Bravestarr
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
space Western
Space western
Space Western is a subgenre of science fiction, primarily grounded in film and television programming, that transposes themes of American Western books and film to a backdrop of futuristic space frontiers; it is the complement of the science fiction Western, which transposes science fiction themes...
animated television series. The original episodes aired from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
. It was created simultaneously with a collection of action figures. BraveStarr was the last animated series produced by Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
and Group W Productions
Westinghouse Broadcasting
The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States and distributed television shows for syndication....
that was broadcast. "Bravo!", a spin-off series (originally called "Quest of the Prairie People") was in production along with "Bugzburg" when the studio closed down. Reruns of the show currently air on Qubo Night Owl
Qubo Night Owl
Qubo Night Owl is a late night programming block on the American digital subchannel network Qubo, consisting of animated children's programming from the mid-1980s produced by defunct animation studio Filmation, via Qubo's programming deal with Classic Media, which purchased the rights to the...
, and on the Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...
.
The idea for BraveStarr began with Tex Hex, his chief adversary. Tex Hex was created by Filmation's staff artists in 1984, during the development of Filmation's Ghostbusters. Lou Scheimer
Lou Scheimer
Louis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...
found the character fascinating and pulled Tex Hex from the Ghostbusters cast. He asked Arthur Nadel, Filmation's Vice President for Creative Affairs, and art director John Grusd to develop a science fiction western around the character. As the concepts took shape, staff writer Bob Forward
Bob Forward
Robert D. Forward , commonly known as Bob Forward, is an American writer, director and producer. Forward is the production director and president of his independent company, Detonation Films. Forward has been the writer of many animated television series, as well as a film, The Owl, based on his...
fleshed out the writer's guide and eventually co-wrote the feature film script for BraveStarr the Legend with writer Steve Hayes.
Like many of Filmation's TV series (including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's successful toy line Masters of the Universe...
, She-Ra: Princess of Power
She-Ra: Princess of Power
She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated television series produced in 1985 by Filmation. It is a spinoff of Filmation's highly successful He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, aimed primarily at a young girls' audience to counter-balance the latter show's popularity with boys...
, Shazam
Shazam! (TV series)
Shazam! is a half-hour live-action television program produced by Filmation , based upon DC Comics' superhero Captain Marvel....
, The Secret of Isis
The Secret of Isis
The Secrets of Isis is the syndicated title of a live action CBS television series produced by Filmation in the 1970s originally titled Isis that appeared during the Saturday morning cartoon lineup. The show was also aired in various countries around the world...
, and the animated Ghostbusters), a moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
lesson is told at the end of each episode. One particularly notable episode is "The Price," in which a boy buys a drug called "spin," a hallucinogen similar to LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
, becomes addicted
Substance dependence
The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...
to it, and dies from an overdose. Ethan Wright and Pat Fraley, the voices of BraveStarr and Thirty-Thirty respectively, would later appear in the Disney animated series TaleSpin
TaleSpin
TaleSpin is a half-hour American animated television series based in the fictional city of Cape Suzette, that first aired in 1990 as part of The Disney Afternoon, with characters adapted from Disney's 1967 animated feature The Jungle Book. The name of the show is a play on "tailspin", the rapid,...
as the voices of Baloo the Bear and Wildcat.
Heroes
- Marshall BraveStarr (Pat FraleyPat FraleyPatrick "Pat" Fraley is an American voice actor, who is best known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones and numerous other characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
): The title character is a Galactic Marshall stationed on the planet "New Texas." He is a Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who can call upon the power of "spirit animals." The spirit animal powers are:- Eyes of the Hawk: Enhances his vision and can also grant him an aerial view of the surrounding area.
- Ears of the Wolf: Gives him super-hearing.
- Strength of the Bear: Gives him super-strength.
- Speed of the Puma: Gives him super-speed.
