Biker Mice from Mars
| Biker Mice from Mars | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Rick Ungar[1] |
| Developed by |
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| Directed by | Tom Tataranowicz |
| Voices of | |
| Composer(s) | William Kevin Anderson |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 65 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Producer(s) | Tom Tataranowicz |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Brentwood Television Funnies
|
| Distributor |
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| Release | |
| Original network | Syndication |
| Original release | September 18, 1993 – February 24, 1996 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Biker Mice from Mars (2006 TV series) |
| External links | |
| Website |
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Biker Mice from Mars is a science fiction action animated series created by Rick Ungar that began airing in 1993, in the United States and lasted for three seasons. It follows three anthropomorphic mice motorcyclists named Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie who escape a war on their home planet Mars before arriving to defend the Earth from the evil that destroyed their homeland (the Plutarkians) and to one day return to Mars. The mice's signature weapons consist of a cestus and a laser (Throttle), a bionic arm (Modo), and flares (Vinnie). Despite the frequent battles, no blood is shown, no firearms are used and many villains are monsters, aliens, and robots.[4][5][1]
Plot
On the planet Mars, there existed a race of anthropomorphic mice who enjoyed motorsports and had a very similar culture and society to that of human beings. At some point in time they were all but wiped out by the Plutarkians, an alien race of obese, foul-smelling, worms-eating, fish-like humanoids who plunder other planets' natural resources because they have wasted all of their own. Three survivors, Throttle, Modo and Vinnie, manage to find a spaceship and escape the Plutarkian takeover but they are soon shot down by a Plutarkian warship and end up crash-landing on Earth in the city of Chicago, specifically in the scoreboard of Quigley Field. There they meet a charming female mechanic named Charlene "Charley" Davidson and discover that the Plutarkians have come to Earth to steal its natural resources.
The Biker Mice investigate the crumbling ghetto of the windy city and soon discover that Chicago's leading industrialist, Lawrence Limburger, is actually a Plutarkian who disguises himself as a human, plotting to ransack Earth's resources to send to his own dying planet. Limburger enlists two henchmen, mad scientist Dr. Karbunkle and the idiotic Greasepit to help him steal Earth's natural resources and send them to Plutark. But the Biker Mice from Mars themselves as heroic vigilantes come to save the day, and stop Limburger from destroying Chicago, doing it to bring Plutark to justice as payback for the loss and powerful destruction of their home, and in the process defend the Earth from the same fate. The most frequent sign of victory is destroying Limburger's big tower, forcing him to constantly spend money and time to rebuild it.
Characters
Protagonists
- Throttle (voiced by Rob Paulsen)[6] - The tan-furred leader-figure of the trio with a quiff and ponytail. He's the most logical, level-headed, rational and calculating of the three. Throttle lost his eyes in an incident on Mars that also caused the losses of Modo's right arm and the right side of Vinnie's face, and was given malfunctioning bionic eyes in captivity: as a result, he wears green sunglasses with field spec capabilities, and on his right hand he wears a powered glove which increases the strength of his blows with that fist. He also carries a holstered laser pistol and sports a leather biker vest, making him the only one of the trio to carry a weapon or wear clothes instead of armor. His first symbolic quote in the series was, "In this wild and woolly universe, there are three things you can count on: your brains, your bros and your bike!"
- Modo (voiced by Dorian Harewood) - The gray-furred gentle giant of the trio who sports an eye patch, suggesting that his eye may have been damaged during Karbunkle's experiments. He lost his right arm in the same incident that burned off the right side of Vinnie's face and destroyed Throttle's eyes. His robotic arm replacement has a built-in laser cannon and great strength, and he wears powered shoulder pads in addition to it. When angry, his right eye flashes red. He is prone to fits of rage when he or his bros are referred to as 'rats'; his first signature quote actually was "RAT?!! My mama didn't raise no stinkin' rat! UNDERSTAND?!!". Modo is by far the strongest of the three mice, but despite outwardly looking the most threatening and aggressive, he is the most empathetic and sensitive of the group, frequently referencing what his grayfurred mama used to say. The big guy doesn't want any harm to befall Charley, and as such, she 'mothers' him in return. His bike is the only one out of the three with a definite name ("Lil' Hoss"), and the one with the most demonstrated AI capability.
