WING COMMANDER ACADEMY

 

WING COMMANDER ACADEMY
(USA Network, September 21-December 21, 1996)
 
Universal Cartoon Studios
 

 

MAIN CAST:
Mark Hamill – 2^nd Lt. Christopher “Maverick” Blair, various
Tom Wilson – 2^nd Lt. Todd “Maniac” Marshall
Dana Delany – 2^nd Lt. Gwen “Archer” Bowman
Malcolm McDowell – Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn

  

            Chris Roberts had always been fascinated by science fiction movies and shows. He liked the special effects, the variety of imaginative characters, the futuristic alien worlds, and the space battles. He decided he wanted to bring that experience to the home computer; creating a game that would be as much like an interactive movie as possible.

Chris Roberts standing next to a display full of Wing Commander II games.

            Already a freelance author for Origin Systems, Roberts proposed the idea to Vice President of Product Development Dallas Snell. Snell gave him the go ahead to develop a workable concept to present to the company, and Roberts spent the next few months working 16-hour days to learn how to use 3D programming and achieve his vision. What he ended up with was enough to convince Snell there was something feasible behind his idea and allowed Roberts to use one of their artists, Denis Loubet, to work on some designs for it. Loubet came up with the cockpit display, a few ships and explosions. Roberts also pulled in a long-time programming associate, Paul Isaac, to help write the code. Together, they whipped up an impressive-looking demo where you could fly around in space and blast a few enemy ships. Origin was convinced and the game, then titled Squadron, officially entered production in early 1990.

Battling in space.

            Roberts served as the game’s director. Writer Jeff George, who had worked with Roberts before on the game Bad Blood and the unproduced sequel to Times of Lore, as well as helped produce the pitch for Squadron, was brought onto the project to write the storyline and conversations between the characters. One of his contributions was to talk Roberts out of making the heroes out to be a vast human empire as, in science fiction, “empire” usually has a villainous association, as well as to nix an ethics-based decision system in favor of keeping things unquestionably black and white (good guys are good, bad guys are bad). Artist Glen Johnson joined the crew early on in the development. He came up with the characters from scratch, not having been given any kind of description beforehand. He assigned them call signs upon completion, and after Roberts approved them, Johnson would transfer them from paper to computer renders. Loubet, meanwhile, would use basic ideas for scenes from Roberts as a springboard to design a wide array of ships and sets. Programmers Stephen Beeman and Ken Demarest would join later on in the process and designed all the dogfighting sequences; with Demarest implementing a limited artificial intelligence system for enemy ships.

The Deluxe Edition game box.

            Roberts envisioned the game having a dynamic musical soundtrack that would change given the events going on in the game. The MS-DOS computer and 604K of RAM they were working with finally gave him an opportunity to explore that notion, and he devised up to 30 different tunes with producer Warren Spector. George “The Fatman” Sanger and Dave Govett were then tasked with composing songs that could seamlessly flow into each other as the game dictated.

The opening ceremonies of the 1990 Consumer Electronics Show.

            When it came time for that year’s Consumer Electronics Show, resources had to be pulled away from actual game development to whip up a workable demo and artwork to present at the show that may never be used in the actual game. It also yielded a problem: Origin couldn’t trademark the name Squadron. Rechristened Wingleader, the game was a hit at the show and generated huge levels of excitement and anticipation for its release; now set for that September. And as the replacement name was too similar to some earlier published game titles, the game received its third and final title: Wing Commander.

        Wing Commander released on September 26, 1990 for MS-DOS, and was later ported to the Amiga, CD32, Sega CD and Super Nintendo. A space flight simulation game, it was set in the 27^th century and told of humanity’s war against a race of cat-like humanoid beings called the Kilrathi (inspired by Larry Niven’s Man-Kzin Wars stories). Standing against them was the Terran Confederation: an alliance of systems and regional governments that provided unified protection and economic growth. Players took control of a nameless rookie pilot (later called Christopher “Maverick” Blair), known internally as “Bluehair” due to his, well, blue hair, aboard the TCS Tiger’s Claw; essentially a galactic aircraft carrier. The core feature of the game was an AI-controlled wingman that the player could give orders to for support. The game featured a branching open-ended story told through a number of cinematic cutscenes, and overall performance in missions affected the campaign. Completing mission objectives earned medals, promotions in rank and the opportunity to pilot better ships. Failing these objectives led to more difficult missions and inferior ships. It was designed so that losing players could return to the winning path and winning players could make enough mistakes to end up on the losing one.

