BraveStarr

BraveStarr is an American space Western animated television series.^[1] The original episodes aired from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. It was created simultaneously with a collection of action figures. BraveStarr was the last animated series produced by Filmation and Group W Productions that was broadcast. "Bravo!", a spin-off series (originally called "Quest of the Prairie People") was in production along with "Bugzburg" when the studio closed down. Reruns of the show currently air on Qubo Night Owl,^[2][3][4] and on the Retro Television Network.^[5]

The idea for BraveStarr began with Tex Hex, his chief adversary. Tex Hex was created by Filmation's staff artists in 1984, during the development of Filmation's Ghostbusters.^[6] Lou Scheimer found the character fascinating and pulled Tex Hex from the Ghostbusters cast. He asked Arthur Nadel, Filmation's Vice President for Creative Affairs, and art director John Grusd to develop a science fiction western around the character. As the concepts took shape, staff writer Bob Forward fleshed out the writer's guide and eventually co-wrote the feature film script for BraveStarr the Legend with writer Steve Hayes.

Like many of Filmation's TV series (including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, Shazam, The Secret of Isis, and the animated Ghostbusters), a moral lesson is told at the end of each episode. One particularly notable episode is "The Price," in which a boy buys a drug called "spin," a hallucinogen similar to LSD, becomes addicted to it, and dies from an overdose.^[7] Ed Gilbert and Pat Fraley, the voices of BraveStarr and Thirty-Thirty respectively, would later appear in the Disney animated series TaleSpin as the voices of Baloo the Bear and Wildcat.

Characters

Heroes

• Marshall BraveStarr (Pat Fraley): The title character is a Galactic Marshall stationed on the planet "New Texas." He is a Native American who can call upon the power of "spirit animals." The spirit animal powers are:
  • Eyes of the Hawk: Enhances his vision and can also grant him an aerial view of the surrounding area.
  • Ears of the Wolf: Gives him super-hearing.
  • Strength of the Bear: Gives him super-strength.
  • Speed of the Puma: Gives him super-speed.

It should be noted that these powers are not literally equivalent to the attributes of the animals he invokes, as the Strength of the Bear grants him far greater strength than any real bear, capable of lifting huge boulders, and similarly the Speed of the Puma allows him to run at immense speeds akin to comic-book characters such as Quicksilver or the Flash. Bravestarr also carries a "Neutra-laser" pistol and a "Trans-freezer" rifle, but seldom uses either, only doing so when he has to.

• Thirty Thirty (Ed Gilbert): 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 "Sara Jane." He is the last survivor of an ancient civilization called the Equestroids, a cybernetic breed of sentient equines, and has strength approximating BraveStarr's bear strength and was loosely based on rock legend David Lee Roth. Unlike Bravestarr, Thirty Thirty is far more quick tempered and aggressive, which has led to vocal disagreements between them about the use of force in the line of duty.
• Handlebar (Alan Oppenheimer): A hulking, 14-ton, green-skinned bartender and former space pirate from the Rigel star system, with a bright orange handlebar mustache and a Brooklyn accent. 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 does engage in a fight with a mechanical steer named Rampage in one episode and wins. If faced with trouble in his bar he uses the serving trays as throwing weapons.
• Deputy Fuzz (Charlie Adler): A pudgy little prairie dog-like alien, one of the Prairie People, natives of New Texas, 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 Rankin-Bass's ThunderCats. His specialties, like all others of his kind, are digging, with even the miners of New Texas not coming close to the speed in which he moves through the ground, as well as high mechanical aptitude for building and repairing all manner of devices. Bravestarr affectionately calls him "li'l pardner". Fuzz seems to have trouble pronouncing Thirty-Thirty's name, rendering it "Doody-Doody". Adler was replaced by an uncredited actress in two episodes, "No Drums, No Trumpets" and "Strength of the Bear".
• Judge J.B. McBride (Susan Blu): The town's female judge and romantic interest for BraveStarr. The two kiss each other twice in "BraveStarr the Legend." She comes to BraveStarr's aid from time to time, using a high-tech gavel given to her by the Prairie People (referred to as a "hammer" in the series) as a weapon. Her Scottish father Angus McBride is an ex-prospector; he has run the town's newspaper ever since being crippled by his former mining partner Tex Hex.
• Shaman (Ed Gilbert): An unnamed Native American shaman who serves as an adviser to BraveStarr. On rare occasions Shaman has 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 since he (BraveStarr) never knew his real parents, 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 (in reality the remains of his crashed starship, covered by cooled magma), under which is a large Kerium deposit. In the episode, "The Price", he appeared to Brad when he was faced with a dilemma in which he can't stop Jay from destroying himself, but won't sit back and let it happen either.
• Doc Clayton: The town's Afro-American doctor, his name may be a reference to the famous gunfighter Doc Holliday. He is a frequent ally to Bravestarr, but seems to have some pacifist ideals - he found it confusing that the Krangs' elderly doctor could also be willing to kill people and ultimately convinced him to switch sides.
• Commander Kane: A military scientist in charge of developing defensive weapons for Fort Kerium. She has an Irish accent.
• Long Arm John:
• Diamondback: A snake-like reptilian humanoid, Diamondback is a Kerium prospector. He owns the Kerium deposit underneath Starr Peak along with his human colleague Billy-Bob.

