Xena: Warrior Princess:

The series is a spin-off of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In fact, the saga began with three appearances: Xena's special character in episodes of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, entitled The Warrior Princess, The Gauntlet and Unchained Heart. In the first episode, Xena is an outlaw, but in the third, she joins Hercules to defeat Darphus, who had taken her army. Aware that the character of Xena had been very successful among the public, the producers of the series decided to create a spin-off series based around her adventures.

Music

The theme music, composed by Joseph LoDuca, who also co-wrote the lyrics for the songs in "The Bitter Suite", was developed from the traditional Bulgarian folk song "Kaval Sviri", and was sung by Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares. In the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode, "Unchained Heart", the original "Kaval Sviri" is the music used to announce Xena racing into battle. Indeed, the musical track of Xena: Warrior Princess was very well composed, and gave an Emmy to Joseph LoDuca for the song With the Angels in 1999. The vast majority of songs were made available over the course of the series on CDs - 6 volumes in all. There were also 2 musical episodes in the series; one in the third season, and another in the fifth season, each with its own CD released.

Cast

Xena: Warrior Princess starred Lucy Lawless and Renee O'Connor, in the roles of Xena and Gabrielle. The original choice to interpret Xena was the British actress Vanessa Angel^[2], but an illness prevented her from travelling, so the role was offered to another four actresses before being given to Lucy. For Gabrielle, Sunny Doench was chosen, but she did not want to leave her boyfriend in the United States and Renee was chosen. During the series, several names were being aggregated to cast, most of them natives of New Zealand. Actor Ted Raimi became an active actor in the second season onwards, in his role as Joxer. The late actor Kevin Tod Smith became popular in the cast from the third season as Ares. Other actors that were very popular among fans of the series was Hudson Leick in her role as Callisto (and occasionally Xena^[3]), Karl Urban as Caesar, and Alexandra Tydings as Aphrodite.

Setting

Xena Warrior Princess was filmed in New Zealand. Some places are confidential, but many scenes were recorded in places such as the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, part of the Auckland Regional parks often credited at the end of the episodes.^{[citation needed]}

Plot summary

Xena is a historical fantasy set in ancient Greece, although it has a flexible time setting and occasionally features Oriental,^[4] Egyptian^[5] and Medieval^[6] elements. The flexible fantasy framework of the show accommodates a considerable range of theatrical styles, from high melodrama to slapstick comedy, from whimsical and musical^[7] to all-out action and adventure. While the show is typically set in ancient times, its themes are essentially modern and it investigates the ideas of taking responsibility for past misdeeds, the value of human life, personal liberty and sacrifice, and friendship. The show often addresses ethical dilemmas, such as the morality of pacifism; however, the storylines rarely seek to provide unequivocal solutions.

Xena freely borrows names and themes from various mythologies around the world, primarily the Greek, anachronistically adapting them to suit the demands of the storyline. Historical figures and events from a number of different historical eras and myths make numerous appearances, and the main characters are often credited with resolving important historical situations. These include an encounter with Homer before he was famous, in which Gabrielle encourages his storytelling aspirations;^[8] the fall of Troy;^[9] and the capture of Caesar by pirates, with Xena cast as the pirate leader. This quirky mix of timelines and the amalgamation of historical and mythological elements fueled the rise of the show to cult status during the 1990s and early 2000s. It was one of the first shows to tap into its Internet following, allowing fans from all over the world to discuss and suggest things related to the show. The Xena fandom is still an active community today.

Characters

Spin-offs

There have been numerous Xena spin-offs into various media including films, books, comics and video games.

Movies

In August 1997 Hercules and Xena: The Battle For Mount Olympus a DTV animated movie was released, featuring the voices of a number of actors from both Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. The movie plot involves Hercules' mother being kidnapped by Zeus and the release of the Titans. Xena and Gabrielle have supporting roles in the movie, and at one point Xena even bursts into song.

