“Well excuuuuuuse me, Princess!”
Yep, I still remember that phrase. If this is what Link would say if he could talk, then I’m fairly glad that he’s been mute in his games. Hot on the heels of the breaking rumor that Netflix and Nintendo were partnering to create a live-action Legend of Zelda series, we felt is was perfect timing to turn the clack back a few decades and relive the very first appearance of the Hero of Hyrule on our TVs.
The Legend of Zelda was a cartoon that appeared every Friday as a part the Super Mario Bros Super Show, replacing the Mario bros’ adventures once per week. Link was generally portrayed as a sort of bumbling, lovestruck boy, until the situation called for his signature heroism to arrive. It was almost like a light switch being flipped. In the series, Zelda isn’t as much of a princess in peril as she is in the games, often helping Link and facing Ganon face to face.
The real joy wasn’t so much the plot or the action, but the presentation. The animation was actually really nice, much better than its Super Mario Bros stablemate. Sound effects were essentially ripped from the cartridge, and the game’s soundtrack was reorchestrated and used in the show. If it wasn’t for the sneer that everyone seemed to always have, it’d be a fairly true representation of the games.
Though it only lasted 13 episodes (from September to December 1989), the characters were repurposed and added to the Captain N show, voice actors and all. In fact, they appeared often enough that the episodes felt like a continuation of the original show at times.
Here’s to you, Link. And to you, Zelda. May the forthcoming live-action series bring as many catchphrases as the original cartoon did.
Watch the first episode below via Youtube, and check out the rest of our Saturday Morning Cartoons. Have a suggestion for a show you’d like to see us cover? Let us know in the comments below!
And, you can pick up the complete Legend of Zelda cartoon series DVD on Amazon right now ($5 as of this post) — use our link and help support SQ!
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