The heroes' base of operations is a town called "Fort Kerium," which serves as the primary setting for the series.

Villains

• Tex Hex (Charlie Adler): The lavender-skinned leader of Stampede's gang. Tex was mutated and given magic powers by Stampede including energy bolts, the power to blow up mountains, transformation, and summoning creatures called 'fire-snakes'. Tex once had a girlfriend named Ursula, who wanted to live a content, happy life with him, but Tex left her to greedily seek out his fortunes in Kerium, a decision that at one point he contemplated but briefly disposed of. In the Christmas episode, Tex finds out that Ursula had married and found the happiness that she wanted and needed in her life. He even stops Stampede and the others from invading Fort Kerium to spare her life.
• Outlaw Skuzz (Alan Oppenheimer): Tex's cigar-smoking henchman and cousin of Deputy Fuzz - he is apparently the only Prairie Person to have taken up a life of crime. Like Tex Hex, he was mutated by Stampede. Skuzz is often reprimanded by the others for his constant smoking. Fuzz even arrested Skuzz for this until BraveStarr pointed out that smoking isn't a crime. Though why Skuzz wouldn't be kept in custody for his real crimes remains a mystery.
• Sandstorm (Lou Scheimer): A red reptilian alien who can exhale giant clouds of sand, which the gang usually uses to escape. His kind are sometimes called 'sand walruses' and are native to New Texas. He can also use his sand to put people to sleep and summon up sand creatures.
• Thunderstick (Pat Fraley): A stuttering robot with an arm cannon.
• Cactushead (Pat Fraley): A robot with a cactus head and four mechanical legs. He's equipped with two energy cannons that can alter matter. Often seen as the comic relief and used as a spy.
• "Two faced" Dingo Dan (Lou Scheimer): One of Tex's anthropomorphic coyotes with a notionally Aussie accent. Dan had the ability to take on a human appearance but would often forget to change his distinctive "fancy hat."
• Howler (Lou Scheimer): Another anthropomorphic coyote of Tex's gang. Like Dingo Dan he can take on human form.
• Goldtooth: An overweight coyote that usually leads other coyotes in the battle.
• Barker (Lou Scheimer): A little coyote.
• Vipra (Susan Blu): A serpentine female villain who has the power to hypnotize people, such as the assayer Klem in Fort Kerium making it seem as if a Kerium deposit below Starr Peak actually belonged to Hex. Her weapon of choice is a snake-shaped "gun" that shoots a paralyzing ray.
• Hawgtie (Lou Scheimer): A humanoid pig dressed in a Union Army uniform. He seemed to be strong, and used bolas to capture or bind his victims.
• Stampede (Alan Oppenheimer): A demonic-looking Broncosaur skeleton who commands the gang. He is the éminence grise behind Tex Hex's schemes and powers. He is to Hex what the Shaman is to BraveStarr.
• Krang (Uncredited): Anthropomorphic panthers with green armor and German accents. The Krang appear in several episodes, looking for slaves on New Texas. In one episode an elderly Krang doctor ultimately decided the ways of his people contradicted his duties as a medic and helped Bravestarr to stop them, afterwards apparently staying on New Texas.
• Two-Face: A two headed anthropomorphic robotic bird (maybe a buzzard) with one head being real flesh & the other robotic.