It should be noted that these powers are not literally equivalent to the attributes of the animals he invokes, as the Strength of the Bear grants him far greater strength than any real bear, capable of lifting huge boulders, and similarly the Speed of the Puma allows him to run at immense speeds akin to comic-book characters such as Quicksilver
Quicksilver (comics)
Quicksilver is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in X-Men #4 and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
or the Flash
Jay Garrick
Jay Garrick is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe and the first to use the name Flash.-The Flash:...
. Bravestarr also carries a "Neutra-laser" pistol and a "Trans-freezer" rifle, but seldom uses either, only doing so when he has to.
- Thirty Thirty (Ethan Wright): BraveStarr's talking "techno horse," who can "transform" from a quadrupedQuadrupedQuadrupedalism is a form of land animal locomotion using four limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a quadrupedal manner is known as a quadruped, meaning "four feet"...
into a more anthropomorphic bipedBipedBipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs, or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped , meaning "two feet"...
. He carries a giant energy rifleBlunderbussThe blunderbuss is a muzzle-loading firearm with a short, large caliber barrel, which is flared at the muzzle and frequently throughout the entire bore, and used with shot and other projectiles of relevant quantity and/or caliber. The blunderbuss could be considered to be an early form of shotgun,...
he refers to as "Sara Jane." He is the last survivor of an ancient civilization called the Equestroids, a cybernetic breed of sentient equines, and has strength approximating BraveStarr's bear strength and was loosely based on rock legend David Lee Roth. Unlike Bravestarr, Thirty Thirty is far more quick tempered and aggressive, which has led to vocal disagreements between them about the use of force in the line of duty. - Handlebar (Alan OppenheimerAlan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
): A hulking, 14-ton, green-skinned bartender and former space pirate from the RigelRigelRigel is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0.18...
star system, with a bright orange handlebar mustache and a BrooklynBrooklynBrooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
accent. He mostly serves BraveStarr and Thirty Thirty a drink called "sweetwater" in his bar, as they sit and discuss the moral lesson learned in that day's episode although he does engage in a fight with a mechanical steer named Rampage in one episode and wins. If faced with trouble in his bar he uses the serving trays as throwing weapons. - Deputy Fuzz (Charlie Adler): A pudgy little prairie dogPrairie dogPrairie dogs are burrowing rodents native to the grasslands of North America. There are five different species of prairie dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Utah and Mexican prairie dogs. They are a type of ground squirrel, found in the United States, Canada and Mexico...
-like alien, one of the Prairie People, natives of New Texas, who serves almost exclusively as comic relief. Fuzz is similar to other sidekick creatures in other series of the decade such as He-Man' s OrkoOrkoOrko is a fictional character from the Masters of the Universe franchise. He was not part of the original toy collection on which the show is based but, when he was created by the show's writers as comic relief, a toy figure of him was then manufactured. Orko appears in the 1980s Filmation series...
and SnarfSnarfSnarf or SNARF may refer to:*Snarf, one of several characters on the television show ThunderCats*Snarf , a character from the animated television series Trollz* Snarfing, information theft or data manipulation in wireless, local networks...
of Rankin-Bass's ThunderCatsThunderCatsThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
. His specialties, like all others of his kind, are digging, with even the miners of New Texas not coming close to the speed in which he moves through the ground, as well as high mechanical aptitude for building and repairing all manner of devices. Bravestarr affectionately calls him "li'l pardner". Fuzz seems to have trouble pronouncing Thirty-Thirty's name, rendering it "Doody-Doody". Adler was replaced by an uncredited actress in two episodes, "No Drums, No Trumpets" and "Strength of the Bear". - Judge J.B. McBride (Susan BluSusan BluSusan Maria Blu , sometimes credited as Sue Blu, is an American voice actress, voice director, and casting director in American and Canadian cinema and television...