- Vinnie (voiced by Ian Ziering) - The white-furred thrill-seeker and self-proclaimed lady-killer among the trio. The right side of his face was burned off in the same incident where Throttle lost his eyes and Modo lost his right arm, thus he wears a flexible faceplate. Vinnie rides a red sport bike as opposed to the other's choppers and is the most active of the three, often volunteering for the most dangerous tasks, enjoying the rush and subsequent glory. He wears an overlapped pair of green crossbelts on his chest and wields expanding flares. His bike seems to have the greatest arsenal of weaponry between the three, and he is the best overall biker of the trio. He has a recurring catchphrase, "What a rush!", and has a signature laugh of triumph. Vinnie is definitely the wildest, most fun-loving and egotistical of the group; all three are adrenaline junkies to the extreme, but even Throttle and Modo can't understand how he's still alive, considering the risks he takes. Despite his "hypermasculinity", Vinnie is actually a very loving and caring individual. He flirts endlessly with Charley, even accidentally calling her 'Harley' after his old flame on Mars.
- Charlene "Charley" Davidson (voiced by Leeza Miller-McGee) - The Mice are always backed up by Charley, a human mechanic who owns the Last Chance Garage in Chicago. She is a headstrong woman and is always ready to go into battle, though the Biker Mice try to keep her out of dangerous situations, never because they think she's incapable or weak, but because they couldn't bear anything bad happening to her. Aside from being the target of Vinnie's affection (which she playfully blows off), she is also responsible for repairs and upgrades to the Mice's bikes, is a high-tech genius in her own right, and is as skilled a biker as the Mice. Her name is an obvious pun on Harley Davidson.
- Rimfire (voiced by Brian Austin Green) - Modo's nephew who is overprotected by his peers on Mars because of his age, despite the fact that he, too, is clearly capable of what it takes to be a worthy Freedom Fighter. He first appeared in the episode "Back to Mars, Part 2" when the three Mice were escaping prison. He appears again in the episode Stalkers, where he also crashed into the scoreboard at Quigley Field while escaping from intergalactic rogue bounty hunters (who view the Biker Mice as the big championship stock) that eventually request Limburger's permission, and he played a crucial role in their defeat. He also appears in the 3-part episode Once Upon a Time on Mars, where the viewers see for the first time how his age led to distrust from some of his peers.
- Carbine (voiced by Leah Remini) - General Carbine is the de facto leader of the Freedom Fighters, a former Army officer who defected during the Plutarkian-Mars war. She and Throttle are lovers, but their relationship suffers complications owing to her position among the Freedom Fighters.
- Stoker (voiced by Peter Strauss) - Stoker is the founding father of the Freedom Fighter movement on Mars, and as seen in Once Upon a Time on Mars, revealed that Mars was sold, beginning to have doubts over the fight; eventually he continues fighting as part of the rebellion. He plays a more crucial role in the 2006 revival, where he fights to protect his invention from the invading Catatonian Empire.
- Harley (voiced by Kath Soucie) - A mechanic/nurse among the Freedom Fighters. Was involved in a love triangle between Vinnie and Stoker, until Vinnie's injuries moved her enough to make him the faceplate and crossbelts he wears. They became lovers, but she went missing towards the end of the Freedom Fighters' insurrection; her fate was revealed in the 2006 series.
Antagonists
- Lawrence Limburger (voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard) - The main antagonist of the series, Lawrence Limburger is a bloated alien from Plutark and has an odd fascination for Earth's criminal society of the 1930s. He is the head of Limburger Industries, the biggest industrial company in Chicago. Wearing a purple business suit and a rubber mask in order to look human at most times, he attempts to mine it and other parts of Earth of various resources including random earth, dirt, rock, snow, metal and oil, which he plans to send back to his own dying planet. He is highly resourceful and cunning, but always failing due to the Biker Mice's interventions. His headquarters is a very tall tower called Limburger Plaza. Unfortunately for him, his plans are foiled and his tower is either destroyed, torn down, launched into space or even disappears completely by the Biker Mice at the climax of almost every single episode. Limburger reappears in the 2006 sequel series, initially as a bootlicker for the Pit Boss but later as a co-conspirator alongside the Catatonians.