Since the end of the series rumors have circulated that a feature length movie was in the works. In 2003 Screenwriter Katherine Fugate was approached for the project, and was quoted saying that she expects the start of production to be three to five years away, which suggests a release sometime between 2006 and 2009.^[10] Actress Lucy Lawless has been quoted in several interviews saying she would be interested in participating in a Xena film as well.^[11]

Books

Books have been released as tie-ins, including Xena Warrior Princess: Complete Illustrated Companion.^[12] There have also been a number of novelizations by authors like Martin H. Greenberg.

A book was also released in 1998, XENA: All I Need to Know I Learned From the Warrior Princess,^[13] allegedly written by Gabrielle, Bard of Poteidaia, and was "translated" by Josepha Sherman^[14]. It contains Gabrielle's viewpoint on many of the adventures she and Xena embarked on, and also includes eight pages of black-and-white photographs from the show. The book is basically Gabrielle talking about her view of the world on many different subjects. For example, in one of the chapters, "Anything can be a weapon- Anything!", she instructs the reader on fighting without traditional weapons, such as a sword or a staff, and in another, "Nobody likes a winer", she laments on the perils of alcohol.

It also launched the The Official Guide to the Xenaverse, by Robert Weisbrot, with photographs in color and black and white, a complete and detailed episode guide to the first two seasons, a look behind the scenes, the intriguing story of the origin of Xena: Warrior Princess, biographies of cast and crew and trivia about the show.

There are also some fictional books: The Empty Throne, The Huntress and The Sphinx, The Thief Of Hermes, and Prophecy of Darkness.

List of books

Comics

Video games

Series information

Awards

DVD releases

Anchor Bay Entertainment has released all 6 Seasons as well as the 10th Anniversary Collection of Xena: Warrior Princess on DVD in Region 1 for the first time. The series has also been released on DVD in Region 2 & Region 4.

Note: Only Region 1 DVDs contain special features, Regions 2/3/4 do not have any bonus material on them.

Note: The Region 2 releases of Season 1 contain the episodes out of order, creating a number of continuity problems when watching them in the order in which they are presented. The order on these DVDs is episode 1, then episodes 10 through 19, then episode 2, then episodes 21 through 24, and finally episodes 3 through 9. There are also several minor edits, such as headbutts and claps over the ears.

Reception

Xena: Warrior Princess has been referred to as a pop cultural phenomenon and feminist icon.^[22]^[23]^[24] The television series, which employed pop culture references as a frequent humorous device, has itself become a frequent pop culture reference in video games, comics and television shows, and has been frequently parodied and spoofed.

Xena and Gabrielle's relationship (see Influence on the lesbian community) has been cited as one of the reasons why the series has been so popular, coupled with the denials of her character's lesbianism from Lawless while the series was running.^[26] U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been nicknamed "Warrior Princess" by her staff.^[27]

U.S. ratings

Influence on the lesbian community

Xena has enjoyed a particular cult status in the lesbian community. Some of the lesbian fan base sees Xena and Gabrielle as a couple and has embraced them as role models and lesbian icons.^[29] A group called The Marching Xenas has participated in many gay and lesbian pride parades.^[30]

A subject of much interest and debate among viewers is the question of whether Xena and Gabrielle are lovers.^[31]^[32] The issue is left deliberately ambiguous by the show's writers. Jokes, innuendo, and other subtle evidence of a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle is referred to as "lesbian subtext" or simply "subtext" by fans.^[31] The issue of the true nature of the Xena/Gabrielle relationship caused intense shipping debates in the fandom, which turned especially impassioned due to spillover from real-life debates about same-sex sexuality and gay rights.^[33]

Some fans felt that the sexual nature of Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was cemented by an interview given by Lucy Lawless to Lesbian News magazine in 2003. Lawless stated that after the series finale, where Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay... there was always a 'well, she might be or she might not be' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me. Now it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was 'Nope, they're married, man'."^[34] However, in the interviews and commentaries on the DVD sets released in 2003-2005, the actors, writers and producers continued to stress the ambiguity of the relationship, and Ares was also considered at least as a potential love interest for Xena.^[32]

The Xena fandom also popularized the term Altfic (from "alternative fiction") to refer to same-sex romantic fan fiction.^[35] Many fans felt the term slash fiction carried the connotation of being about male/male couples only and was not a good description for romantic fan fiction about Xena and Gabrielle.

