There are actually a lot of things in Legendary Defender that were inspired by 2011: the Voltcoms, for instance, were an early version of the Bayard in that they change form for their owner; Haggarium is basically Quintessence, only instead of being the substance of life and energy woven into the fabric of reality Haggarium is just a big nebula of Haggar’s...magic remains. (I think, they never made it quite clear.)
Remember in the first episode of VLD, when Lance is spying on Pidge, sneaking up on her, lifting her eadphones and whispering, “You rocking out up here?” That could have been an allusion to the 2011 in which Pidge had a secret double life as a popular one-man electropop band. Boy, was THAT a weird episode. Not to mention that 2011 was actually the first version to have Keith be part alien, only instead of Galra, he was Arusian. And the idea that Voltron was formed by five planets deciding to bring peace to the galaxy, only instead of Altea, Daibazaal, The Dalterion Belt, Nalquod, and Rygnirath, the five were Arus, Earth, Ariel, Ebb(I think) and a mysteeeeerious fifth planet with no name.
Also Sven had a son I guess. And a beard. And apparently he was a Viking or something.