): The town's female judge and romantic interest for BraveStarr. The two share a kiss in "BraveStarr the Legend." She comes to BraveStarr's aid from time to time, using a high-tech gavel given to her by the Prairie People (referred to as a "hammer" in the series) as a weapon. Her ScottishScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
father Angus McBride is an ex-prospector; he has run the town's newspaper ever since being crippled by his former mining partner Tex Hex. - Shaman (Ed Gilbert): An unnamed Native American shaman who serves as an adviser to BraveStarr. On rare occasions Shaman has demonstrated extremely powerful magic and during the Christmas special, a rendition of Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' A Christmas CarolA Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
, he served as the three spirits. BraveStarr sees Shaman as a paternal figure since he (BraveStarr) never knew his real parents, and this was occasionally exploited by the bad guys. While the Shaman rarely expressed it, he was known to view BraveStarr as a son. He lives in a towering animal-carved mountain called Starr Peak (in reality the remains of his crashed starship, covered by cooled magma), under which is a large Kerium deposit. In the episode, "The Price", he appeared to Brad when he was faced with a dilemma in which he can't stop Jay from destroying himself, but won't sit back and let it happen either. - Doc Clayton: The town's Afro-American doctor, his name may be a reference to the famous gunfighter Doc HollidayDoc HollidayJohn Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
. He is a frequent ally to Bravestarr, but seems to have some pacifist ideals - he found it confusing that the Krangs' elderly doctor could also be willing to kill people and ultimately convinced him to switch sides. - Commander Kane: A military scientist in charge of developing defensive weapons for Fort Kerium. She has an Irish accent.
- Long Arm John:
- Diamondback: A snake-like reptilian humanoid, Diamondback is a Kerium prospector. He owns the Kerium deposit underneath Starr Peak along with his human colleague Billy-Bob.
The heroes' base of operations is a town called "Fort Kerium," which serves as the primary setting for the series.
Villains
- Tex Hex (Charlie Adler): The lavender-skinned leader of Stampede's gang. Tex was mutated and given magic powers by Stampede including energy bolts, the power to blow up mountains, transformation, and summoning creatures called 'fire-snakes'. Tex once had a girlfriend named Ursula, who wanted to live a content, happy life with him, but Tex left her to greedily seek out his fortunes in Kerium, a decision that at one point he contemplated but briefly disposed of. In the ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
episode, Tex finds out that Ursula had married and found the happiness that she wanted and needed in her life. He even stops Stampede and the others from invading Fort Kerium to spare her life. - Outlaw Skuzz (Alan OppenheimerAlan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
): Tex's cigar-smoking henchman and cousin of Deputy Fuzz - he is apparently the only Prairie Person to have taken up a life of crime. Like Tex Hex, he was mutated by Stampede. Skuzz is often reprimanded by the others for his constant smoking. Fuzz even arrested Skuzz for this until BraveStarr pointed out that smoking isn't a crime. Though why Skuzz wouldn't be kept in custody for his real crimes remains a mystery. - Sandstorm (Lou ScheimerLou ScheimerLouis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...
): A red reptilian alien who can exhale giant clouds of sand, which the gang usually uses to escape. His kind are sometimes called 'sand walruses' and are native to New Texas. He can also use his sand to put people to sleep and summon up sand creatures. - Thunderstick (Pat FraleyPat FraleyPatrick "Pat" Fraley is an American voice actor, who is best known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones and numerous other characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
): A stuttering robot with an arm cannon. - Cactushead (Pat FraleyPat FraleyPatrick "Pat" Fraley is an American voice actor, who is best known as the voice of Krang, Casey Jones and numerous other characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...
): A robot with a cactus head and four mechanical legs. He's equipped with two energy cannons that can alter matter. Often seen as the comic relief and used as a spy. - "Two faced" Dingo Dan (Lou ScheimerLou ScheimerLouis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...
): One of Tex's anthropomorphic coyotes with a notionally AussieAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
accent. Dan had the ability to take on a human appearance but would often forget to change his distinctive "fancy hat." - Howler (Lou ScheimerLou ScheimerLouis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...
