FREE WILLY: THE SERIES

FREE WILLY

(ABC, Global TV, September 24, 1994-August 31, 1996)

Nelvana, Regency Enterprises, Le Studio Canal, Warner Bros. Television

MAIN CAST:

Zachary Bennett – Jesse Greenwood

Paul Haddad – Willy

Gary Krawford – Rockland Stone/The Machine

Michael Fletcher – Randolph Johnson

Rachael Crawford – Marlene

Alyson Court – Lucille

James Kidnie – Amphonids

Neil Crone – Mr. Naugle

Kevin Zegers – Einstein

Geordie Johnson – Ben Shore (season 2)

            Free Willy was a film about a rebellious abandoned boy named Jesse (Jason James Richter) who was caught vandalizing a water park and was put on probation cleaning it up. There, he befriended an Orca named Willy (Keiko) and realized that his family was beyond the park’s walls, calling to him. Jesse, along with Willy’s keeper Randolph Johnson (August Schellenberg) worked on a plan to free Willy and return him home before the park’s unscrupulous owner, Dial (Michael Ironside), has Willy killed in order to claim the insurance on him.

            The film, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman, directed by Simon Wincer, and released by Warner Bros., ended up becoming a box office success. It made $153.6 million after its July 16, 1993 opening. It also generated an additional $20 million for the Save the Whales Foundation via a phone number posted at the end of the movie that audience members could call and donate. A campaign also began to get the film’s aquatic star freed from captivity and back into the wild (which he eventually was in 2002, shortly before dying of pneumonia in 2003 at the age of 27).

Jesse with Naugle, Randolph and Marlene in the institute.

            In the wake of that much success and media attention, Warner Bros. moved to turn Willy into a franchise; that included three film sequels and an animated series. Developed by Patrick Loubert, Free Willy picked up from where the film left off. Jesse (Zachary Bennett), his foster parents Glen (Ron Len) and Annie (Sheila McCarthy), Randolph (Michael Fletcher) and Willy (Paul Haddad) moved from Seattle to the Pacific coast; specifically, Misty Island. There, Jesse and Randolph worked for the Misty Island Oceanic Reserve, a wildlife rescue and research institute run by head biologist Mr. Naugle (Neil Crone) and his assistant, Marlene (Rachel Crawford). Unlike the movie, Jesse discovered he had the ability to talk to animals making him a Truth Talker in the language of Randolph’s people, the Haida. This allowed him to communicate with Willy and the institute’s two residents: a sealion named Lucille (Alyson Court) and a dolphin named Einstein (Kevin Zegers), who were being taught behavioral communication with humans.

The Machine and his Amphonids.

            The primary foe of the series was the eco-villain primarily known as The Machine (Gary Krawford). The Machine had encountered Willy once before, and Willy had sent his submarine into the screws of a ship causing him to lose an arm and part of his face. Those were replaced with robotic parts. The Machine was also a master of disguise; able to wear the face of anyone and disguise his voice so as to achieve his goals of revenge and profit through trickery. One of his favorites was that of industrialist Rockland Stone. The Machine’s minions were beings he created from toxic waste called Amphonids (James Kidnie), who were the comic relief for the show as they barely followed orders and would rather laze about.

Jesse and Willy underwater.

            Free Willy began on ABC in the United States and Global TV in Canada on September 24, 1994. It was developed by Patrick Loubert, and the writing staff included Patsy Cameron, Tedd Anasti, Doug Molitor, Evelyn Gabai, Don Gillies, Emily Dwass and Marion Wells. The series was produced by Nelvana, Regency Enterprises and Le Studio Canal for Warner Bros. Television, with animation provided by the Hahn Shin Corporation. The only person involved with the film to participate in the series’ production was executive producer Lauren Shuler Donner. Episodes primarily revolved around Misty Island as Jesse and Willy foiled The Machine’s schemes, and were full of educational information about marine life and the oceans. 

Ben Shore in disguise to try and trap The Machine.