In-game cutscene.

        Wing Commander became a best-seller, credited as redefining the genre and raising the bar for other developers to compete against. In the wake of the game’s success, Roberts wanted to release expansions that would contain content they were forced to cut due to the limited number of discs they could include for the game in order for it to be profitable. In November, Origin released the first expansion pack for the game, The Secret Missions, which added new ships, a new storyline and increased difficulty; however, it lacked the branching paths of the original. A second expansion, The Secret Missions 2: Crusade, was released in March of 1991. In 1994, the game would be re-released as Wing Commander I and would receive an enhanced remake called Super Wing Commander.

        A year after the original’s release, Origin released Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi. It maintained everything its predecessor did while putting a greater emphasis on storytelling through sprite-animated cutscenes and included some of the industry’s first examples of voice acting. The storyline was also less open-ended, promotions and medals no longer awarded, and wingmen couldn’t be killed outside of pre-scripted moments. Again, it was successful and received its own pair of expansion packs. A standalone spin-off, Wing Commander Academy, was released in 1993 as a budget game meant to keep the franchise on players’ minds during the development of Wing Commander III. Academy was a mission builder primarily using the assets developed for II where players, said to be students at the Terran Confederation Space Naval Academy, could design their own levels that could be saved and shared with other players (think of it as a predecessor to Super Mario Maker), as well as had 15 pre-designed missions to play and new ships and weapons. Two other spin-off games were released in 1993 and 1994: Privateer, where the player took on the role of a freelancer who could choose to be a pirate, merchant and/or mercenary, and Armada, which was the first to feature a new graphics engine and to offer a multiplayer mode.

           Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger was a major departure for the franchise. The technology of the last two games were abandoned in favor of software-driven texture-mapped polygonal 3D images. The Terran Confederation and Kilrathi Empire were given entirely new designs for their fleets; made a bit blockier to compensate for the then-primitive state of polygon graphics as true 3D video cards were a few years off. It used the then-new CD-ROM technology rather than floppy disks to compensate for the high memory demands of the branching “interactive” conversations the player had with other characters, choosing responses that would affect their attitudes towards the player and the morale of the entire crew. But the biggest change was the use of extensive live action full-motion video to deliver the story to add an interactive movie-style presentation to the gameplay.

Paladin having a personal moment with Maverick.

        A number of established actors were cast to star in the game. Mark Hamill assumed the role of the player character, now officially known as “Maverick”. He was joined by Malcolm McDowell as Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn, John Rhys-Davies as James “Paladin” Taggart and the voice of Prince Thrakhath Nar Kiranka, Tom Wilson as Major Todd “Maniac” Marshall, Josh Lucas as Major Jace “Flash” Dillon, Courtney Gains as Lt. Ted “Radio” Rollins, François Chau as Lt. Winston “Vagabond” Chang, Ginger Lynn Allen as Rachel Coriolis, Barbara Niven as reporter Barbara Miles, John Schuck as the voice of Kilrathi defector Ralgha Nar “Hobbes” Hhallas, and Tim Curry as the voice of Melek Nar Kiranka, to name a few. The overall budget ended up being between $4-5 million, and considering the game was a massive hit for the franchise, selling over 700,000 copies after it was released on December 8, 1994, it was more than worth it. The next game, Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom, continued on with most of the same cast and innovations.

Maverick, Maniac, Archer and Tolwyn.

        Moves had already been made to expand and supplement the franchise with novelizations and collectible card games. The next step was to expand into other media. Origin, now owned by Electronic Arts, partnered with Universal Cartoon Studios to create an animated adaption. Although it shared the name of Wing Commander Academy, the game was an entirely new story set before the events of the game series. It was also a bit misleading, as the Academy itself only appeared in the first episode. Set in the year 2655, the endless Terran/Kilrathi war has resulted in heavy losses, necessitating the early activation of Academy recruits. The 201^st Pleeb class were enlisted to continue their training while engaging in routine patrols and flight training, but the unpredictability of war often meant they were drawn into the conflict. At the end of their training, the most outstanding of 12 2^nd Lieutenants would receive their golden wings, the designation of “Wing Commander”, and reach the first step of “flag rank”.

The Kilrathi.