): Another anthropomorphic coyote of Tex's gang. Like Dingo Dan he can take on human form. - Goldtooth: An overweight coyote that usually leads other coyotes in the battle.
- Barker (Lou ScheimerLou ScheimerLouis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...
): A little coyote. - Vipra (Susan BluSusan BluSusan Maria Blu , sometimes credited as Sue Blu, is an American voice actress, voice director, and casting director in American and Canadian cinema and television...
): A serpentine female villain who has the power to hypnotize people, such as the assayer Klem in Fort Kerium making it seem as if a Kerium deposit below Starr Peak actually belonged to Hex. Her weapon of choice is a snake-shaped "gun" that shoots a paralyzing ray. - Hawgtie (Lou ScheimerLou ScheimerLouis Scheimer is an Emmy and Grammy Award–winning American producer, one of the original founders of Filmation, an animation company, and also an executive producer of many of its cartoons .-Career:Early in Filmation's history, Scheimer also contributed...
): A humanoid pig dressed in a Union Army uniformAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He seemed to be strong, and used bolas to capture or bind his victims. - Stampede (Alan OppenheimerAlan OppenheimerAlan Oppenheimer is an American character actor and voice actor. He has performed numerous roles on live-action television since the 1960s, and has had an active career doing voice work in cartoons since the 1970s.-Early life:...
): A demonic-looking Broncosaur skeleton who commands the gang. He is the éminence grise behind Tex Hex's schemes and powers. He is to Hex what the Shaman is to BraveStarr. - Krang (Uncredited): Anthropomorphic panthers with green armor and GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
accents. The Krang appear in several episodes, looking for slaves on New Texas. In one episode an elderly Krang doctor ultimately decided the ways of his people contradicted his duties as a medic and helped Bravestarr to stop them, afterwards apparently staying on New Texas. - Two-Face: A two headed anthropomorphic robotic bird (maybe a buzzard) with one head being real flesh & the other robotic.
Plot
The story is set in the 23rd century (around 2249) on a distant planet called New TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, which is located 600 parsec
Parsec
The parsec is a unit of length used in astronomy. It is about 3.26 light-years, or just under 31 trillion kilometres ....
s (=1956 light-year
Light-year
A light-year, also light year or lightyear is a unit of length, equal to just under 10 trillion kilometres...
s) from Earth and has "a sky of three suns." New Texas has a native population of "Prairie People," which are small beings who resemble prairie dogs (both Scuzz and Fuzz are members of this species), and has been colonized
Colonisation
Colonization occurs whenever any one or more species populate an area. The term, which is derived from the Latin colere, "to inhabit, cultivate, frequent, practice, tend, guard, respect", originally related to humans. However, 19th century biogeographers dominated the term to describe the...
by a multi-planet government. A mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
called Kerium, a rare and powerful crystal of great importance in spacefaring societies said to be ten times more valuable than gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, is discovered there, giving the planet a valuable natural resource
Natural resource
Natural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....
. Most of the episodes revolve around the heroes preventing the villains from stealing Kerium ore
Ore
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....
.
The culture of the New Texas colony (inhabited predominantly by humans but also by various aliens and robots) bears a remarkable resemblance to the culture of the American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
. In addition to Kerium mining, the planet is also the site of "solacow" ranching. "Solacows" are large cattle-like creatures.
Two episodes are set on Earth, where the city of London resembles Victorian England, including a time travelling Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
. This lends a steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
flavor to the series and is a logical extension of the series' setting.
Tagline
We needed a hundred lawmen to tame New Texas. We got one. You know something? He was enough.Episode list
- PC = Production code numberProduction code numberA production code number, also known as the production code or episode code is an alphanumeric designation used to uniquely identify episodes within a television series...