Costume donation

In 2006, Lucy Lawless donated her personal Xena costume to the Museum of American History.^[36] In an interview the same year with Smithsonian magazine, she was asked the question "Was the Warrior Princess outfit comfortable?" and she responded:

Uberfic

Uberfic is a kind of alternative universe fan fiction in which characters or events are portrayed somewhat closely to original canon but usually in a different time period, many times featuring the ancestors, descendants or reincarnations of canon characters. The term originated in Xena: Warrior Princess fandom. This sort of story was used by the series itself, beginning with the second season episode "The Xena Scrolls".^[37]

References

^ "Xena Full Summary". Starpulse.Com. Retrieved on 2008-06-08.
^ "Xena Gets the Axe". BBC News (2000-10-17). Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
^ "Intimate Stranger". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1996-11-11.
^ "Purity". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1999-11-08.
^ "Antony and Cleopatra". Xena: Warrior Princess. 2000-04-24.
^ "When in Rome...". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1998-03-02.
^ "The Bitter Suite". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1998-02-02.
^ "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1996-01-02.
^ "Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts". Xena: Warrior Princess. 1996-01-15.
^ "Xena: Warrior Princess (2006)". Yahoo Movies. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
^ "The Xena Movie". The Xena Movie News & Multimedia Site. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
^ Xena Warrior Princess: Complete Illustrated Companion, by K. Stoddard Hayes, 2003, Titan Books, ISBN 1840236221
^ XENA: All I Need to Know I Learned From the Warrior Princess by Josepha Sherman, 2002, ISBN 0671023896
^ "Xena Books and Magazines". Ted Turocy. Retrieved on 1995.
^ Xena comics at Dynamite Entertainment
^ "Xena: Warrior Princess Season One DVD". Chastity Campbell. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
^ "Xena Season 2 on DVD". About.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
^ "Xena Season 3 on DVD". About.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
^ "Xena Season 4 on DVD". About.com. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
^ "Xena: Warrior Princess Season 5 DVD". Chastity Campbell. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
^ "Xena: Warrior Princess, Season 6(2001) - DVD Review". Dindrane. Retrieved on 2008-06-06.
^ "Blackwell Synergy - J Popular Culture, Volume 32 Issue 2 Page 79-86, Fall 1998". www.blackwell-synergy.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-01.
^ Atara Stein, "XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS, THE LESBIAN GAZE, AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A FEMINIST HEROINE " (1998).
^ Janet K. Boles, Diane Long Hoeveler (2004). Historical Dictionary of Feminism. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810849461.
^ "What we owe Xena". Cathy Young. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
^ Whatever Turns You On: Becoming-Lesbian and the Production of Desire in the Xenaverse
^ "'Warrior Princess' to the White House?". BBC News. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
^ "Xena Episodes Ratings".
^ "Xena and Gabrielle: Lesbian Icons". AfterEllen.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
^ "Top Ten TV - Sex Bombs". warriorprincess.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
^ ^a ^b Leonard, Andrew (1997-07-03). "Who Owns Xena?". Salon Magazine. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
^ ^a ^b Young, Cathy (2005-09-15). "What we owe Xena". Salon.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
^ Young, Cathy (2005-09-15). "What we owe Xena". Salon.com. Retrieved on 2007-01-02.
^ "Lucy Lawless". Lesbian News. Retrieved on 2006-10-31.
^ Lo, Malinda. (4 January 2006) Fan Fiction Comes Out of the Closet AfterEllen.com. Accessed 19 July 2007.
^ Smithsonian magazine. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Page 44: "Lucy Lawless, star of Xena: Warrior Princess, which aired from 1995-2001, has given her signature costume to the Museum of American History."
^ "Definitions" (2006-02-26). Retrieved on 2007-02-04.

Xena: Warrior Princess

Contents

Production