Bravestarr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Bravestarr | |
|---|---|
 Bravestarr and his sidekick/mount Thirty/Thirty |
|
| Genre | Animated television series/Children |
| Voices of | Pat Fraley Charlie Adler Erika Scheimer Lou Scheimer Alan Oppenheimer Susan Blu Ed Gilbert |
| Country of origin | Unites States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 65 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 25 mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Syndication |
| Original run | September 14, 1987 – February 24, 1988 |
| Links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
BraveStarr is an animated space western made for children. It was created by Donald Kushner and Peter Locke and the original episodes aired from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. It was created simultaneously with a set of action figures. It was the last cartoon series produced by Filmation and Group W Productions.
Like He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a moral lesson is told at the end of each episode. One notable episode is "The Price", in which a boy buys a drug called "Spin," becomes addicted to it and dies from an overdose.
Contents |
[edit] Characters
[edit] Heroes
- Marshall Bravestarr: The title character is the Marshall of the planet "New Texas". He is a Native American who can call upon the power of "spirit animals". In addition, he carries a laser pistol called a Neutra-laser. The spirit animal powers are:
- Eyes of the Hawk: Lets him see great distances
- Ears of the Wolf: Gives him super-hearing
- Strength of the Bear: Gives him super-strength
- Speed of the Puma: Gives him super-speed
- Thirty/Thirty: Bravestarr's talking "techno horse," who can "transform" from a quadruped into a more anthropomorphic biped. He carries a giant energy rifle he refers to as "Sarah Jane." He is the last survivor of an ancient civilization, called the Equestroid, and has strength approximating Bravestarr's bear strength.
- Handlebar: A hulking, 14-ton, green-skinned bartender and former space pirate, with a bright orange handlebar mustache. He mostly serves Bravestarr and Thirty/Thirty a drink called "sweetwater" in his bar, as they sit and discuss the moral lesson learned in that day's episode although he (Handlebar) does engage in a fight with Stampede in one episode and wins. If faced with trouble in his bar he uses the metal plates as throwing weapons.
- Deputy Fuzz: A pudgy little prairie dog-like alien, who serves almost exclusively as comic relief. Fuzz is similar to other sidekick creatures in other series of the decade such as He-Man's Orko and Snarf of Thundercats.
- Judge J.B.: The town's female judge and romantic interest for Bravestarr. The two share a kiss in "Bravestarr the Legend". She some times helps out Bravestarr in certain needs. She used a high-tech gavel as a weapon.
- Shaman: A native American shaman who serves as an adviser to Bravestarr. On rare occasions Shaman demonstrated extremely powerful magic and during the Christmas special, a rendition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, he served as the three spirits. Bravestarr sees Shaman as a paternal figure, and this was occasionally exploited by the bad guys. While the Shaman rarely expressed it, he was known to view Bravestarr as a son. He lives in a towering animal-carved mountain called Starr Peak, over which is a large Kerium deposit.
The heroes' base of operations is a town called "Fort Kerium".
[edit] Villains
- Tex Hex: The lavender-skinned leader of the Carrion Bunch. Tex was mutated and given powers by Stampede including energy bolts, the power to blow up mountains, transformation, and summoning creatures called 'fire-snakes'.
- Outlaw Skuzz: Tex's cigar-smoking henchman and cousin of Deputy Fuzz. Like Tex Hex, he was mutated by Stampede.
- Sandstorm: A red reptilian alien who can exhale giant clouds of sand, which the Carrion Bunch usually uses to escape.
- Thunderstick: A stuttering robot with an arm cannon.
- Cactus Head: A robot with a cactus head and four mechanical legs who is equipt with two energy cannons. Often seen as the comic relief and used as a spy.
- "Two faced" Dingo Dan: One of Tex's anthropomorphic coyotes. Dan had the ability to take on a human appearance but would often forget to change his distinctive "fancy hat."
- Vipra: A serpentine female villain who has the power to hypnotise people, such as the assyer Klem in Fort Kerium making it seem as if a Kerium deposit below Starr Peak actually belonged to Hex.
- Stampede: A demonic-looking bull skeleton who commands the Carrion Bunch. He is the éminence grise behind Tex Hex's schemes and powers. He is to Hex what the Shaman is to Bravestarr.
[edit] Plot
The story is set in the twenty-second century on a distant planet called New Texas, which has "a sky of three suns". New Texas has a native population of "Prairie People," which are small humanoids who resemble prairie dogs (both Scuzz and Fuzz are members of this species), and has been colonized by a multi-planet government. A mineral called Kerium, a rare and powerful crystal of great importance in spacefaring societies, is discovered there, giving the planet a valuable natural resource. Most of the episodes revolve around the heroes preventing the villains from stealing Kerium ore.
The culture of the New Texas colony (inhabited predominantly by humans but also by various aliens and robots) bears a remarkable resemblance to the culture of the American West. In addition to Kerium mining, the planet is also the site of "solacow" ranching. "Solacows" are large cattle-like creatures.
[edit] Action Figures
Based on the cartoon series, these figures were large for the time at nearly 8" in height. Each figure had a unique action feature. Marshall Bravestarr and Tex Hex were also packaged with a Laser Fire Backpack which shot infra-red beams and had sound effects. A second series of figures were designed but never produced including Dingo Dan, Judge JB, Long Arm John, Rampage and the Starr Hawk vehicle.
[edit] Parodies
The highly pop-culture referenced comic, Impy and Aevy, has made a reference to Bravestarr by having Aevy repeat, "Strength of a bear!" in one strip.
[edit] References
- Bravestarr. epguides.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2005.
- Filmation Associates: Bravestarr. The Big Cartoon Database. Retrieved on October 28, 2005.
