Yep. I’m that guy who loves Captain Planet. And it’s that time of year again. Last Earth Day, I did a fancast for the entire show, but this year, I’m focusing on some of the best the series had to offer.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers was a cheesy, but informative 90s cartoon from media mogul billionaire, Ted Turner. It hoped to educate kids about environmental issues while having a superhero spin. 5 teens, 5 rings of power, that when combined, summoned the title character. Despite the show being the butt of many a school yard joke, it had a lasting impact, particularly the catchy closing credits theme song. And its themes are just as relevant today as they were 20 years ago.
Now let’s just admit that the show wasn’t the greatest thing in the world. But for what it was, I enjoyed it, and I have selected a handful of episodes here that I think are worth checking out if you are curious. What's interesting to note, is that the show was more interesting when they moved away from simply saving animals and trees.
Kwami’s Crisis
Villain: Sly Sludge
Theme: Trash/apathy
This is an episode that can be really depressing if it matters that much to you. A small town is being buried under wasteful garbage and no one seems to care. (Sounds kind of like real life?) Feeling the Planeteers’ efforts are being wasted in vein, Kwame, the de facto leader of the team, considers quitting and giving up altogether. What I like about this episode is that giving up is a touchstone moment any superhero comic has gone through. Nice to see it played here as well.
A Formula For hate
Villain: Verminous Skumm
Theme: discrimination
This is the first cartoon I can remember that dealt with AIDS. A young basketball player is diagnosed with HIV and Skumm helps start rumors that escalate and eventually turn the entire school against him. This is kind of a sad episode, and despite the cheesily convenient way Captain Planet tries to wrap everything up, we all know it’s really not that easy to clean things up in real life. Thankfully, tolerance and sympathy and understanding have come a long way since the show aired.
Mission to save Earth (1&2)
Villain: All; Captain Pollution
This is the classic comic book villain team-up, similar to something like DC’s Legion of Doom or The Spider-Man’s Sinister Six. As a fan of the show, it was fun to see all the bad guys together, but they do us one better by stealing the Planeteers’ rings and creating “evil” versions of them. Even combining these powers to get a supervillain of their own: Captain Pollution, the anti-version of Captain Planet. Any comic book worth its mettle has a “nega” theme- that story or certain rogue who is the polar opposite of the hero or his world. Captain Planet hits it with this one.
If it’s Doomsday, this must be Belfast
Villain: Verminous Skumm
Theme: religion, war
This controversial episode has a bit of a reputation. The Planeteers are divided around the world to stop 3 nuclear bombs from being detonated from 3 separate conflicting factions: Protestants v Catholics in Ireland, Palestinians vs Jews in Israel, and Blacks v Whites in South Africa. I appreciate the ambition of trying to tackle such sensitive issues, even if the depictions are wildly simplified. Again, here is a cartoon going for broke, and doing things other shows weren’t doing. Too bad it was banned from airing in Northern Ireland!
Teers in the Hood
Villain: none
Theme: Gangs
Show after show of rescuing animals and cleaning up forests and oceans, we got something that hits a little closer to home. "Talkin’ Trash" was another gang-related episode (and a pretty good one,) But this one is a little more powerful because of how they juxtapose the violence with the messages of peace from the likes of JFK, Martin Luther King Jr and others. I liked seeing the Planeteers in a school environment (Ma-Ti is in special ed?) and Gie almost lets her anger and vengeance take over after her teacher and friend is almost killed from the senseless gangs.
Mind Pollution
Villain: Verminous Skumm
Theme: Drug addiction
This was the first seriously dark episode of the series. Linka and the gang visit her cousin in Washington when they find out about a designer drug called “Bliss”. Skumm eventually slips the stuff in Linka’s food. What was cool about the episode was there was also a ‘zombie movie’ vibe to it. And as if dealing with a corrupted, addicted planeteer wasn’t enough, Linka’s own cousin becomes a cautionary tale when he dies. Anyone who’s been a victim or effected by overdose can relate to the weight of this episode.
The Conqueror
Villain: Zarm
Theme: Power, destruction
Zarm was arguably the Planeteers’ most dangerous foe. He appeared less often than the other villains, but when he did show up, rest assured the kids were in for overwhelming trouble (like in The Dream Machine). His first appearance, however came under the guise of an ally. He appeared as a cosmic spirit from another planet, and sweet-talked the planeteers with promises of environmental utopia if they followed him. Tempted with gauntlets more powerful than their own rings, the team soon becomes competitive and begin turning on each other. Only Ma-Ti withstands Zarm, and later discovers he is actually a war god, intent on destroying planet after planet. I like the scale of this episode, both in the use of the rings and the story. The stakes are also pretty high, because Zarm’s presence, instilling hate in the Planeteers is killing Gia. (jump to 4:23)
Two Futures (1&2)
Villain: Dr. Blight, Hoggish Greedly
Theme: everyone makes a difference- every decision counts
I’m always a sucker for “what-if” episodes, and what better way to cover that than with the old sci-fi staple of time travel? Wheeler has always been the odd man out of the Planeteers. He’s the one who shows the most ignorance about the issues (with him being American, some criticize that he is a very negative metaphor), and he often screwed up on missions. Greedly and Blight convince Wheeler to forget about the Planeteers, and when sent back in time, he prevents himself from ever taking the Fire Ring.
The real fun begins when we see the aftereffect of this decision. Basically, the world goes to sh*!
Blight and Greedy F up global warming, there is no Captain Planet, and aged versions of the Planeteers are individually, trying to fight environmental problems by themselves. And failing. It is always an important reminder in any hero’s tale, that no matter the adversity, what happened to them happened for a reason, and the world is a better place for it.