Peter Keefe

Peter Eugene Keefe (November 16, 1952 – May 27, 2010) was an American television producer best known for creating the popular series Voltron, an English dubbed combination of Beast King GoLion, and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, two similar, but unrelated “mecha” (giant robot) anime series originally created and produced by Toei Animation. Keefe's work on the series is credited with introducing American audiences to Japanese animation and influenced later children's programs like the Dragon Ball, Pokémon, and Power Rangers franchises., although Japanese programs, including such programs as Astro Boy, and Ultraman, had aired on American television prior to the premiere of Voltron. Life and career Keefe was born on November 16, 1952, in Rochester, New York. His television career began as a movie critic for TV station KPLR in St. Louis, Missouri and he later produced documentaries for World Events Productions. His "hugely popular" 1980s cartoon series Voltron featured a group of five spaceships that combined to form the robot Voltron, who used his sword to protect the universe. Centered as it was around an early and highly successful example of the gestalt robot kaiju fighter, the series was credited by The New York Times in his obituary as having "helped prepare the way for other Japanese-style animation in the United States." During its run from 1984 to 1987, Voltron was the top-ranked syndicated children's program. It brought forth several spinoffs and merchandise licensing deals. The Voltron series was created by Keefe, in partnerships with Jameson Brewer, Marc Handler, Franklin Cofod, and others, by cutting and pasting bits of the Japanese cartoons Beast King GoLion and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV. Keefe licensed the programs in 1983 and updated the scripts for American audiences with less violence than the originals, removing Japanese locations and cultural information to allow the material to be marketed worldwide. After Voltron, Keefe created other animated series, including Denver the Last Dinosaur, Vytor: The Starfire Champion (a series which only lasted four episodes), Widget, Twinkle the Dream Being and The Mr. Bogus Show. The last three series were produced by Zodiac Entertainment, a company Keefe helped to found. Over a 20-year span, Keefe created 600 half-hour episodes, that were enjoyed by millions of children worldwide.