I saw it when it came out - I was a kid. I saw it again during one of its very few few re-runs - I was a pre-teen. I got 2 DVD box sets recently. I'm pretty much an adult.
I still love it.
The animation quality isn't that great (it wasn't made in Japan by a professional studio like the Mysterious Cities of Gold, but in France in a created just for the occasion studio) but there are a few interesting things to mention: lots of hidden treasures in it (watch the pirates closely!) and it gets much better in later episodes, where you can feel the animators letting go of the reins on their creativity and honing their style. Backgrounds are usually beautifully painted, character motions can be very complicated and innovative... This cartoon would definitely benefit from a remastering, the original films having suffered from time... The music - it's plain beautiful, with some moody pieces, a few very catchy tunes, and an opening theme that can give you goosebumps of pleasure. Dubbing was sometimes a bit approximative, but usually very taking. The characters (both main, bad-asses, and occasional) usually had an historical origin, or a legend: here a Chinese emperor, there an alien King Kong, or even a Renaissance scientist - or a gladiator leading a slave revolt. If they didn't, then they pretty often had enough depth - or comic value - to be remembered. Those pirates had a bit of Tex Avery in them... The main story: read other users' comments, you'll get a good start. Suffice to say, the first season initially concluded the series with a good ending, but left enough questions in the air to allow for a second one - which comprised even more intricate per episode plots! Such plots as: what happened to those Arkadians refusing to forget their past? What are Spartakus' origins and what happened to his family? Is Arkana really human? Why was Thot all alone in his ruins? What was the purpose of the ghost ship? Who leads the Mogohks? All of these are connected somehow, and this connection might well prove to be the way to save Arkadia... The final ending took 2 episodes of 25 mins each (not counting credits) and was creative enough to rate the series amongst the pieces of arts of animation. It contained humour, angst, romance, some epic battles, intricate storytelling, a healthy dose of mystery... It probes domains of space, time continuum, philosophy, mathematics, iconography... Enough to keep most people hanging until the end, where the second Orichalque is completely unexpectedly found and the Shagma restored to lead the whole people of Arkadia to its future.
Amongst derived products, one could find a few plastic dolls of the characters, some novels retelling some specific episodes, but - and I liked those best - a few episodes redrawn in comics format around 1988 in the recently resurrected Pif Gadget. Those included 'Of Mice and Children', 'The Court of Miracles' and 'Thot'. Find them. Read them. Compare to actual European productions. Yup, out 15 years before their time.
Shoo, I wanna watch it again.
I still love it.
The animation quality isn't that great (it wasn't made in Japan by a professional studio like the Mysterious Cities of Gold, but in France in a created just for the occasion studio) but there are a few interesting things to mention: lots of hidden treasures in it (watch the pirates closely!) and it gets much better in later episodes, where you can feel the animators letting go of the reins on their creativity and honing their style. Backgrounds are usually beautifully painted, character motions can be very complicated and innovative... This cartoon would definitely benefit from a remastering, the original films having suffered from time... The music - it's plain beautiful, with some moody pieces, a few very catchy tunes, and an opening theme that can give you goosebumps of pleasure. Dubbing was sometimes a bit approximative, but usually very taking. The characters (both main, bad-asses, and occasional) usually had an historical origin, or a legend: here a Chinese emperor, there an alien King Kong, or even a Renaissance scientist - or a gladiator leading a slave revolt. If they didn't, then they pretty often had enough depth - or comic value - to be remembered. Those pirates had a bit of Tex Avery in them... The main story: read other users' comments, you'll get a good start. Suffice to say, the first season initially concluded the series with a good ending, but left enough questions in the air to allow for a second one - which comprised even more intricate per episode plots! Such plots as: what happened to those Arkadians refusing to forget their past? What are Spartakus' origins and what happened to his family? Is Arkana really human? Why was Thot all alone in his ruins? What was the purpose of the ghost ship? Who leads the Mogohks? All of these are connected somehow, and this connection might well prove to be the way to save Arkadia... The final ending took 2 episodes of 25 mins each (not counting credits) and was creative enough to rate the series amongst the pieces of arts of animation. It contained humour, angst, romance, some epic battles, intricate storytelling, a healthy dose of mystery... It probes domains of space, time continuum, philosophy, mathematics, iconography... Enough to keep most people hanging until the end, where the second Orichalque is completely unexpectedly found and the Shagma restored to lead the whole people of Arkadia to its future.
Amongst derived products, one could find a few plastic dolls of the characters, some novels retelling some specific episodes, but - and I liked those best - a few episodes redrawn in comics format around 1988 in the recently resurrected Pif Gadget. Those included 'Of Mice and Children', 'The Court of Miracles' and 'Thot'. Find them. Read them. Compare to actual European productions. Yup, out 15 years before their time.
Shoo, I wanna watch it again.