Legend of Zelda cartoon: An oral history of the Nintendo TV show

The world knows The Legend of Zelda’s Link as the brave hero of Hyrule — a young warrior of few words. Link is both a skilled bowman and a great swordsman. In 1989 Link was still a teenager. Legend of ZeldaWhen cartoon first aired Link just wanted a kiss from Zelda. A kiss from Zelda, to be exact — but he’s Not exactly picky, and unlike the laconic hero of the games, he would not It’s okay to not talk about it. The hero of Hyrule is still tasked with defending the Triforce of Wisdom from Ganon’s grasp on the TV show, but that’s secondary to his insistence on a little kiss. The show’s bizarre portrayal of Link — especially his constant begging of “Excuse me, Princess!” — has made Legend of ZeldaThe cartoon is a great head-scratcher.

Polygon has announced a Zeldathon for 2023. Follow us as we journey through The Legend of Zelda, starting with the 1986 original game and ending in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.

In 1989, Legend of ZeldaEach Friday at 15 minutes, the episodes air in fifteen-minute segments Super Mario Bros. Super Show!The animated segment is a mixture of live action and animations based on Nintendo video games. Every week. Legend of ZeldaIt was replaced by Super Mario Bros.The show featured animations of Mario, Luigi, and, most importantly, Lou Albano’s wild, legendary live action performances as Mario. The Jeffersons’ Danny Wells as Luigi, who welcomed fans of the show with the catchphrase, “Hey there, paisanos.”

Clearly, Super Mario Bros. The main event of the Nintendo-themed television block was this. This lasted 52 episodes, compared with the 38 that were originally planned. Legend of Zelda’s 13. For the authors of Zelda cartoon, that was a boon: They had very little oversight and direction beyond character designs, a franchise “bible” provided by Nintendo, and the original game, also called Legend of ZeldaIt and its sequel. Zelda 2 – The Adventure of Link. As they were not video game players themselves, the writers did their research and decided to go in a different direction — one that’s more focused on story than gameplay. Although there are elements of video games like sound effects or visuals, most of the story has Zelda (and Link) in Hyrule castle, protecting the Triforce of Wisdom form Ganon and trying to obtain the Triforce of Power. The Triforces can talk.

The mischief Zelda, Link and Spryte make is just one example of the many that they get into. Legend of ZeldaZelda’s relationship with Link was an important factor. Zelda, donning pink pants and purple thigh-high boots, more often plays the hero to Link’s bumbling teenage angst.

We get a delightful and bizarre rendition of the beloved franchise, often silent and unvoiced.

Image: DiC Entertainment/Nintendo

From pixels to small screens

The vast majority Super Mario Bros. Super Show’s budget was tied up in the main part of the show — the Super Mario Bros. show who led the time slot. What was the time slot? Super Mario. Bros Super ShowThe cancellation was reversed Legend of ZeldaIt was also shut down. But for the show’s short run, writers said they had little interference from Nintendo, which just wanted more eyes on its game properties — especially a new one like Legend of Zelda. It was the first time — and still one of the rare times — that Link and Zelda got their own voice actor performances, and probably not the ones fans expected.

You don’t have to just recreate the videogame. Legend of Zelda’s writers positioned the show more as a mix of action, comedy, and drama, taking specific inspiration from Cybill Shepherd’s and Bruce Willis’ ’80s show Moonlighting. Writers wanted Zelda and Link’s relationship to mirror Shephard’s and Willis’ rapport as Maddie and David on the detective show — the same angry sexual tension, but goofier and lighter for the kid-friendly cartoon TV show.

Bob Forward Story editor and story writer Legend of Zelda

Legend of ZeldaIt was to be an addendum to Super Mario Bros. Super ShowThis was actually the star of the hour. DiC required someone who was able to handle the task on their own, without any supervision. They provided me with a VHS tape after we had our initial conversation. [a playthrough of] the game itself, since I wasn’t actually a person who played video games — not that I had any objection. I just hadn’t really done it. The game was played by my boys, who were amazed. It was also my research.

I don’t know if anyone cares about this, but the playthrough VHS tape that they supplied me with I guess had been played by one of the new Charlie’s Angels. Tonya Roberts I’m sure. She was probably a good gamer in her youth.

