Mighty Max

Plot synopsis:
The series follows Max, an adventurous preteen boy who receives in the mail a small statue of a fowl, inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs whereof the translation states: "You have been chosen to be the cap-bearer. Go to the mini-mart and wait for a sign, Mighty Max". Shocked by the message, Max drops the statue, shattering it and revealing a red baseball cap emblazoned with a yellow "M", which he dons.
Upon arriving at the mini-mart, Max is chased by a lava-monster sent by antagonist 'Skullmaster'. As Max flees, the cap teleports them to the Mongolian desert, where he befriends Virgil, a nearly omniscient Lemurian whose appearance is that of an anthropomorphic "fowl" (a running gag in the series is that Max refers to Virgil as a "chicken" to which the Lemurian replies "Fowl, actually"), who explains that Max's reception of the cap was prophesied c. 3000 B.C. Thereafter Max, Virgil, and Norman, his Viking bodyguard, travel together around the world, defending Earth against the minions of Skullmaster, who is responsible for the downfall of the Lemurians and the people of Atlantis. Norman is supposedly immortal and identified as or with Sir Lancelot, Thor, Samson, and Hercules. Most plot-driving episodes involve Skullmaster or one of his monstrous followers; but in many episodes, Max is required to stop an independent villain. While all episodes involve travel across Earth, one involves time travel, and the portal can even extend into the astral plane (as seen in the episode "Souls of Talon").
While generally lighthearted and comical, the show's violence and descriptions of violent acts were considered excessive by some viewers. Many episodes began with a depiction of the story's principal monster killing a victim; whereas the series finale featured Max, Norman, and Virgil pitted against Skullmaster and their previously defeated foes. Both Norman and Virgil are killed, leaving Max to defeat Skullmaster. Unable to do so, Max uses the cap in order to time travel to the events of the first episode, creating a time paradox. At first, he experiences déjà vu; but after he reads Virgil's modified letter, he recalls everything, and decides to set it right in order to defeat the Skullmaster.

Tags: good versus evil

Review:
While I missed out on that little pop-culture wave, I embraced the toy line and t.v. series that was Mighty Max with both arms.You wanna know how into this I was?
I went as Mighty Max for Halloween.Thank God for the internet.
Thanks to Demonoid, last week I was able to watch this great show from my childhood for the first time in over a decade.I'm watching this right now, having just been blown away by recognizing Rob Paulson of Animaniacs, and am also loving the celebrity humor in "Tar Wars".
I Miss The Max. I remember watching "Mighty Max" a few years ago on UPN weekday mornings before I went to school.
I really enjoyed "Mighty Max" and was upset after UPN canceled it.
I also thought Max was cute for a cartoon character.
Max's friend Bea was cool, too.My favorite "Mighty Max" episode is "A Bellwether in One's Cap", the first episode that started it all.
I also liked the episode "Max vs.
Mighty Max, based primarily upon a micro-sized toy line, was a terrific animated series which died prematurely but will always be remembered.
Max, a young pre-teen, is the "Cap Bearer", a mystical warrior who is transported all over the world in order to combat evil in many forms.
Along for the ride is Virgil, a Lemurian and a sentient owl, and Norman, a Nordic warrior, voiced excellently by Richard Moll.
This series was well-animated and acted, and presented good storylines and memorable villains including Skullmaster, maliciously voiced by Tim Curry.
The series ender was very peculiarly made, in that it ends with Max and his comrades beginning their adventures all over again, making the show seem seamless, but nonetheless sad.
I was privileged to view Mighty Max on a Canadian satellite wild-feed, and taped much of the series, but true fans should petition channels such as Cartoon Network to present Mighty Max to its fans and potential viewers..
'Mighty Max' was a surprisingly well-made and, though based on a quaintly narrow concept, very well written and animated journey.
Max, the young 'Cap Bearer' is accidently and unwantedly bestowed with the age-old responsibilities of protecting Earth from the diabolical Skullmaster and his army of minions who try desperately to emerge from the planet's depths [The Skullmaster yearns for the cap so he can gain ultimate control and mobility] while the boy just wants to maintain a normal life.
