Editing Battle of the Planets (section)

=== Key changes in the adaptation ===
The ''Battle of the Planets'' adaptation differs significantly from ''Gatchaman''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mania.com/battle-planets-vol-2_article_81192.html |title=Battle of the Planets Vol. #2 |publisher=Mania.com |access-date=2013-09-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223150759/http://www.mania.com/battle-planets-vol-2_article_81192.html |archive-date=2014-02-23 }}</ref> The difference is due to heavy editing made to make the show appealing to the audience in the United States by removing controversial elements (i.e. graphic violence, profanity, and a gender changing mutant) while adding elements reminiscent of the feature film ''[[Star Wars (film)|Star Wars]]'', which was popular at the time. In fact, the name "Battle of the Planets" was an attempt to associate itself with the popularity of ''Star Wars''. While the original ''Gatchaman'' was earthbound, dark-toned, and environmentally themed, the adaptation morphed it into a less violent outer space show with [[robot]] characters, although some environmental themes were kept, and this is also why the other planets to which G-Force traveled on missions looked very much like Earth. Setting, violence, objectionable language, and certain character fatalities were altered or eliminated by cutting scenes, dubbing, and explanatory [[voice-over]]s (for instance, claiming that the city had been evacuated before a battle scene that would show the incidental destruction of buildings and houses, as well as explaining away the destruction of the Earth armies and air forces as being robot tanks and fighter planes).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/battle/trivia.shtml|title=BBC - Cult - Classic TV - Battle of the Planets|work=[[bbc.co.uk]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527201038/http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/battle/trivia.shtml|archive-date=27 May 2008|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&sval=battle+of+the+planets&article_no=938&page=2|title=New from Japan: Anime Film Reviews|access-date=25 June 2008|work=[[Animation World Network]]|date=28 December 2001}}</ref>

One of the most notable changes in the ''BotP'' adaptation involves the character Keyop (Jinpei in ''Gatchaman''), who picked up a bizarre verbal [[tic]] of stuttering, chirping, and burbling every time he started to speak. There was a longstanding fan rumor that this was done because the original character spoke using much profanity and that Keyop's excess mouth motion would cover up deleting the words. This was not true, as demonstrated by the existence of an unedited ''Gatchaman'' version released by [[ADV Films]] in the US, in which Jinpei rarely, if ever, used profanity. The in-story explanation for Keyop's unique manner of speech is that he is an artificial life form with a speech impediment because of slightly defective genetic engineering.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Agv8Lfp4DvUC&pg=PA53 |title=G-Force Animated - Jason Hofius, George Khoury, Alex Ross - Google Boeken |date=2002-12-15 |isbn=9781893905184 |access-date=2012-03-16|last1=Hofius |first1=Jason |last2=Khoury |first2=George |publisher=TwoMorrows }}</ref>

The main villain, known as Zoltar in ''BotP'', had an unusual background due to the gender changing [[mutant]] nature of the original Berg Katse character. In an episode where Katse's female half was featured (''BotP'' title: "The Galaxy Girls"), she was introduced as a separate character, Zoltar's sister, for ''BotP''. (A hint of her actual nature was retained in the name she used when masquerading as a human, Mala Latroz—"Latroz" is an anagram of "Zoltar".)<ref name="books.google.com"/>

To compensate for the other differences, a robot named 7-Zark-7—who watched over G-Force from their base, Center Neptune—performed explanatory voiceovers and light comic relief, which not only padded the time lost from editing but also filled in the gaps in the storyline. This device bears the influence of contemporary ''Star Wars'' film, with 7-Zark-7 having a visual appearance not dissimilar from [[R2-D2]], and a somewhat [[Camp (style)|camp]] personality in the style of [[C-3PO]]. Notionally, 7-Zark-7 ran the undersea monitoring station Center Neptune, from where he received information regarding incoming threats to Earth and relayed that information to G-Force. Zark and other added characters, such as 1-Rover-1, Zark's robotic dog (who could hover from one side of the control room to the other by spinning his tail like a [[propeller]], [[Muttley]]-style) and Susan (the early-warning computer whose sultry feminine voice often sent Zark into [[Ecstasy (emotion)|ecstasy]]) added to the cartoon's youth appeal. Some additional footage was also animated showing G-Force members Mark and Princess (using their ''Gatchaman'' [[model sheet]]s) interacting with Zark, as well putting an image of Mark on a video screen in the control room, helping his addition blend more smoothly into the existing ''Gatchaman'' footage (although there is a clear difference in quality between the Zark and the ''Gatchaman'' animation).