The Amazing And Forgotten 80’s Sci-Fi Western Cartoon Is Free To Stream
Before Joss Whedon made Serenity, we had this.
Should The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers make a comeback? Probably, but in the meantime, at least we know the 80s cartoon is free to watch.
Look, I have a confession to make. I’m addicted to old 80’s cartoons, or rather, I’m addicted to them until I watch them again. I loved them when they came out, but time has a way of clouding the truth when it comes to entertainment.
The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
Over the past decades, while DVDs, streaming, and nostalgia have all created a vehicle for my favs as a kid to make a reappearance, I have re-watched most of the cartoons that I loved as a child.
Some have been about what I remembered, some have been absolutely terrible, but few have amazed me by their moments of brilliance like The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers.
Space Western, sound familiar? Well, Joss Whedon was not the first one to the party. Predating even the schlock-tactic 1994 direct-to-DVD classic Oblivion and even the much loved Bravestarr that debuted in 1987 was The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, a Saturday morning cartoon that used a mix of state-of-the-art computer and traditional animation that debuted in 1986.
Galaxy Rangers tells the story of a group of space lawmen enhanced with cybernetic abilities who protect the new frontier planets from outlaws, alien conquerors, and evil space wizards. Yeah, that’s right, space wizards. Before the advent of midi-chlorians, people didn’t mind having some far-out mysticism mixed in with their sci-fi.
When I first decided to revisit Galaxy Rangers, I was a little hesitant. I remember loving the show so much that I would set my alarm to wake me up before anyone else in the house just to watch it on Saturday mornings, but I’ve seen enough old 80s cartoons to know that what you may think is cool as a kid and what is actually watchable can sometimes be two totally different things.
Action Packed With Cool Stories
I finally started watching The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers and was astonished. Not only was it as action-packed as I remembered as a kid, but some of the stories were actually good, hearty sci-fi in their own right.
No, it wasn’t the kind of stuff that makes you think about the themes afterward or what it means to be human, but as far as the world-building and general plot went, it was surprisingly well thought out and constructed.
Some of The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers characters, such as the Clint Eastwood-esque super soldier Shane “Goose” Gooseman, actually had interesting backstories that came into play during the series. Other characters weren’t as fleshed-out, but the varied structure and settings for the stories provided a rich backdrop for the action even when the characters fell flat.
Not All Perfect
Now I won’t lie to you. For every awesome The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers episode like “Scarecrow” or “Changeling” there is an abysmal “Mothmoose” or “Tortuna Rock”. And while some of the voice work is good (the late Jerry Orbach is the voice of the team’s leader Zachary Foxx), some of the voices are like nails on a chalkboard (the Queen of the Crown and Captain Kidd).
The animation itself can be a little hit-and-miss at times as well. Even though the use of computer graphics in the cartoon was ahead of its time, the traditional animation duties fell on TMS Entertainment who used three different teams of various levels of skill to animate the episodes.
Nothing bad can be said about the killer ’80s rock theme song, though…
Why No Reboot?
Once you spend some time with The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, you’ll start to wonder why nobody has snatched up this property for a reboot yet.
The backstory is rich, the character designs interesting, and the locales and stories leave plenty of room for expansion.
If they can make the current run of Thundercats as interesting and grounded in a sci-fi universe as it is, I shudder to think of what a good studio could do with Galaxy Rangers.
Stream Galaxy Rangers Free
The show remains relatively unknown next to the likes of Transformers and Thundercats, so it will never happen, but the potential is definitely there waiting to be exploited. In a time when movies and TV are starved for ideas, it would be nice to see a remake of something that most people didn’t know by heart.
If you like the space western setting or just old cartoons in general, you should give it a look. And good news, Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers is streaming on YouTube for free. 92 episodes just waiting there for you to enjoy. You’ll be happy you did.
