Captain Planet and the Planeteers - The 1990 animated series

20 September 2021

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Captain Planet and the Planeteers (Captain Planet and the Planeteers) is an American animated television series of environmental superheroes created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Cassandra Schafausen. The series was produced by Turner Program Services and DIC Enterprises and premiered in the United States on TBS from September 15, 1990 to December 5, 1992.

In the UK it was broadcast on TV-am from 1991 to 1992, GMTV from 1993 to 1996 and on Cartoon Network from 1994 to 1999. A sequel series, The new adventures of Captain Planet (The New Adventures of Captain Planet), was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc., distributed by Turner Program Services and aired in the United States from September 11, 1993 to May 11, 1996. Both series continue to this day. The program is a form of edutainment and advocates for environmentalism and is known for having a number of famous actors voicing villains. The animated series spawned a franchise consisting of a charity and video games.

History

Our world is in danger. Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, can no longer bear the terrible destruction that afflicts our planet. Send five magical rings to five special young people: Kwame, from Africa, with the power of the Earth ... From North America, Wheeler, with the power of Fire ... From Eastern Europe, Linka, with the power of the Wind. From Asia, Gi, with the power of Water… and from South America, Ma-Ti, with the power of the Heart. When the five powers combine, they summon Earth's greatest champion, Captain Planet.

Each episode is followed by at least one "Planeteer Alert" clip, often linked to the plot, in which environmental-political and other socio-political issues are discussed and how the viewer can contribute and be part of the "solution" rather than "pollution. ".

Characters

Gaia

Gaia (voiced in the American original by Whoopi Goldberg in 1990-1992, Margot Kidder in 1993-1996), is the spirit of the planet that sends five magical rings - four with the power to control an element of nature and one that controls the element of the Heart - for five young people chosen from all over the world. She claims to have been asleep for the entire twentieth century and woke up to see a more polluted world than when she was last awake, however this is contradicted by a flashback episode set in the 20s where people get the guide of Gaia.

His appearance appears to be a mix of attractive women of all races, and he is often seen as an intangible spirit. However, in case of serious problems, Gaia acquires a bodily form, which puts her in danger of death. In the two-part episode "Summit to Save Earth" in which her rival Zarm defeated her, Gaia was shown as an elderly and frail woman, with Zarm explaining that given Earth's several billion years of existence , it would make sense for Gaia to be outdated in appearance.

Captain Planet

In situations that Planetaries cannot resolve on their own, they can combine their planetary powers to summon the titular Captain Planet (voiced by David Coburn), who is the power of Ma-Ti's enlarged heart in the form of a holographic superhero avatar who possesses all the other amplified Powers of the planetariums. Once his work is done, Captain Planet returns to the planet and leaves the audience with the message: "The power is yours!" Typically Planet only manifests to deal with the bigger crisis and then it goes away, but some plots have explored its existence beyond these moments, such as when it was summoned while Kwame and Ma-Ti were in space, with the result that the energy from their rings that created Planet could not return to its source, with the result that Planet was forced to operate on a human level, for example requiring a crowbar and handcuff keys to save the rest of the squad.

Planeteers

Planeteers. Clockwise from top left: Gi, Kwame, Linka, Ma-Ti and Wheeler.
Planeteers are tasked with helping defend the planet from environmental disasters and making efforts to educate humanity to prevent others from happening. At the beginning of the episodes, Gaia uses her "Vision of the Planet" in the Crystal Chamber to find out where the most devastating destruction is taking place (in most episodes there is one or more of the Ecocriminals behind) and sends the Planetaries to help. to solve the problem. Planeteers use means of transportation (usually a flying machine called a Geo-Cruiser) based on solar energy to avoid causing pollution themselves.

Kwame (voiced by LeVar Burton) - A native of Africa, Kwame possesses the power of the earth.

Wheeler (voiced by Joey Dedio) - From New York City, Wheeler controls the power of fire.

Line (voiced by Kath Soucie) - From Eastern Europe, Linka has the power of the wind.

Gi (voiced by Janice Kawaye) - Originally from Asia, Gi controls the power of water.

But to you (voiced by Scott Menville) - From Brazil, Ma-Ti wields the power of the heart.

Suchi (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) - Ma-Ti's little monkey.

Eco-criminals

Eco-criminals are a small group of antagonists who cause danger to the planet through pollution, deforestation, poaching and other environmentally hazardous activities. They enjoy the destruction they cause to the planet and the damage they do to gain wealth, land or power. Eco-criminals tend to work alone most of the time, although they are willing to work together when it fits their plans. Only in the two-part episode “Summit to Save Earth” the entire Eco-Villains ensemble worked as a team with Zarm as the leader. Each of these villains represents a specific way of thinking that can cause ecological problems.

