80's really were a creative era and Defenders are a good example of the cartoons of that decade. The Defenders of the Earth were a team that united some characters such as The Phantom, Flash Gordon and Mandrake all of them are classics of the comic-strips. The whole idea of getting them together was great but this cartoon also had good and interesting stories that also had the unavoidable moral-message to young kids. And also all of them were the source of inspirations for the superheroes that came with the birth of Superman.
The premise is simple and it was already successful with shows such as GI.Joe and others, a group a brave men gather their forces to fight the threat of the Day. In this case the group of brave men is formed for fabulous creations of geniuses such as Alex Raymond and Lee Falk. But they also have to take care of their young children (they wee added to had characters more down to earth and young), teaching them and trying to keep them away from trouble. Anyway Mandrake and the rest were the star and the favorites. Lothar is an interesting case he was portrayed as the obvious strong guy but he also was much more intelligent than previous incarnations. The need of change is rooted in be more politically correct because the modern times have had trouble with the previous status quo of Lothar. The nemesis in this case was Ming who is probably one of the best fictional villains.
Even comparing this classic to some of today's cartoon it has energy and a good pace that if it is given a chance could capture the attention of a new generation of children who want to see adventures and heroes.