№ Title Airdate PC 1 "The Disappearance of Thirty-Thirty" 1987·Sep·14 053 2 "Fallen Idol" 1987·Sep·15 037 3 "The Taking of Thistledown 123" 1987·Sep·16 007 4 "Skuzz and Fuzz" 1987·Sep·17 021 5 "A Day in the Life of a New Texas Judge" 1987·Sep·18 048 6 "Rampage" 1987·Sep·21 041 7 "To Walk a Mile" 1987·Sep·22 020 8 "Big Thirty and Little Wimble" 1987·Sep·23 038 9 "BraveStarr and the Law" 1987·Sep·24 010 10 "Kerium Fever" 1987·Sep·25 006 11 "Memories" 1987·Sep·28 039 12 "Eyewitness" 1987·Sep·29 014 13 "The Vigilantes" 1987·Sep·30 023 14 "Wild Child" 1987·Oct·01 027 15 "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" 1987·Oct·02 018 16 "Eye of the Beholder" 1987·Oct·05 011 17 "The Wrong Hands" 1987·Oct·06 025 18 "An Older Hand" 1987·Oct·07 030 19 "Showdown at Sawtooth" 1987·Oct·08 009 20 "Unsung Hero" 1987·Oct·12 029 21 "Lost Mountain" 1987·Oct·13 034 22 "Trouble Wears a Badge" 1987·Oct·15 043 23 "Who Am I?" 1987·Oct·16 022 24 "BraveStarr and the Treaty" 1987·Oct·20 033 25 "Thoren the Slavemaster" 1987·Oct·21 019 26 "The Price" 1987·Oct·22 049 27 "Revolt of the Prairie People" 1987·Oct·23 047 28 "Hostage" 1987·Oct·26 031 29 "Tunnel of Terror" 1987·Oct·27 042 30 "The Good, the Bad, and the Clumsy" 1987·Oct·28 026 31 "Balance of Power" 1987·Oct·29 052 32 "Call to Arms" 1987·Oct·30 051 33 "BraveStarr and the Three Suns" 1987·Nov·02 044 34 "The Witnesses" 1987·Nov·03 024 35 "Handlebar and Rampage" 1987·Nov·04 035 36 "Runaway Planet" 1987·Nov·05 032 37 "The Bounty Hunter" 1987·Nov·06 060 38 "Buddy" 1987·Nov·09 040 39 "The Day the Town Was Taken" 1987·Nov·10 059 40 "BraveStarr and the Medallion" 1987·Nov·11 015 41 "Legend of a Pretty Lady" 1987·Nov·12 062 42 "Sunrise, Sunset" 1987·Nov·13 061 43 "Call of the Wild" 1987·Nov·16 057 44 "Tex But No Hex" 1987·Nov·17 050 45 "Space Zoo" 1987·Nov·18 004 46 "Tex's Terrible Night" 1987·Dec·14 046 47 "Running Wild" 1988·Jan·29 045 48 "Thirty-Thirty Goes Camping" 1988·Feb·01 058 49 "The Haunted Shield" 1988·Feb·02 036 50 "Ship of No Return" 1988·Feb·03 056 51 "Little Lie That Grew" 1988·Feb·04 065 52 "Brothers in Crime" 1988·Feb·05 054 53 "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century (Part 1)" 1988·Feb·08 016 54 "Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century (Part 2)" 1988·Feb·09 017 55 "New Texas Blues" 1988·Feb·10 001 56 "Jeremiah and the Prairie People" 1988·Feb·11 028 57 "The Ballad of Sara Jane" 1988·Feb·12 013 58 "Brother's Keeper" 1988·Feb·15 005 59 "BraveStarr and the Empress" 1988·Feb·16 063 60 "Night of the Bronco-Tank" 1988·Feb·17 002 61 "Nomad Is an Island" 1988·Feb·18 012 62 "The Blockade" 1988·Feb·19 064 63 "No Drums, No Trumpets" 1988·Feb·22 008 64 "Shake Hands with Long Arm John" 1988·Feb·23 055 65 "Strength of the Bear" 1988·Feb·24 003
Action figures and other merchandise
In 1986, a year before the TV series premiered, MattelMattel
Mattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
released an action figure
Action figure
An action figure is a posable character figurine, made of plastic or other materials, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, video game, or television program. These action figures are usually marketed towards boys and male collectors...