            Carrying over from the games were Hamill, Wilson and McDowell, as well as their characters. Commodore Tolwyn was the captain of the Tiger’s Claw and overseer of the cadets. He was a brilliant tactician that was tortured by his own inner demons. “Maverick” Blair was a patriotic, enthusiastic pilot with a military pedigree and a strong sense of honesty and fair play. “Maniac” Marshall was an impetuous daredevil that often got on Maverick’s nerves. Newly created for the series was Gwen “Archer” Bowman (Dana Delany), who was serious-minded and strove for perfection in everything she did. The leader of the Kilrathi forces was Prince Thrakhath Nar Kirkanka (Kevin Schon), a ruthless commander who often demanded a high price for failure from his followers. His bullheaded leadership style served the Kilrathi well in their early campaigns, but proved an equal match for Tolwyn’s command.

The TCS Tiger's Claw.

            Originally, the plan was to do a prequel to the third game only. Somewhere along the way, it was decided to roll the clock back further as a prequel to the entire game series; creating some continuity issues with the overall franchise. The cadets, for instance, wore uniforms and encountered ships that didn’t appear until the third game. Prince Thrakhath, while in command as of said game, was actually under his father, Gilkarg nar Kiranka, in the original two. The date of 2655 was also problematic, as the events of the first game dictate that Academy should have taken place sometime before 2654. The ships the cadets flew, the Scimitar fighters, were noted in the first game as being reserved for more experienced pilots. The characters of Robin “Flint” Peters (Jennifer MacDonald), Laurel “Cobra” Buckley (B.J. Jefferson), and Hobbes were to be among the cadets included in the series, but were instead swapped out for Archer and other original cadets Lindsay “Payback” Price (Lauri Hendler), the rebellious martial artist, and Hector “Grunt” Paz (Schon), a stubborn and fearless pilot who was a wounded veteran of the stalemated Battle of Repletha. Additionally, earlier character appearances and traits were abandoned in favor of their established looks and personalities from III forward, such as Tolwyn lacking his mustache from the second game and Maniac wasn’t the reckless pilot the first game made him out to be.

Wingmen.

            Wing Commander Academy debuted on USA Network on September 21, 1996 as part of the USA Action Extreme Team programming block. The series was developed and story edited by Mark and Michael Edens, who also wrote it along with Shari Goodhartz, Richard Mueller, Matthew Edens, Brooks Wachtel, Ted Pedersen, Francis Moss, Ralph Sanchez and Steve Cuden. Sanchez served as an executive consultant, and Richard Hilleman and Adam Foshko as executive story consultants. Characters were designed by producer Larry Latham with Gerard Forton and Tim Eldred, while Derek Carter designed the backgrounds. Alexander Van Bubenheim composed the music. Madhouse Animation was the primary animation studio with Koko Entertainment Co. Ltd. doing a couple of episodes. 

Maverick with The Warrior King.

        As with the other entries in the Extreme Team--Savage Dragon, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm—Wing Commander took part in “The Warrior King” crossover event on November 16. Developed by Will Meugniot, the titular barbarian (Michael Dorn) crossed between dimensions to find and acquire the Orb of Power, which could control the weather of any planet. While The Warrior King was seen in all four shows, their respective characters didn’t cross over. It was coordinated so that each episode would air on the same day, resulting in each series being shown outside of their regular timeslots. However, the event received little to no promotion, and outside of the rearranged schedule there was no indication that there was anything special about that day.

A primitive race worshipping the Kilrathi.

            The series only ran a single season of 13 episodes before it was cancelled. The last line-up of the Extreme Team remained on the network until September 11, 1998, when USA stopped airing cartoons on the network. The complete series was released to DVD in 2012 by Visual Entertainment, Inc. The episode line-up in the collection doesn’t follow the airdate or production order. In 2020, it was included as one of the launch programs of NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock; however, the sound mixing made dialogue difficult to hear at times.

            In 1996, Roberts left Origin to found his own company, Digital Anvil, with his brother, Erin, and Tony Zurovec. One of the first projects of the company was to acquire the rights to Wing Commander and develop a feature film based on it, which would contain effects produced by Digital Anvil’s artists, that would offer a new interpretation of the franchise’s beginnings. The film was rushed into production to try and beat Star Wars: Episode I to the box office, resulting in a lot of compromises being made on top of its significantly small budget. It ended up flopping at the box office, only earning $11.6 million. As for the game series, only three more games were released to date: Privateer 2: The Darkening in 1996, Prophecy in 1997, and Arena in 2007. Arena was an attempt to revitalize the franchise and the first made without the direct involvement of Origin, which was shut down by Electronic Arts in 2004.