Hoggish Greedly

Hoggish Greedly (voiced by Ed Asner) - A pig-like human representing the dangers of overconsumption and greed, Hoggish is the first villain that Captain Planet and the Planetaries encounter. In the episode "Smog Hog", it is revealed that Hoggish has a son named Hoggish Greedly Jr. (voiced by Charlie Schlatter) who appears only once and has been hit by his polluting Road Hog plot. For this reason, Greedly had to work with Captain Planet to save his son's life. In the episode "Hog Tide", it is revealed that he has a grandfather named Don Porkaloin (depicted as a parody of Vito Corleone from The Godfather and also voiced by Ed Asner) who has previously been defeated by another group of Planetariums. Unlike Hoggish Greedly, Porkaloin has gone green, as shown in the episode "The Ghost of Porkaloin Past".

Riggers (voiced by John Ratzenberger) - Greedly's main henchman. He once stated that the main reason he works for Greedly is because no one else would hire him. He sometimes questions Greedly's orders and shows concern when Greedly's actions harm the environment even if they never affect his boss, and Rigger, for the most part, remains loyal to Greedly. Rigger does all the footwork while Greedly usually sits and eats.

Verminous Skumm (voiced by Jeff Goldblum in season 1, Maurice LaMarche in season 2-5) - The second villain to appear in the series, is a partly human and partly rat creature representing urban decay, disease and drug abuse . Skumm can control mice and has his own personal helicopter called The Scum O'Copter. Skumm is responsible for the death of Linka's cousin Boris through drugs in the episode "Mind Pollution". In some of the later episodes Verminous Skumm took part in war profits by selling weapons to different gangs.
Rat Pack - A group of humanoid rats who work for Verminous Skumm.

Duke Nukem (voiced by Dean Stockwell in 1990-1992, Maurice LaMarche in 1993-1995) - A doctor who transformed into a yellow rock-skinned radioactive mutant representing the misuse of nuclear energy and the third villain to appear. He is one of the few eco-criminals, along with Zarm and Captain Pollution, capable of fighting one-on-one Captain Planet. Nukem generates radiation to fire radioactive explosions from his hands and possesses X-ray vision. Apogee has temporarily renamed the eponymous character of Duke Nukemfranchise of computer games to 'Duke Nukum' so as to avoid any trademark claims they may face from producers of Captain Planet. It was later discovered that the character had no branding and the games were restored to their original titles.

Leadsuit (voiced by Frank Welker) - Duke Nukem's henchman, Leadsuit's name defines his appearance while wearing a full-bodied lead suit to resist radiation released from Duke Nukem's body. He revealed that he works for Duke Nukem because when Nukem takes over the world, he will become second in command. Leadsuit is shy, rarely argues with Nukem (and always loses if he opposes something). Leadsuit is afraid of the dark and usually gives in at the slightest problem.

Lady Dr. Barbara “Babs” Blight (voiced by Meg Ryan in 1990-1991, Mary Kay Bergman in 1992-1996, Tessa Auberjonois in OK KO! Let's Be Heroes) - The fourth villain revealed, Dr. Blight is a mad scientist who represents the dangers of uncontrolled technology and unethical scientific experimentation. As a result of self-experimentation, the left half of his face is horribly scarred; this is usually hidden by her hair. In the episode "Hog Tide", it is revealed that Dr. Blight had a grandmother named Betty Blight who aided Don Porkaloin in his plot. In the episode "Hollywaste", it is revealed that Dr. Blight has a sister named Bambi (voiced by Kath Soucie). Bambi calls Blight by the nickname "Babs", but she is called "the headache woman" in her Eco-villain name.

Ozone Slayer MAL (voiced by David Rappaport in 1990, Tim Curry in 1991-1996) - husband and henchman of Dr. Blight's computerized artificial intelligence spray can. It has the ability to hack other computer systems, take over and reprogram them mainly according to Dr. Blight's specifications. MAL is often the control and main source of power for everything in Dr. Blight's labs and the vehicles he travels in.

Looten Plunder (voiced by James Coburn in 1990-1992, Ed Gilbert in 1993-1996) - A wealthy poacher and dishonest businessman who represents the evils of unethical business actions. Looten is the sixth villain to appear on Captain Planet in the seventh episode, “The Last of Her Kind”. He is also shown to have a grandson named Robin Plunder. His name was a comedy about the term "Loot and Plunder", and it was always in the credits of each episode when the singer mentioned "Bad boys who like ... loot and plunder!", Taken from the footage of an episode where a messy Plunder sees his plan in ruins and yells "You'll pay for this, Captain Planet!" Plunder is the only eco-villain to prevail as the Planeteers lose after failing to provide proof that Plunder was illegally logging trees.

Argos Blank (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) - Looten Plunder's main henchman and bodyguard, he also doubles as a mercenary and does most of Plunder's dirty work. He appears to have a military background as seen in many episodes while piloting helicopters or other aircraft, and is adept at handling firearms. Argos also got his own episode “The Preditor,” in which he appeared without his boss to hunt down sharks. Another time Plunder conspired with Hoggish Greedily, Argos Bleak was seen arguing with Rigger about who the best Eco-Villain was.

