Y’know what they say: Tubi has everything, and now that includes the Legend of Zelda cartoon from 1989.
The free streaming site home to Looney Tunes and Beetlejuice now has the single-season series in all its 15-minute, 13-episode glory. For those who weren’t aware or alive when the show was on, the cartoon was a part of a segment on the Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, the first animated series for Nintendo’s mascot. Each episode featured a live-action segment featuring WWE stars “Captain” Lou Albano and Danny Wells as Mario and Luigi, followed by animated segments for Mario and Zelda.
Like the games, the latter segments saw Link thwart Ganon’s attempts to either kidnap the princess, steal the Triforce of Wisdom, or just take over Hyrule. Where the Super Show had a generally mixed reception, Zelda segments leaned more negative. Even beyond Link’s catchphrase, the writing and voice acting weren’t regarded well. But it’s got a bit of a cult following who can appreciate it for what it was, or at least not as damaging to the brand as you’d think.
You can find out for yourself if that’s true, and Tubi couldn’t have done this at a better time. With the 2027 Legend of Zelda movie being live-action, the old cartoon may be the only time in the immediate future fans get to see Link and Zelda’s world in animation like they’ve been wanting. It’s an interesting inversion of what’s going on with Mario and may speak to Nintendo’s adaptation strategy going forward: if it failed in one medium, maybe it can do better in the other.
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