In 1998 Voltron experienced a revival, of sorts, with the release of
Voltron: The 3rd Dimension. The CGI show only featured LV
which left many VV fans, including myself, with mixed emotions. Sure,
it was great to see Voltron on the air again in any form, but we VV
fans weren't getting what we so desperately wanted. A few fans
even expressed hostility—not just deprived VV fans, but also LV fans
who felt that V3D betrayed the spirit of the orginal series.
Not me. I actually have utter contempt
much appreciation for the 2 seasons of Voltron butchery
that V3D gave us.
Just look at how Keith was completely wussified
portrayed in V3D. He led the VF with Jeff's voice
a firm but fair hand. Lotor, the ruthless yet handsome villain, was
turned into a half-cyborg monster—quite a slap in the
collective face
of Lotor-loving fans daring
move by the writers. And let's not forget Amalgamus, the glorified
calculator robot who presided over the Galaxy Alliance
even though he
couldn't lead rats to cheese and was easier to sabotage than Windows 95.
While the original series gave us the space mice, V3D gave us space lice,
clearly demonstrating the hazards of smoking crack while writing
scripts writers' tongue-in-cheek creativity. Even worse more,
we got to see what happens when toy companies are given too much control
over the direction of a TV series a new version of LV: Stealth
Hamster Voltron.
And if V3D hadn't been put out of its misery cancelled,
we would have seen yet another bastardization version
of LV: Voltrex, the dinosaur abomination Voltron.
Let's not forget to thank Netter Digital Entertainment, who animated V3D
and in the process made everyone forget that they ever produced
quality series such as Babylon 5
brought our favorite characters back to half life.
There's Trendmasters, the company that tried to cram Stealth Voltron
and Voltrex down our throats gave us new, mostly crappy
Voltron toys.
All told, I think Voltron fans should feel proud when they think of V3D.
After all, they played a major
role in V3D's spectacular ride straight down the toilet.
And Trendmasters and Netter not far behind.