MY PET MONSTER

MY PET MONSTER

(ABC, September 12-December 19, 1987)

Nelvana Ltd., Those Characters From Cleveland, Telefilm Canada

MAIN CAST:

Jeff McGibbon – Monster

Sunny Besen Thrasher – Max Smith

Alyson Court – Jill Smith

Stuart Stone – Chuckie

Dan Hennessey – Beastur

Colin Fox – Mr. Hinkle

Tracey Moore – Princess

            Created by AmToys, a subsidiary of American Greetings, My Pet Monster was a plush doll targeted towards boys; the first of its kind. Designed to be simultaneously cute and terrifying, the large doll came came with bright orange manacles that had a trick link that would allow the simulation of his escaping from them. The manacles could also be removed and worn by kids to act like the monster themselves.

            To promote the doll, American Greetings went all-out for a major media push by commissioning a direct-to-video live-action special based on the toy. It was produced by Nelvana with The Global Television Network and Telefilm Canada. Also titled My Pet Monster, the special finds young Max Smith (Sunny Besen Thrasher) being transformed into a monster whenever he was hungry due to a strange statue in a museum. Dr. Snyder (Colin Fox), the man who found and brought back the statues, sought to capture Max to prove that the legends of their power were true and to validate his work. The special was written by J.D. Smith and directed by Timothy Bond. It would be released onto VHS by Hi-Tops Video with the doll in 1986.

Monster with Chuckie, Max and Jill.

            The doll proved a hit, and American Greetings sought to keep up the momentum by commissioning Nelvana to expand the special into an animated series. However, changes were made to the overall concept. While it still featured Max (again played by Thrasher, although depicted as blonde and without glasses), this time Monster (Jeff McGibbon) was a separate entity that could become an inanimate toy when magical manacles were placed on him. The only others to know about the monster were Max’s sister, Jill (renamed from Melanie in the special and also made blonde, but again played by Alyson Court), and Max’s friend, Chuckie (Stuart Stone). Fox also returned as a new character: next door neighbor Mr. Hinkle who lived with his dog, Princess (Tracey Moore). Hinkle knew about Monster but always failed in trying to prove he existed to others. A new antagonist was introduced in the form of Beastur (Dan Hennessey), who came from Monsterland like Monster and sought to drag him back home by any means. Beastur was briefly mentioned in the special in relation to the statues.

Monster in toy mode.

            My Pet Monster debuted on ABC on September 12, 1987. The series was largely driven by the chaos that ensued by the kids trying to keep Monster a secret and Monster constantly trying to engage with the world with his limited understanding of how things worked. Other storylines also dealt with school bullies and monster hunters. Smith returned to write several episodes as well as assistant story-edited with Peter Sauder, who also wrote several scripts. The writing staff was rounded out by Mike Silvani, Steve Wright, Alan Swayze and John de Klein. Development of the characters was directed by George Chanter, Linda Edwards, Rochelle Lulow and Ralph Shaffer, and facilitated by Jim Elliot, Tom Jacobs, Cindy Moyer, Michael Robertson and Susan Trentel. John Welsman returned from the special to comprise the series’ score, but the theme was composed by Marvin Dolgay and Kevan Staples. Animation duties were handled by Hanho Heung-Up Company, Ltd.

Beastur, foiled again!

            The show actually proved popular enough to warrant a continuation, but American Greetings felt no need to pursue a second season at let it end after 13 episodes. The My Pet Monster toyline continued to thrive into the early 90s, spawning dolls of various sizes, spin-off characters and other merchandise like books, lunch boxes and puzzles, until the appeal had run its course. In 2001, a company named ToyMax attempted to cash in on nostalgia by releasing a new 22-inch talking version of the doll. Somewhere along the way, My Pet Monster came into the possession of Saban Brands and was included in the Hasbro buyout in 2018.

The DVD cover art.

            As for the animated series, Hi-Tops released several episodes to VHS beginning in 1988. KaBoom! Entertainment released the complete series onto DVD exclusively for Canada in 2008. A United States version would be released the following year by Trinity Home Entertainment. 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Goodbye Cuffs, Goodbye Monster” (9/12/87) – Max discovers his new monster toy is alive while another monster comes looking to bring him home.

“The Wolfmen are Coming!” (9/19/87) – Max tries to get tickets for The Wolfmen concert while Jill’s costumes make Mr. Hinkle think there are real wolfmen loose in the neighborhood.

