Invasion America

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Invasion America was an animated science fiction mini-series that aired on Kids' WB!, produced by DreamWorks Animation (then part of DreamWorks proper, now its own company). The series was created by Steven Spielberg and Harve Bennett, who also served as executive producers.

1 Plot
2 Characters
3 Places of mention
4 From Tyrus
5 Tyrusian language
6 Tyrusian technology
7 Tyrusian lifeforms
8 Episodes
9 Availability
10 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The story of Invasion America begins in the early 1980s where humanoid aliens from the planet Tyrus begin to initiate their plans for making contact with Earth. Cale-Oosha, the ruler of Tyrus, looks into his uncle's project with Earth. However, his uncle, The Dragit, claims that their dying planet ought to invade Earth and take hold of its resources. Cale refuses and a civil war breaks out.

Cale and his bodyguard, trainer, and trusted friend, Rafe, escape to Earth, disguising themselves as humans. Cale meets Rita Carter, a human woman; he falls in love with and marries her. After a long time of running from the Dragit's forces on Earth, Cale returns to Tyrus to help strengthen his loyalist forces, the Ooshati, leaving Rita and their young son, David, under Rafe's protection.

In the present day, when the Dragit finally finds the family, he is determined to kill them, and David Carter's teenage life is thrown into a devastating adventure of stopping the Dragit, losing and gaining friends, and finding out just who he is.

[edit] Characters

David Carter (Oosha) (voiced by Mikey Kelley) - The main character of the story, a teenage half-human Tyrusian and the future ruler of Tyrus. David lost his house, his mother, and his possessions, and learned the truth of his identity all in one night. Possessing royalty in his blood, he discovers he can harness Tyrusian powers with the help of the Exotar, a glove that enhances these powers.
Rafe (voiced by Edward Albert) - Somewhat like an uncle to David, he goes undercover as a county sheriff in Glenport, but is in reality a Commander in the Ooshati forces. Rafe was told by Cale, his friend and king, to watch over David and his mother. Only a day after he rescues David from a group of captors, he is asked to lead an attack on the Dragit's headquarters on Earth. After this successful attack, during which all other involved Ooshati were killed, Rafe succumbs to wounds inflicted by a stowaway Mangler. Right before he dies, he gives encouragement to David and passes on the task of saving the world.
Rita Carter (Ooshala) (voiced by Kath Soucie) - David's human mother. She is a kind woman who saved Cale from death and eventually married him. When a group of Tall Men invade her house, Rita holds them at bay with a gun while she tells David gets out of the house. The orb Cale gave to her before his departure years previous suddenly activates during this ordeal, and shortly thereafter the house implodes, and Rita and the Tall Men disappear with it. As of now, her fate is still unsure.
Cale-Oosha (voiced by Lorenzo Lamas) - David's Tyrusian father and the true ruler of Tyrus. After a few years of staying on the run, he leaves his family under Rafe's protection to help his band of loyalist forces, known as the Ooshati, in their war against the Dragit.
The Dragit (voiced by Tony Jay) - The lead antagonist of the story, and David's great uncle. He currently has control over much of the Tyrusian armed forces, and is figured as a great orator and dictator, possibly having almost complete control over Tyrus. Although this is uncertain, his forces appear far larger and sophisticated than the ragged band of Ooshati. Throughout the story, the Dragit tries to brainwash David into joining his side or kill him.
Major Philip 'Phil' Stark (voiced by Greg Eagles) - An intelligence officer and pilot of an OH-6A Cayuse. He has a heart for David and cares for his safety, going around his orders to help him out. Major Stark's original search started with the discovery of a Mangler skeleton in a cave where Rita's fingerprints were found. He was also once a school buddy with the President of the United States.
Sergeant Angela Romar (voiced by Kristy McNichol) - Major Stark's partner and friend. Proud of her Gypsy heritage and a brave young woman, she accompanies Major Stark wherever he goes. Sergeant Romar is also the one who usually plants the ideas and advice into Major Stark's head. The two agents at one point hid David in her apartment. There are no signs that Major Stark and Sergeant Romar have any romantic relations.
Jim Bailey (voiced by Rider Strong) - David's best friend. He helped support David through some of his toughest trials and eventually went with him into outer space on the final mission of the story.
Doc (voiced by Ronny Cox) - Once positioned in Charles Air Force Base, he deserted upon hearing of the Dragit's attempt to assassinate Cale and "went native." Now an old man living in the middle of the Utah desert, Doc initially stayed away from any involvement in the war against the Dragit. However, knowing what David was up against and seeing his spirit, he eventually changed his mind and tapped into the Dragit's information, becoming a big help in the final mission.
Blue (voiced by Frank Welker) - Doc's pet Mangler. Like Doc, Blue is a survivor of the attempted assassination of Cale-Oosha. With the classical "pull the thorn from the foot," Doc tamed Blue, who has quite an appetite for steaks. Though Doc believed that Blue only cared for the meat, Blue nearly attacks and is shot by a police officer who assaulted Doc. Later, while hiding in the Florida swamps, Blue hunted alligators for Doc to cook for David and his companions.
General Konrad (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) - The first main antagonist as the show begins, a Tyrusian who has risen to the rank of an Air Force general. He is the leader of the Dragit's agents on Earth. Konrad is a seemingly heartless man who releases Manglers on his own men in an attempt to kill Ooshati warriors. After the destruction of Charles Air Force Base, he tries to kill David and Rafe, but David is successful in turning the situation around. As a direct result, Konrad dies in a plane crash.
General Gorden (voiced by James Sikking) - Once a Colonel, he is promoted after General Konrad is killed in a plane crash. Gorden directs Major Stark and Sergeant Romar's missions when the two agents become suspicious. Later, it is confirmed that he led the attack on Maple Island to capture David and Rafe. Gorden also ordered his men to shoot down Major Stark and Sergeant Romar's OH-6A Cayuse when the two attempted their own investigation. When the space shuttle lifted off for the moon, he tried to follow in a stealth fighter and shoot it down, but flew too high for the fighter to take and fell back to Earth. Gorden is presumed dead.
Major Lomak (voiced by Jim Cummings) - An alien humanoid from the planet Chaon with the ability to morph into a hulking, fearsome creature and is able to imitate other beings, including humans. When in his real form, Lomak is relatively immune to bullets and other weapons.
Simon Lear (voiced by Thom Adcox-Hernandez) - A bounty hunter working for General Gorden who attempts to capture David. He has a hissing voice and an anger management problem, often resorting to killing without thought. After losing a fight to David, Simon takes Jim hostage and threatens to kill him, convincing David to come with him and Sonia. He then tries to kill David by enhancing his Tyrusian powers using the Exotar, but the Exotar twists and crushes his hand.
Sonia Lear (voiced by Kath Soucie) - Simon's twin sister and fellow bounty hunter, also after David. She keeps Simon under control through Tyrusian psychic bonding; in turn, she loses her nerve and sense of violence without him. While hiding from security on an island to board a space shuttle to the moon, Simon tries to help General Gorden find the group by coming back into contact with his sister, but Sonia, now helping David and his friends, leads them away.
Dr. Hazel Lear - Sonia and Simon's "mother", a geneticist who for years tried to combine the genes of Tyrusians and humans with mostly failed results. Unable to wait any longer, General Gorden orders Major Lomak to kill her as Sonia watches in safety.