- Dr. Benjamin Boris Zachary Karbunkle (voiced by Susan Silo) - A thin, sly mad scientist of species unknown. Karbunkle used to work for Limburger's superior Dominic T. Stilton until Limburger bribed him to cross over. Karbunkle's main task is to think of machines and robots to either battle the Biker Mice, gather resources from Earth, or look up the villain of the week with his dimensional transporter. What is common knowledge is that during the War of Liberation on Mars he gave Modo his bionic arm (though in the pilot he pretended to be unfamiliar with it, calling it an interesting invention), Stoker his bionic tail and Throttle his malfunctioning bionic eyes. Karbunkle was also the one who built the Mind Bender Beam, successfully used on Stoker to brainwash the Freedom Fighter leader into obeying the Plutarkians. Karbunkle is a sycophant, often seen admiring Limburger and praising him; however, Karbunkle's top priority is Karbunkle. He is often seen torturing Fred the Mutant, cares little about his co-worker Greasepit and has traded Plutarkian employers many times. Karbunkle is very sadistic and is known to enjoy torturing people, wears a white lab coat, high heeled boots, has a green pair of goggles which he never takes off and once in a while, his red underwear is revealed. Also reappears in the 2006 series as well, and suffers the same fate as Limburger.
- Greasepit (voiced by Brad Garrett) - The stereotypical cartoonish bungling bad guy sidekick usually in charge of whatever project Lawrence Limburger is running at the time. He fails in his endeavors most of the time, which Limburger soon learns to factor into his planning. Greasepit rides a motorized tricycle into battle against the Biker Mice at the head of his goons and wears a pair of gardening trousers like a mechanic's. As his name suggests, Greasepit constantly oozes oil, and he is consistently clumsy, often falling over or dropping critical pieces of Limburger's schemes. Greasepit is the first villain Limburger ever hired though, his advert was "spiced up" to make him seem more capable than the bungling goof he is by his agent (who is possible also his mother). Briefly reappeared in the 2006 series as a henchman for new series villain Ronaldo Rump during the end of the story arc.
- Fred the Mutant (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - Fred has a happy lot in life; he thrills at the thought of receiving pain and that is his one purpose as well, being the subject of many of Karbunkle's testings as well as physical abuse by Limburger. He is a midget with clothing similar to portrayals of Quasimodo, is bald and has three pink eyes with black irises, a bushy tail, and a tentacle instead of a right arm.
- Lord Camembert (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - Limburger's higher-up, whom Limburger finds disgusting especially when he makes him do the embarrassing Plutarkian greeting. In some other cases, he will appear with the entire Plutarkian council with Limburger in a panic over what task is current. He often appears on the vidcom or in person to Limburger and berates him for his failure, often at a loud voice. As High Chairman of Plutark Camembert holds highest power of the planet for four-year term at once.
- Pit Boss (voiced by Stu Rosen) - The Pit Boss is the burly ruler of the Pits outside of town. His men, referred to as his "Pit Crew" will come up and rob various places, often taken hostages as well. The Pit Boss has an electric whip that he uses to keep his slaves in line.
- Napoleon Brie (voiced by Luke Perry) - Limburger's chief Plutarkian rival from Detroit, except that Brie usually seems to be rather successful. He and his "Number one", a gun for hire with a big red beard and sunglasses, dominate Detroit. Despite this, Brie's attempts at taking out the Biker Mice turn out just as futile as Limburger's. Brie's efforts are not helped by his undermining Limburger at the same time. Small of stature and the owner of a large variety of facial masks although he only ever wears the one with a crazy eye and speaks with an accent very similar to Elmer Fudd.
Super villains
In most episodes, Limburger orders Karbunkle to use the transporter to bring into Chicago one of the very powerful super villains. Generally each of them have one special ability which is useful for Limburger's plan in hand. Most of them seem to use an asteroid station called Black Rock as their main hideout when they're not summoned by those willing to pay for their services. On one notable occasion in the episode "A Scent, a Memory, a Far Distant Cheese", Limburger and Karbunkle accidentally got sucked into the transporter and appear in a nightclub where all the villains confront him for not paying them as they asked for.
Episodes
2006 revival
The Biker Mice from Mars returned to TV screens in 2006. The 2006 Biker Mice From Mars series is a continuation of the story, and gives more airtime to another character, General Stoker.[7]
The new 28 episode series began airing in the UK on Toonattik on GMTV (now known at weekends as CITV) on August 26, 2006.[8] However, due to production problems at the studio in the Philippines the series was not finalized until late 2007, resulting in the launch in the USA and many other countries being delayed until 2008 as it still needed to be dubbed.