  

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Red and Blue” (9/21/96) – To test the recruits’ skills Tolwyn splits them up into two teams, but a traitor attempts to sabotage their war games.

 

“The Last One Left” (9/28/96) – Maverick and Maniac are captured by a legendary space fighter pilot who turned to piracy after becoming disillusioned with the war.

 

“The Most Delicate Instrument” (10/5/96) – Paranoia grips the recruits and causes them to put themselves and the ship in danger.

 

“Lords of the Sky” (10/19/96) – Maverick and Maniac crash onto a planet where a primitive race worships the Kilrathi as gods.

 

“Word of Honor” (10/12/96) – Maverick and Grunt end up stranded with their Kilrathi prey, and they’re all forced to work together to survive.

 

“Expendable” (11/9/96) – An exploratory mission goes wrong, causing Maverick and Payback to fight their way back to the ship.

 

“Chain of Command” (11/2/96) – Admiral Bergstrom pulls rank on Tolwyn to enact her battle plan against the Kilrathi’s superior forces.

 

“Invisible Enemy” (12/7/96) – Strange heavy losses lead Maverick and Maniac to suspect the Kilrathi have a new stealth fighter.

 

“Recreation” (11/16/96) – Maverick must prevent The Warrior King from taking an alien orb that maintains a pacifist planet.

 

“On Both Your Houses” (11/30/96) – Trouble lurks at a Confederation bio-research station: a Kilrathi pilot hiding there, and the suspicious administrator Dr. Sing.

 

“Walking Wounded” (11/23/96) – Tolwyn joins in on the dogfight to rescue a hospital ship from the Kilrathi where Maniac is currently trapped.

 

“Price of Victory” (12/14/96) – A downed Maverick makes a deal for survival with the subordinate of the Kilrathi princess that currently wants his head.

 

“Glory of Sivar” (12/21/96) – Maverick and Grunt are sent on a rescue mission that turns out to be a suicide mission to take out Thrakath’s ship.

THE MUMMY: THE ANIMATED SERIES

 

THE MUMMY: THE ANIMATED SERIES / THE MUMMY: SECRETS OF THE MEDJAI

(WB, September 29, 2001-June 7, 2003)

 

Universal Cartoon Studios, Sunwoo Entertainment

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Chris Marquette – Alex O’Connell
John Schneider – Rick O’Connell
Grey DeLisle – Evelyn O’Connell
Tom Kenny – Jonathan Carnahan
Nicholas Guest – Ardeth Bay
Jim Cummings – Imhotep, Sir Arthur Fenwick, opening narration (season 1), various
Michael Reisz – Colin Weasler

 

 

            In 1992, producers James Jacks and Sean Daniel approached Universal Studios about updating the original 1932 Mummy film for the 90s. Universal approved, but wanted the film to be kept to around $10 million. In the following years, the concept went through several ideas and revisions with the likes of Clive Barker and George A. Romero being attached. However, none of the approaches were quite right. In 1997, Stephen Sommers contacted Jacks and Daniel with his desire to make the film. He had grown up liking the original Mummy and wanted to reproduce the parts he liked on a grander scale. He essentially pitched it as Indiana Jones or Jason and the Argonauts vs. the mummy. Around this time, Universal’s management had changed due to the spectacular failure of Babe: Pig in the City and had a renewed interest in revisiting its successful 1930s franchises, so they took to Sommers’ idea and greenlit the movie with an $80 million budget.

            The Mummy, set in 1926, saw British librarian and aspiring Egyptologist Evelyn Carnahan (Rachel Weisz) going on a quest to discover the lost city of Hamunaptra when her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah), came into possession of a map he stole from American adventurer Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser). They recruited Rick as their guide and found themselves in competition with a group of American treasure hunters led by his former associate, Beni (Kevin J. O’Connor). The Americans discover the Book of the Dead which Evelyn “borrows” and reads from, inadvertently awakening Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo). Imhotep was a high priest and sorcerer who, in 1290 BC, was having an affair with Anck-su-namun (Patricia Velásquez), the mistress of Pharaoh Seti I (Aharon Ipalé). They killed the Pharaoh and she killed herself to avoid capture by his guards, believing Imhotep could resurrect her. However, he too had been captured and mummified alive. It was up to Rick and Jonathan to stop Imhotep before he sacrificed Evelyn to finally resurrect Anck-su-namum.