Pinehead Brothers (voiced by Dick Gautier and Frank Welker) - Oakey and Dokey are two large woodcutters who are the henchmen of Looten Plunder in the final season of “The New Adventures of Captain Planet”.

Sly Sludge (voiced by Martin Sheen in 1990-1992, Jim Cummings in 1993-1995) - An unscrupulous trash collector representing laziness, ignorance, and the dangers of apathy and short-term thinking. However, since many of his projects involve waste management, which is a legitimate environmental problem, he often uses it to achieve apparent respectability. Sludge is the latest villain to be revealed. He is also the only major villain to defect to Planeteers where his recycling program makes a lot of money by the end of "No Small Problem" by allowing Sludge to propose plans to mass-produce an economical and environmentally friendly way to dispose of waste. waste.

ooze (voiced by Cam Clarke) - Sly Sludge's henchman.

Tank Flusher III (voiced by Frank Welker) - Sly Sludge's strongman servant who makes his debut in the episode "The New Adventures of Captain Planet" "A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste" Pt. 1.

Arms (voiced by Sting in 1990-1992, David Warner in 1993, Malcolm McDowell in 1994-1995) - A former planet spirit who left Gaia in search of other worlds and ended up destroying other populous planets without Gaia to balance his methods. It represents war and destruction. Even though Zarm has no henchmen of his own, he would often manipulate other people to do his bidding. He once joined Hoggish Greedly, Looten Plunder, Sly Sludge, Duke Nukem, Verminous Skumm and Dr. Blight under his leadership in the two-part episode “Summit to Save Earth”. At other times he recruits and manipulates others, even Planetaries, to work for him. Zarm is the fifth Ecocriminal to appear in the series, having his first appearance in the sixth episode. Outside of war and destruction, Zarm promoted hatred and totalitarianism, which he believed were the most dangerous pollutants to humanity, as evidenced by his role as creator of king. To a dictator named Morgar. Zarm admits that he was a driving force for every 20th century despot, but admits that one of them actually refused his help and challenges the Planetaries to guess who, saying "I think you will be pleasantly surprised."

Captain Pollution
A polluting counterpart to Captain Planet named Captain Pollution (voiced by David Coburn, like his good counterpart) appears in the two-part episode "Mission to Save the Earth" when Dr. Blight steals the planetary rings, creates duplicates. pollutants and distributes duplicates to most other Ecocriminals. Each Eco-Villain received a specific ring that had the opposite power of the gods

Planetary:

Duke Nukem has an Super Ring of Radiation (counterpart of Fire).
Looten Plunder has a deforestation ring (Earth homologue).
Sly Sludge It has a Smog Ring (Wind counterpart).
Verminous Skumm has a Toxics Ring (homolog of water).
Dr. Blight has a Hate Ring (homolog of the Heart).

Each of the evil rings have malevolent faces on them, in contrast to the more element-themed Planeteer rings. Capitan Pollution is weakened when in contact with pure elements such as clean water or sunlight, while gaining power from contact with pollutants, being able to absorb pollutants and emit radioactive rays (and is later shown to gain unlimited power when it is in contact with pollutants after his resurrection). When summoned he says “Thanks to your combined polluting powers, I'm Captain Pollution! Has! Has! Has! Has! Has! Ha! ”, And when he disappears, he declares“ The polluting power is yours! ”

In his first appearance, he is sent by the Ecocriminals to destroy the Planetaries but is chased by the Clash Commander, and after a fight with Captain Planet, he returns to the evil rings by making them explode. In the two-part episode "A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste," Captain Pollution is brought back to life by the toxins of the five evil rings that infiltrate the planet.

Captain Pollution is the complete opposite of Captain Planet in terms of personality and power. In contrast to Planet's generous and selfless nature, Pollution is lazy and arrogant, seeing himself as a god and his creators as servants rather than partners. Captain Planet sums up the difference in their perspective during their first battle by taunting that Planetaries don't have a leader - they're a team - which is why Pollution will always lose.

Captain Pollution looks like Captain Planet, but his skin is pale yellow and covered in brown lesions. Her hair is red and styled to a widow's tip and she has red eyes. His costume is the same color and style as Planet's, but the globe on his chest is ripped in the middle. His voice is similar to that of Captain Planets, but has a California Valley sound. Captain Pollution is defeated twice by Captain Planet; first in “Mission to Save Earth” having been rammed through earth, lava, air and water, and then again in “A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste” having been induced to enter an underground magma chamber. Captain Pollution is destroyed by Captain Planet who casts Pollution into the water destroying it.

Technical data

Original title Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Country United States
Studio DIC Entertainment
Network Syndication
1st TV September 1990 - December 1992
Episodes 65 (complete) 3 seasons
Duration 30 minutes
Italian network. Rai 2
1st Italian TV 1992
Episodes it. 65 (complete)