“Boogie Board Blues” (9/26/87) – Max’s friends come to his aid to help him win the Junior Boogie Board Competition.

“Rock-a-bye Babysitters / Monster Cookie Mix-Up!” (10/2/87) – Max and Chuckie have to babysit Mr. Hinkle’s niece for Jill, and Monster wants to help. / Monster devours the cookies Jill baked for a charity drive and Beastur interrupts the attempts to replace them.

“The Masked Muncher!” (10/17/87) – Chuckie and school bully Leo make a bet for the upcoming pie-eating contest, and if Leo wins, he gets Monster.

“Runaway Monster” (10/24/87) – Monster decides to run away when he thinks everyone forgot his birthday.

“Finders Keepers / My Poet Monster” (10/31/87) – Everyone is after Monster when he decides to keep the stolen jewels he found. / To thank Max for teaching him to write, Monster signs Max’s badly-graded essay so that his mother won’t see it.

“Escape from Monsterland!” (11/7/87) – The kids and Monster end up trapped in Monsterland.

“Little Bigfoot” (11/14/87) – The kids and Monster go camping with Mr. Hinkle in an attempt to solve the mystery of Bigfoot.

“Monster Makes the Grade!” (11/21/87) – Intrigued by the school elections, Monster poses as an exchange student to get involved in the process.

“Monster Movie Mayhem! / Superhero For Hire!” (12/5/87) – The kids make a movie with Monster that accidentally gets switched with a video of a show dog. / Monster becomes a superhero and fights crime.

“Gorilla My Dreams” (12/12/87) – Beastur crashes the gang’s trip to the zoo.

“The Monster Hunter” (12/19/87) – Not only does Monster have to evade Beastur, but a monster hunter that’s looking for him.

THE NEVERENDING STORY

THE NEVERENDING STORY

(HBO, December 2, 1995-May 25, 1996)

CineVox Filmproduktion GmbH, Ellipse Programme, Nelvana Limited, HIT Entertainment

MAIN CAST:

Christopher Bell – Bastian Balthazar Bux

Lisa Jai (as Lisa Yamanaka) – The Childlike Empress, Junior Rockbiter

Chris Wiggins – Mr. Correander

Geoffrey Bowes – Barney Bux

Janet-Laine Green – Xayide

Don Francks – Gmork/The Nothing

            The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte) is a 1979 fantasy novel written by German author Michael Ende. The book follows Bastian Balthazar Bux, an overweight and strange boy who felt neglected by his father after his mother died. He escapes some bullies by hiding in Carl Conrad Coreander’s bookstore where he finds a copy of The Neverending Story. He becomes so interested in it that he steals it and hides out in his school to read it. The book is set in Fantastica, a magical place of wonder, ruled by the benevolent Childlike Empress. A formless entity known as The Nothing threatens the kingdom and her people come to her for help, but are informed she’s dying. A green-skinned boy warrior named Atreyu is summoned to quest for a cure to help her. It turns out the Empress’ salvation came from Bastian himself, who cured her by giving her a name: Moon Child.

Bastian.

As a result, Bastian ends up in Fantastica and is given the powerful medallion Auryn that allows him to create anything he wishes; however, unbeknownst to him, it came at the cost of his memories of his life outside of the book. Bastian casts wish after wish in order to experience great adventures, causing harm to Fantastica in the process. Eventually, Bastian decides to take over Fantastica himself. Ultimately, Bastian becomes repentant over his actions. Atreyu and the luck dragon Falkor accompany Bastian into Auryn where the Water of Life demands Bastian’s name and to know if he finished all the quests he had started for himself in order to allow Bastian to return home. Atreyu gives Bastian’s name and offers to finish those quests, allowing Bastian to return home and reconcile with his father. The book, however, had disappeared. Coreander reveals to Bastian that Bastian will be charged, like he was, to help the next possessor of the book find their way to Fantastica.