            The Mummy opened on May 7, 1999. Despite mixed reviews, it went on to have the highest non-holiday May opening of all time with $43 million. It proceeded to amass $416.4 million worldwide. Naturally, Universal wanted a sequel and got one in the form of 2001’s The Mummy Returns. Set in 1933, Rick and Evelyn are now married and have a son, Alex (Freddie Boath), who possessed equal parts his mother’s intelligence and mischief and his father’s bravery. Alex accidentally got the Bracelet of Anubis locked onto his wrist, which would kill him within two days if he didn’t get it to Ahm Shere as shown in a vision. Also, an Egyptian cult resurrected Imhotep again so that he could confront and defeat the Scorpion King (Dwayne Johnson) and assume command of Anubis’ army to conquer the world. The sequel opened on May 4, 2001 and while garnering even more mixed reviews went on to gain a $435 million box office.

Promotional art showing the Manacle of Osiris in action.

            Looking to keep up the momentum of the franchise and attract a younger audience, Universal commissioned the creation of a cartoon spin-off. Developed by Tom Pugsley and Greg Klein, The Mummy: The Animated Series followed a simplified version of the first movie while incorporating elements from the sequel. For the show, Evelyn (Grey DeLisle) was given a promotion at the British Museum of Antiquities for the recovery of the Book of the Dead (which alternated between being bound tablets as in the movie and a traditional book). She, Rick (John Schneider) and Alex (Chris Marquette) were given a dirigible, The Zephyr, to take them to a dig at Hamunaptra. Jonathan (Tom Kenny) tagged along to escape some unhappy people he cheated. Colin Weasler (Michael Reisz), Evelyn’s co-worker who was due the promotion she got, stole the Book and followed them in order to resurrect and control Imhotep (Jim Cummings) and exact his revenge. Instead, Imhotep subjugated Colin and sought to claim the Manacle of Osiris—the object for which Seti had him mummified for trying to steal (since adultery and murder isn’t really kid-friendly)—that had bonded itself to Alex’s wrist. With the aid of old friend Ardeth Bay (Nicholas Guest), a member of the nomadic Medjai tribe charged with keeping the world safe from Imhotep, they drove the mummy off. Every weekly episode featured an ongoing race between Imhotep and the O’Connells to find the Scrolls of Thebes, which meant control over the Manacle.

The O'Connells: Jonathan, Rick, Evelyn and Alex.

            To avoid paying for actor likenesses, the character models designed by Steven Choi and John Suzuki bore only a passing resemblance to the movie cast with Evelyn and Jonathan being given bright red hair, Rick made blonde, and Alex an orange hue. Imhotep was given hair in his human form, although he spent the majority of the series as a purple semi-decomposed entity reminiscent of the early stages of reforming himself upon resurrection in the films. Imhotep also spoke clear English, whereas while he used it in a few scenes (an audio translation for the audience) he mostly spoke in ancient Egyptian.  Like the films, Alex was given visions via the Manacle that helped warn or guide him on their journeys, but also gained additional powers like energy bursts and telekinesis. Rick’s propensity for firearms and the small armory he carried with him was removed and replaced with a whip or other offensive objects he found on location during fights. Ardeth did maintain his sword, but rarely used it. Colin, while an original character, exhibited squirrely traits similar to that of the Beni character.

Imhotep lives! ...Sort of.

            The Mummy: The Animated Series debuted on The WB on September 29, 2001 as part of the Kids’ WB programming block (its debut was delayed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks). Imhotep and Colin served as the primary villains, but typically Imhotep would summon a monster or mummy soldiers to do his bidding against the O’Connells before dealing with them directly himself. Most of the first season was written by Pugsley and Klein with additional scripts by Tony Schillaci, Nick DuBois, Elaine Zicree, Marc Scott Zicree, Marty Isenberg, Robert N. Skir and Steven Melching. The music was composed by Cory Lerios, John D’Andrea and George Gabriel, with Cummings providing backstory narration over the opening theme. Animation duties were handled by Sunwoo Entertainment. Uniquely, before the intro each episode opened up with the episode’s title over a sepia tone globe showing where in the world the story was taking place at that moment. The globe would return again during the episode to show a change in location.

