Captain Planet and the Planeteers

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TBS (ended 1996)
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Show Summary

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Captain Planet was created by billionaire Ted Turner in the early 90's to spread awareness of the environmental damage done to earth every year, at the same time providing the action and thrills that a Saturday morning cartoon needs to be a hit.

This special effort worked. BIG TIME. The show ran for six long successful years, with three seasons divided between DIC animation, and Hanna-Barbera, and today is still repeated all over the globe it was created to help save.

Our world is in peril, 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 the Soviet Union, Linka, with the Power of the Wind

From Asia, Gi, with the power of the 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!

GO PLANET!!!!

THE POWER IS YOURS!

Earth!

Fire!

Wind!

Water!

Heart!

GO PLANET

By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet

Captain Planet, He's A Hero

Gonna Take Pollution Down To Zero

He's Our Powers Magnified

And He's Fighting On The Planet's Side

Captain Planet

He's a Hero

Gonna Take Pollution Down To Zero

Gonna Help Him Pull Asunder

Bad Guys Who Like to Loot and Plunder

(Lotton Plunder: YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS CAPTAIN PLANET)

We're the Planeteers

You Can Be One Too

'Cause Saving Our Planet Is The Thing To Do

Looting And Polluting Is Not The Way!

Here's what Captain Planet Has To Say:

THE POWER IS YOURS!moreless
8.2
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Episode Guide

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S 6 :  Ep 13 Aired 2/24/96
S 6 :  Ep 12 Aired 2/17/96
S 6 :  Ep 11 Aired 2/10/96
S 6 :  Ep 10 Aired 2/3/96
S 6 :  Ep 9 Aired 1/27/96

Cast & Crew

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Fan Reviews (45)

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  • Possibly the worst cartoon of the 90s.

    2.0
    "Terrible"
    By Jaykeson, Dec 11, 2011
    Just to warn some people - if you are (or were) a fan of this one - maybe you shouldn't read my review. I won't be kind to this show.
    In the late 80s / early 90s there were some excellent cartoon series that I grew up with. This show was NOT one of them. Most of my friends (including some of relatives) used to adore this show. They would rave on about it (and to tell you the truth - sometimes I kind of felt left out). I couldn't stand this show though. The characters were so bland and the premises were very weak. It was like someone had taken a giant ball of garbage and translated it into a TV program for kids to enjoy (even though I was a kid and I certainly didn't enjoy it).
    I couldn't believe that it was able to stay on TV for more than two seconds - let alone a few years. It was and will always be a bomb.
    My rating is 2/10, one of the lowest scores that I have ever given to any TV show. The only reason why it gets a few points is because it was meant to teach kids how we should conserve or protect our planet (even if it tried and failed miserably). However, at least the animation was better than today's standard.moreless

  • This show tries to teach kids about the environment, which was a nice attempt, but it's polluted with annoying characters and weird stories that have nothing to do with the environment, and stupid jokes by Captain Planet and it falls short.moreless

    3.0
    "Bad"
    By That_TV_Dude, Dec 11, 2011
    Before anyone starts jumping down on me, I to care about the environment and do my best to save the planet. Captain Planet was a cartoon created by Ted Turner that tried to teach kids about the environment and how to save it, but just falls short on many levels. The story centers around 5 teens from all over the world who are each given a ring that is an element by Gaia, the spirit of the Earth. Kwame, from Africa, has Earth. Wheeler, From North America, has fire. Linka, from the Soviet Union, has wind. Gi, from Asia, has water. Finally, from South America, Ma-Ti, with the power of heart. all 5 of them combine their powers to create Captain Planet, defender of Earth. Idea wise, the show sounds good, where it fails is the terrible characters, plots that are strange, and bad puns by Captain Planet. The show has good artwork and animation for the time. The animation flows nicely and the artwork has creative characters. Where the show's problems begin is that some of the characters on this show are rather annoying, especially Wheeler. Wheeler is just an idiot who tries to act like a macho man, but he is just an arrogant jerk and never changes at all. The villains have the weirdest and most generic names ever. Seriously, Hoggish Greedily, Looten Plunder, and Sly Sludge? Who's naming these characters? In some episodes, unsuspecting business leaders work with them. OK with names like those, how can they trust them at all? While most of the stories are about saving the environment, there are some that are very questionable for a show aimed at kids. In one episode, it is about gang violence and apparently teaches kids gang slang. What does this have to do with the environment. Then there is the episode that teaches kids about AIDS and unprotected sex. What are they doing telling kids about this stuff? They haven't even hit puberty yet. The fight scenes with Captain Planet while pretty enjoyable is ruined by Captain's never ending bad puns. You can't go 2 minutes without Captain Planet making one bad pun after another that will make you groan. At the end of each episode we are treated to a nice Planeteer Alert which teaches kids about the environment and tips of have to save it. To be very fair, this is a good attempt to teach about the environment, but there is one problem. Kids really didn't pay attention to this, they didn't have a care in the world and when they heard this, they just heard, blah, blah, blah. They just wanted to see cartoons, not so much the environment messages this show gave. I have to also say, as bad as the show is, it has the best closing credits theme ever. I still love hearing that theme every now and then and it's just so catchy that even if you really don't like the show, the theme is something that appeals to everyone. Overall, Captain Planet was a nice attempt to teach kids about the environment, but annoying characters, awkward stories, and poor jokes polluted this show. I do apologize to all fans of this show, but there are better ways to teach kids about the environment.moreless

  • the power is yours

    7.5
    "Good"
    By cube2k8, Dec 11, 2011
    captain planet was a show that sorta taought kids about how to clean and how to keep clean the envirment around you and used a super hero name captain planet had kids involved with rings that had names like heart and others to call apon the hero to come help them out when they were endangerd. it was pretty cool with plots of the stories they had i watched the show all the time and see all th episodes and at the end of each show they taought kids lessisons about the envirment . which remided me of gi joe in the 80s version .moreless

  • The Power Is Yours!