For the reduced second season, the show went through a soft reboot and introduced eco-activist Ben Shore (Geordie Johnson). Shore was given the institute’s boat, renamed The Eco-Ranger II, and Jesse, Willy, Lucille, Randolph and Marlene joined him on his travels around the world to fight against polluters and poachers. The Machine continued to be the primary villain throughout, both in command of and addition to the criminals the heroes encountered. Halfway through the season, Shore sealed himself in a perfectly preserved world in an attempt to save it, Jesse and Willy from The Machine. The crew continued on their travels until finally returning home to Misty Island by the end of the series.

Willy and Einstein on the first VHS cover.

            Free Willy was amongst the last non-Disney programs to be shown on ABC’s Saturday morning schedule. When Disney purchased the network in 1995, they purged the schedule of any program they didn’t have some kind of stake in. Several episodes were adapted into easy-reader picture books by Scholastic, and Milton Bradley produced a board game based on the show. In 1996, Warner Home Video released the episodes “Truth Talker”, “Cry of the Dolphin”, “Defenders of the Deep” and “The Eel Beast” across two VHS collections in the United Kingdom. Those sets were later combined into a single release, The Bumper Collection, in 1998. The entire first season was made available for rental through Amazon Video and iTunes in 2011, and can also be purchased for viewing on YouTube.

            While the cartoon was not a part of the official Willy canon once the sequels were made, the first sequel, Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home, did share some similarities to the show. Randolph had gone to work for an environmental institute on an island where Jesse went to visit, and an unscrupulous businessman used his company’s oil spill as a means to capture Willy and his siblings and sell them off to parks to perform in shows. Further driving home this comparison was the fact that the trading cards for the movie by Skybox dedicated 12 cards of the 90-card set to the animated series; each card depicting a scene from the show with a game on the back.

EPISODE GUIDE (dates are estimates):

“Truth Talker” (9/24/94) – An injured seal leads Jesse to discover he can communicate with animals.

“Cry of the Dolphin” (10/1/94) – Willy and Jesse rescue a smart baby dolphin from one of The Machine’s illegal toxic waste dumps.

 “Stone” (10/8/94) – The Machine uses a whale-stunning sonar in order to harvest whales for their whales.

“Defenders of the Deep” (10/15/94) – Annie invites Jesse on a cruise on Stone Corporation’s whale watching ship, but they soon discover the captain works for The Machine.

“The Eel Beast” (10/22/94) – Marlene learns to trust Willy in order to help him rescue Jesse from an underwater cavern.

“Cephalopod” (10/29/94) – The Machine creates a giant squid to destroy Willy.

“Sealed Fate” (11/5/94) – Lucille volunteers for a water circus in order to make more human friends.

“Shark Masters” (11/12/94) – The Machine seeks to ruin Misty Islands’ tourism by bringing sharks to the waters.

“Hope” (11/19/94) – Lucille brings a pelican to the institute whose eggs are breaking too soon due to pesticides being used.

“Milestones” (12/3/94) – Willy and Jesse save a salmon stream from loggers.

“The Catch” (12/3/94) – The Institute turns to the law in order to battle illegal fishing in international waters.

“The Treasure of Misty Cove” (12/10/94) – Jesse gets gold fever when he finds a gold doubloon and drags Willy on a treasure hunt.

“Ghost Ship” (11/26/94) – Jesse and Willy find a ghost ship while searching for the secret of The Machine’s identity.

Season 2:

“Voyage of the Eco Ranger II” (9/9/95) – The Machine sets a ship to collide with the Institute, which will then cause it to release its radioactive waste payload into the bay.

“Tip of the Iceberg” (9/16/95) – Enjoying some recreation time in the arctic ends up getting Lucille captured by some seal hunters.

“The Hunted” (9/23/95) – Ben poses as a whale hunter that promises The Machine to find Willy and Jesse in order to lure him into a trap.

“Paradise Found” (9/30/95) – While investigating strip miners, Jesse and Willy swim through an underwater passage that takes them to a world protected from ecological disasters.

“Pier Pressure” (10/7/95) – When Lucille meets a group of sealions she finds she has to decide between her old friends and her new ones, and that choice could cost her her life.

“Live and Let Dive” (10/14/95) – The Machine takes advantage of some researchers to mine the mineral deposits that form around volcanic hot springs.