            The series didn’t quite attain the heights of the films, and a little creative tooling was done for the second season. Given the subtitle The Secrets of the Medjai complete with a new intro, Alex was taken into the Medjai order to receive their training and to learn how to better control the Manacle. Introduced were fellow trainees Fadil (Jeff Bennett) and Yanit (Jeannie Elias), giving Alex people his own age to interact with and friends beyond his mongoose, Tut. After having been previously, Anck-su-namun (Lenore Zann) was introduced as a recurring villain; made a high priestess whose power and ambition could rival even Imhotep’s to the point of betraying him after he resurrected her. This also led to the integration that Evelyn was the reincarnation of Princess Nefertiri, Seti’s daughter. Another recurring villain was Ninzam Toth (Michael T. Weiss), a dark Medjai who betrayed the order. Pugsley and Klein only wrote the first and last episodes of the season, with William Forrest Cluverius and Greg Weisman joining the other writers for an episode apiece.

Dark Medjai Ninzam Toth.

            The Mummy failed to find a significant audience, due in large part to The WB constantly putting it on hiatus from its schedule in favor of other programs and shifting its timeslot several times. It was ultimately cancelled at the conclusion of the second season. However, it was allowed to resolve most of its major plotlines while leaving the possibility open for a return; something very few animated series ever get. It remained on in reruns for the rest of that June until it was removed from the network in July. It then aired on Toon Disney until the channel as rebranded as Disney XD.

Colin Weasler, living up to his name.

In 2002, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released three episodes edited together as a movie on the DVD Quest for the Lost Scrolls. That year, Ubisoft published a 2D platforming video game for the Game Boy Advance, which allowed a player to switch between the O’Connells for different fighting styles and skills. A 3D action game for the PlayStation 2 was published by Hip Games in 2004, however this time the player could only use Alex. None of the series’ voice actors reprised their roles. As part of the promotion for the third and final film in the main trilogy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the complete series was released across three DVDs in 2008, and later as a single set internationally by Mediumware in 2013. It was made available for streaming on Peacock in 2020.

A fourth Mummy film was planned, but ultimately scrapped in favor of Universal’s attempted Dark Universe reboot in 2017. However, the 90s Mummy franchise continued on until 2018 in the form of the Scorpion King spin-off series centering on that character. It debuted with a theatrical film in 2002 and a prequel and three sequels that went direct-to-video. Like its parent series, Scorpion King had also been announced as getting the reboot treatment.

            

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“The Summoning” (9/29/01) – A jealous co-worker resurrects Imhotep to get revenge on Evelyn, while Alex ends up bonded with the Manacle of Osiris that Imhotep wants.

 

“A Candle in the Darkness” (10/6/01) – The O’Connells search for the library at Alexandria where Imhotep seeks Alex’s destruction.

 

“Against the Elements” (10/13/01) – Imhotep summons elemental spirits to attack the O’Connells, while Alex makes a new friend: a mongoose named Tut.

 

“The Deep Blue Sea” (10/20/01) – Alex wonders if he can handle the powers of the Manacle while his family looks for clues in an underwater city.

 

“Eruption” (10/27/01) – While dealing with Imhotep in India, Alex gets visions of a girl named Ishi.

 

“Orb of Aten” (11/3/01) – It’s a race to New York City where Imhotep plans to hold a dangerous ceremony at the Statue of Liberty.

 

“The Black Forest” (11/10/01) – The O’Connells have to rescue Einstein from Imhotep before he solves the mathematical clue that leads to the scrolls.

 

“The Cloud People” (11/17/01) – A vision leads the O’Connells to the mountains of Peru where the scrolls may be, and Imhotep attempts to stop them by causing a cave in.

 

“Fear Itself” (12/1/01) – While searching for the treasure of Genghis Khan, Alex unknowingly releases a fear demon that invades the minds of his family.

 

“The Boy Who Would Be King” (12/8/01) – Alex manages to befriend young Chinese emperor Jin-Wu who takes Alex after the scrolls alone and unwittingly causes the release of a dragon.

 

“Howl” (2/2/02) – While investigating in Ireland, Rick is bitten by a wolf and becomes a werewolf.

  

“The Maze” (2/16/02) – The O’Connells head into the Paris catacombs where they finally find the scrolls—and the Minotaur that guards them.

“The Puzzle” (2/9/02) – The race is on to assemble the puzzle of Horus in order to uncover the final location of the scrolls.