The NeverEnding Story was a hit. It stayed at the top of the sales charts for more than three years and was ultimately translated into 27 different languages. Bernd Eichinger and Dieter Geissler acquired the rights to Ende’s book and set about producing a film adaptation. Co-written and directed by Wolfgang Petersen, The NeverEnding Story largely covered the first half of the book. As in the story, Bastian (Barret Oliver) ended up having to save the life of the Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach) after witnessing the adventures of Atreyu (Noah Hathaway) and Falkor (Alan Oppenheimer). A number of changes occur between the book and movie. Because the make-up failed to look realistic, Atreyu was given normal skin color and made to look more like a Native American. Falkor, an actual dragon in the book, looked more like a dog-headed creature. Because of time, some characters were cut out and their actions attributed to others. Although Bastian ends up interacting with Fantasia (the name also changed from the book), he doesn’t end up inside of it for the prolonged period he does in the book; instead, the film ends with him and Falkor running down his bullies in the real world.

Bastian with Barktroll and Falkor.

Released on April 6 in Germany and July 20, 1984 in the United States, the film performed very well; earning $100 million worldwide despite some mixed reviews. The worst reviews of the film, however, came from Ende himself. He felt that the script he consulted on was rewritten without his knowledge and that it completely ignored the point of his book in an attempt to make money. When his request for production to be halted was denied, Ende attempted to sue them but ultimately lost in court. Instead, he settled for his name to be removed from the project.

Once legal issues with Ende were put to rest, Geissler resumed work on the remainder of the film trilogy he envisioned for The NeverEnding Story; acknowledging that the book was too rich for just one film. The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter adapted the remainder of the book while also weaving in a new narrative, and The NeverEnding Story III: Return (or Escape) to Fantasia utilized only the characters in a completely original story. Each entry saw increasingly negative reviews and diminishing returns; II only made $17.4 million at the box office and III only saw a successful release in its native Germany, its limited United States release ending as quickly as it started.

The Childlike Empress gives Bastian the Auryn.

While producing the sequels, the idea to adapt the franchise into an animated series came about. The NeverEnding Story was a joint production between CineVox Filmproduktion GmbH of Germany, Ellipse Programme of France, Nelvana of Canada and HIT Entertainment of the United Kingdom. The series followed Bastian’s (Christopher Bell) continuing adventures in Fantasia; set after the first movie and ignoring all but characters from the second two. He journeyed to the land whenever he wanted by perusing the pages of the book in Mr. Correander’s (Chris Wiggins) shop. Often times, he had to embark on a quest to save the land from some kind of evil plight usually in the company of a variety of friends: the heroic Atreyu (finally portrayed with his green skin, voiced by Dominic Zamprogna), Falkor (Howard Jerome), the bird-like Nimbly (introduced in the second movie, voiced by Neil Crone), or the tree-like Barktroll (introduced in the third movie, voiced by Richard Binsley). Other characters returning from the films included the Empress (Lisa Yamanaka), her aide Large Head (Colin Fox), Mr. Rockbiter (Harvey Atkin), gnome scientist Engywook (Wayne Robson) and his witch wife Urgl (Barbara Byrne), the wise giant turtle Morla (Pam Hyatt), and Bastian’s father Barney (Geoffrey Bowes).

Evil sorceress Xayide.

There were several recurring villains on the show. The Nothing was combined with the character of Gmork (Don Francks) to be a black hole with evil red eyes that belonged to a white wolf that would emerge from time to time; the evil sorceress Xayide (introduced in the second movie, voiced by Janet-Laine Green), who used a variety of magic in her schemes to conquer the land; Vermin (Len Carlson), a bat-winged rat who kept an eye out for things worth stealing around Fantasia; and Shadow Goblin (Benedict Campbell), a master thief who wanted to become the richest being in Fantasia.

The Nothing, aka Gmork.

The NeverEnding Story debuted on HBO on December 2, 1995 and ran for a single season of 26 episodes. It was later rerun on HBO Family. The show was written by Erika Strobel, Vince Grittani, Nicola Barton, Peter Sauder, Dale Schott, Laurel L. Russwurm, Rolf Giesen and Bruce Robb. Animation duties were handled by Hanho Hueng Up Co. Ltd., Funbag Animation Studios Inc., Pixibox Studios, Cinemagic, Studio 306 Ltd. and Medallion – PFA. The series’ music was composed by Milan Kymlicka.

An evil Bastian wants the Auryn.

“The Tears of Sadness”, “Perilin”, “The Three Feeling Stones” and “The Belt of Invisibility” were released to a compilation VHS in 1996 by HBO Home Entertainment. In 2005, the first three episodes were released on the DVD Bastian to the Rescue by FUNimation Entertainment, Ltd. The entire series was made available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video. 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Tears of Sadness” (12/2/95) – Bastian and Barktroll investigate why the water is turning people into stone.

