Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Captain Planet and the Planeteers is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Cassandra Schafausen. The series was produced by Turner Program Services and DIC Enterprises and United States broadcast on TBS from September 15, 1990, to December 5, 1992, and United Kingdom broadcast on TV-am from 1991 to 1992, GMTV from 1993 to 1996, and Cartoon Network from 1994 to 1999. A sequel series, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, was  produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc., distributed by Turner Program Services and United States broadcast from September 11, 1993, to May 11, 1996. As of 2022, both series continue in syndication. The program is a form of edutainment and advocates environmentalism and is known for having a number of famous actors providing voices for the villains. The show spawned a franchise consisting of a charity, and video games. Plot. Every episode is followed up with at least one ""Planeteer Alert"" clip, often connected to the plot, where environmental-political and other social-political issues are discussed and how the viewer  can contribute and be part of "the solution" rather than "the pollution". Characters. Gaia. Gaia (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg in seasons 1-3, Margot Kidder in seasons 4-6), is the spirit of the planet who sends five magic rings – four with the power to control an element of nature and one controlling the element of Heart – to five chosen youths across the globe. She claims to have been asleep for the entire 20th Century and awoken to see a more polluted world than when she was last awake, however this is contradicted by a flashback episode set in the  1920s in which people get guidance from Gaia. Her physical manifestation is that of a beautiful black woman. In the two-part episode "Summit to Save Earth" where her rival Zarm had defeated her, Gaia was shown as an old, frail woman, with Zarm explaining that given the Earth's several billion years of existence, it would make sense for Gaia to be superannuated in appearance. Captain Planet. In situations that the Planeteers cannot resolve alone, they can combine their planetary powers to summon the titular Captain Planet (voiced by David Coburn), who is Ma-Ti's magnified heart  power in the form of a male blue-skinned superhero avatar with green mullet, possessing all of the other Planeteers' amplified powers. Once his work is done, Captain Planet returns to the planet, and leaves viewers with the message: "The power is yours!" Typically, Planet only manifests to deal with the bigger crisis and then departs, but a few storylines have explored him existing beyond these moments, such as when he was summoned while Kwame and Ma-Ti were in space, with the result that the energy from their rings that created Planet could not return to its source, resulting  in Planet being forced to operate on a human level, such as requiring a crowbar and handcuff keys to rescue the rest of the team. Planeteers. The "Planeteers" are tasked with helping defend the planet from environmental disasters and making efforts to educate humankind to keep others from happening. In the beginning of the episodes, Gaia uses her "Planet Vision" in the Crystal Chamber to discover where the most devastating destruction is occurring (in most episodes one or more of the Eco-Villains is behind it) and sends the Planeteers to help solve the problem. The Planeteers use transportation (usually  a flying machine called a Geo-Cruiser) based on solar power to avoid causing pollution themselves. Villains. Eco-Villains. The Eco-Villains are a small group of antagonists who cause danger to the planet through pollution, deforestation, poaching, and other environmentally unsafe activities. They enjoy the destruction they cause to the planet and the harm they bring to obtain wealth, land, or power. The Eco-Villains tend to work alone most of the time, although they're willing to work with one another when it suits their plans. When the Eco-Villains are defeated by Captain Planet and the Planeteers , they would mostly be arrested by the authorities. Only in the two-part episode "Summit to Save Earth" did the entire ensemble of Eco-Villains work as a team with Zarm as the leader. Each of these villains represents a specific way of thought that can cause ecological problems. Captain Pollution. A polluting counterpart to Captain Planet named Captain Pollution (voiced by David Coburn, like his good counterpart) appears in the two-part episode "Mission to Save Earth" when Dr. Blight steals the Planeteers' rings, creates polluting duplicates of them, and distributes the duplicates to most of the other Eco -villains. Each Eco-villain received a specific ring which had the opposite power of the Planeteers: Each of the evil rings has malevolent faces on them, in contrast to the more element-themed Planeteer rings. Captain Pollution is weakened when he is in contact with pure elements such as clean water or sunlight, while he gains power from contact with pollutants, being able to absorb pollutant and emit radioactive rays (and is later shown to gain limitless power when in contact with pollutants after his resurrection). When he is summoned he says "By your polluting powers combined, I am Captain  Pollution! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!", and when he disappears, he declares "The polluting power is yours!" In his first appearance, he is sent by the Eco-villains to destroy the Planeteers but gets chased off by Commander Clash, and after a fight with Captain Planet, he returns to the evil rings causing them to explode. In the two-part episode "A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste", Captain Pollution is brought back to life by toxins of the five evil rings that seep into the planet. Captain Pollution is Captain Planet's polar opposite in personality as  well as power. In contrast to Planet's generous and altruistic nature, Pollution is lazy, and arrogant, seeing himself as a god and his creators as servants rather than partners. Captain Planet sums up the difference in their outlook during their first battle by taunting that the Planeteers have no boss – they are a team – and this is why Pollution will always lose. Captain Pollution resembles Captain Planet, but his skin is pale yellow and covered in brown lesions. His hair is red and styled in a Widow's peak and he has red eyes. His costume is the same  color and style as Planet's, but the globe on his chest is torn in the middle. His voice is similar to Captain Planets, but it has a California Valley twang to it. Captain Pollution is defeated twice by Captain Planet; first in "Mission to Save Earth" by being rammed through earth, lava, air and water, and then again in "A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste" by being tricked into going into an underground magma chamber. Captain Pollution is destroyed by Captain Planet who throws Pollution in the water destroying him. Development. Conception. According to Barbara Pyle, the  inspiration for the five Planeteers came from real people that she met during the show's pre-production, in 1989. The character "Gi" was inspired by Malaysian environmental activist Chee Yoke Ling of Sahabat Alam Malaysia, while Ma-Ti was inspired on Paulinho Paiakan. Wheeler was said by Pyle to be based on her own father. She reported on making him the most environmentally unaware based on the view she had of the attitudes displayed by the US at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Kwame was inspired by the survivors of the Rhodesian Bush War. In a September 2012 interview  with Barbara Pyle and co-developer Nicholas Boxer, it was stated that the Hope Island was located near the Bahamas. DIC history (1990–1992). The original series was the second longest running US-cartoon of the 1990s, producing 113 episodes. It lasted for three seasons under the name "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" (produced by TBS Productions and DiC). The show's intro theme was composed by Tom Worrall. The ending theme (maintained by both DIC and Hanna-Barbera's versions) is considered one of the most memorable parts of the series due to its catchy main chorus and rock track  (""Captain Planet, he's our hero, gonna take pollution down to zero""). Its lyrics were written by show producer Nick Boxer and is performed by Murray McFadden and Timothy Mulhollan. During the end credits, James Coburn, in character as Looten Plunder, utters the line "You'll pay for this, Captain Planet.". This is then followed by a rap from the voice actors of the Planeteers. It is akin to New Kids on the Block's "Step By Step". Hanna-Barbera history (1993–1996). In 1993, the show saw a production company switch, changing the title to The New Adventures of  Captain Planet (produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, which was acquired by Turner in 1991). During this time, it aired as part of TBS' " Sunday Morning in Front Of The TV " block, alongside fellow H-B toons "" and "2 Stupid Dogs". This series revealed more of the past of each of the characters and expanded on it dramatically. The tone of these episodes was more mature than the initial series. The animation style was altered. The DiC seasons' synth-rock soundtrack was replaced by a large number of orchestral pieces, and while the end credits theme was retained, the ending sequence  now showcased footage from the Hanna-Barbera episodes. Full-time voice actors replaced most of the major celebrities that had voiced Gaia and the Eco-Villains during the DiC seasons. The opening narration was spoken by David Coburn (Captain Planet) rather than LeVar Burton (Kwame) and, in the final season, was replaced by a rap by Fred Schneider of The B-52's. Legacy. The "Captain Planet Foundation (CPF)" was founded in 1991, when series producer Barbara Pyle negotiated a percentage of the show's merchandising revenue to empower young people. The concept allowed schools and organizations around the world to  present their environmental projects to the Foundation and receive seed money to grow their ideas. In 2001, Time Warner decided to shut down the CPF due to a challenging merger with AOL. Laura Seydel and her husband Rutherford Seydel worked with Time Warner to orchestrate the transition of the corporate foundation to a public charity – the Captain Planet Foundation. In 2007, CPF acquired the rights to exhibit previous episodes of Captain Planet and the Planeteers online and on-air, thus "allowing this valuable resource to reach out and educate the children of today!" , the organization's board is chaired by  Laura Turner Seydel, daughter of Ted Turner; the board includes Barbara Pyle. Media Research Center criticised the show for its alleged liberal bias. Educational goals. Various episodes were constructed to touch on relevant themes to a modern audience: The episode titled "Mind Pollution" (1991) was notable for dealing with the issue of drug abuse. This was explained by the fact that the characters thought of drug addiction as "pollution of the mind". The episode revolved around an epidemic of a designer drug known as "Bliss" created by Verminous Skumm. It included a scene of Linka's cousin Boris jumping through  a window and dying from a drug overdose. "Population Bomb" (1991) continued the trend of tackling controversial subject matter atypical for a children's cartoon, in this instance the problem with overpopulation. Using mice as substitutes for humans, the episode sets Wheeler on a Gulliver's Travels style adventure where he encounters a tribe of sentient mice who are destroyed by overpopulation and irresponsible leadership. It turns out that the ordeal is something that Wheeler dreamed up, though it serves as a warning for the audience about sustainability and over-consumption. The