[edit] Places of mention

Tyrus (Tī rǒǒs) - The planet from where the Tyrusians are from. Apparently, Tyrus is a dying, perhaps desert planet; because of this, the Dragit and his political followers believe they have a right to attack Earth and use its resources. Cale and his followers, however, prefer to make peaceful trade relations and attempt to stop the Dragit. While under the influence of brainwashing, David has a dream about visiting Tyrus.
Glenport, Massachusetts - A small, fictional town near Boston where David lives until his house is imploded.
Maple Island - An island near Glenport where Rita used to take David fishing when he was a child. Beneath the fishing shack is a hidden chamber containing Tyrusian equipment. The shack itself is apparently torn down after an attempt by the Dragit's forces to try to capture David and Rafe.
Charles Air Force Base - The main headquarters for the Dragit's forces on Earth, located in the Utah desert. Underneath this seemingly small base is a massive Tyrusian installation where ships are constructed and Manglers are bred for the invasion of Earth, primarily America, which possesses the largest military forces. Rafe leads an Ooshati attack on this underground base and successfully activates the self-destruct sequence.
Moon Base - With the destruction of Charles AFB, the Dragit reverts to Plan B, using a base on the dark side of the moon to launch meteors at Earth. While still testing the targeting systems, David warns an Ooshati ship coming to Earth about the meteors. The Ooshati discover and attack the base; although the Ooshati are unsuccessful in destroying it, the base requires several days of repair, buying David more time. After the bombardment of Earth, David and his new friends go on a dangerous journey to the moon.

