Biker Mice from Mars (2006 TV series)

Biker Mice from Mars is an animated series, a revival and semi-reboot of the show with the same name which aired from 1993–1996. The 2006 version of the show has previews of the show on YouTube.^[4] Jim Ward won a 2009 voice-actor Daytime Emmy for his performance as Eyemore in the episode "Manchurian Charley" and as the Crusher in the episode "Here Come The Judge". The series was slated as a mid-season replacement in the 4Kids block on the CW network in fall 2009, but the series did not air. In the UK it was picked up for a second window by CSC Media Group, who scheduled it from April 2, 2010 on the Kix channel. The series features as a show on YouTube. An episode had been launched each Saturday on YouTube since November 2010.

Plot

The mice come to Earth (unlike the first series, not entirely by accident). In this series, the lead antagonists are the evil Catatonians, a cat-like race of creatures who desire the greatest prize on Mars, the Regenerator. In the process of obtaining it they destroy it, leaving the Biker Mice (including Stoker – see below) to flee to Earth to build a new one.

Characters

Returning characters

• The Biker Mice (voiced by Dorian Harewood as Modo, Rob Paulsen as Throttle, Ian Ziering as Vinnie): The Mice themselves are, character-wise, almost the same as before, except that now they have been properly formed into a special commando squad; as such, Throttle's leadership role has been formally recognized with the rank of Commander. There have also been minor changes in costume and weapons: Throttle has new sunglasses and a solitary green crossbelt similar to Vinnie's under his vest and his one powered glove has been replaced with twin powered gloves that also act as laser blasters, Modo has new boots and a cutting torch in his mechanical arm, Vinnie carries powered shuriken and powered gloves identical to Throttle's, and all three have new helmets and their own laser pistols. But more controversially for fans of the original series, they have been drawn substantially slimmed-down and less muscular, noticeably less furry and more anthropomorphic than originally. All three also have new bikes: Vinnie has a red superbike similar to his old one, Modo has a purple-blue three-wheeled chopper he calls "Hard Case" and Throttle has a green bobber in place of his old black chopper. All three bikes are augmented with new weapons, improved artificial intelligence, and flight, aquatic, and all-terrain capabilities.
• Charlene "Charley" Davidson (voiced by Lisa Zane): Essentially Charley is the same character-wise, but with a new, short haircut and a more contemporary outfit suited to motorcycling rather than mechanics. Although not present in every episode, she appears in the majority and plays a more prominent role than in the original series. Her relationship with Vinnie has been toned down for the new series, but (in true absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder fashion) Charley appears to reciprocate Vinnie's feelings towards her more readily than in the original series.
• Carbine (voiced by Dina Sherman): Carbine, revealed to be Stoker's niece, has gained a slight costume change and plays a substantially more prominent role than originally, even appearing on Earth several times. Her (strained) relationship with Throttle still exists, emphasizing the strain of the War and their relative military responsibilities.
• Stoker (voiced by Peter Strauss in 2006–2007, Jim Ward from 2007–present): Stoker is the classic series minor character who has had the most significant increase in importance, acting as the catalyst for much of the 2006 series' plot. The founder (and leader) of the Freedom Fighter movement, in the new series he has been missing in action for several years and is wrongly (but widely, except by Vinnie) held to have turned traitor. He is the inventor of the Regenerator, a matter-conversion device crucial to produce the water needed for the survival of the Martian population. Some years earlier, he had been forced to build a second Regenerator for Ronaldo Rump. When the Martian Regenerator was accidentally destroyed by the Catatonians the Biker Mice were dispatched to Earth to recover Rump's machine, the plot of the new series. His alter-ego is Nightshift, a black-clad masked biker. The disguise was originally adopted when he was still regarded as a traitor, but is now used to protect him from sunlight, which (because of overexposure to radioactive tetra-hydrocarbons, the power source of the Regenerator) causes him to temporarily mutate into a wererat.
• Lawrence Limburger (voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard): Returns for revenge on the Biker Mice after years of being a (literal) bootlicker for the Pit Boss.
• Dr. Karbunkle (voiced by Susan Silo): Also returning for revenge on the Biker Mice with Limburger.
• Harley (voiced by Jennifer Hale) is Vinnie's former sweetheart. Before the Biker Mice went to earth, Harley was kidnapped by a rat, got half her face blown off and then was shown mercy by other rats. Therefore she turned on her own people and aided the rats in their fight. Since then she has come to hate the Biker Mice because she feels that they gave up on her, although this was not the case (Vinnie in particular had searched extensively). However, near-cataclysmic eruptions that threaten to doom Mars snap Harley back to reality, driving her to sacrifice herself to save Mars.

New characters

• Hannibal T. Hairball (voiced by Rob Paulsen): Assistant Supreme Commander of the Catatonian Army. Very short, speaks with a stereotypical Russian accent, and is a dunce.
• Cataclysm (voiced by Clancy Brown): While officially the second-in-command to his younger brother Hairball, it is Cataclysm who really calls the shots in the Catatonian quest for the Regenerator.
• Ronaldo Rump (voiced by Jess Harnell): A parody of Donald Trump and Ricky Ricardo, with an oversized behind and a pencil mustache. He uses his Regenerator to make himself more wealthy, but it is running out of power and he is trying to force Stoker to build a new one.
• Dr. Phineas P. Catorkian (voiced by Jess Harnell): A mad scientist, the force behind most of the inventions against the Biker Mice. Very tall and thin, and speaks with a posh British accent.

Episode list

Toys, Video games, DVD and broadcast history

Giochi Preziosi (GP) was selected as world wide toy licensee. GP retained Pangea as developers of the toy line. Home entertainment, merchandise, publishing and promotions agency for the series was Sharpe Company.^[2]

Pre-production was started in May 2005 with UK broadcaster GMTV signed on.^[2] Biker Mice from Mars aired in the UK & Ireland and Finland in 2006. It aired in the US on Fox 4Kids TV block, beginning on August 9, 2008. Italia 1 began broadcasting the show in late 2008 with Mediaset making a big merchandising campaign to support the show.^[3]

In 2006 Biker Mice From Mars was released, based on its 2006 revival in Finland, Australia and the United Kingdom, for the Nintendo DS and Sony PS2 consoles. The game did not receive major positive ratings, though it sold successfully throughout Scandinavia. It has not yet been released in the United States.

As of 2011, four volumes of Biker Mice from Mars DVDs are available in the UK through Abbey Home Media.^[5] Two volumes were released in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment.^[6] Volume one was released in Bulgaria on October 17, 2008. Eight volumes (each with three episodes) have been released, but it does not appear that more DVDs will be released unless demand for the series increases.

References

External links

• Biker Mice from Mars at the Internet Movie Database
• Biker Mice from Mars at TV.com
• Biker Mice From Mars YouTube TV Shows