The Secret of Isis
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The Secrets of Isis was a live action television series produced by Filmation in the 1970s that appeared during the Saturday morning cartoon lineup. The show was also aired in various countries around the world. It is also known by the shorter title, Isis.
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[edit] Story
The Secrets of Isis starred Joanna Cameron as Andrea Thomas, a high school science teacher who found an ancient mystical amulet on an archeological dig in Egypt. The amulet belonged to Hatshepsut, an ancient Egyptian Queen and it gave the wearer the powers of Isis. Whenever Isis was needed, Andrea would reveal the amulet and incite an incantation ("Oh, mighty Isis!") and she would be transformed into the goddess Isis.
As Isis she was given great strength, the ability to move inanimate objects, and the power to fly and run at super speed. To invoke her powers, she intoned rhythmic rhyming chants, such as Oh zephyr winds which blow on high, lift me now, so I can fly, which, obviously, enabled her to fly. Isis used her powers for good by capturing criminals, righting wrongs, and helping anyone who was in danger. Unlike other superheroes who responded when people called their name, the beauty of Isis' assistance was that she often came to the rescue of people who didn't call for her, arriving in the nick of time and encouraging the wrongdoer to see the error of their ways through self-reflection.
The show costarred Brain Cutler as Rick Mason and Joanna Pang as Cindy Lee. In season two, Ronalda Douglas joined as Renee Carroll, replacing Cindy.
[edit] Opening Narration
"Oh my queen!" said the royal sorcerer to Hatshepsut, with this amulet you and your descendents are endowed by the goddess Isis, with the powers of the animals and the elements. You will soar as the falcon soars, run with the speed of gazelles and command the elements of sky and earth!"
3000 years later, a young science teacher dug up this lost treasure and found she was heir to ... the secrets of Isis!
And so, unknown to even her closest friends, Rick Mason and Cindy Lee, she became a dual person - Andrea Thomas, teacher...
"Oh Mighty Isis!"
...and Isis! Dedicated foe of evil. Defender of the weak. Champion of truth and justice.
[edit] History
It aired on CBS from September 6, 1975 to September 3, 1977 (15 episodes) as part of the Shazam/Isis Hour. The success of the show led to her own series the next year as The Secret of Isis, but only lasted seven episodes. Only 22 original episodes were produced. Though the character played by the same actress appeared in three episodes of Shazam!. Isis later appeared in animated form on Filmation's Tarzan and the Super 7 show in 1980, as part of a segment called The Freedom Force.
The series spun-off a comic book produced by DC Comics. Although Isis is often cited as a DC creation, in fact she was created specifically for the television series and was only later adapted for comics. The TV character later appeared in animated form on other series. A considerably reworked version of the character (though still connected with Captain Marvel) was introduced in the 2006 comic series 52.
In 2006, BCI, an American distributor of DVDs, announced it had acquired the rights to release the series on DVD in North America, with a release scheduled for the summer of 2007.[1] Grammnet, the production company owned by Kelsey Grammer, has reportedly obtained the rights to produce a movie based on the character to be called "The Legend of Isis".
[edit] External links
- The Secret of Isis at the Internet Movie Database
- Secrets of Isis Unofficial webpage on the Secrets of Isis
- KingTutOne.com A history of Hatshepsut, the Egyptian queen that Andrea Thomas inherits the powers of Isis from.
