incident of the Loud Planet

| 16–20

scope="row"| Expedition to a New Moon

| 21–25

scope="row"| Cosmic Combat

| 26–30

scope="row"| The Gladiators

| 31–35

scope="row"| The Light Barrier

| 36–40

scope="row"| The Slave World

| 41–45

scope="row"| The Exiles

| 46–50

scope="row"| The Saucer Caper

| 51–55

scope="row"| Death of a Galaxy

| 56–60

scope="row"| There Goes Danny

| 61–65

scope="row"| Visitors from Outer Space

| 66–70

scope="row"| Rescue Mission

| 71–75

scope="row"| Space War

| 76–80

scope="row"| Dragon Fire

| 81–85

scope="row"| Flight of Hotshots

| 86–90

scope="row"| The Fugitives

| 91–95

scope="row"| The Encoder

| 96–100

scope="row"| Project Hero

| 101–105

scope="row"| The Frozen Planet

| 106–110

scope="row"| The Plagued Planet

| 111–115

scope="row"| The Donavan Plan

| 116–120

scope="row"| Cosmic Search

| 121–125

scope="row"| The Plot

| 126–130

scope="row"| Name, Rank, and Serial Number

| 131–135

scope="row"| Crystal's Anti Boy Friend

| 136–140

scope="row"| They Went Thatta' Way

| 141–145

scope="row"| Power Failure

| 146–150

scope="row"| Scratch One Chimp

| 151–155

scope="row"| Red Alert

| 156–160

scope="row"| The Day the Earth Went Dark

| 161–165

scope="row"| The Queen of the Three Suns

| 166–170

scope="row"| Once Upon a Rainbow

| 171–175

scope="row"| Welcome, Neighbor

| 176–180

scope="row"| Space Angel Meets a Devil

| 181–185

scope="row"| Top Secret

| 186–190

scope="row"| How To Win a Space Race Without Really Trying

| 191–195

scope="row"| The Gold City Blues

| 196–200

scope="row"| The Not So Mythical Beast

| 201–205

scope="row"| Count Down

| 206–210

scope="row"| The Abominable Moon Man

| 211–215

scope="row"| Dr. Kinkaid, I Presume

| 216–220

scope="row"| Crisis in Orbit

| 221–225

scope="row"| The Great Plain Robbery

| 226–230

scope="row"| Take Me to Your Leader

| 231–235

scope="row"| The Ghost and Crystal Mace

| 236–240

scope="row"| The National Bank Chase

| 241–245

scope="row"| Big Bertha Makes Peace

| 246–250

scope="row"| Gopher Broke

| 251–255

scope="row"| Conflict Nola

| 256–260

''Space Angel'' in other media

Alex Toth drew a Space Angel six-page story for children's magazine Jack & Jill in 1963 to promote the Space Angel cartoon.

Transogram released a board game in 1965 simply entitled Space Angel Game.

The episode "The Gladiators" was featured on Cinema Insomnia.{{cite web |url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2102493327413792072|title=Cinema Insomnia: Prince of Space|author=|date=|publisher=Google Video|access-date=21 October 2010}}

VCI Entertainment released a DVD that contained nine Space Angel stories in July 2008.{{cite web|last=Lambert|first=David|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Space-Angel-Collection-4/9879|title=VCI's Space Angel – Collection 1: Box Art, Details and Extras; Available in your galaxy on July 29th|access-date=2008-06-19|publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620085734/http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Space-Angel-Collection-4/9879|archive-date=2008-06-20|df=}}{{cite web | url=https://www.amazon.com/Space-Angel-Collection-Full-Col/dp/B001B0H7D6 | title=Space Angel Collection 1 (Full Col Dol) (1962) | access-date=2009-04-18}}

References

External links

[https://archive.org/details/SpaceAngelCartoonsCollection Space Angel collection at the Internet Archive]
[https://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/C/Cambria_Productions/Space_Angel/ Space Angel at the Big Cartoon Database]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
[http://www.toonopedia.com/spangel.htm Space Angel at Toonopedia]
[https://web.archive.org/web/19990223191137/http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/1548/spaceangel.html Space Angel at Cartoon-O-Rama]
{{IMDb title|id=0264997|title=Space Angel}}

Category:1960s American animated television series

Category:1960s American children's television series

Category:1962 American animated television series debuts

Category:1964 American television series endings

Category:1960s American science fiction television series

Category:American children's animated science fiction television series

Category:American children's animated space adventure television series

Category:American English-language television shows

Category:Television series about astronauts

Category:Television series by Cambria Productions