Image: DiC Entertainment/Nintendo

Reed Shelly Story editor and story writer Super Mario Bros. Super Show

Andy Heyward originally conceived the project. Super Mario Bros. Power HourThe animation block would have been one hour long and featured series with a variety of intellectual property. The concept art was used to adapt the series. Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania, Double DragonPlease see the following: California Games. These additional adaptations weren’t produced, with the exception of Mario or Zelda.

John Grusd Director, Legend of Zelda

Nintendo requested that the show be based on the game’s new version [Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link], because, you know, it’s great marketing. What they did was give me the Japanese version of the game, because it wasn’t out here yet. I didn’t know anything about the game when I started. I’d never played them. I wasn’t a gamer or anything. That’s how I learned how the characters move, the sound effects, the music. Because I was familiar with all the shortcuts, I was able to complete the entire game very quickly. They were both completed in two minutes. It’s pretty fast.

Phil Harnage Writer, Legend of Zelda

The show was fun. They added a lot of fun to it, which I love. Super Mario. The show really ought to have been stand-alone. The limitations of what writers were able to do with it made them very limited. I wrote episodes and worked on the Bible. You can hand the Bible over to someone else when you’re done writing it, but sometimes you have to create a script. That’s the fun part. The tension between Link (the princess) and us made it a great show. After it was completed, we modeled it. Moonlighting. That was what we tried to capture, and I believe that it succeeded. Maybe over the top a little bit, but that’s what we were shooting for. It would have been possible to create many more shows. We only managed to complete one season.

Eve Forward

Eve Forward Writer, Legend of Zelda

My brother suggested that I write an episode. I managed to produce a few scripts, which were edited by him and ended up being used. The time was around 16-17 years old. My only guide was the show bible. It outlined basic characters as well as the types of stories that they wanted. I didn’t have a Nintendo, so I rented one, and the game, and tried to play it, but I didn’t get very far. However, the fundamental relationships between Ganon and Zelda were established by the show’s bible: Ganon evil guy, Zelda strong girl, Link charming camp, Triforce macguffin etc.

It was fun! Dungeons & DragonsHowever, it was a time when some of those feelings made it to the show. [The seventh episode] “Doppelganger” was based on a cursed mirror in D&D. The monsters are in! Zelda were all based on things from the Nintendo game; same with the weapons, like Link’s boomerang. However, in D&D of course you’re always fighting monsters and imagining how cool your character looks doing it, so a lot of the various swashbuckling stuff I liked to put in was based on things that had happened in our D&D games. Link is more of an rogue than fighter, I thought.

Bob Forward

The scripts had to be submitted according to a set schedule. I believe it was 2 per week. That wasn’t hard — I worked on shows we had to do five a week, so two a week was just fine. Eve and I wrote them all on our own. My mom pitched a story. She wrote something that we ended up having to do a lot of work on, but it wasn’t a bad initial concept. [Bob and Eve’s mom, Marsha Forward, had her script adapted as The Legend of Zelda’s 11th episode, “Fairies in the Spring.”]

A bible was something I made for myself. It just described who the characters were, and what their goals were. Robby London [DiC executive]Would you like some distinctive lines? MoonlightingProbably had just been released, or was extremely popular. Robby London came up with the idea of the line, “Excuuuuse me, Princess,” which is inspired by the MoonlightingRelationship and a joke from Steve Martin. I’ll be honest, what I liked about Robby is that he would make quick decisions. I tried to give him an easy time, but he was a quick decision maker. [that line]The show was a lot more fun than necessary. It turned out that it was OK, even though it was mocked. He was probably right, as it is still remembered. The idea caught on, and I’m glad it did.

Image: DiC Entertainment/Nintendo

Nobody had heard Link and Zelda speak before.

The people were familiar with Zelda and Link at the time. Legend of Zelda cartoon was released — Legend of Zelda Zelda 2 – The Adventure of LinkThese characters have been popular for quite some time. But characters were composed of just a few dozen pixels, and they weren’t voiced. It gave the TV writers lots of room to mess around; the show existed outside of the games, with Link just hanging around Zelda and her father’s castle, defending the triforce from Ganon every once in a while.

The show had to be largely carried by Link and Zelda’s personalities, plus the few other characters who appeared: Spryte, a fairy, and the two talking Triforce pieces (Wisdom and Power). The writers created a few big characters. Ganon is just an annoying character for Link. Link’s more urgent problem is getting Zelda to kiss Ganon.