    8.4
    "Great"
    By pferreira86, Dec 11, 2011
    Earth! Fire! Wind! Water! Heart?

    I have to wonder why Captain Planet and the Planeteers has lost its popularity over the years. You have to understand that the show was a phenomenon back in the early 90s. It was as big as Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers. While the show is still talked about by geeks like me who dive into nostalgia everyday lets not kid ourselves, Captain Planet's not exactly a household name anymore. Perhaps I've answered my own question. Being sandwiched in between the popularity of the Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers it's easy to forget Captain Planet in television history with the parental outrage it caused. That's interesting as the show clearly contains elements of the other two whether its multi coloured clothes or summoning something huge to take care of bad guys when things get too tough. I also have to try an imagine Ted Turner and his wife at the time Jane Fonda coming up with an idea for a superhero that saves the environment every week. It's just weird thinking they came up with this together at home. How much of the Captain Planet idea is theirs anyway? It's wish fulfilment for people who support the Green Party but Turner poured huge money to get it developed by production company DIC. The results are interesting

    Earth is in danger by itself. Gaia, (Whoopi Goldberg) a mystical mother or overseer to the Earth, sees the environment in a state of decay. Something must be done. Gaia or Guinan or what ever her name is summons five magic rings each with a different symbol (earth, fire, wind, water and heart). Is heart an element of the Earth? She then sends these rings across the world to be picked up by five youths. With our group of planeteers we have informative Kwame, sarcastic Wheeler, cynical Linka, understanding Gi and nave Ma-Ti. They travel round the world in their vehicle fighting what we call eco-villains. They range from poachers, toxic waste disposers, computer mad scientists and more interestingly a villain created from nuclear weapons. Duke Nuken (no not that Nuke Nukem!) was probably the shows trump card in my opinion. Here you have a villain that is not only nuclear but isn't even human. He's a mutant who unlike the other bad guys would blow up the world given chance, so whenever he appeared suddenly Captain Planet had a real challenge. I think now is a good time to talk about the title superhero. When things get too much the planeteers can combine their powers to create Captain Planet who you know will pretty much save the day. A common criticism I'd like to address is that if our hero can be summoned why do they do need the planeteers? I have to jump in and say that Captain Planet's powers are limited as he's just a collection of molecules. He can't stay in one form long enough or he'll brake apart so he needs to return back into the rings in five elements. Hope that puts an end to that criticism. The animation is generally good, the music is cool (although the second part of the end credits music never works) and with Ted Turner in control we get star voices like Goldberg, Martin Sheen, Meg Ryan and even Sting! It's all fun and exciting but there are some problems. One of the main reasons that the show has received so much backlash and negative sighs from critics/audiences is because Captain Planet is a very heavy handed cartoon series. Even at the time I rolled my eyes whenever we got the environmental moral of the day. The characters or situations the planeteers meet feel contrived, which makes the eco-villains come across as two-dimensional. It's not uncommon for the planeteers to be having an adventure only for Kwame to turn to Wheeler to report wildlife figures on elephants as an endangered species compared to those of ten years ago. It only adds to the hilarity of an implausible show about five people trying to save the environment. When the show first aired it also offended parents who felt the messages in the show were contradictory compared to the merchandising. 'Remember to turn off the lights to save energy but buy the Captain Planet lamp shade' or 'don't use plastic but buy the Captain Planet action figures'. Like the second half of those end credits music ("we're the planeteers, you can be one too") it all (pardon the phrase) never rings true even with the best of intentions.

    The series was never the same after it moved to Hanna Barbera, which took away the cool synthesizer music and made the show more cartoony. We have to remember the show had good intentions and there is a lot to like about Captain Planet as a cartoon series. It's ultimately it's own naivety that got in the way of good writing. But for millions of kids watching during the early 90s who wanted to use one of those elemental rings and for it's sheer silliness as an action adventure series I think we can forgive it.

    Go Planet!moreless

  • "CARTOON NETWOORK'S GOLDEN AGE"

    9.5
    "Superb"
    By LadyInque, Dec 11, 2011
    This show was awsome when i was a young girl i watch it and now, grow up, this show reminds me when Cartoon Netwoork (the channel that run this show here in Bs As) was in his "Golden Age" Why? Simple because the channel not only make good Tv shows for kids but educational too this show you can watch it from two different sides
    A) A kid show and a very good one
    B) Educational because reminds us that contamination can damage and destroy our planet and depends from us to keep it clean Bottom line one of the good, and few, tv shows with the "educational" imprint in it Really awsome!!!!moreless
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