VOLTRON Week Day 7: Pop Culture

Back cover of Blaze magazine issue #2

Voltron is everyone's favorite undocumented immigrant from the 80's - you hear that Donald Trump! He has permeated United States pop culture more than the Smurfs, GI Joe, and I even dare say Transformers. Yup, I said it: Voltron is more influential than Transformers. Case and point: Optimus Prime is the announcer for Voltron Defender of the Universe. Drops mic. Of course that's just the voice actor Peter Cullen but who's the announcer of your life? Your own voice in your head that you're reading this blog to? Lame.

Need more evidence? Well, the giant bot is referenced from Sprite advertising campaigns, to hip hop music, and late night segments. Sure, that all comes down to licensing but why pay for a license of a figure that people don't universally recognize? That's why Netflix teamed with Dreamworks to bring the icon back into your homes in a time where tele-entertainment is dominated by streaming services. So if Voltron Week on Steve and J TV hasn't made you a believer yet than you must be from Planet Doom nothing else will. Otherwise, you've already checked out Legendary Defender, now streaming on Netflix.

Optimus Prime as Voltron's announcer -

Sprite Ad Campaign -

Robot Chicken - 

Hip Hop Music -
I've already referenced Hip Hop music and Voltron historian David Banner, himself. So the Wu track is just for posterity.

Jump to the 1:35 mark

Jump to the 3:11 mark

Go, Voltron Force!

Disclaimer: Steve is an employee of Turner Broadcasting, a division of Time Warner, however the views expressed in this post are of my own.