If you consider yourself the ultimate Zelda fan, regardless of the quality of the product, then you should probably count The Legend of Zelda cartoon from the 80s in your collection. Wait, you don’t own it? Well, thankfully, the 13-episode series is getting a re-release on DVD later this year from DIC Entertainment.
Pre-orders for The Legend of Zelda – The Complete Series released live on Amazon over the weekend (via @VideoArtGame) — we’re honestly not sure how we missed it — and the reissue will be out on October 22, 2024. That should give you plenty of time to finish Echoes of Wisdom, then, right?
If you’ve never heard of the Zelda cartoon before, the series aired between September and December 1989 and was based on two NES titles, The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Each episode lasts 15 minutes and follows Zelda and Link as they try to stop Ganon and his minions from obtaining the Triforce of Wisdom.
It was shown as part of The Super Mario Bros. series. Super Show!; where Mario got four days a week, Zelda would round out the work week, airing on Fridays.
The Legend of Zelda cartoon is… certainly unique (just watch the video compilation above), but the animation is pretty cool for the time. Amusingly, Link doesn’t attack enemies directly with his sword, instead using a sort of sword beam to hit enemies. And the cartoon even goes out of its way to explain why Link can fit so many things in his pockets.
The show was canceled after 13 episodes because it was deemed a failure, but hey, it lives here and you can get a copy all 13 episodes on Amazon.
Last year, The Legend of Zelda writers Bob and Eve Forward revealed that they had enlisted family members to help pitch and write the episodes. But Zelda’s future on screen looks a lot brighter now, as we’ll be getting a Legend of Zelda movie at some point in the future.
Will you be getting The Legend of Zelda – The Complete Series? Let us know in the comments.