“Turmoil” (10/21/95) – The Machine causes an oil spill in order to ransom a town for a scientist’s oil solidification formula.

“Yule Tide and Red Tide” (10/28/95) – The Machine sends Jesse a jet-ski for Christmas full of red tide that infested the waters when Jesse used it.

FIEVEL'S AMERICAN TAILS

FIEVEL’S AMERICAN TAILS

(CBS, September 12-December 5, 1992)

Amblin Television, Amblimation, Nelvana Limited, Universal Cartoon Studios

MAIN CAST:

Phillip Glasser – Fievel Mousekewitz

Dom DeLuise – Tiger

Gerrit Graham – Cat R. Waul

Lloyd Battista – Papa

Susan Silo – Mama

Cathy Cavadini – Tanya Mousekewitz, Yasha Mousekewitz

Dan Castellaneta – T.R. Chula, Mr. Schimmel, Slim, Felonious

Kenneth Mars – Sweet William

                                                                             

            In 1984, Don Bluth, Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures united to create an animated film designed to rival the beauty of Bluth’s earlier effort, The Secret of NIMH. It would have been Universal’s first animated feature since 1965’s Pinocchio in Outer Space and Spielberg’s first animated film ever. The film was An American Tail, conceived by producer David Kirschner.

An American Tail storyboard.

            Originally, Spielberg wanted an all-animal world like Disney’s Robin Hood, but Bluth showed him Disney’s The Rescuers and convinced him to make the animal world a hidden society amongst the human world; a format that was more successful theatrically. Bluth and Spielberg worked out incidents for the script that would be penned by Tony Geiss and Judy Freudberg, frequent contributors to Sesame Street and who had just completed the script for the film Follow That Bird. The main character of the film was a little mouse named Fievel, after Spielberg’s grandfather. Bluth was initially against the name, believing its foreign sound would put off American audiences, but a compromise was reached and Fievel was given the nickname “Filly.”

Fievel running cycle.

            While the script was being written, Bluth began developing the character designs. The look of Fievel was the most important, especially to Sears who had a large marketing campaign in place around the film. As nostalgia was at an all-time high amongst baby boomers, and being that there were so many mouse characters out there, Bluth decided to go retro and used the round and soft cuddly style that was prevalent around the time of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 

An American Tail poster.

            Bluth worked on the storyboards with assistance from Larry Leker and sent them over to Spielberg for changes or approval. During the production, Don Bluth Studio began using a valuable tool that would help trim their animating time: a video printer. By recording actions, they could print them out frame-by-frame to use as reference or, in some cases, a traceable guide. Unfortunately, any time benefits were lost when scenes constantly had to be approved by both Amblin Entertainment and Universal. They were also working with a significantly smaller budget than other animated features at the time (causing frequent disputes with the union), and Spielberg’s desire to incorporate as many songs as possible. In compromise, many scenes were trimmed or dropped and replaced with shorter ones, resulting in some errors and a jumbling in the overall narrative. Animation also had a tendency to come back needing fixing, and turnaround for overseas coloring was slower than expected.

            Finally, An American Tail came together for its preview screening in October of 1986, and was released theatrically on November 21^st after a heavy marketing campaign by Universal. The film, set in 1885, followed the Mousekewitze family on their journey to a “cat-free” America. They were driven from their home in Shostka, Russia when Cossacks firebombed the house of the human family they lived with. Boarding a tramp steamer in Germany, the Mousekewitzes began their perilous journey to a new home when Fievel (Phillip Glasser) was washed overboard and seemingly lost at sea. Fievel ended up saved by a bottle and in America anyway, and set out to reunite with his family amongst the new perils his new country had to offer.

Fievel character model sheet.

            Despite mixed reviews, the film opened in second place only to Crocodile Dundee. Positive word of mouth led to an increase in subsequent weeks. While it became the highest grossing animated feature upon first release, the fact that the independent film went toe-to-toe with Disney re-released films The Song of the South and Lady and the Tramp and was not obliterated was the most noteworthy accomplishment. Sears made a killing on Tail merchandise, and the song “Somewhere Out There” was an immediate hit. The song, the film, and the score by James Horner were nominated for multiple awards. Worldwide, the film ended up grossing over $150 million and was one of the top-selling VHS tapes when it was released in 1987.

