Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon - Zelda Series Influences

In the early years of its existence, the Zelda series was nowhere near as rigidly defined as it is nowadays. The perception of the series from the late 80s to the early 90s varied greatly, and often resulted from the type of Zelda-related media that was available in a country and/or to a person familiar with the series. For the United States, the Zelda series was mostly defined by the two NES games, DiC's Nintendo cartoons (primarly their Zelda series as well as Captain N: The Game Master), Valiant Comics' series, and (near the end of that period) the brand-new, 16-bit title A Link to the Past.

These entries also influenced how the Maryland-based Animation Magic viewed the series, with specific designs and character quirks being recycled for their two CD-i games. I've went through comics, episodes, and concept art for the early Zelda series, and I believe that all six of the above sources were used as inspiration (in at least one way) by Animation Magic. Each potential connection I found will recieve one of three verdicts:

Very Likely: Nearly identical (or even 100% identical!) in terms of design or similarity. This is the closest a link (heh heh) can get to being officially confirmed.
Likely: Are quite similar to each other, and a good chance of being an influence (if not the main influence) on its CD-i equivalent.
Debatable: There are similarities between the two, but there's too much vagueness and/or there's an equal chance of influence from elsewhere.

Here are my findings for Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon:

Entries:

The Legend of Zelda (1987) -- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1988) -- DiC Cartoons (1989-91) -- Valiant Comics series (1990) -- A Link to the Past (1992)

The Legend of Zelda (1987)

Example (Location)	CD-i Equivalent	Verdict?
Darknut artwork (US Manual pg. 36)	Darknut in-game sprites	Likely
Dodongo artwork (US Manual pg. 37)	Dodongo in-game sprites	Very Likely
Stalfos artwork (US Manual pg. 35)	Stalfos in-game sprites	Likely

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1988)

Example (Location)	CD-i Equivalent	Verdict?
Daira artwork (US Manual pg. 29)	Daira in-game sprites	Very Likely

DiC Cartoons (1989-91)

Quite a bit here. We'll have to break this down by episode and even series.

Multi-Episode Stuff

Example	CD-i Equivalent	Verdict?
Link talks! And he desparately wants a kiss from Zelda.	Link talks! (And he ends up getting kissed by a girl that ISN'T Zelda.)	Very Likely
Zelda's father (and the King of Hyrule) is named Harkinian.	Zelda's father (and the King of Hyrule) is named Harkinian.	Very Likely
The Triforce of Wisdom is colored blue.	The Triforce of Wisdom (and seemingly the other two pieces?) have a blue-ish hue.	Debatable
Zelda's outfit	Zelda wears (at least) the top half of her DiC outfit in two cutscenes	Very Likely
Goriya design	Goriya in-game sprites	Likely

105: Sing for the Unicorn

Example	CD-i Equivalent	Verdict?
The episode starts with Harkinian and Link talking about a feast they just ate (likely dinner given the time of day).	The game's intro features Harkinian and Link talking about the dinner they are going to have.	Likely
Part of the episode's plot revolves around the capture of King Harkinian by Ganon.	Part of the game's plot revolves around the capture of King Harkinian by Ganon.	Debatable
Link's Crissword is unable to injure regular, non-monster people like Sing.	Zelda's Smart Sword cannot hurt regular, friendly people. (In fact, it makes them talk!)	Debatable

113: The Missing Link

Example	CD-i Equivalent	Verdict?
The plot of the episode revolves around Link being captured by Ganon during a fight, and Zelda having to save him.	Part of the game's plot revolves around Link being captured by Ganon during a fight, and Zelda having to save him.	Likely
Zelda ends up wielding a sword (specifically Link's Crissword) during the episode.	Zelda wields a sword as her main weapon during the game.	Debatable

Something interesting to note; Sing for the Unicorn and The Missing Link had dedicated VHS releases from 1989 to 1990. Could Animation Magic have bought these specific VHSes to use as direction for their Zelda games? Perhaps even combining their general plotlines for The Wand of Gamelon? It's something to think about.

Captain N: The Game Master

Example	CD-i Equivalent	Verdict?
Zelda's outfit in Captain N has her wear a short-sleeved shirt with an exposed midriff, something the animated series lacks.	Zelda's outfit in this game has her wear a short-sleeved shirt with an exposed midriff.	Likely

Valiant Comics series (1990)

Example (Issue)	CD-i Equivalent	Verdict?
Impa design (and her usage of the Triforce of Wisdom) (Issue #1 pg. 1)	Impa cutscene design (and her Triforce usage)	Likely
King Harkinian design (Issue #1 pg. 12)	King Harkinian cutscene design	Likely
Octorok design (Issue #2 front cover)	Octorok in-game sprites	Likely
Gohma design (Issue #2 pg. 4)	Gohma in-game sprites	Likely
Zelda keeps her items in a "Magic Pouch". (Issue #2 pg. 6)	Zelda keeps her items in a "Magic Pouch", as said in the tutorial.	Very Likely
Ganon's hood design (Issue #2 pg. 10)	Ganon's cutscene design	Debatable
~~Power~~ Handy Glove design (has extra wrist rings) (Issue #4 pg. 9)	Power Glove inventory sprite	Debatable
Wizzrobe design (Issue #4 pg. 11)	Wizzrobe's design	Debatable