‘WHISTLETOT TOUR’ SLATED AS PART OF ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN

Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, Lothar and The Phantom, who will star together in a new animated TV series come fall after fighting causes for more than 50 years, will take on a special target early in September: drugs.

The four characters from the coming “Defenders of the Earth” series will urge youngsters to “Just Say No to Drugs” during a cross-country train trip that will depart from Los Angeles on Sept. 7 and end up at the White House on Sept. 11, where they will present First Lady Nancy Reagan with signature pledges collected during their “Whistletot Tour for the Prevention of Drug Abuse.”

Joseph F. D’Angelo and Bruce L. Paisner, presidents of King Features Syndicate and King Features Entertainment, respectively, said the project is directed at elementary school children. It is being organized in cooperation with the Just Say No Foundation, local Just Say No Clubs which exist in 600 communities, and DARE, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program created by the Los Angeles Police Department and the L.A. Unified School District.

In addition to the Whistletot tour, an episode of “Defenders of the Earth” will deal with peer pressure and substance abuse, and King Features also will sponsor an ongoing national educational outreach program against drugs.

The daily “Defenders” series will be seen on 101 stations, including KTTV here, starting in late September.