Fievel and Tiger on the case!

            In 1989, Amblin and Universal entered a partnership to form their own London-based animation studio, Amblimation. Fievel served as the company’s mascot and appeared with its logo. One of Amblimation’s first projects was a sequel to An American Tail. Bluth and his new Ireland-based Sullivan Bluth Studios were set to work on the film again with Spielberg, but creative differences caused them to bow out. Former Disney animator Phil Nibbelink and Simon Wells, the great-grandson of H.G. Wells, were brought on board to direct the project. As a result, the animation style was markedly different from the first and several characters underwent minor cosmetic changes. Horner returned to score the film.

            An American Tail: Fievel Goes West was released on November 22, 1991—exactly five years and one day after the original—and was once again up against a Disney film: Beauty and the Beast. The film followed the Mousekewitz family as they left a hard life behind in New York for a supposedly better life in the west. However, Fievel discovers the move was a plot by Cat R. Waul (John Cleese) and his cronies to turn the mice into mouse burgers and is thrown off the train. Fievel, along with his friend Tiger the Cat (Dom DeLuise) and Western legend Wylie Burp (James Stewart in his final film role) set out to thwart the cats’ plans and rescue the mice.

Fievel faces Sweet William.

            Like the original, the film generated mixed reviews from critics but still performed well at the box office; however, not as well as its predecessor. The film was a financial success, but only managed to gross over $40 million worldwide. Undaunted by the drop-off, Amblimation moved forward with another sequel; this time in the form of an animated series. Fievel’s American Tails would pick up directly from where Goes West left off and was co-produced by Nelvana, Ltd. and Universal Cartoon Studios.

Cat R. Waul and TR Chula.

            Phillip Glasser, who was cast for the original movie after being overheard auditioning for an Oscar Mayer commercial, returned to voice Fievel, as did DeLuise as his best friend, Tiger, and Cathy Cavadini as his older sister, Tanya (Cavadini replaced original actress Amy Green in the sequel). The rest of the characters were recast: Nehemiah Persoff was replaced by Lloyd Battista as Fievel’s father; Erica Yohn by Susan Silo as Fievel’s mother; Amy Irving by Cynthia Ferrier as Tiger’s girlfriend, Miss Kitty; Cleese by Gerrit Graham as Cat R. Waul; and Jon Lovitz by Dan Castellaneta as Cat’s sidekick, T.R. Chula. Cavadini also gained the additional role of Yasha, the baby of the family. New to the series was Fievel’s other nemesis, Sweet William (Kenneth Mars), and his dimwitted henchmen, Slim and Felonious (both Castellaneta). 

            Fievel’s American Tails debuted on CBS on September 12, 1992, written by Hank Saroyan, J.R. Young, David Carren, J. Larry Carroll, Sam Graham, Chris Hubbell and Grant Moran. The show continued Fievel’s adventures in the west, often spoiling the schemes of Cat and Sweet William using his wits and guile. Otherwise, he helped his family in their violin shop as they dealt with the other immigrant families in the community of Green River. The series was animated by Wang Film Production Co., Ltd., Bardel Animation and The Hollywood Cartoon Company. The series’ theme was composed by Saroyan and Robert Irving, while Milan Kymlicka handled the rest of the music. When Fievel was selected as the spokesmouse for Reading is Fundamental in 1992, little segments called “Reading Buddies” showcasing reading were tacked on to the end of the episodes of the series. Fievel’s ability to read also helped him out of some troubles in the show proper as a further tie-in to the campaign. 

Papa, Yasha and Tanya.

            The series failed to capture an audience the way the films--particularly the first--had and the ratings dwindled as it went on. At the conclusion of its sole season, CBS quietly cancelled American Tails and it was off the schedule by the fall of 1993. MCA/Universal Home Video released six VHS collections containing two episodes each, as well as two laserdisc volumes. The United Kingdom saw a similar release in 1995, but with a different episode order and swapped one of the episodes for the one not released in the United States. Episodes have also been released to DVD in France, Germany and Italy. It eventually became available to stream on the Universal-owned service, Peacock.