The series was largely influenced by the major toy line that was manufactured by Italian giant, Giochi Preziosi in 2005. GP retained Pangea as developers of the toy line, working in tandem with creator and executive producer, Rick Ungar. Characters, vehicles, and weapons used in the series were first developed by Pangea and turned over to G7 Animation for integration into the series. The team of Ungar, G7, and Pangea collaborated in order to maintain consistency between the intellectual property and the execution of the primary toy range, as the GP licensing monies were utilized to set in motion the series development.[9]
The new series launched in autumn of 2008 in Italy on Italia 1, and on August 9 of the same year on 4Kids TV on FOX. The series is on hiatus in the US, but according to the official website would return later in 2009, on CW4Kids. However, as of 2016, it has yet to return to US airwaves.
The series also launched successfully in Finland on MTV3 and in Australia on Channel Ten in October 2006.
Broadcast history
The series has been aired from 1993 to 1996 in the United States on many first-run syndicated affiliates.
The series has been aired on the YTV (English) and Le Canal Famille (French) channels in Canada.
In the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997, the series was aired on Channel 4 and from 1998-99 on its youth strand T4. CITV on ITV2 re-ran the series at 07.55 Monday to Friday for a 10-week strip from early September 2006. It was repeated on ITV2 at 08.25 Monday to Friday for 10 weeks from March 27, 2007.
The cartoon was broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ Two on weekday afternoons from 1995 to 1996.[10]
Video games
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An LCD game of same name was released for Tiger Electronic Game on 1993.
A Biker Mice from Mars video game was released by Konami for the Super NES in 1994. The PAL version features extensive advertisements for Snickers candy bars.
In 2006, another Biker Mice from Mars video game was released based on the 2006 revival in Finland, Australia and the United Kingdom for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 platforms. The game did not receive any major positive ratings although it was a major sales success throughout Scandinavia.
In 2015, a Biker Mice from Mars mobile game was released by 9thImpact for iOS and Android devices through the App Store and Google Play Store. The game is divided into episodes, each with a different storyline which unfolds as the player completes the levels.[11] Commenting on the new game, series creator Rick Ungar said that Biker Mice fans would enjoy the snappy banter, classic catchphrases and irreverent satire that they would expect from the series, in addition to the non-stop action.[12]
Comic books
Marvel Comics published a three issue series in the early 1990s. A fourth issue was solicited on the reader's page. Marvel UK published its own series. The whole American series and portions of the British series were published in Germany (also by Marvel UK) in 7 magazine-sized issues from 1994 to 1995.
See also
- Biker Mice from Mars (2006 TV series)
- Avenger Penguins (UK Counterpart)
- Street Sharks
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
References
- 1 2 Fowler, James E. (1994-08-19). "The locally conceived 'Biker Mice From Mars' series is seen in more than 50 countries. The stars make a live appearance Saturday.". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-08-24.
- ↑ "A Bedrock of U.S. Cartoon Production". Los Angeles Times. MANILA. AP. August 28, 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
- ↑ "New World forms two new kidvid banners". Variety. December 8, 1992. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
- ↑ "Roll Over, Michelangelo, It's The Mice". Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-03-03.
- ↑ Schmeltzer, John (1993-09-19). "3 Mice From Mars A Cause For Hype, Hope". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ↑ Forman, Ross (1994-11-08). "Cartoon-voice Actor Is All Talk". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-08-28.
- ↑ "Bikermice.tv". Bikermice.tv. Archived from the original on 2016-08-18. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ↑ "Children's TV". CITV.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ↑ "Biker Mice return to GMTV | News". C21Media.net. 2005-05-22. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ↑ "Biker Mice form Mars". RTÉ Guide: 10–16. December 1995.
- ↑ "Biker Mice from Mars". 9th Impact. 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
- ↑ "Biker Mice from Mars Land on iPhone, iPad and Android". Prnewswire.com. 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2016-07-22.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Biker Mice From Mars |
- Biker Mice from Mars at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on August 27, 2015.
- Official website
- Biker Mice from Mars on IMDb
- Biker Mice from Mars (2006 series) at TV.com
- Biker Mice From Mars at YouTube
- Biker Mice From Mars (2015 video game) on Google Play Store
- Biker Mice From Mars (2015 video game) on App Store