Supporting characters like the ancient, wise  retrospectively out-of-date], owl, Virgil and sworn bodyguard, Norman, give Max's naive quest against the Skullmaster both a chance and comedic action as each episode begins with a multitude of interesting ways for summoning Max to his current mission [i.e. Virigil slipping the message into nearby objects and such - unexpectedly interrupting his fun times.
When I was younger, maybe 9 or 10, I can remember getting up early Saturday morning to watch MIGHTY MAX.
It had some cool monsters in it (Two-headed dragons, aliens, giant crabs, zombies, fish creatures....monster galore!), appealing if not high-tech animation, swift paces and good twists.
I so miss you, mighty max.
Perhaps some day Mighty Max will be shown on cartoon network, until then.........WE MISS YOU, MAX!!!!!.
Too bad there isn't more of it around.) I really fell in love with it, when an episode showed up, that incorporated aspects of the Cthulhu mythos, only the 2nd cartoon I've ever seen do so.
Even as a 19 year old I love animation.
I grew up on it and apart from some bad ones have been impressed by those with beautiful animation, great memorable music, writing that amuses and touches you, likable characters and stories that thrill you.
Mighty Max was one such show.Thank goodness for YouTube, who are so good usually with finding or re-discovering new gems.
Mighty Max is a wonderful and very underrated show that is quite unique and kept me thrilled right until the end.
I personally loved it not just for its dark tone but also how truly thrilling it was.The animation does have some limited spots with some episodes lacking fluidity in the backgrounds or with the odd static movement, but I always noticed some impressive visuals in the action, the characters in general look great especially Skullmaster and there are some lively, ethereal colours.I love the music too.
The opening for Mighty Max sets the tone for each episode wonderfully, and the incidental music never feels out of place.
The writing is one of the strongest assets of Mighty Max, it is funny, scary, moving, thoughtful and what's more quite educational too.
Max is not bland or obnoxious, he has real steel and is very brave such as when he says "I'll die trying!", something I don't hear many animated kids saying now.
Virgil is noble and wise, Norman makes me smile with his understated simplicity and Skullmaster is a terrific villain, smooth yet very malevolent.Other than the writing and characters, I also have to highly praise the voice acting.
Rob Paulsen is wonderful as Max, and never feels like he's overdoing it.
Tony Jay matches him in every way as Virgil, while Tim Curry's menacing and distinctive intonation as Skullmaster is pitch perfect.All in all, a wonderful show.
10/10 Bethany Cox. Mighty Max is one of the funniest cartoons.
Norman the Viking guardian had some memorable phrases and the skull master, the bad guy, would always be vowing to kill Max with some insane cackling.
And then when he was battling zombies he would say "I eat zombies for...nevermind." Classic cartoon comedy and action.I vote that they re-air Mighty Max..
This show was not one of those not funny and lame shows, Mighty Max did not have the best animation, but the writing was excellent.
Each episode details an actual plot and a rather kick-ass theme, be it science-fiction, fantasy, action-adventure, or horror.
It worked.We get Rob Paulsen (of Animaniacs), Richard Moll (of Night Court), and the late but great Tony Jay (of Sierra's King's Quest VI and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame) as the main characters.
A few years ago I watched some clips of the show on YouTube and it's just as good as I remember it.
I really loved this cartoon show, this of course was based on another toy line from Mattel whom once again dealt in the realm of fantasy.
I really loved those toys and played with them a lot, I have a collection of them as they were these big miniature compacts that each contained a different kind of adventures.I really love the premise of the show which in a way I can't help but feel if they ever made an animated series on "Doctor Who" it would have been something like this.
This cap is pretty much like the Tardis as it opens portals to just about anywhere and everywhere, from any place in the world, time, space, another dimension, the destinations are just endless.
Unfortunately, you can't really do it at will as it never really takes you where you want to go, but only where you need to go (same with the Tardis).The animation is great I really like the character and background animation.