            Amblimation was dedicated to making more subdued and high-brow entertainment than what was currently being offered in animation at the time. Unfortunately, that didn’t attract American audiences and the studio’s few projects underperformed at the box office. It was shut down in 1997, but Universal went ahead with two more direct-to-video American Tail movies: 1998’s Treasure of Manhattan Island and 1999’s Mystery of the Night Monster. Fievel and the American Tail mythology live on at Universal Studios Theme Park in the form of Fievel’s Playland; a playground that allows visitors to pretend they’re the size of mice. It outlasted the live show that opened around the same time in 1989, and was one of the oldest attractions at the park.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Fievel, the Lonesome Ranger” (9/12/92) – When other cats kidnap Tiger, Fievel becomes the Lonesome Ranger in order to save him.

“Law and Disorder” (9/19/92) – Being late for school ends up getting Fievel banned from seeing Tiger until his work is done, just as Tiger needs his help to perpetuate a ruse.

“Little Mouse on the Prairie” (9/26/92) – Fievel accidentally loses his friend’s boomerang to Cat R. Waul and sets out to get it back.

“The Gift” (10/3/92) – Fievel gets a violin for his birthday and accidentally breaks it.

“A Case of the Hiccups” (10/10/92) – Fievel is tricked into giving the townspeople the hiccups so an unscrupulous “doctor” can sell them the cure.

“The Legend of Mouse Hollow” (10/17/92) – Cat R. Waul disrupts the school play by kidnapping their teacher.

“The Babysitting Blues” (10/24/92) – Papa and Mama leave Fievel to babysit Yasha as they prepare for a photograph.

“The Lost Mother Lode” (10/31/92) – Fievel and his friends set out to find a supposedly haunted gold vein, but Cat R. Waul plans to get there first by giving them a phony map.

“A Mouse Known as Zorrowitz” (11/7/92) – Cat R. Waul plans to steal the cheese delivery, but is thwarted by the mysterious Zorrowitz.

“Mail Order Mayhem” (11/14/92) – A mail order catalogue causes chaos in the village through the items ordered from it.

“Aunt Sophie’s Visit” (11/21/92) – Fievel wants to participate in the rodeo, but can’t because his aunt is coming to visit.

“That’s What Friends Are For” (11/28/92) – Chula becomes Fievel’s friend when Tiger believes he can no longer be it.

“Bell the Cats” (12/5/92) – Fievel ties bells to the cats’ tails so that their movements can alert the mice, unfortunately the plan backfires.

WILDC.A.T.s: COVERT ACTION TEAMS

WILDC.A.T.s: COVERT ACTION TEAMS

(CBS, October 1, 1994-January 21, 1995)

Wildstorm Productions, Nelvana Limited

MAIN CAST:

Rod Wilson - Spartan, Mr. Majestic

Dean McDermott – WarBlade

Janet-Laine Green – Void

Colin O’Meara – Grifter

Roscoe Handford – Zealot

Paul Mota – Maul

Ruth Marshall – Voodoo

Sean McCann – Jacob Marlowe

In 1992, comic creators Whilce Portacio, Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, Rob Liefeld, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino decided to break away from the Big Two—Marvel and DC—and form their own comicbook publishing company: Image Comics. It was during this period that Lee and writer Brandon Choi would introduce their superhero team WildC.A.T.s (Wild Covert Action Teams).

The first issue of WildC.A.T.s.

Debuting during the speculator-fueled comic boom, where speculators would hungrily snatch up any comics figuring they would jump in value like their Golden and Silver Age counterparts, WildC.A.T.s became incredibly popular and sold a million copies of each issue to comic shops in its first few months. The comic centered on a centuries-long war between two alien races: the Kherubim, who resembled humans but had longer life-spans, incredible strength and durability, and the Daemonites, a reptilian-like race that can possess a host body and gain access to that host’s memories and skills. The Kherubim and Daemonites came to Earth when an orbital battle caused two of their ships to crash on the planet thousands of years in the past. The Kherubim integrated themselves amongst humanity, resulting in the births of human-Kherubim hybrids, while still engaging in a secret war with the Daemonites who wanted to conquer their new world.

