BraveStarr is an American space Western animated television series. The original episodes aired from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. It was created simultaneously with a collection of action figures. BraveStarr was the last animated series produced by Filmation and Group W Productions 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, and on the Retro Television Network.
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.[6] Lou Scheimer 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 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, She-Ra: Princess of Power, Shazam, The Secret of Isis, and the animated Ghostbusters), a moral 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, becomes addicted 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 as the voices of Baloo the Bear and Wildcat.
Plot
The story is set in the 23rd century (around 2249) on a distant planet called New Texas, which is located 600 parsecs (=1956 light-years) 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 by a multi-planet government. A mineral called Kerium, a rare and powerful crystal of great importance in spacefaring societies said to be ten times more valuable than gold, is discovered there, giving the planet a valuable natural resource. Most of the episodes revolve around the heroes preventing the villains from stealing Kerium ore.
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. 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. This lends a steampunk flavor to the series and is a logical extension of the series' setting.
Action figures and other merchandise
In 1986, a year before the TV series premiered, Mattel released an action figure line based on the Filmation 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 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, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum. It is a side-scrolling shooter game. Various other forms of BraveStarr merchandise made their way to the market including a Colorforms Adventure Set, Ladybird storybook, pillow case, sticker album, and water gun, among others. A comic book series, BraveStarr in 3-D, also began under Blackthorne Publishing in January 1987.
Home video and DVD releases
BraveStarr made its way to VHS 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) 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.
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