“The Meek and the Mighty” (12/9/95) – Bastian tries to put a stop to Baby Rockchewer’s destruction of the Tinies Village.

“The Purple Buffalo” (12/16/95) – Bastian arrives in the Grassy Plains of the Greenskin tribe to learn that the Purple Buffalo and Atreyu have disappeared.

“Morla’s Wish” (12/23/95) – The Nothing is determined to get Bastian and Jacko before they can deliver a package to Morla.

“Spook City” (12/30/95) – Bastian has to help a spook he met in the Forbidden Forest rescue her brother from Spook City.

“The Save Falkor” (1/6/96) – Bastien ignores his doctor’s orders when he’s sick to head to Fantasia and rescue Falkor.

“Missing Memories” (1/13/96) – Bastian has to find out why parts of Fantasia are mysteriously disappearing.

“Perilin” (1/20/96) – Bastian has to help rescue the Fire Lion to stop the spread of the Night Forest.

“The Sea of Mist” (1/27/96) – Engywook’s latest expedition led him to discover the Ancient Sea Scrolls, which contain answers to Fantasia’s mysteries.

“Promises” (2/3/96) – Bastian helps Atreyu and Salya track down what’s causing a fissure in the Grassy Plains.

“Through the Misty Mountains” (2/10/96) – Bastian and Large Head look into a monster that reportedly lives in the mountains.

“A Friendship That Flames” (2/17/96) – Barktroll gets jealous of Bastian’s new friend and tries to prove himself the better one.

“The Three Feeling Stones” (2/24/96) – Xayide is able to quell good feelings in Fantasia by removing two of the three ancient Feeling Stones.

“The Belt of Invisibility” (3/2/96) – Bastian needs Xayide’s help to stop a pair of invisible thieves.

“Good Deeds” (3/9/96) – When Barktroll receives a reward for a good deed he begins to expect one every time he does something nice.

“Barktroll’s Blame” (3/16/96) – Barktroll is accused of starting a fire in the Howling Forest.

“The Searcher” (3/23/96) – A mistake sends Engywook to the Land of Cold Fire to obtain all the knowledge he can.

“End of Time” (3/30/96) – Time seems to be slowing down, affecting all of Bastian’s friends.

“Thunder and Lightning” (4/6/96) – Engywook sets out to build a rain-making machine to end the drought in the Gnomic Forest.

“The Everlasting Night” (4/13/96) – Xayide attempts to create a spell from a stolen recipe book and ends up putting herself into a sleeping trance.

“After the Falls” (4/20/96) – Bastian convinces Barktroll to accept a log-rolling challenge issued to him by a bully over a beautiful tree they both like.

“Mirror, Mirror” (4/27/96) – Xayide’s magic mirror creates an evil version of Bastian and a good version of herself.

“The Dreaming Fields” (5/4/96) – Xayide places Nightmare Weeds in the Dreaming Fields that causes everyone’s dreams to become waking nightmares.

“The Atonal Trolls” (5/11/96) – The Atonal Trolls abandon their homeland for the Ivory Tower, but threaten its existence with the decibels of their shrieks.

“The Race for the Ivory Tower” (5/18/96) – Everyone enters The Race, including Shadow Goblin and Vermin who plan to cheat their way to victory.

“The Perfect Gift” (5/25/96) – Bastian hopes Fantasia will inspire him to find the perfect Father’s Day gift.

MYTHIC WARRIORS: GUARDIANS OF THE LEGEND

MYTHIC WARRIORS: GUARDIANS OF THE LEGEND

(CBS, November 7, 1998-January 22, 2000)

Nelvana, Ltd., Marathon Media, Hong Guang Animation (Su Zhou) Co., Ltd.

MAIN CAST:

James Blendick – Narrator, Hermes (2^nd time)

            The 90s were an interesting time for Greek Mythology. Renaissance Pictures was producing three shows incorporating it, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Young Hercules, and Disney had spun off their Hercules movie into the prequel series Hercules: The Animated Series. They would soon find themselves joined by yet another series based on the material: Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend.

The fourth book focusing on Andromeda.