Lord Emp (top) and Void.

Lord Emp was amongst the Kherubim and for centuries led various efforts against the Daemonites until a battle against his arch-nemesis Helspont, a Daemonite that managed to acquire the body of a member of the Acurian alien race, caused him to lose his memory in the 1970s. Emp would spend his time as a wandering vagrant named Jacob Marlowe. Meanwhile, a soviet cosmonaut named Adrianna Tereshkova had been sent into space where she collided with a silver sphere that was once part of a being known as Omnia, Mistress of Light. It bonded with Adrianna, turning her into Void with the abilities to teleport and to see fragmented visions of the future. Void encountered Marlowe in the 1990s and helped him build a financial empire in order to fund a resistance effort against the Daemonite threat.

Spartan.

The WildC.A.T.s consisted of several members of varying backgrounds. Their leader, Spartan, was an android constructed by Emp possessing the suppressed memories of Kherubim Yohn Kohl. He possessed super strength, energy projection and the ability to fly, though he used it sparingly as it drained too much energy. He could also transport his memories into a new body if his was destroyed. Initially emotionless, he began to develop feelings for teammate Voodoo.

Voodoo.

Voodoo, aka Priscilla Kitaen, was an exotic dancer that was rescued from Daemonites by the WildC.A.T.s. Voodoo possessed an ability called the “Sight” which allowed her to see through a Daemonite’s host body to the alien within, making her a valuable asset to the team and a target to the Daemonites. She also possessed telepathy and the ability to develop animal-like traits, such as claws. It would be later discovered that one of her ancestors was a Kherubim possessed by a Daemonite, making her part Daemonite.

Zealot.

Zealot was a Kherubim warrior originally known as Lady Zannah. She was amongst the stranded Kherubim along with her daughter, Kenesha who would become known as Savant. On her home planet of Kherum, she was a member of The Coda: a caste of female warriors devoted to the honor of combat. After she was stranded, she took on the name Zealot and formed The Coda, or what mythology would come to know as the Amazons, to battle the Daemonites. During the battle of Troy, Zealot decided killing unarmed women and children was wrong and saved the royal family, leading to her banishment from The Coda. In the 20^th Century, she took on the name Lucy Blaize and worked for the United States government, becoming a member of Emp’s team before Emp lost his memory.

Grifter.

Grifter, aka Cole Cash was a member of the United States Army’s Special Forces, having a natural talent for combat that saw him become part of the black ops squad Team 7. Team 7 was exposed to the experimental chemical Gen Factor, which activated a variety of ultimately temporary powers in them—in Cole’s case, strong telekinesis and telepathy—as well as life-threatening insanity. Believing the exposure was deliberately orchestrated by their superiors, International Operations, Cole led a revolt against them but ultimately the team returned to work for them. While serving as an assassin for I.O., Cole met and fell for Zealot, who trained him in the ways of the Coda warrior order; allowing him to maintain his sanity and locking away what remained of his psionic powers. Grifter’s suppression of them only allows him to give his enemies a nose bleed under certain circumstances.

Maul.

Maul, aka Jeremy Stone, had spent most of his life unaware that he was actually half-human and half-Titanthrope (a subspecies of Kherubim). In fact, he had gone one to become a Nobel Prize-winning scientist. However, that changed when he discovered that he could change his size and mass at will, becoming an incredible powerhouse. Unfortunately, his size would also determine how much intellect he would retain: the bigger he grew, the less he had. Conversely, if he diminished his size his intellect would grow.

WarBlade.

WarBlade, aka Reno Bryce, was an artist whose parents were killed by Daemonites when he was younger. He would spend his life learning martial arts in order to avenge them, but that quest was interrupted when he was abducted by the organization Cyberdata and brainwashed to become a member of their strike team. WarBlade managed to escape and was found by Marlowe, bringing him into the WildC.A.T.s where he learned he was in fact half Kherubim. WarBlade could alter his molecular structure to turn parts of his body into organic steel.