 

Season 2:

“A New Beginning: Part I” (2/15/03) – Imhotep returns and resurrects a threat greater than him: evil high priestess Anuck-su-namun.

 

“A New Beginning: Part II” (2/22/03) – An injured Evelyn is saved, but the method used causes the soul of Princess Nefertiri to begin to take her over.

 

“The Dark Medjai” (3/1/03) – Alex and a fellow trainee head out to rescue Ardeth from the legendary Dark Medjai.

 

“Like Father, Like Son” (3/8/03) – Alex befriends an archaeological mercenary that causes troubles at home.

 

“A Fair to Remember” (3/15/03) – The O’Connells set out to recover the powerful Eye of Shiva that can set skies on fire.

 

“The Enemy of My Enemy” (3/22/03) – Evelyn has to team-up with Imhotep to retrieve the Cloak of Isis before the Aglaphones, who have enthralled the other men, get to it first.

 

“The Cold” (3/29/03) – Colin betrays Imhotep in order to get his hands on the powerful Trident of Voth.

 

“Time Before Time” (4/12/03) – Imhotep uses a mystical time machine to possess the Manacle, leaving Alex the only one to remember the original timeline and restore it.

 

“Spring of Evil” (4/26/03) – Imhotep joins forces with Ninzam Toth to turn Alex into their apprentice and destroy Ardeth.

 

“Trio” (5/10/03) – The Medjai set out to find Imhotep, who has merged with an ancient spider creature.

 

“Old Friends” (5/17/03) – Looking for a missing friend leads the O’Connells to discover Anck-su-namun has drained the life out of her with the Ring of Sukothai.

 

“Just Another Piece of Jewelry” (5/31/03) – Imhotep and Colin discover an ancient Medjai journal that speaks of an artifact more powerful than the Manacle.

 

“The Reckoning” (6/7/03) – The O’Connells journey into the underworld to stop Imhotep from taking over a supernatural army.

BEETHOVEN (1994)

BEETHOVEN

(CBS, September 10-December 3, 1994)

Northern Lights Entertainment, Universal Cartoon Studios

MAIN CAST:

Joel Murray - Beethoven

Dean Jones – George Newton

Kath Soucie – Alice Newton

Nicholle Tom – Ryce Newton

J.D. Daniels – Ted Newton

Francesca Marie Smith – Emily Newton

Brian George – Mr. Huggs

Bill Fagerbakke – Caesar

Tress MacNeille – Ginger

Joe Pantoliano - Sparky

            Beethoven was a family comedy film about the mischievous titular St. Bernard dog of the Newton family. While the rest of the family loved Beethoven, patriarch George (Charles Grodin) was driven to jealousy over their affections for the dog. An unscrupulous veterinarian, Dr. Herman Varnick (Dean Jones), managed to trick the family into giving up the dog for his sinister experiments. Realizing they’ve been duped, the Newtons rescue Beethoven and the other dogs Varnick had captured.

            Beethoven was written by John Hughes (as Edmond Dantés) and Amy Holden Jones, produced by the Ghostbusters team of Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, and Michael C. Gross, and was directed by Brian Levant. The film proved an unexpected success when it was released on April 3, 1992, grossing $147.2 million worldwide. A sequel was never intended, but in light of the box office Universal Studios commissioned one for release the following winter. Beethoven’s 2^nd was written by Len Blum and directed by Rod Daniel, and became another success with a gross of over $118.2 million. From there, Universal turned Beethoven into a franchise with six more direct-to-video sequels, video games and toys.

Beethoven, Caesar and Ginger.

            Part of that franchise came in the form of an animated series produced by Universal Cartoon Studios and Reitman’s Northern Lights Entertainment. Reitman, Medjuck and Gross served as executive producers with Daniel Goldberg. In true cartoon fashion, all of the animals featured on the show could communicate with each other with the humans none the wiser. Joel Murray provided Beethoven’s voice, with Brian George as the family’s hamster, Mr. Huggs, Joe Pantoliano as Jack Russel terrier Sparky, Tress MacNeille as collie Ginger, and Bill Fagerbakke as Great Dane Caesar. Nicholle Tom reprised her role as eldest daughter Ryce Newton from the theatrical films, while Jones stepped into the role of long-suffering George. Kath Soucie assumed the role of his wife Alice, J.D. Daniels as Ted, and Francesca Marie Smith as Emily. As with the film, Beethoven was often seen helping out the various members of the Newtons while driving George nuts by just being a dog (such as trashing the house while playing or tracking muddy pawprints all over). Beethoven also frequently had adventures away from the house with his animal friends, like raiding garbage trucks for treats or teaching a neighborhood cat that he’s not a dog.