Bob Forward

It was very easy to make it up as you went. It was also nice that people were so focused on Mario brothers, they left us all alone. That is my favourite way of working. Everyone was focused on the Mario brothers, so long as the pages were reached and the scripts were in time, everyone wasn’t looking.

Link has always desired a kiss. That was one of Robby’s inventions. It was a good idea. I accepted it. I kept expecting people to tell us we couldn’t do it. It worked, it seems.

Jonathan PottsLink Voice actor

Link seemed to me like a teenager, like the ideal teenage boy. He was also like a puppy. Imagine what it would feel like to be a puppy. [like] — running around, peeing on the carpet, and overreacting — everything was dramatic. That was what I wanted to do. I wasn’t a teenager then; I was well into my 20s when I did the part. My role was to play the youthful and witty teenage boy who is able to act before he thinks.

Cynthia Preston Zelda is the voice actor

You start reading something and you just have instincts — all of your experience, and all of the movies you’ve done, and all of the classes you’ve taken, and that feeds into how to start molding a character. What do they want from this character? What does this character want? I don’t think I was playing Zelda as a teenager. She was an independent woman — a young woman, but she was independent. She didn’t need a hero to save her, and that was so cool.

The show certainly wasn’t ahead of its time, but nonetheless it was a cool aspect that it wasn’t playing a damsel in distress.

Phil Harnage

We didn’t want a Disney princess. We’re not going to be selling princess dresses to six-year-olds. She was an action figure in her own right and it was quite unique. But the writers didn’t come up with that — that was something the artists came up with, and Nintendo loved it.

It was ahead of its time in some ways, but wasn’t always. Zelda was an excellent role model for girls. Zelda was confident and was able to take charge. Although she did not want to be restricted, she was very responsible. Link was also irresponsible. He was out there conniving: “How am I gonna get her to kiss me?” There’s fun in that. That’s where the MoonlightingThis model worked.

Jonathan Potts

The scripts weren’t complex. There weren’t a lot of deep things going on. All was well, it was kind of obvious. It was so. [direction] usually came down to technical things — more energy.

Cynthia Preston

One time, a director asked me to be more like Zelda. Although I tried, it was more difficult than just crying. Surprisingly, he walked up to me and made fun of my laughter. I really have the feeling I didn’t get the right laugh, but it was damn funny.

Image: DiC Entertainment/Nintendo

Talking Triforce

Writers said Nintendo didn’t want them coming up with new characters and backstories, so they worked with what they had. That’s where the Triforce pieces came in — the show couldn’t only be Zelda, Link, Ganon, and Spryte. The Triforce was there. You could make it talk! The Wisdom part of the Triforce, successful or not was a key role in the production. It helped move the story along and explained the situation.

Bob Forward

Link and Zelda wanted to have the Triforce of Power. Ganon desired the Triforce of Wisdom. [in]Half of the shows Link, Zelda and the rest would instigate action instead of waiting for Ganon’s start to do so and trying to restore the status quo.

Phil Harnage

The whole Triforce thing, it came out of the game and everything, but I don’t know — it was hard to figure out. Is that what you mean? Is it the Triforce? Is it possible to use it? I wasn’t really happy with that. I thought it would be much more fun to have them fighting over who’s going to control the land. However [the Triforce]was the same as the game and had to be done for gamers.

It is easier to explain things if they talk more. You’re like, What is the reason for this?You can ask the Triforce. It’s magic. You have to create the rules in a magical universe. However, you can set the rules.

Image: DiC Entertainment/Nintendo

Show without fighting: A sword fight

Television show that focuses on a sword-wielding hero. Legend of ZeldaIt is surprisingly easy to fight with swords. Legend of Zelda was a kids’ TV show, and that meant it had to follow the network’s standards — so characters couldn’t die. Link and Zelda still have weapons, of course, but they don’t seem deadly. Link’s sword shoots out magic bullets that stun enemies, and Zelda often uses a magic bow that uses magic instead of arrows.

John Grusd

Link has a sword, but can he actually use it to chop somebody’s head off? He can’t do what he does in the game. Nintendo expects us to follow the same path as them in the game. However, the rules and procedures at the network prohibit this. We can’t kill someone on children’s TV.