The animated WildC.A.T.s

With the debut of Batman: The Animated Series and X-Men: The Animated Series, comicbook-based cartoons had been propelled to new heights and the networks were looking towards comics for their next big hit. At the height of its success, the comic was optioned for an animated series by CBS as a means to complement their still-popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. Developed by David Wise, who also served as story editor and wrote the first two episodes, the series showcased a more simplified and family-friendly version of the WildC.A.T.s’ fight against the Daemonites and the pursuit for a mystical Orb. 

Grifter, Zealot and WarBlade on a mission.

Marlowe (Sean McCann) was depicted as an ordinary human who threw his fortune into the WildC.A.T.s in order to protect the planet once he learned about the secret war between the Kherubim and the Daemonites. Void’s (Janet-Laine Green) human aspect was removed and instead became the artificial intelligence of the Kherubim supercomputer from the ship that crashed on Earth and joined with Marlowe to carry on the war. Grifter (Colin O’Meara), while retaining his weaponry skill and Coda training, was depicted as a powerless reformed criminal who wanted to save his world. Maul’s (Paul Mota) was studying archaeology like his father (Bob Zidel) until his transformation and inability to revert back to normal caused them to lose touch. He also grew more enraged as he changed size, rather than losing his intelligence. Spartan (Rod Wilson) was a Kherubim who tired of the conflict and was ready to settle down with a human woman until a Daemonite killed him. Marlowe and Void placed his mind into a robotic body, turning him into a cyborg. Voodoo’s (Ruth Marhsall) past as an exotic dancer was changed to depict her as an adolescent with an interest in studying dance. WarBlade (Dean McDermott) was made a computer programmer and was recruited at the start of the series when the Daemonites attempted to abduct him to serve as Helspont’s (Maurice Dean Wint) host body. Zealot (Roscoe Handford) remained largely unchanged, however her banishment from The Coda came when The Coda wanted to become mercenaries-for-hire rather than fight Zealot’s war.

Helspont.

Other characters included Karillion (Lorne Kennedy), a one-eyed, four-armed Daemonite that served as Helspont’s right-hand man; Drockwell (Dennis Akiyama) and his army of drones that wear special suits to survive in Earth’s atmosphere; Pike (Colin Fox), a Kherubim who abandoned his race to work for the Daemonites willingly (although the show depicted him as a pure Daemonite); Troika, a trio of super-powered mercenaries who work for the Daemonites comprised of the volcanic Slag (Addison Bell), cybernetically-enhanced Attica (Dave Nichols) and cyborg H.A.R.M. (Dan Hennessy, who also served as voice director); Taboo was a thief with an organic exo-skeleton that worked with the Daemonites; Providence, an oracle originally empowered by the other Orb that created Void, was a mysterious figure that served as Helspont’s advisor although her advice came in the form of riddles; Artemis (Kristina Nicoll), Zealot’s rival in The Coda and their leader; and Mr. Majestic (Wilson), a Superman-like Kherubim who, unlike the comics where he served as a hero in the 1960s, was locked in a stasis pod until the team found him.

Zealot laid low by poor ratings.

WildC.A.T.s: Covert Action Teams debuted on CBS on October 1, 1994 after being delayed from September 17, and was produced by Nelvana Limited. It was aired as part of the Action Zone programming block along with Ninja Turtles and Skeleton Warriors. Other writers included Brooks Wachtel, Len Uhley, Bob Forward, Rich Fogel, Mark Seidenberg and Sean Catherine Derek. The series’ theme was composed by Sheree Jeacocke and Gerry Mosby, with the score handled by Ray Parker and Tom Szczesniak of Parker Szczmith Music, Inc. Although the comic remained popular, the show suffered from poor ratings as it was scheduled opposite both Bump in the Night and fellow comic property Batman. It was cancelled after its single season of 13 episodes, as was the Action Zone block (although Turtles retained the Action Zone intro until its conclusion two years later). The show’s final three episodes aired the following June.