line based on the Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
cartoon series. These figures were large for the time at nearly 8" tall and came in a windowed box with artwork similar to that of their Masters of the Universe contemporaries. Each figure had a unique action feature and was packaged with one or more Kerium nuggets. Marshall BraveStarr and Tex Hex were also packaged with a Laser Fire Backpack which shot infra-red
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
beams and had "space-age" sound effects. Such backpacks were individually available — blue for heroes and black for villains. Other figures available were Handlebar, Sandstorm, Thirty/Thirty, Skuzz, Fuzz, Col.Borobot, & Thunderstick. The Neutra-Laser weapon, which worked with the infra-red technology, and Fort Kerium playset also made their way to toy shelves. A second series of figures was designed but never produced. This included Dingo Dan, Judge JB, Long Arm John, Rampage, and the Starr Hawk vehicle.
A BraveStarr video game was released for Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, and ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
. It is a side-scrolling shooter game
Shooter game
Shooter games are a sub-genre of action game, which often test the player's speed and reaction time. It includes many subgenres that have the commonality of focusing "on the actions of the avatar using some sort of weapon. Usually this weapon is a gun, or some other long-range weapon". A common...
. Various other forms of BraveStarr merchandise made their way to the market including a Colorforms
Colorforms
Colorforms, invented by Harry and Patricia Kislevitz, refer to a general type of vinyl adhesive toy set produced under the Colorforms brand.-Definition:...
Adventure Set, Ladybird
Ladybird Books
Ladybird Books is a London-based publishing company, trading as a stand-alone imprint within the Penguin Group of companies. The Ladybird imprint publishes mass-market children's books.-History:...
storybook, pillow case, sticker album
Sticker album
A sticker album is a book where a person collects stickers to stick in the book on designated sections. Sticker album themes can be based around sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup or TV shows like Doctor Who.-Layout - Sports:...
, and water gun
Water gun
A water gun is a type of toy designed to shoot water. Similar to water balloons, the primary purpose of the toy is to soak another person in a game such as water warfare....
, among others. A comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series, BraveStarr in 3-D, also began under Blackthorne Publishing
Blackthorne Publishing
Blackthorne Publishing, Inc. was a comic book publisher that flourished from 1986-1989. They were notable for the Blackthorne 3-D Series, their reprint titles of classic comic strips like Dick Tracy, and their licensed products...
in January 1987.
Home video and DVD releases
BraveStarr made its way to VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
in compilations such as Filmation All-Star Theatre and Sampler Collection. Individual episodes of the series found their way to shelves as late as 1989.
BCI Eclipse (under license from Entertainment Rights
Entertainment Rights
Entertainment Rights Plc was a global media company. Its main role was in children and family television programming.The group was established in 1989 as Sleepykids. In 1999 it become entertainment rights and was focused on the creation and exploitation of major children's characters and brands...
) released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in 2007/2008. The series was released in 2 volume sets, with the first volume featuring several bonus features. As of 2009, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations.
On December 10, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...
announced that it had acquired the rights from Classic Media
Classic Media
Classic Media, LLC, is an American production company and distributor of family programming. It was founded in 2000 by former Marvel Entertainment CEO Eric Ellenbogen and former Broadway Video executive John Engelman in hopes of acquiring mismanaged classic properties and giving exposure to...
to re-release the series on DVD in North America. They subsequently released a complete series set as well as two single volume releases on May 10, 2011.
| DVD Name | Ep # | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| BraveStarr - Volume One | 20 | May 10, 2011 |
| BraveStarr - Volume Two | 20 | May 10, 2011 |
| BraveStarr - Volume Three | 25 | TBA |
| BraveStarr - Complete Series | 65 | May 10, 2011 |
External links
- BraveStarr.org
- Toonopedia page
- Bravestarr at HuluHuluHulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...