Phil Harnage

Magic brings a whole different ambiance to a cartoon, because it’s something you can do that’s not repeatable by kids. A lightning bolt can turn anyone into toast. The toast rises and goes. You just have to be careful — you can’t do everything you want to do. You can’t do anything that could be copied by a child. You don’t want kids sword fighting.

Bob Forward

Link’s sword could fire like a ranged weapon. The reality of hitting people with swords is questionable. It wasn’t something they wanted to do back then. Shooting zaps with a sword was much easier. It was also important to make sure that no one was hurt, so we created the “jar of evil” where all those who were hit with zaps went to. They then got stored for a time. A lot of the things we had to minimize were important.

Image: DiC Entertainment/Nintendo

It’s done!

However Super Mario Bros. Super Show Numerous episodes were produced. Legend of ZeldaOnly one season. That’s the way of TV cartoons — things get canceled and people move on. The Legend of Zelda itself has gone on to be one of Nintendo’s most successful properties, but the TV show is still a small part of that legacy.

Reed Shelly

It feels like an old time capsule. It’s such a different world now and so different for kids. They were created for an older era.

This was an amazing creative space. At a pace of four episodes per week, we had to release 52 episodes. [for the Super Mario. Bros Super Show]. There was live action and animation as well as an action sequence to a familiar song. It was an extraordinary production circus.

We had a lot of fun with Andy Heyward, Haim Saban and the executive producers and managers. We had to make millions of children laugh.

Eve Forward

I’ve no idea what the reception to the show was. This was in the days before internet;, you couldn’t just log in and see your work torn apart in real time. My personal opinion is that it’s a good thing. Super Mario Bros. show wasn’t very good, especially the live-action bits, and that Zelda was the best part of it, but y’know, it was a cartoon, for kids. We weren’t trying to make Citizen KaneOr something. However, it was thrilling for me to see my work in television.

Phil Harnage

A part of the reason [the show was canceled] is that it wasn’t its own show — it was part of the Mario Bros. show. It was tied to it, and they didn’t want to renew Mario Bros.Please see the following: Zeldawere shuffled. At that moment, history was written. I wish I had done more. It would have been possible to create many more shows. We only managed to complete one season.

It’s still a great show, even after so many years. They’re all on YouTube. [Ed. note: And Amazon Prime Video!] I don’t know if you know this, but we don’t get residuals.

We all wish that Zelda and Link had moved on to better and bigger things. [with the TV show], but they didn’t. There are always regrets for every program you watch. There are times when you regret not doing more or that you should have done more. However, there were some things you had do to please the network.

Children and older children who were familiar with the game gave us a lot positive feedback. Children would simply watch the program out of curiosity, and then get hooked. We had a few letters saying, “Oh, please don’t cancel it!” But getting a few letters isn’t enough to convince the network. They’re the boss, because they funded the things. DiC, the studio I worked for at the time — they were known for finding the current properties they could exploit. Like all studios, they were only in it to make money.

Jonathan Potts

I’m always surprised at how much notoriety it has. I don’t think it was a hit at the time, because then we would have done more. The first season had 13 episodes. It was done years ago. This was an all-or-nothing project. It was a time-consuming endeavor, but it has been successful and continues to grow. It receives letters from around the globe.

Second City was my classroom for voice lessons. The class consisted of people in their 30s and I would see the engineer as if I were a tinkerer. Let them know. And I’d say, “You know, I was the voice of Link in Legend of Zelda,” and inevitably, three or four people would be like… I became a celebrity. I can’t believe that. This was only one gig.

They would be so starstruck, which is a joke, because I’m not a star. But they’d get … [imitates expression of amazement]

Cynthia Preston

It was born [at a party]It was me who voiced Zelda in this cartoon. [people]They were stunned. Both were so stunned that they rolled up the sleeves of their shirt and had the Triforce tattooed across their arms. I’ve been at pitch sessions and somebody will find out that I’m the voice of Zelda, and the reaction is astounding. It’s so popular.

Reed Shelly

I remember on my first trip to Redmond and the Nintendo headquarters, they had a couple of hundred “game counselors” in a call center at computers giving tips to gamers calling in. For gamers to receive game tips, it cost 99 cents per minute, according to my memory. After a lunch break, a bunch of people raced one another to get game tips. I remember thinking, “This computer gaming thing is gonna be big…”