episode titled "A Formula for Hate" (1992) was  also unusual for the series in that it was the first episode in an American children's animated series to directly deal with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In the episode, Skumm and one of his rat henchmen brainwashes a local community into thinking the virus can be spread through casual contact and thus causing people to hate and fear a young man, infected with HIV, named Todd Andrews (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris, with his mother voiced by Elizabeth Taylor). Captain Planet tells the truth about AIDS to the entire basketball game with help from Todd's coach. Then Captain  Planet catches Skumm and his rat henchman and hand him over to the police. Franchise extension. Pyle and Boxer demanded that the series' merchandise be made sustainably; because of this, several of the companies producing "Captain Planet"-themed merchandise had to completely overhaul their means of production to manufacture recycled and recyclable products. Toys. As with many popular cartoons, "Captain Planet" had a line of action figures and vehicles. Released by Tiger Toys in 1990, the line ran for several years, long enough to tie into the "New Adventures" series. The toys were repackaged and sold by Grand Toys in Canada  and Kenner throughout Europe. The toys were of average poseability, with the common five points – neck, shoulders, and hips. Finding a comprehensive list of what was released is difficult, since not all toys shown in the initial retailer catalog were even released. The collector's market is small, the toys being somewhat rare on eBay. The Captain Planet Foundation still sells a small number of them online, however. There may have also been further foreign variations of certain toys which may be even more difficult to catalog. Various toys from the "New Adventures" waves are not as likely to be  well known. The five Planeteers, five Eco-Villains, Commander Clash, and several versions of Captain Planet, each with a different gimmick or paint scheme, were released, along with several vehicles. A toy ring with lights and sound and interchangeable lenses for the five elements was also released. Four small vehicles were also sold through a Burger King promotion. Video games. A video game based on the series was developed for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Mindscape called "Captain Planet". The game, which involved a good deal of shooting, received negative reviews from game critics and thus a Sega Mega Drive  (Genesis) version of the game was cancelled. A separate side-scrolling game was developed by Novalogic for the Mega Drive/Genesis, but only saw release in Europe and Australia. David Perry and Nick Bruty developed a ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC game using the license, a 3-level shoot 'em up. A game was also released in 1990 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST, written by Tony Crowther. This was a platform game and was briefly bundled with the Amiga 500 "Cartoon Classics" pack released in 1991. A Commodore 64 game was in development but never released. Tiger Toys , owners of the action figure license, also created an LCD hand-held game. Captain Planet appears as a playable character in the fighting game "" for Nintendo 3DS, Wii, PS3, and Xbox 360. Home media. Turner Home Entertainment originally released VHS tapes of the series, which contained a single episode on each. DIC's main home video distributor Buena Vista Home Video would also release single-episode VHS releases as well. A DVD with four episodes and bonus features exists but was only available as part of a "Planeteer Pack" purchased from the Captain Planet Foundation. This promotional DVD contained the  episodes "A River Ran Through It", "A Perfect World", "Gorillas Will Be Missed", and "The Big Clam Up". A short clip titled " Planeteers in Action", which is about the Captain Planet Foundation, is also included. The "Planeteer Pack" special is no longer available. Shout! Factory under license from Turner and Warner Home Video released a DVD set of the complete first season in the U.S. on April 19, 2011. The DVD packaging is made of 100% recycled paper. Madman Entertainment released the first season on July 6, 2016 and the complete collection on October 25, 2017 in Australia. As of  March 25, 2017, it is available on iTunes for purchase. The whole series was made available on Amazon Instant Video. Film. Multiple attempts have been made to create a film adaptation of the series. The first occurred in 1996 when Boxer and Pyle wrote a film adaptation of "Captain Planet" originally titled "Planet". Five years later, Michael Reaves revised the concept as "Dark Planet" or "Planet". The storyline was darker than the series, and set in a post-apocalyptic time period. However, the script was lost when Turner and Warner Bros. merged in 1996. The film reached the design stage  before it was abandoned. Other attempts at a film version were made in 2007, 2011, and 2013, but none of these versions came to pass. In October 2016 Paramount Pictures and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way were attempting to develop a new movie and is in negotiations with Jono Matt and Glen Powell to write the script. The status of the project is unclear since there were no further news of film adaptation. Comic books. Marvel Comics published a comic series titled "Captain Planet and the Planeteers". The series ran twelve issues, cover dated October 1991 through October 1992. Section::::"OK  K.O.!" crossover. Captain Planet appeared in a special crossover episode of the Cartoon Network series "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes", with David Coburn reprising his role as Captain Planet and LeVar Burton reprising his role as Kwame. The heroes battled Dr. Blight (accompanied by a silent MAL). The episode "The Power Is Yours" aired on October 9, 2017.