it's a shame he's gone and I had to find that out the hard way, I was trying to reach out to him to see if he'd voice a few lines for the game I'm making
@@mrmeteor64 Carlson passed in 2006; if you want an idea of how long his career was, he was in the 60s Spider-Man show as Green Goblin, but he was also stuff as recent as Cyberchase (Buzz) and 3rd Strike (Hugo, Q).
The best part is at 00:52 when he's showing the stalfo how to box while holding the triforce and laughing maniacally. That part always cracks me up for some reason.
Too bad there isn't clip containing the song played when Ganon is in his lair in the cartoon. I think it's a great orchestrated version of the dungeon theme!
I absolutely loved this cartoon as a kid ( I was a huuuuge Zelda fan back when only 1 + 2 were out) and was really bummed that there was no second season. I actually still am cause whenever I watch it again I'm having a good time. Yes, the scripts are far from perfect (I don't mind that Link is bumbling his way through this and has the hots for Zelda, I mean, she looks great for a toon character and this is written for kids after all - no idea how you were as kid in school but I think Link's childish way of showing his interest is a good reflection of how we were as kids when we liked a girl) but Ganon (and the awesome sound (why is there no OST? Instant buy from me) and visual design) made the show. Len Carlson was IMO perfect - I always enjoyed high-pitched villains like Starscream, Cobra Commander or Len's Ganon and while i understand that others might not, it made this show even more enjoyable for me. I actually wanted to hire him for a game char but he passed away shortly before that. I'll always enjoy and honor his ganon though. It's kinda sad that so many Voice Actors never knew how much people enjoyed their work back then before the internet made it possible.
I've been looking for the music at 0:29. There are a few "Zelda animated series - Ganon's theme" uploaded here on RU-vid, buth they're based on the dungeon theme. It's in the rom hack "Zelda - Legend of Link", but it's an 8-bit rendition.
When I first saw this version through the teasers they showed through the Mario cartoon on the DVD set I thought he was supposed to be a rat rather then a pig or a boar (which I didn’t play much Zelda when I was a kid)
Not in the cartoon series, but he came close to getting both triforces in the final episode, but he screwed up. He’s never de-energized Ganon, but he did get a couple zaps in and Zelda got the final zap in on a couple occasions.
@arterialshadow There were only two Zelda games out when this series was made. Kinda difficult to make a story about NES games without taking creative liberties.
At the time there was very little lore to go off of so this cartoon was made in the west with a more western cartoon formula while a separate manga was made in Japan. Remember this was a time before ALTTP and OOT gave anything a back story so... yeah.
This was made before ALTTP introduced the Master Sword. And, even then, it was nothing like the iconic Master Sword of Ocarina of Time and beyond (it was black and red in art, while it was a dull blue in-game. Both art and the title screen sprite show the yellow gem as being more of an orange-y eye.) I actually really wish less games focused on the Master Sword. It feels a tad oversaturated, and we could do with some new legendary blades.
It's sad, yes. Len Carlson's performance as Ganon was *amazing*. He gave the character so much personality and life. Back when we only had 2 Zelda games, this was beyond cool. You might have thought the Mario cartoon was crap, but man, on Friday... RIP Len Carlson.
@@turbohusqueI really liked the Mario cartoons. I think all video game cartoons of the 90s were great. I used to like Sonic too and Captain N the gamemaster.
I love Ganon in this show. He's intimidating, he's got a great design, he comes close to accomplishing his goals multiple times, and above all is just so much fun. He's easily my favorite thing about this show.
Ganon did a good job of playing the bad guy in this show. He came close to destroying Link or Zelda or getting both triforce multiple times. However, something always seems to happen to keep Ganon from completing the job. Ganon and his monsters had more power than Link and Zelda, and if they had used it more intelligently, they would have easily won. As good as Link was, he screwed up as well, including not taking the Triforce of Power when he had the chance in the final episode. It just goes to show that evil doers almost always lose, but Ganon could have won just by being a little smarter with his attacks. If you want something done, do it yourself, or at at least join your monsters in battle. Don’t rely on your incompetent monsters to do your job for you.
The way the script bends around itself to avoid mentioning sword strikes or attempted murder is sort of amusing to me. Imagine Tolkien writing about Gandalf's "Power Zaps" against the Balrog.
This is by favorite version of Ganon. I don't know why, he is just neat. I find him hilarious. Plus, he is still more badass than Ganondorf in Brawl...
@@Mac14329 In that game, Ganon was widely considered to be the worst character the game by a mile, to the point where some say his Brawl iteration is the worst character IN THE ENTIRE SERIES lmao
Even accounting for the fact that only two Zelda games had been released at the time this cartoon came out, I'm still not sure why they ever thought that turning the giant badass pig monster from the first game into some pig-rat-man weakling was a good idea.
@Janus3003 You're right. But you also have to take into consideration that Ocarina of Time is the first game in the series timeline (according to the story). So technically, Ganondorf was never a piggish monster at first; only a destined Gerudo male that had a human body. It was the triforce that changed his body into a beast for good. So when you put it that way, you can assume that this cartoon (if it is actually canonized, I'm not quite sure..) was after Ocarina of Time.
one of my fave villains ^^ Ganon was one of my most memorable cartoon villains in my childhood. I watched this cartoon in 1989 as a 5 year old...i feel so darn old now....
All of these wastemen heroes/villains who just use teleportation "when necessary". If I could do that I'd be just like Ganon. Whether I'm singing in the shower, making my mixtape, crossing people up on the court, doing my taxes, I'd just teleport for the sheer hell of it too!
My childhood! How I loved these! This is the Ganon I remember. A humanoid hybrid of the demon king and Ganondorf all in one. Maybe one day we'll get something like this in a game.