In anticipation of the show following the comic’s success, Playmates entered into a marketing arrangement with the producers to create a toy line based on the characters. All of the principal WildC.A.T.s were released with the exception of Marlowe, along with Grifter’s brother Max as Black Razor, Mr. Majestic, Pike, Slag, Helspont and a generic Deamonite. Playmates Interactive Entertainment also released a video game for the Super NES in 1995 with only Spartan, WarBlade and Maul as playable characters. Image would publish a tie-in comic called WildC.A.T.s Adventures adapting the episodes, as well as a Sourcebook that gave background on the characters and how they differed from their comic counterparts. Sony Wonder released four VHS tapes with two episodes each. In 2005, Funimation released the complete series to DVD. While the DVD has fallen out of print and is typically only available for reasonable prices on the bootleg market, the episodes were made available for streaming through Amazon Prime Video and on the iTunes store.

Ad for the DVD.

The cartoon was parodied as MadD.O.G.s during Alan Moore’s run in the comics. While the series was being published, several of the characters received their own spin-off titles including Grifter, Zealot, Spartan and Voodoo. After running for 50 issues, the first volume of WildC.A.T.s was cancelled and Jim Lee sold his studio, Wildstorm (named after Wild.C.A.T.s and Lee’s other title, Stormwatch), and all his characters to DC Comics. Wildstorm became an imprint of DC under which a new volume of WildC.A.T.s began. The series would be revived and rebooted for three more volumes until it received its final cancellation in 2010. Various members of the team were integrated into the main DC Comics universe for the publisher’s New 52 line-wide reboot in 2011: Grifter retained his mission against the Daemonites and was given his third ongoing series; WarBlade appeared in The Ravagers as a member of the team that tested and killed abducted powerful children for his master, Harvest; Voodoo gained a second series and became a Daemonite from the outside with new shape-shifting abilities, limited telepathy and extensive combat training; Zealot became a space-travelling hunter of shape-shifting aliens; and Helspont became a foe of Superman. In 2017, the entire Wildstorm stable was reimagined in the maxi-series The Wild Storm.

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Dark Blade Falling” (10/1/94) – The WildC.A.T.s save Reno Bryce from the Daemonites and he embraces his Kherubim heritage to become WarBlade.

 

“Heart of Steel” (10/8/94) – Spartan’s former fiancé, Karyn McKee, tries to convince him to quit the team and revive his original body.

 

“Cry of The Coda” (10/15/94) – The WildC.A.T.s have to stop Helspont from getting an earthquake-making device, but Artemis takes the opportunity to revive her feud with Zealot.

 

“The Evil Within” (10/29/94) – The Daemonites lure Voodoo to Florida, leaving the WildC.A.T.s unable to tell if the President is possessed by a Daemonite.

 

“The Big Takedown” (11/12/94) – Grifter gets his former partner Lonely a job when he gets out of prison, but the team discovers Lonely has been hired by the Daemonites.

 

“Lives in the Balance” (11/19/94) – The team finds and revives Mr. Majestic, but his personal vendetta against the Daemonites puts them all at risk.

 

“Soul of a Giant” (11/26/94) – Professor Stone shows the Daemonites the location of an Orb and learns that Maul is his long-lost son.

 

“Betrayed” (12/3/94) – Taboo places a device in Marlowe’s brain that allows Helspont to control his actions.

 

“Black Razor’s Edge” (12/10/94) – Elite strike team The Black Razors, led by Grifter’s brother, go after the team after a Daemonite battle destroys expensive government equipment.

 

“And Then There Were None” (12/17/94) – Voodoo must rescue her teammates from the temple traps they fell into while pursuing the Daemonites to Themiscrya.

 

“M.V.P.” (1/7/95) – Prematurely attempting to save the President, the team is believed to have attacked him and is arrested by The Black Razors.

 

“Endgame, Part 1” (1/14/95) – While Zealot pursues Lonely after Grifter is injured, the team is tricked into delivering an anti-gravity device to Helspont.

 

“Endgame, Part 2” (1/21/95) – Grifter goes after Zealot, leaving the team to fend for themselves against the Daemonites while Voodoo is possessed by the evil Orb.