Prince Planet

Prince Planet is the English-language title given to one of the earliest anime television series, Planet Boy Papi (遊星少年パピイ), when it was transmitted on American television in the United States in the mid-1960s.[1] It did run on "The Works" television network before it ceased operations February 28, 2017. A 52-episode monochrome anime series, it tells the story of a member of the Universal Peace Corps, originally from the planet Radion, coming to Earth on a mission to determine if this world meets standards for membership in the Galactic Union of Worlds and assist its inhabitants during his stay. While on his mission, Prince Planet adopts the identity of an Earth boy named Bobby and gains comrades who work together alongside him fighting forces of evil, both alien and terrestrial.[2]

Production overview and history

Prince Planet was originally produced by TCJ (Television Corporation of Japan, now Eiken) and aired on the Fuji Television network in June 1965. The show was one of the first heavily merchandised shows in Japan, with simple things like shoes getting the "Planet Boy Papi" logo. An English-dubbed version was released by American International Television Productions in September 1966, and produced by James Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff. The dubbing was performed in Miami at Copri Films International and directed by Mark Harris, with dialog scripting by Reuben Guberman, who also reworked

Main characters

Prince Planet, allies, and enemies

The main characters appearing throughout most of the series are all introduced by the fourth episode. In episode 1, Prince Planet arrives on Earth and meets a girl, Riko or Diana Worthy in the English-dubbed version and her father, Pops Worthy, who live on a large ranch. In episode 2, a wrestler known as Dan Dynamo, billed as "The strongest man in the world," joins the Prince Planet team. Episode 3 introduces Warlock, who is said to be the "Master of Martian Magic," although his Martian origins seem to be more of a contrivance added to the English dub; whatever Warlock's origin, he is established as a student of some kind of magical school who runs away to Earth after being punished for getting drunk on prune juice. The last major team member is a magician named AjiBaba of Abbadon, from the desert of the eastern hemisphere who debuts in episode 4 as an arch-enemy of Warlock, who attacked his country. Many of the episodes involve battles with Warlock until episode 30, when Krag from the planet Kragmire banishes (throws) Warlock into the depths of space and becomes Prince Planet's major nemesis until the end of the series. Warlock finally returns in the second-to-last episode of the series.

Human guise and transformation

While on Earth, Prince Planet exists usually as Bobby, a normal boy, but when the need arises he will transform into Prince Planet to fight enemies or protect his friends. He transforms similarly to Shazam by holding his pendant with both hands and saying "Peeeeeee Pazow!!" with the "Pazow" being added to cover the Japanese "Papi." When Bobby is transformed into Prince Planet, an appropriate suit of battle armor comes with the transformation, armor which resembles the apparel worn by the people of his native world. This includes a helmet, which all male members of Radion society seem to wear.

The super-humanoid powers of Prince Planet

Prince Planet's main powers are not altogether unlike those of Superman, and in the original Japanese, his home world is named "the planet Crifton (クリフトン星)." His pendant-endowed powers include super strength, flight, and resistance to harsh environments like outer space, though he can be injured in his transformed state. Prince Planet can also use his superior intellect (in several episodes, he is said to have an IQ of 200) along with the energy of the pendant to transform material objects at will; this power is very useful to create needed weapons, transportation, or other devices.

The power pendant of Prince Planet

A recurring plot element of many episodes hinges on a limitation resembling that of the Green Lantern of DC Comics, in that his pendant needs to be recharged periodically, 24 hours for the Green Lantern and an entire week for Prince Planet. But unlike the Green Lantern, Prince Planet cannot perform this task himself. Instead, replenishment of the pendant's energy is handled from the planet Radion. As his energy supply diminishes, the "P" in his pendant goes from black to white like a thermometer in dropping temperatures.

On Prince Planet's home planet of Radion, in the "power tower," there is a person whose job is to monitor the pendant's energy level and ensure that it does not run too low. Not surprisingly in view of this plot element, the custodian of the Radion power tower often appears to be "asleep on the job" while Earth and Prince Planet are hanging in the balance, and he sends energy to the pendant at the last possible second before disaster. Even whenever he has been completely deprived of the pendant's power, however, Prince Planet can still, physically, put up a good fight, and his high intellect makes him a cunning and formidable opponent.

type	tv series
director	Sato Ōkura
music	Hidehiko Arashino
studio	TCJ (now Eiken)
network	Fuji TV
first	3 June 1965
last	27 May 1966
episodes	52

Production overview and history

Main characters

Prince Planet, allies, and enemies

Human guise and transformation

The super-humanoid powers of Prince Planet

The power pendant of Prince Planet

The power pendant of Prince Planet

Japanese Cast

English dub voice talent

Episode list

Other foreign releases and dubs

Reception

Home video

External links

References