[edit] From Tyrus

Tyrusians - Humanoid beings from the planet Tyrus. They are recognizable by very slim, long eyes, deep temples, and interesting mental abilities. When threatened or angered, their eyes seem to involuntarily turn solid black; refer also to the Eye Dilation Greeting. Many resemble humans enough that Tyrusians have been able to successfully infiltrate human society and even rise through the ranks of the U.S. military, and have been doing so since the mid-20th century.
Tyrusian Powers - These powers are not very clearly defined, but seem mainly centered on telekinetic abilities. The hybrid twins Sonia and Simon also display the ability to sense each other's presence and combine their telekinetic powers for greater effect.
Eye Dilation Greeting - Without any particular term, this is often a sign of greeting and identifying people. This occurs when the greeter seems to turn his or her retina inside out and back again, and in turn, the greeted person's retina turns outside in. How Tyrusians identify one another with this greeting is unknown. David eventually learns how to use it and in distraction of an MP officer by doing that in a "greeting", allowed Major Stark and Sergeant Romar to fight them off to regain possession of their helicopter.
Ooshati - The name applied to an organized band of resistance fighters led by Cale-Oosha. When the Dragit usurped Cale’s rule nearly two decades ago and announced his intentions to invade Earth, not everyone was happy with the change in the monarchy. Composed mainly of Tyrusians, those few humans who know of the invasion also count themselves among their number. The Ooshati are, as a people, willing to fight (and if necessary, die) for their beliefs. Actual numbers are unknown, but there have never been many. The main goal of the Ooshati is to see Cale back on the throne of Tyrus, and to bring Earth and Tyrus together peacefully.

[edit] Tyrusian language

"Yosh" – A Tyrusian exclamation meaning "awesome, cool."
"Oosha" - Translates roughly as ‘Ruler’ or more exactly as ‘Ruler of us all’. The title of the given planetary leader of Tyrus. There is no average length of rule, and terms have ranged from 1 day to nearly 80 years.
"Dragit" - A term only applied to one ruler in Tyrusian history, we may assume that this is a title usually applied to a regent, or to one who is within the royal family but not in the direct line of succession (barring the death or departure of the current leader and/or the absence any heirs to the throne). The Dragit himself seems to have chosen to retain the title throughout his entire life, to the point that his real name has been lost from recorded history.
"Erdlufi" - ‘Erd’ literally mean ‘Earth’ and ‘Lufi’ means ‘people’. Quite literally, ‘people of Earth’. Like a number of Earth languages (Spanish, for instance), Tyrusian has both masculine and feminine forms of certain words. For example, ‘Luf’ is the both the singular and masculine form of the word ‘people’, and can mean either ‘person’ or ‘man’ respectively. ‘Lufa’ is the singular feminine version, and can also be translated literally as ‘woman’. Or, as in the case of the Lufa Kinlo, ‘lady’.
"Kek'luf" - A swear word favored by the Dragit. From what we can gather ‘Kek’ means ‘nothing’, and ‘Luf’ means ‘person’. To have this term applied to you means that you are a worthless person, or a waste of space.