Plot

The story is set in the 23rd century (around 2249) on a distant planet called New Texas, which is located 600 parsecs (=1956 light-years) from Earth and has "a sky of three suns." New Texas has a native population of "Prairie People," which are small beings 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 said to be ten times more valuable than gold, 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 Old West. In addition to Kerium mining, the planet is also the site of "solacow" ranching. "Solacows" are large cattle-like creatures.

Two episodes are set on Earth, where the city of London resembles Victorian England, including a time travelling Sherlock Holmes. This lends a steampunk flavor to the series and is a logical extension of the series' setting.

Tagline

We needed a hundred lawmen to tame New Texas. We got one. You know something? He was enough.

Episode list

• PC = Production code number

Action figures and other merchandise

In 1986, a year before the TV series premiered, Mattel released an action figure line based on the Filmation cartoon series.^[8] These figures were large for the time at nearly 8" tall and came in a windowed box with artwork similar to that of their Masters of the Universe contemporaries. Each figure had a unique action feature and was packaged with one or more Kerium nuggets. Marshall BraveStarr and Tex Hex were also packaged with a Laser Fire Backpack which shot infra-red beams and had "space-age" sound effects. Such backpacks were individually available — blue for heroes and black for villains. Other figures available were Handlebar, Sandstorm, Thirty/Thirty, Skuzz, Fuzz, Col.Borobot, & Thunderstick. The Neutra-Laser weapon, which worked with the infra-red technology, and Fort Kerium playset also made their way to toy shelves. A second series of figures was designed but never produced. This included Dingo Dan, Judge JB, Long Arm John, Rampage, and the Starr Hawk vehicle.

A BraveStarr video game was released for Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. It is a side-scrolling shooter game. Various other forms of BraveStarr merchandise made their way to the market including a Colorforms Adventure Set, Ladybird storybook, pillow case, sticker album, and water gun, among others. A comic book series, BraveStarr in 3-D, also began under Blackthorne Publishing in January 1987.

Home video and DVD releases

BraveStarr made its way to VHS in compilations such as Filmation All-Star Theatre and Sampler Collection. Individual episodes of the series found their way to shelves as late as 1989.

BCI Eclipse (under license from Entertainment Rights) released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in 2007/2008. The series was released in 2 volume sets, with the first volume featuring several bonus features.^[9][10] As of 2009, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations.^[11]

On December 10, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that it had acquired the rights from Classic Media to re-release the series on DVD in North America.^[12] They subsequently released a complete series set as well as two single volume releases on May 10, 2011.^[13]

See also

• BraveStarr: The Movie

References

• "BraveStarr". epguides.com. http://epguides.com/BraveStarr/. Retrieved October 28, 2005. 
• "Filmation Associates: BraveStarr". The Big Cartoon Database. http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Filmation_Associates/A-G/BraveStarr/index.html. Retrieved October 28, 2005. 

External links

• BraveStarr at the Internet Movie Database
• BraveStarr at TV.com
• BraveStarr at epguides.com
• BraveStarr.org
• Toonopedia page
• Bravestarr at Hulu