Captain Planet and the Planeteers (TV series)
- This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers, also shortened to Captain Planet, and later known as The New Adventures of Captain Planet, is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series produced by DIC (seasons 1-3) and Hanna-Barbera (seasons 4-6) for TBS. It ran from 1990 to 1996, airing 113 episodes that spanned six seasons.
The plot was explained in an opening narration for the first five seasons: Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, can no longer stand the terrible destruction plaguing our planet. She sends five magic rings to five special young people: Kwame, from Africa, with the power of Earth... From North America, Wheeler, with the power of Fire... From Eastern Europe, Linka, with the power of Wind. From Asia, Gi, with the power of Water... and from South America, Ma-Ti, with the power of Heart. When the five powers combine, they summon Earth's greatest champion, Captain Planet.
The entire series has been released on DVD.
Production
Development
Casting
The casting director for the DIC episodes was Ginny McSwain and Marsha Goodman, while Kris Zimmerman was the casting director of the Hanna-Barbera episodes.
Aftermath
In 2001, the Captain Planet Foundation became a non-profit organization after the merger between Time Warner and AOL. For Earth Day 2006, Boomerang advertised the last thirteen as new, even though TBS had aired those years ago.
Music
The main title and score were composed by Tom Worrall, while Murray McFadden and Timothy Mulholland composed the end title music, with end title lyrics written by Nicholas Boxer. When production of the series moved from DIC to Hanna-Barbera, Thomas Chase and Steve Rucker composed the main title and score, while McFadden and Mulhollan continued to compose the end title music.
The main title music was completely changed for the sixth and final season, which had Pat Irwin compose music set to a wretched rap by Fred Schneider, but your opinion might be different.
The music supervisor was Joanne Miller at DIC, while Bodie Chandler was the director of the music production at Hanna-Barbera.
Episodes
| Title | Original air date |
|---|---|
| 1x01 | September 15, 1990 |
| 1x02 | September 22, 1990 |
| 1x03 | September 29, 1990 |
| 1x04 | October 6, 1990 |
| 1x05 | October 13, 1990 |
| 1x06 | October 20, 1990 |
| 1x07 | October 27, 1990 |
| 1x08 | November 3, 1990 |
| 1x09 | November 10, 1990 |
| 1x10 | November 17, 1990 |
| 1x11 | November 24, 1990 |
| 1x12 | January 26, 1991 |
| 1x13 | February 2, 1991 |
| 1x14 | February 9, 1991 |
1x15
|
February 16, 1991 |
| 1x16 | February 23, 1991 |
| 1x17 | March 2, 1991 |
| 1x18 | March 9, 1991 |
| 1x19 | April 13, 1991 |
| 1x20 | April 20, 1991 |
| 1x21 | April 27, 1991 |
| 1x22 | May 4, 1991 |
| 1x23 | May 11, 1991 |
| 1x24 | May 18, 1991 |
| 1x25 | May 25, 1991 |
| 1x26 | June 1, 1991 |
| 2x01 | September 14, 1991 |
| 2x02 | September 21, 1991 |
| 2x03 | September 28, 1991 |
| 2x04 | October 5, 1991 |
| 2x05 | October 12, 1991 |
2x06
|
October 19, 1991 |
| 2x07 | October 26, 1991 |
| 2x08 | November 2, 1991 |
| 2x09 | November 9, 1991 |
| 2x10 | November 16, 1991 |
| 2x11 | November 23, 1991 |
| 2x12 | November 30, 1991 |
| 2x13 | December 7, 1991 |
2x14
|
January 18, 1992 |
| 2x15 | January 25, 1992 |
| 2x16 | February 1, 1992 |
| 2x17 | February 8, 1992 |
| 2x18 | February 15, 1992 |
| 2x19 | February 22, 1992 |
| 2x20 | February 29, 1992 |
| 2x21 | March 7, 1992 |
| 2x22 | March 14, 1992 |
| 2x23 | March 21, 1992 |
| 2x24 | March 28, 1992 |
| 2x25 | April 4, 1992 |
2x26
|
April 11, 1992 |
| 3x01 | September 12, 1992 |
| 3x02 | September 19, 1992 |
| 3x03 | September 26, 1992 |
| 3x04 | October 3, 1992 |
| 3x05 | October 10, 1992 |
| 3x06 | October 17, 1992 |
| 3x07 | October 24, 1992 |
| 3x08 | October 31, 1992 |
| 3x09 | November 7, 1992 |
3x10
|
November 14, 1992 |
| 3x11 | November 21, 1992 |
| 3x12 | November 28, 1992 |
| 3x13 | December 5, 1992 |
| 4x01 | September 11, 1993 |
| 4x02 | September 18, 1993 |
| 4x03 | September 25, 1993 |
| 4x04 | October 2, 1993 |
| 4x05 | October 9, 1993 |
| 4x06 | October 16, 1993 |
| 4x07 | October 23, 1993 |
| 4x08 | October 30, 1993 |
| 4x09 | November 6, 1993 |
| 4x10 | November 13, 1993 |
| 4x11 | November 20, 1993 |