[edit] Tyrusian technology

The Exotar - A thin glove able to fit on the right or left hand of the Oosha as a sign of power and authority. Rafe states it was used by eight hundred of David's ancestors. Cale initially wore the glove, and eventually it was passed on to David. The Exotar enhances the Tyrusian powers of the user, allowing David to cut the very fibers of branches, hurl branches, and even use it as a type of detector. At one point, David used it like a flashbang grenade, momentarily blinding Tall Men and preventing them from capturing him. If anyone without royal blood tries to wear the Exotar, it crushes their hand. The creation of the Exotar remains a mystery.
Arbus - A Tyrusian hand weapon roughly equivalent to an earth pistol, with as much (if not more) stopping power as a .45 caliber handgun. Usually requires slight telekinetic abilities to fire, although only minor modifications are required for humans to be able to use them. The weapon is silvery, crescent shaped , and has 2 small twin barrels, set very close together. Usually worn on a harness over the chest, it can be drawn using telekinesis. Fires interlacing twin energy beams (that somewhat resemble glowing DNA strands) powerful enough to blast through almost any material. Unknown power supply, but it never needs recharging. The color of the beam (green or gold) is dictated by which side the wielder is on.
Ar'kron - A much heavier design based on the Arbus, this weapon packs a slightly stronger punch, and often sees use as a ranged weapon. Good over long distances, but the weight tends to throw off aim during close encounters, although some people find the size reassuring. When paired with a temple piece modified as a sight, it is also useful as a sniping rifle.
Temple Piece - Like the Exotar, these devices boost a Tyrusian’s mental abilities, although not to the same degree. Anyone can wear these, and in their normal form they resemble a metallic framework with a retractable amber visor worn over the eyes. They may also be disguised as a less noticeable pair of sunglasses with only minor modifications. They can also be used as recording devices, and can be programmed to give vital statistics and so forth. See the Ooshati during the attack on the underground base for examples.
Comm-Orb - A universal device used by Tyrusians. Some are used for controlling vehicles like a Raider or David's motorcycle, while others are for communication, spying, and viewing activities. How these communication devices are linked is unknown, but Doc fixed his broken one using tools he owns on Earth. These orbs are only powered and used by Tyrusian energies, which may explain why anyone of the Oosha family make naturally better pilots as their energies appear stronger.
Tachyon Drive - The Tyrusian version of ‘Faster Than Light’ (FTL) speed. A method of crossing interstellar distances. Tachyons are hypothetical particles with a theoretical ability to travel faster than the speed of light. Long ago, Tyrusian scientists happened upon a way of harnessing the strength of the reaction between matter-antimatter pairs. In order to engage tachyon drive, they use a form of particle accelerator to emit this energy as a highly concentrated beam of tachyons, amplify the process and produce a high-momentum outflow of particles that consumes enough internal energy to perfectly balance the gain in kinetic energy. Proof that while the light speed barrier can be broken, the law of conservation of energy can’t. It is this process that allows their ships to use anti-gravity fields (so that they can both hover and maintain artificial gravity at almost no energy cost).
Standard Raider - This red ship of original design holds an interior able to carry approximately twenty men and can be controlled via using a Tyrusian's powers over an orb, usually holding two pilots. It has fast, short-ranged blasters of rapid firing power, though the shots are far slower than human guns and missiles. Its capacity and interesting design, however, makes it an effective medical, rescue, scout, and fighter ship. Raiders also have the ability to jump in and out of a planet's atmosphere, thus avoiding the high, destructive temperatures.
Ooshati Raider – A Raider that is green in color and very similar to the Standard Raider of multitudes. An interesting note is that every Ooshati Raider is slightly damaged in some area. These Raiders do not have the full four protruding prongs, but two larger ones at the top and two much smaller "wings". They are much more bulky than the Standard counterpart, but are much more powerful, accurate, and can travel across galaxies. Ooshati Raiders also have an interesting stealth mode, able to turn virtually invisible. These are used in effective guerrilla tactics against the Dragit.
Rita's Dream - Cale's personal Raider, possibly customized and upgraded to fight faster and more quickly than other Raiders with even longer range. Whether or not this is due to the fact of being directly under the influence of a powerful Tyrusian (Cale) or upgrades is undetermined.
Tyrusian Mother Ship - A fascinating carrier imitating a long centipede. Its only defense is a powerful frontal blaster and the long row of some seventy-five short-ranged Raiders lined along its spine. These Raiders are attached with the rear to this spine and when ready, are thrust into movement by the turning of the rows of ships. A certain weak spot of this turning device can be destroyed to successfully blow up every single ship along the spine, a dangerous frontal attack tactic.

[edit] Tyrusian lifeforms

Manglers - Raptor-like creatures of high intelligence working together in packs to kill prey. Unlike anything on Earth, they can stand on their massive hind legs and use their front arms to temporarily stand and hold back their prey's defensive mechanisms (i.e., a man's arms). A human scientist determines from the remains of a Mangler that they have a silicon-based endoskeleton and longer tendon attachments for enhanced strength. Manglers come in a variance of colors, have long, narrow eyes, and rows of needle-like teeth.
The Tall Men – Also known as the "Ga'lim" in Tyrusian, they are genetically enhanced Tyrusians with a loss of a decent face, have ugly voices, and poor skills, but amazing powers and equipment. The Tall Men are more like henchmen doing the secret works for the Dragit. They are merciless, determined, and are recognized by ominous trench coats and brim hats.
Metamorphs - Genetically engineered humanoid by the Tyrusian, these people can take on the appearance of any other humanoid they’ve seen in their lifetimes. Average lifespan is only about 50 years. True form is about twice the height of an average human being, hairless, and the skeletal structure is extremely flexible. When in its true form, the metamorph loses the ability to form cohesive speech, and instead communicates in guttural howls. Head is supported by a long, supple neck, and the teeth—like those of a mangler—are needle shaped. Has angular eyes, fully black, totally lacking in pupil and iris. Nose is almost nonexistent. Lacks external ears.

The forearms are powerful and very long, with a reach of about six feet. They are tipped with three clawed digits, and the fingers are slightly webbed. The legs remain vaguely humanoid, and the feet only have two toes. To date, only one metamorph, Lomak, is known to exist in the United States.

[edit] Episodes

Invasion America consisted of 13 half-hour episodes and was shown as five hour-long segments and one hour and a half segment for the final episode.

"The Legend" ("The Legend"/"The Son")
"Assault" ("Flight"/"Assault")
"Renewal" ("Renewal"/"Home")
"Capture" ("Capture"/"The Trip")
"Friendly Fire" ("Allies"/"Charade")
"Final Mission" ("Rendezvous"/"Countdown"/"Dark Side")

[edit] Availability

DreamWorks never released Invasion America on VHS or DVD, and showed two seasons, one being an edited version for younger audiences. Also, the story of Invasion America was never completed, the series ending with the words "End of Book One."

However, two books, an adaptation of the series titled Invasion America and an original novel titled Invasion America: On the Run, have been written based on the show. Both were written by Christie Golden [1].