            Produced by Nelvana, Ltd. and Marathon Media, the series was based on the award-winning Scholastic book series Myth Men: Guardians of the Legend. Written by Laura Geringer Bass with illustrations from Peter Bollinger, based on an original concept by Mireille Chalvon, the eight books were retellings of Greek myths in an easy-reader format as a way to get kids interested in the subject matter. Bass gave the stories a modern flair; such as alterations that depicted the female characters in a more positive light as heroic characters unto themselves and not merely damsels in distress or prizes to be won as initially portrayed. And, of course, some of the content of the original stories (rife with murder, adultery, betrayal and so on) was softened for the intended reading audience. The books were released between 1996 and 1997.

Pegasus takes to the sky.

            Like the book series, Mythic Warriors was presented in an anthology format with a different set of characters each week (in some instances, the Roman version of character names were used rather than the Greek versions). Amongst the featured mythological characters was strongman demigod Hercules (Lawrence Bayne) and his companion, Iolaus (Daniel DeSanto); Jason (David Orth) and the Argonauts and their quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece; Ulysses (Roger Honeywell) and his escapades in the Trojan War; Helen of Troy (Kristina Nicoll), whose abduction by Prince Paris of Troy (John Ralston) led to the Trojan War; Andromeda (Caroly Larson), whose mother’s boasts about her beauty led to her to become targeted by the gods; Atalanta (Larson & Natalie Brown), who was abandoned in the wild at birth for not being the son her father, King Iasus, wanted; Pandora (Terri Hawkes), keeper of the box of evils; wrestling brothers Castor (Rod Wilson) and Pollux (Jonathan Malen) who often donated their winnings to the poor; and King Midas (Benedict Campbell), who was granted the ability to turn whatever he touched into gold, amongst others. The only being featured in every episode was the narrator, voiced by James Blendick.

Poseidon in his realm.

            The gods were depicted in the show as being giant-sized humans, possessing immortality, the ability to fly and teleport, magical powers, and the ability to change their appearance and shape at will. An echo would be present whenever they spoke in their true forms. Amongst those featured were Zeus (Gary Krawford), king of the gods; Hera (Janet-Laine Green), his queen and goddess of the sky, marriage and childbirth; Hades (Norm Spencer), ruler of the underworld; Demeter (Linda Sorenson), goddess of fertility and the harvest; Poseidon (Francis Diakowsky), ruler of the sea; Hermes (Richard Clarkin, Stephen Bogaert & Blendick), the messenger of the gods; Athena (Wendy Thatcher & Lally Cadeau), goddess of wisdom, warriors and reason; Ares (Rick Bennett & Allen Stewart-Coates), the god of war; Apollo (Jesse Collins), the god of light, art and medicine; Artemis (Elizabeth Hanna), the goddess of the hunt; Hephaestus (David Hemblen), blacksmith of the gods; Aphrodite (Wendy Lands), the goddess of love and beauty; Dionysus (Stephen Ouimette), the god of wine and intoxication; Helios (Bob Zidel), the sun god; Eros, the god of lust, and Persephone (Meghan Black), the goddess of Spring and queen of the underworld. The eternal enemies of the gods, the Titans, were also featured, as was a variety of monsters such as the cyclops, the sirens, Medusa (Jennifer Dale) and the Minotaur.

Perseus vs. Medusa.

            Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend debuted on CBS on November 7, 1998 as part of the Nelvana-run programming block, CBS Kidshow. It was supposed to debut two months earlier in September with the traditional start of the new television season, but was delayed due to “complicated animation techniques”. Despite not being a ratings success, the show was renewed for a second season. The entire series was written by story editor Kathy Slevin and Peter Colley, with music provided by Varouje. Dr. Miki Baumgarten served as the educational consultant, ensuring that the show met the network’s FCC requirement for educational programming. Along with adapting the eight books, 18 additional adventures were also crafted for a total of 26 episodes across both seasons. At the end of each episode, a 30-second informational segment was shown where the characters would talk about solutions to modern day problems facing the viewing audience. Hong Guang Animation, Co., Ltd. handled the animation duties.

Athena season 1 (top) vs. season 2.

For the new season, several changes were made to a couple of the gods. Hades’ attire was slightly altered, Persephone was aged from a teenager to a fully-grown woman, Aphrodite was changed from a giggling teenager to a mature woman with an entirely different voice and manner, and Athena went from a blonde wearing silver armor to a brunette wearing a red dress with a cape, arm bands and shin guards.