Beethoven and Emily play in the mud.

            Beethoven debuted on CBS on September 10, 1994. Universal’s initial plan was to air Beethoven in both syndication and on Saturday mornings, but ultimately scrapped the syndicated version. The series was developed by Paul Germain, who also served as a writer, voice director and story editor, and Joe Ansolabehere, who also served as a story editor and writer. Other writers included story editor Jonathan Greenberg, Michael Ferris, Buddy Chuck, Peter Gaffney, Jim Bernstein, Michael Shipley, Jeff Lowell and Christian Fletcher, with character designs by Keith Baxter, Julian Chaney, Victoria Jenson, Robert J. Sledge, Stephen DeStefano and Rogerio Nogueira. Dave Feiss directed the opening titles with a theme composed by Christopher Neal Nelson and Baxter. Nelson also handled the rest of the series’ music. It was animated by Hyun Young Animation Studios. Each episode was broken up into two short story segments. Beethoven didn’t prove as successful as its movie counterparts and was cancelled at the conclusion of its sole season.

George angry about Beethoven's latest antics.

            Milton Bradley released several puzzles depicting scenes that could have come from the show in 1994, while Price Stern Sloan published two books that did come from the series; each adapting an episode and utilizing screenshots from them. Toys based on the show were included in Dairy Queen kids meals in 1996. MCA Universal Home Entertainment released four VHS collections in 1995 containing 3 segments each. In 1996, Gaiam Americas, Inc. released an additional four collections. Only “Trash Island / The Long Weekend” had never seen a home release in the United States; the segments later surfacing online with Russian dubbed over it. 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Good Old George / The Pound” (9/10/94) – George puts Beethoven in a kennel after he destroys the house. / Beethoven and his friends plan to free another friend from the pound.

“Dog Dreams / The Good, the Bad, and the Poodle” (9/17/94) – Beethoven dreams about having amazing adventures. / Beethoven finds himself facing off with a gang of poodles.

“The Experiment / The Incredibly Pointless Journey” (9/24/94) – Beethoven tries to help Ted with his homework. / The dogs try to teach Sparky how to fetch.

“The Guard Dog / Mr. Huggs’ Wild Ride” (10/1/94) – Beethoven and Mr. Huggs team-up to stop burglaries. / Mr. Huggs ends up trapped in a balloon that floats away.

“Cat Fight / The Kindergarten Caper” (10/8/94) – Beethoven teaches Sparky how to fight a cat. / Beethoven tries to help Emily in her kindergarten class.

“The Gopher Who Would Be King / Pet Psychiatrist” (10/15/94) – Beethoven tries to evict a gopher from his backyard. / George takes Beethoven for some sensitivity training.

“Cyrano de Beethoven / The Mailman Cometh” (10/22/94) – Mr. Huggs asks Beethoven to help him with his love life. / Beethoven’s latest target: the mailman.

“A Cat Named Rover / The Dog Must Diet” (10/29/94) – Beethoven tries to help a cat with an identity crisis. / George tries to put Beethoven on a diet.

“The Mighty Cone-Dog / Car Trouble” (11/5/94) – While showing off his speed Sparky ends up hit by a car and with an embarrassing cone around his head after a visit to the vet. / Beethoven and Sparky go for a ride with a student driver.

“Puppy Time / The Morning Paper” (11/12/95) – The Newtons dogsit their friend’s puppy and Beethoven teaches him the ropes. / George tries to teach Beethoven how to fetch the paper in one piece.

“The Big One / Fleas!” (11/19/94) – Beethoven sets out to find a fabled giant donut. / The Newton family is invaded by fleas.

“Scent of a Mutt / Down on the Farm” (11/26/94) – Beethoven finds himself at odds with an upper-class dog. / The Newtons head out on a family vacation with Beethoven.

“Trash Island / The Long Weekend” (12/3/94) – Beethoven and his friends raid a garbage truck only to end up on a garbage barge captained by a nut. / When the rest of the family heads off for a weekend trip, Beethoven vows to keep George from being lonely…whether he wants it or not.