But I really like the use of some of the dark colors really giving this show a dark fantasy feel, which I love dark fantasy are sort of the equivalent of neo noir where it shows the world Max inhabits despite fascinating still carry hints of danger even from his own home.
Music is also very good, it's a bit of a heavy metal/rock soundtrack even like the theme, it fits the nature of the show as it just screams excitement which this show delivers.Really love the voice ensemble cast, it's one of the best in my book.The late Tony Jay is great as the foul Virgil.
But I like how despite filled with wisdom he's also funny as he gets a lot of grief from Max due to his unortadox ways or certain methods that don't fall into his set of protocols.Norman voiced by Ricard Moll is awesome as Max's bodyguard.
He's dryly funny and charismatic he's got a lot of memorable lines.I also really like there is some mystery to his character as we see some depth to him as we hear his character truly did exist in the Viking Age which makes him almost one of the immortals from "Highlander" or maybe an Asguardian like in the movie/comic series"Thor", seeing that made me all the more wonder about his life.Tim Curry my favorite actor and one of my favorite voice actors is just awesome as the Skull Master.
Skull Master is one of my favorite animated villains.
It's a bit ironic that Curry plays this role as the character is a little uncannily like his former role Darkness in the film "Legend".
He has some of the best line and just concocts some of the best scheme that the good guys come close to losing.Max played by one of my favorite voice actors Rob Paulsen is great, it really fits like a glove for the character.
Max is one of my favorite fictional protagonists he's a pulp hero kind of similar to "Doctor Who", just like the Doctor he doesn't use weapons (well due to the fact he's a kid he can't legally buy or use them) nor does he have any combative training, Max has to use the best weapon he possesses his wits.
I really love it really gave me a gratifying feeling seeing Max able to triumph over these adversaries that are armed or outmatch him in strength and power, which of course makes Max live up to his name.But also, really love his sharp charisma which is funny, reminds me a little of the kind from actor Bruce Campbell (him as a voice guest on this show, that would have been something) as there is some wisecracks, smart ass quips, and even how he simply reacts to certain situations which feel like how any ordinary person would.But of course, the adventures are also what make this show, most of them are random but that's a good thing as each episode is always a different adventure which made waiting for the next episode all the more exciting, I always wonder what other monster is Max and company going to face or what other dimension or place are they going to.
There are a lot of memorable episodes and even a few arcs like one episode which was the shows version of "The Magnificent Seven", another episode where it's two versions of Max fighting for the title which yeah, a cliché plotline but a good one reminding us why Max (main one) is worthy.
And the finale of the show which was dark as it's coming to all or nothing, but to me what made this episode is the fact that an animated show has a conclusion which was rare for its time.Mighty Max is a mighty adventure.Rating: 4 stars.
I'd love to see this get rebooted by Netflix or Amazon, possibly as live action or even a new cartoon series.
Just too good to live on.Richard Moll is fantastic, as are all the voice actors.
I didn't know Tim Curry was the Skullmaster's voice.Creative, interesting, challenging, and full of action and energy.
I miss Mighty Max. My b/f and I were reminiscing and we were talking about how cartoons were so much better when we were younger (about 10 years ago when we were about 9-10 years old or so).
It was actually worth waking up on time on Saturday to watch this cartoon.
I really liked Max and the chicken..or owl?
Mighty Max is a cartoon that both adults and kids alike can enjoy.
All of the monsters and locations in the show are based on real civilizations or legends, and Max & crew travel all over the world to fight evil.In fact, I liked the show so much, I created my own website covering all things Mighty Max. It's called the Mighty Max Portal - feel free to look it up if you'd like to know more about this show and its characters..
Mighty Max, while sounding like another mindless juvenile adventure cartoon akin to Captain Planet or Thundercats, was actually an extremely well written, intelligent series.
I miss getting up early every Saturday to see the adventures of Mighty Max, Virgil and Norm as they battled with the likes of Skullmaster and Dr Zygote.
Many of my current interests I attribute to the Mighty One, and I wish the Cartoon Network would be kind enough to pick it up, along with similar quality animated series such as Conan the Adventurer, and Ghostbusters..
Mighty Max is one of them.
