Space Angel
Entry updated 6 May 2024. Tagged: TV.
US animated tv series (1962-1964). Cambria Productions. Created by Dick Darley. Directed by Dick Brown, Dick Darley and Alex Toth. Writers include Cecil Beard, David Detiege Clark Haas and Warren Tufts. Voice cast includes Margaret Kerry, Ned Le Fevre, GeGe Pearson and Hal Smith. 260 five-minute episodes, broadcast weekdays, with each weekly set being a serialized story (that is, 52 stories in all). Colour.
Eyepatch wearing Scott McCloud (Le Fevre) is Space Angel, agent of the Space Force's Intelligence branch and captain of the Spaceship Starduster: his crew are electronics expert Crystal Mace (Kerry) and Scottish engineer Taurus (Smith), who often indulge in affectionate bickering, but are united in their devotion to Scott (Crystal: "I missed you"; Taurus, pointedly, "WE missed you"). The Space Force guard our Solar System, but also research and investigate further afield.
The first serial concerns a Solar Mirror being built on Venus, designed to reflect "sunlight onto dead planets, to make them productive enough to grow food": the first section was to be shipped to an orbiting Space Station, but has been hijacked – and in the wrong hands could become "the most powerful Weapon in the universe". Though too late to stop the second section being stolen, Scott and Crystal will pilot the ship – fitted with a homing device – supposed to carry the third. As expected, the ship is stolen – but taken Underground, so the signal cannot be tracked. Our heroes are captured and the leader of the thieves, Zorra the Evil Queen (Pearson), orders them taken to the surface to be burnt to a cinder by the partly built mirror; fortunately Angel has a Hypnotic ring that puts their guard to sleep, allowing him to overheat the villain's headquarters by directing the mirror on to the ground above. As they are on the surface, the homing device enables the Space Force to find and destroy the hijacker's spaceships. However, Zorra escapes and is a regular antagonist, habitually rude to her staff, with an eastern-European accent that might be a nod to the Cold War. Other stories include diminutive Aliens who have run out of the salt they need to survive, so plan to invade another planet – Scott rushes to tell them our solar system is happy to provide salt, to render the Invasion unnecessary. These aliens have a Telepathic Ray that enables inter-species Communication: its being shone from a gun-shaped object might be a design flaw. "The Wizard of Eden" is a Scientist who colonizes an Eden-like planet by abducting the cream of the Space Force, then performing Memory Edits so they believe they were born there. The Space Force chief's memory has also been tampered with, forcing him to support the plan.
One episode has the trio surveying a newly discovered Earth-like Moon in a twin-suns solar system, with a view to colonization (see Colonization of Other Worlds). There are problems: the planet has belts of varying Gravity and rocks shatter from the cold at night – but generating heat from the friction between the gravity belts and setting off a "thermonuclear activator" will apparently Terraform the moon. There are other Planetary Romances, such as a newly discovered world whose civilization was wiped out long ago; a planet made entirely of water (see Under the Sea) and a world of ghosts (see Supernatural Creatures). Elsewhere a spaceship lands on Pluto (see Outer Planets) and egg-like Robots proceed to Teleport buildings to a planet on the far end of the galaxy: the Computer in charge tells Scott the raw materials are required by the creature of great Intelligence that lives there. However, Crystal's father, Professor Mace, is able to gain control of the computer, which impresses this intelligence (never seen nor directly heard), who agrees to negotiate for the materials. One episode has blob-like refugees from a doomed planet offering to buy unproductive land in the USA for settlement at "up to twice the going real estate prices", but – despite their friendliness – hostility to their unusual appearance means there is much political procrastination (see Politics): the Space Force does manage to help with the evacuation and, fortunately, the inhabitants of another galaxy offer the refugees a home. Despite our solar system's dithering, the aliens offer to help us should we ever find themselves in a similar situation.
A recurring foe are a Roman-like space empire, with gladiatorial combat using spaceships, Mecha and disintegrating Rays. There is also a Viking-like civilization on an ice-planet (who survive without a sun) and characters reminiscent of early European Religious settlers in the USA: rather than wagons they use what appear to be solar sails (see Solar Wind). We learn Professor Mace created artificial Gravity; whilst in serial 8, despite Scott and co. already having travelled to other solar systems, he invents an Ion Drive, enabling Faster Than Light travel; the professor later builds a Death Ray. He is not the only one to make scientific advances: Zora designs an Invisible ship, Taurus a robot that can survive extreme temperatures and two kids come up with Antigravity.
Space Angel uses many sf tropes, though the science is not strong (see Scientific Errors): the Space Force drops "mega-atomic bombs" adjacent to a "green sun" to stop it swallowing up a planet rich in minerals, but this goes awry, the Sun seemingly turning nova and destroying a whole "galaxy" in a matter of minutes (the series regularly confuses galaxies with solar systems). Though at times slow-moving, there are some interesting stories which are hampered by the series' most distinguishing feature, the use of very limited animation. Rather than animate lip movement, cartoon faces not obscured by microphones have human mouths superimposed, a process known as Syncro-Vox. Otherwise Space Angel resembles a lightly animated Comic strip; the parts that move tend to be simplistically drawn and space battles are unimpressive. However, static scenes are often well illustrated: Alex Toth (whom see) was a talented comics artist. Dick Darley (as "Dik Darley") had directed the earlier live action series Space Patrol (1950-1955). [SP]
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