Zeus in Olympus.

Mythic Warriors continued on in reruns throughout 2000 until September 9, when Nelvana’s agreement with CBS came to an end and CBS’ agreement with Nickelodeon began for the Nick on CBS programming block. The first season was made available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“Andromeda: The Warrior Princess” (11/7/98) – Andromeda turns to Athena when her father won’t permit her to join his army.

“Hercules and Iolas” (11/14/98) – Iolas seeks to become a hero like Hercules and begins to follow him on his adventures.

“Ulysses and the Journey Home” (11/21/98) – Ulysses just wants to return home from the war in Troy, but there are plenty of threats he must overcome on his journey.

“Perseus: The Search for Medusa” (11/28/98) – Perseus is goaded into retrieving the head of Medusa to prove that he’s a demi-god.

“Jason and the Argonauts” (12/5/98) – Jason launches an expedition for the Golden Fleece in order to reclaim his throne from the evil King Pelias.

“Persephone and the Winter Seeds” (12/12/98) – When Persephone is tricked into remaining in the underworld, her mother Demeter tries to rescue her from Hades’ clutches.

“Daedalus and Icarus” (12/19/98) – Daedalus and Icarus work towards freeing themselves from prison after failing to achieve fame and fortune.

“Ulysses and Circe” (12/26/98) – Ulysses and his men take a respite on a mysterious island where the evil sorceress Circe turns his men into animals.

“Atalanta: The Wild Girl” (1/2/99) – When Atalanta and Prince Meleager meet and begin to fall in love, a jealous Artemis sends the Calydonian Boar to destroy her.

“Prometheus and Pandora’s Box” (1/9/99) – Prometheus is chained to a rock by Zeus for his defiance in giving man fire, and Pandora is given a box she can never open.

“Bellerophon and Pegasus” (1/16/99) – Athena gives Bellerophon a golden saddle in order to allow him to get Pegasus to help him defeat the fire-breathing Chimera.

“Theseus and the Minotaur” (1/23/99) – Learning that his father is forced to feed people to the Minotaur, Theseus vows to kill it and save the people.

“The Labors of Hercules” (1/30/99) – After Hercules accidentally destroys a village, Iolas tries to reignite his heroic spirit.

Season 2:

“Psyche and Eros” (9/25/99) – Falling for Psyche, Eros attempts a test to see if she’ll love him for him rather than his beauty.

“Ulysses and the Trojan Horse” (10/2/99) – King Menelaus tasks Ulysses and his army to retrieve his unfaithful wife Helen from Prince Paris of Troy.

“Ulysses and Penelope” (10/9/99) – Ulysses returns home only to discover that his family has decided him dead and have seemingly moved on.

“Hercules and the Golden Apples” (10/16/99) – Hera has Hercules’ love poisoned and he must journey to Hera’s garden to retrieve the Golden Apple to save her.

“Cadmus and Europa” (10/23/99) – Cadmus is tasked with watching over his sister Europa, who believes that a white bull would take her away to find her destiny.

“Jason and Medea” (10/30/99) – Medea has Jason’s mentor Chiron killed in order to crush his spirit and foil his quest to obtain the Golden Fleece.

“Damon and Pythias” (11/6/99) – Damon puts his life on the line so that his friend, Pythias, can say goodbye to his family before his execution.

“Castor and Pollux” (11/13/99) – The brothers are torn apart when King Pelias convinces Castor to go after Jason for the reward.

“The Hounds of Actaeon” (11/20/99) – When ruthless hunter Actaeon hunts Artemis’ prized white stag, she turns him into one until he can learn to love and respect the helpless.

“Phaeton: The Chariot of Fire” (11/27/99) – Phaeton is convinced to “borrow” Helios’ sun-chariot for a race, despite Helios’ warnings that he wasn’t ready to drive it yet.

“Androcles and the Lion” (12/18/99) – Enslaved Androcles learns the ways of the lion in order to maintain his freedom once it’s acquired.

“King Midas: The Golden Touch” (1/15/00) – Dionysus gives Midas the golden touch to reclaim his fortune and hunt down its thief, which turns out to be his own daughter.

“Hercules and the Titans: The Last Battle” (1/22/00) – Angered over not being allowed in Olympus, Hephaestus frees the Titans to reignite the war between them and the Gods.