The show was intriguing, well told, and ended in such a unique way its inspirationally.The story was about destiny, and the power of good over evil.
Mighty Max was unique and very special to me.
"Mighty Max" was one of the best cartoons, if not the best, ever, in my opinion.
I guess Max is, in a way, the part of each of us that is always a carefree kid.
If it comes on the Cartoon Network I highly recommend it..
Mighty Max was my favorite show when I was in junior high.
Max was a kids hero for his social skills, Norman for his cool wit and fast courageous strength, and Virgil for his wisdom.
A surprisingly great cartoon in the same league as Batman:TAS and its ilk, I enjoyed it in my youth and recently had been able to watch them all again, great voice acting from Tim Curry, Richard Moll, Tony Jay, and Maurice LaMarche in various roles.
The only qualm I had was Rob Paulsons voice seemed a little too old for the title character, but that wasn't a big deal as the stories were great, and the fact that the whole thing has a great time loop twist ending.
"Mighty Max" is truly a lost show.
Thankfully, the show has managed to survive online and is every bit as good as I remember.This is basically about the adventures of Max (Rob Paulsen).
This is because it turns out he's the latest in a long line of "mighty" cap-bearers and is destined to save the worlda lot.
Thankfully, he isn't alone.Aiding him are Virgil (Tony Jay) and Norman (Richard Moll).
Max's mentor and guide, he is every bit as intelligent and stuffy as you'd expect from a 10,000 year old owl—even if he does insist on being a fowl "actually".
The guardian, he's overly tense and laconic in nature, and lets Max and Virgil do most of the talking while letting his blade speak for him.Together the three face off against numerous threats to world.
The guy is basically a big, skull faced demon who's trapped in Hell; has a limitless army of lava men, golems and zombies at his disposal; and is bent on not just world domination, but on the utter annihilation of Max and company.However, no matter where Max and crew ended up, and no matter whom they fought, the high quality of "Mighty Max" raised things well beyond the mundane.
Despite claims the animation wasn't that good, I beg to differ.
But the real star was the scripting."Mighty Max" was funny without being corny; action packed without being far-fetched; educational without being boring; and violent without ever once being graphic.
By today's stricter standards, however, "Mighty Max" could only exist on Adult Swim.Most episodes featured at least one, horrific death.
He hears growling from just behind him, and turns in time to let out a bloodcurdling scream before the scene transitions to Max chilling out half a world away.
In "the Magnificent Seven" the four champions who accompanied Max, Virgil and Norman to Skullmaster's realm were all killed.
But things were implied more than strongly enough to make the impression that something horrible just happened—albeit off camera.There were a few problems with Mighty Max though.
At first Max felt more like the product of a focus group than a true character.
When it came to dealing with the bad guys, the cap really wasn't good for much, save a hasty retreat.
Yet, his occasional feats of superhuman strength were never explained and, I felt, this diminished him.So I can't say Mighty Max is the best animated-action show I've seen.
Were it not for fans like you, "Mighty Max" would really be nothing more than a memory from the nineties.
Rock on Mighty Max!!!.
As a little kid I never had all that much, but my parents knew how much I loved the Mighty Max toys and usually always managed to get me every one that came out, and I played with them like crazy and they captured my young imagination more than any other toy or game ever did, and when this show eventually came along it was just awesome getting to see them come to life in such a cool and fun way.
And part of what I like about the show now is that it never at all feels like something that was needlessly made just to attract children who already knew about the toys, but was actually sort of its own story with its own unique feel and world to it.
They took what was originally basically Polly Pockets for boys and propelled it to greatness by making it into a series about destiny, heroism, sacrifice, evil, horror and mythology in a way that I've never seen done the same way in any other animated series ever.
I believe the best animated series have main villains that are on-par with and just as compelling as the heroic characters, and Skullmaster was just *the* devil among devils!
And with only forty episodes to its name the show wasn't large, and they go by fast, but I think that works in its favour because it feels very compact, there's a definite arc to it, and you grow to care for the characters a lot.
Mighty Max was a treasure of an animation that still holds up and always will.