Birdman and the Galaxy Trio | |
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Also known as |
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Genre | Superhero |
Created by | Alex Toth |
Written by |
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Directed by | |
Voices of |
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Theme music composer | Ted Nichols |
Opening theme | Ted Nichols and Keith Andes |
Composer | Ted Nichols |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 20[1] |
Production | |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | September 9, 1967 January 20, 1968 | –
Related | |
Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, or simply Birdman or The Galaxy Trio, is an American animated television series made by Hanna-Barbera Productions that debuted on NBC on September 9, 1967,[2] and ran on Saturday mornings until January 20, 1968. The program consists of two segments: Birdman, depicting the adventures of a winged superhero (created by Alex Toth, creator of Space Ghost) powered by the sun, and The Galaxy Trio, centered around the adventures of a patrol of interstellar superheroes.[3] Each segment was a complete independent story, and the characters of each segment did not interact with those of the other, except for a bumper that has all four heroes defeating a prehistoric monster.
A sequel series, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, premiered on Adult Swim on September 2, 2001,[4] concluding on July 22, 2007 after four seasons, with a special, Harvey Birdman: Attorney General, premiering on October 15, 2018,[5] and a spin-off series, Birdgirl, premiering on April 5, 2021.[6][7]
Main article: List of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and Birdgirl characters |
Birdman (voiced by Keith Andes) is an ordinary human who has been endowed by the sun god Ra with the ability to shoot solar rays from his fists and project quasi-solid "solar shields" to defend himself against attacks (Birdman's origin is only vaguely, and only briefly, hinted at during the series. His real name is there given as Raymond "Ray" Randall). After he had acquired his avian—and other—powers, he was recruited by a top-secret government agency, Inter-Nation Security, and now works full-time fighting crime, assisted by his pet eagle, who responds to the name of Avenger. In addition to the abilities he received from Ra, Birdman also possesses the power of flight, thanks to the giant wings which sprout from his back. It is possible Birdman is fireproof; being forced into an incinerator recharged rather than hurt him. His sole weakness is that he has to recharge his superhuman powers periodically, through exposure either to the sun's rays or to a comparable source of heat and/or light such as a desk lamp (when he was once shrunken to insect proportions) or the aforementioned incinerator, a weakness that is exposed in nearly every episode. His trademark is his battle cry of "Biiiiirdman!!!" whenever he goes into battle.
He is assisted by his supporting characters:
Birdman has fought the sinister organization F.E.A.R. that is led by Number One (voiced by John Stephenson) and Birdman's "number one" enemy. F.E.A.R. is behind many plots over the course of the series, frequently employing supervillains to perform nefarious tasks. The organization was seemingly defeated for good and its leader arrested in "The Wings of F.E.A.R.", but it occasionally resurfaced without any explanation.
Birdman has also fought some other villains with some of them appearing either having one appearance or having more than one appearance. They consist of:
The Galaxy Trio is a group of three extraterrestrial superheroes, Vapor Man, Meteor Man, and Gravity Girl, who patrol space in their cruiser Condor One. They maintain order and fight evildoers in the name of the Galactic Patrol law enforcement agency. The ship was equipped with a "displacer", that is, a teleportation device.
The Galaxy Trio get their missions from a man named the Chief.
The Galaxy Trio faces off against an assortment of villains with some of them appearing more than one:
Each episode featured two Birdman segments with one Galaxy Trio segment between them.
No. | Titles | Original air date | |
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1 | "X the Eliminator / Revolt of the Robots / Morto the Marauder" | September 9, 1967 | |
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2 | "The Ruthless Ringmaster / The Battle of the Aquatrons / Birdman Versus the Mummer" | September 16, 1967 | |
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3 | "The Quake Threat / The Galaxy Trio Versus the Moltens of Meteorus / Avenger for Ransom" | September 23, 1967 | |
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4 | "Birdman Versus Cumulus, the Storm King / The Galaxy Trio and the Sleeping Planet / Serpents of the Deep" | September 30, 1967 | |
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5 | "Nitron the Human Bomb / The Galaxy Trio and the Peril of the Prison Planet / Mentor, the Mind Taker" | October 7, 1967 | |
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6 | "The Purple Moss / Drackmore, the Despot / The Deadly Trio" | October 14, 1967 | |
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7 | "The Brain Thief / Titan, the Titanium Man / Birdman Versus the Constrictor" | October 21, 1967 | |
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8 | "Number One / The Duplitrons / Birdman Meets Birdgirl" | October 28, 1967 | |
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9 | "Birdman Meets Reducto / Computron Lives / Vulturo, Prince of Darkness" | November 4, 1967 | |
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10 | "The Chameleon / The Eye of Time / The Incredible Magnatroid" | November 11, 1967 | |
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11 | "Hannibal the Hunter / The Galaxy Trio and the Cavemen of Primevia / The Empress of Evil" | November 18, 1967 | |
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12 | "The Wings of F.E.A.R. / The Demon Raiders / Birdman Meets Birdboy" | November 25, 1967 | |
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13 | "The Menace of Dr. Millennium / The Rock Men / Birdman Versus Dr. Freezoid" | December 2, 1967 | |
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14 | "The Deadly Duplicator / Space Fugitives / Professor Nightshade" | December 9, 1967 | |
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15 | "Train Trek / Space Slaves / Birdman Meets Moray of the Deep" | December 16, 1967 | |
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16 | "Birdman and the Monster of the Mountains / The Galaxy Trio Versus Growliath / The Return of Vulturo" | December 23, 1967 | |
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17 | "The Revenge of Dr. Millennium / Return To Aqueous / The Ant Ape" | December 30, 1967 | |
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18 | "Birdman Versus the Speed Demon / Invasion of the Sporoids / The Wild Weird West" | January 6, 1968 | |
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19 | "The Pirate Plot / Gralik of Gravitas / Skon of Space" | January 13, 1968 | |
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20 | "Murro the Marauder / Plastus the Pirate Planet / Morto Rides Again" | January 20, 1968 | |
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Birdman appeared in issues 1 through 7 (April 1968 – October 1969) of the Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes comic book, published by Gold Key Comics.[10] He was joined in issue 2 by the Galaxy Trio (their first appearance together).
In 1997, he was also featured in issue #5 of DC Comics' Cartoon Network Presents: Toonami comic book series.[11]
In 2000, the character of Birdman was revived three decades later in the parody Cartoon Network/Adult Swim TV series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and several characters from Birdman and the Galaxy Trio appeared in this satire.[12]
In 2016, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio played a major role in the DC Comics series Future Quest, that also featured characters from various animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera such as Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, The Herculoids, Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, and Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor.[13]
By 2021, Gravity Girl makes a cameo in Jellystone! She was seen in Mayor Huckleberry Hound's flashback as the referee of the infamous final fight of The Funky Phantom where she pulled him out of the ring after he misused his ghostly abilities on Mightor. Birdman appears in season 3 as a picture, and he is revealed to be dead. Another episode has Space Ghost villains Brak, Zorak and Moltar cosplaying as the Galaxy Trio to infiltrate a convention.
On July 17, 2007, Warner Home Video released Birdman and the Galaxy Trio: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[14] This DVD set was re-released by the company's Warner Archive division as a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) release on January 10, 2017.[15] Birdman also accidentally appeared on the menu screen for the DC Super Heroes: The Filmation Adventures, a DVD set which featured DC Comics-based superhero cartoons produced by Filmation for The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (which coincidentally premiered the same day as Birdman and the Galaxy Trio), in 2008. Warner Home Video has stated that this was a mistake, and that Hawkman was supposed to be in Birdman's place.[16]