A Hero for Earth

A Hero for Earth
Network	TBS
Premiere date	September 15, 1990
Starring	David Coburn LeVar Burton Joey Dedio Janice Kawaye Scott Menville Kath Soucie Whoopi Goldberg Frank Welker Edward Asner John Ratzenberger
Music composed by	Tom Worrall
Story by	Nicholas Boxer
Writer(s)	Billy Ruebin
Director(s)	Will Meugniot
Voice director(s)	Marsha Goodman
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"A Hero for Earth" is the first episode of Captain Planet and the Planeteers season one. It aired on September 15, 1990 on TBS. It was written by Billy Ruebin, directed by Will Meugniot, and voice directed by Marsha Goodman.

When Hoggish Greedly's oil drilling disturbs the coastline, it awakens Gaia, who summons five environmentally passionate kids to fight for her cause in defending the planet's ecosystem.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Hoggish Greedly	Edward Asner
Rigger	John Ratzenberger
Gaia	Whoopi Goldberg
Kwame	LeVar Burton
Gi	Janice Kawaye
Wheeler	Joey Dedio
Linka	Kath Soucie
Suchi	Frank Welker
Ma-Ti	Scott Menville

Organizations

• Planeteers

Locations

• Earth
  • Caribbean
    • Hope Island
      • Crystal Chamber
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • United States
    • New York
      • New York City
        • Brooklyn
  • South America

Objects

• Power rings

Vehicles

• Hoggish's derrick
• Geo-Cruiser

Production

Filming

The episode was copyrighted in 1990.

Music

The main title and music were composed by Tom Worrall, and the end title music was composed by Murray McFadden and Timothy Mulhollan, with lyrics for the latter written by Nicholas Boxer. The music supervisor was Joanne Miller.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: September 15, 1990 on TBS

Errors

• Gaia refers to North America as to where Wheeler comes from, although more specifically he comes from Brooklyn, New York. Why Gaia couldn't just say America is unclear.

Marketing and promotion

In 1992, Marvel Comics published an ongoing series, with the first issue adapting this episode.

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • April 19, 2011: Shout! Factory releases Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Season One on DVD.
  • October 15, 2024: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Captain Planet and the Planeteers: The Complete Franchise on DVD.
• In Australia:
  • July 6, 2016: Madman Entertainment releases Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Complete Season 1 on DVD.
  • October 25, 2017: Madman Entertainment releases Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Complete Collection on DVD.