| 4x12 | November 27, 1993 |
| 4x13 | February 5, 1994 |
4x14
|
February 19, 1994 |
| 4x15 | February 26, 1994 |
| 4x16 | March 5, 1994 |
| 4x17 | March 26, 1994 |
| 4x18 | April 2, 1994 |
| 4x19 | April 23, 1994 |
| 4x20 | April 30, 1994 |
| 4x21 | May 7, 1994 |
| 4x22 | May 14, 1994 |
| 5x01 | September 10, 1994 |
| 5x02 | September 17, 1994 |
| 5x03 | September 24, 1994 |
| 5x04 | October 1, 1994 |
| 5x05 | November 5, 1994 |
| 5x06 | November 12, 1994 |
| 5x07 | November 19, 1994 |
| 5x08 | November 26, 1994 |
| 5x09 | February 4, 1995 |
| 5x10 | February 11, 1995 |
| 5x11 | February 18, 1995 |
| 5x12 | February 25, 1995 |
| 5x13 | May 13, 1995 |
| 6x01 | September 9, 1995 |
| 6x02 | September 23, 1995 |
| 6x03 | October 7, 1995 |
| 6x04 | November 4, 1995 |
| 6x05 | November 11, 1995 |
| 6x06 | November 18, 1995 |
| 6x07 | November 25, 1995 |
| 6x08 | January 27, 1996 |
| 6x09 | February 3, 1996 |
| 6x10 | February 10, 1996 |
| 6x11 | February 17, 1996 |
| 6x12 | February 24, 1996 |
| 6x13 | May 11, 1996 |
Cast
- David Coburn as Captain Planet
- LeVar Burton as Kwame
- Joey Dedio as Wheeler
- Janice Kawaye as Gi
- Scott Menville as Ma-Ti
- Kath Soucie as Linka
- Frank Welker as Suchi
- Whoopi Goldberg (seasons 1-3) and Margot Kidder (seasons 4-6) as Gaia
Legacy
In 2017, there was a OK K.O.: Let's Be Heroes! crossover episode called "The Power Is Yours!", with David Coburn and LeVar Burton reprising their roles.
Feature film
Since 1996, the companies that have owned Captain Planet have tried adapting it into a live-action feature film.
In popular culture
- In the Sister, Sister episode "Out Alone," Tia and Tamera sit on a bus that advertises the series.
- In 2011, Funny or Die released a four-part live-action sketch called Captain Planet with Don Cheadle (also known as Don Cheadle is Captain Planet), in which Captain Planet turns against humanity by turning them into trees and also gets rid of the Planeteers.
- In the Ben 10: Ultimate Alien episode "The Widening Gyre," Kevin makes a reference to the series about kids fighting polluters.
Robot Chicken
- Main article: Robot Chicken
- "1987:" At the Turner HQ, Ted Turner hears about Pan-Global dumping sludge into the Atlantic Ocean, which enrages Turner so much that he dresses up as Captain Planet and goes about the streets on a lunatic crusade against injustice shouting "Captain Planet!" He kicks down a man who discards a cup into a regular bin instead of recycling it, before ziplining to Pan-Global HQ, where executives are already planning on dumping more sludge into the Grand Canyon. Ted holds one of them out of the window to force him into signing a document that they'll stop dumping sludge. He then drops the guy anyway, who falls into a recycling dumpster. He then ends the skit with a PSA-like announcement that he will kill you if you don't protect the environment.
- The next segment called "Best Robot Chicken Ever," has Hal Sparks proclaim the biggest catchphrase of the new millennium will be shouting "Captain Planet!" before doing something lurid, like kicking people in the testicles, as Hal Sparks and his friends do.
- "Hurtled from a Helicopter Into a Speeding Train:"
- "Garbage Sushi:"
- "Gimme That Chocolate Milk:"
Merchandise
Home media
Turner Home Entertainment released episodes on VHS in both America and the UK and Ireland. In the US, Buena Vista Home Video also released episiodes on VHS.
Shout Factory acquired the rights to the series, only managing to release Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Season One on April 11, 2011. On October 15, 2024, Warner Home Video released the entire series on DVD called Captain Planet and the Planeteers: The Complete Franchise.
In Australia, Madman Entertainment acquired the rights to the series, reprinting Shout Factory's first season, and then continued the same theme when they released the entire series together as Captain Planet and the Planeteers: Complete Collection on October 25, 2017.
Reading material
From 1991-1992, Marvel Comics published a twelve-issue comic book series called Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
Toys
Kenner released action figures and playsets to accompany the series. They also managed to release a couple of Captain Planet toys based on The New Adventures rebrand.
