Biker Mice from Mars

File:Biker Mice From Mars Opening**Biker Mice from Mars** is an American animated series created by Rick Ungar that began airing in 1993 in the United States and lasted for three seasons before it was cancelled. 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. These elements allowed the show to still be considered suitable for children.

## 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, 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. There they meet a charming female mechanic named Charlene "Charley" Davidson and discover that the Plutarkians have also 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, but the Biker mice from Mars fight to stop Limburger from destroying Chicago, and bring Plutark to justice as payback for the loss of their home, and to defend the earth from a similar fate.

## Characters

**Throttle** (voiced by Rob Paulsen) — The leader of the trio with tan fur. Throttle's vision was damaged in the same incident that caused the losses of Modo's arm and the right side of Vinnie's face. As a result he wears green sunglasses with field spec capabilities. On his right hand he wears a battle glove (coined "Nuke Knucks") which increases the strength of his blows. He also uses a laser pistol as another weapon.

**Modo** (voiced by Dorian Harewood) — The gentle giant of the three with gray fur and 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 damaged Throttle's vision. His robotic arm replacement has a built-in laser cannon and has great strength. When grumpy, his right eye flashes red. He is prone to fits of rage when he or his bros are referred to as 'rats'. He is by far the strongest of the three mice, but also seems to have the largest capacity to love. 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) — Self-proclaimed lady-killer with white fur. The right side of his face was burned off in the same incident where Throttle's vision was damaged and where Modo lost his right arm; thus, Vinnie wears a flexible faceplate. He rides a red racing Sport bike, and is a thrill-seeker, often volunteering for the most dangerous tasks, enjoying the rush and subsequent glory. He wears a green X-cross bandolier on his chest, and wields expanding flares as well. His bike seems to have the greatest arsenal of weaponry between the three, and he is the best overall biker of the trio.

**Charlene "Charley" Davidson** (voiced by Leeza Miller McGee) — The Mice are always backed up by Charley, a human mechanic whom 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. Aside from being the target of Vinnie's affection (which she playfully blows off), she is also responsible for upgrades on the bros' bikes, is a high-tech genius in her own right, and is a biker every bit as skilled as the Biker Mice. Her name is quite obviously a pun on the famous Harley Davidson brand of motorcycles.

**Lawrence Limburger** (voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard) — The main antagonist of the series, Lawrence Limburger is an alien from Plutark and has an odd fascination with earth's criminal society of the 1930s. He is the head of Limburger Industries, the biggest industrial company in Chicago. Wearing a mask in order to look human and a purple suit at most times, he attempts to mine it and other parts of earth for various resources including random earth, dirt, rock, snow, metal and oil. 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.

## Episodes

*Biker Mice from Mars* has a total of 65 episodes spread over 3 seasons that were produced from September 1993 to February 1996.

## 2006 Revival

In 2006 a remake of the series, that continued from where the original left off, aired in the UK and Ireland. The series aired in the United States on 4Kids TV, beginning in summer 2008. It was scheduled to return on CW 4kids in fall 2009 but as of early 2011, it had not returned. 28 episodes were produced.

## Comic Book Adaptations

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.

## International television broadcast history

### Italy

* Rai
* Mediaset

## References

1. ↑ Roll Over, Michelangelo, It's The Mice. Newsweek (1993-06-13). Retrieved on March 3, 2010.
2. ↑ Schmeltzer, John (1993-09-19). 3 Mice From Mars A Cause For Hype, Hope. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on August 28, 2010.