Another great 80's cartoon. Ulysses 31 took the story of Homer's Odyssey and set it in the 31st Century. The storyline included the more famous parts of the Odyssey as well as other Greek Myths.

On his way back to Earth from the Troy space station, Ulysses' son Telemachus is captured by followers of the Cyclops, a behemothic computer. Ulysses and crew are able to destroy the Cyclops and rescue Telemachus, but this angers the Gods, who are every bit as mean and vindictive as their Greek counterparts: Ulysses' crew is placed in suspended animation and he is cursed to wander "unknown stars" until he finds the Kingdom of Hades.

Ulysses companions include:

  • Telemachus, Ulysses' blonde son
  • Yumi, a blue telepathic alien rescued from the Cyclops in the first episode
  • Numinor, Yumi's brother, also rescued, placed into suspended animation with the rest of the crew
  • Nono, a small red robot that belongs to Telemachus. It featured in a recurring nightmare I had for a while when I was about four.

26 episodes of epic animated antics ensue, the group often being placed in grave peril by the Gods. Some aspects of the Odyssey and other myths that feature in the cartoon are:

In one episode, Ulysses is even sent back in time by Zeus so that he can help his namesake retain the throne of Ithaca! Quality stuff.

Ulysses 31 can be bought on DVD from the 11th of October, 2004; Play.com has it for £17.99.

I remember Ulysses 31 being beautiful and awe-inspiring, but then I was only eight at the time :-).

From www.bcdb.com:

Produced by: DiC Entertainment, France 3, RTL-TVi, TMS
Vocal Talent: Claude Giraud (Ulysses), Fabrice Josso (Telemachus), Thierry Bourdon (Noumanos), Gilles Laurent (Noumaros, some episodes), Jean Topart (Zeus), Denis Savignat.
Directed by: Bernard Deyriès, Kyosuke Mikuriya, Tadao Nagahama, Kazuo Terada.
Produced by: Jean Chalopin, Yutaka Fujioka.
Animated by: Shingo Araki, Toyoo Ashida, Michi Himeno, Junsabaro Takamata.
Written by: Jean Chalopin, Nina Wolmark.
Edited by: Shuichi Kakesu, Hajime Okayasu.
Music: Pascal Auriat, Denny Crokett, Ike Egan, Shuki Y. Levy, Haim Saban, Kei Wakakusa (Japanese version).
US Release date: September 13, 1986.

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