CAPTAIN PLANET: Re-Imagined

[Jordacar]

I got to thinking about "Captain Planet and the Planeteers" the other day. One of the things I always hated about that show was the over-the-top villains. They didn't pollute the environment for money or power, they just did it because they were evil. It bugged the hell out of me.

Recently, I figured out another beef: The Planeteers. Although they had backstories and some depth, there wasn't much attention made to how they came from different cultures from different parts of the world. It was just tokenism; the token Asian, the token African, the token middle-European, the token South American, and the token Ugly American.

Imagine if the show actually did address those things. Imagine if the Planeteers had to contend with stereotypes and misconceptions that they had about each others cultures. All that on a show for kids. Wouldn't that be something.

What's more, imagine if they addressed issues other than just the environment...

 

[GL1]

I thought the racism episode of Planeteers was pretty cool, and I think those are themes that are worth exploring, though honestly, giving the Planeteers some personality-based internal conflicts would go a long way towards making it 'current' 'relatable' 'mature' etc...

 

[cryptic name]

We are Planeteers, you can be one too. Because saving our planet is the thing to do!
Looting and polluting are not the way, hear what Captain Planet has to say!

You're powers combined, I am Captain Planet!!

 

[Terminator]

Gonna take pollution down to zero!

 

[KenK]

I just wanna know one thing:

Who's idea was it to replace Whoopi Goldberg with Margot Kidder for the voice of Gaia?!?!?

 

[Artistsean]

I don't know that,
But I did have an idea for a re-imagined Captain Planet comic a few years ago.
It took place a few years later, or several. When all the kids where grown up.
But I like tha idea of the more involved and mature subject matters. Real issues to deal with. Thats cool.
Then make the bad guys not just evil, but have a real reason for doing what they do and being who they are.

I'd like that.
Also, going along the lines of making the Planeteers more 3 dimensional, also make Captain Planet 3 dimensional. Maybe have him inheret the characteristics of the Planeteers, the good and the bad.
And a redesigned costume couldn't hurt either, for Captain Planet.

What were his powers again?

 

[Jordacar]

What were his powers again?

If I recall, he had the usual flight, speed and super strength. But mainly he had the combined abilities of the rings, power over fire, water, wind and earth. There was also some telepathy, telekinesis, changing shape, even transmuting matter. There was actually some criticism from fans for him having too much power.

And of course, stuff like toxic waste and radiation made him weak.

 

[Fried Gold]

I'd like re-imagine a world were the crappy cartoon, Captain Planet, never existed.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

?

 

[November Rain]

They should have an element of the show where we get to show captain planet interacting with the captains of other planets/solar system/heavenly bodies, when not dealing with the problems of earth.

you could see more powerful captains that are created via different elements and planeteers of other places, or drained captains with highly polluted planets or incredibly healthy ones but are bored because they get to see no action and maybe they go renegade in an attempt to forever harness the powers of their planeteer rings or other rings from other planet captains...

I would also not like the character to be so squeeky clean and to somewhat look down on the humans he always seems to protect but are unable to change their ways which will inevitably lead to the downfall of their civilizations (as he's seen when posted on either planets or through the eyes of other captains).

a full on bout with major pollution wouldnt hurt either with a continent's existence in the balance.

 

[Jochimus]

They should have an element of the show where we get to show captain planet interacting with the captains of other planets/solar system/heavenly bodies, when not dealing with the problems of earth.

you could see more powerful captains that are created via different elements and planeteers of other places, or drained captains with highly polluted planets or incredibly healthy ones but are bored because they get to see no action and maybe they go renegade in an attempt to forever harness the powers of their planeteer rings or other rings from other planet captains...

Sounds nice, unless WB somehow manages to take the prospect of a Green Lantern movie seriously.

I would also not like the character to be so squeeky clean and to somewhat look down on the humans he always seems to protect but are unable to change their ways which will inevitably lead to the downfall of their civilizations (as he's seen when posted on either planets or through the eyes of other captains).

This I like even better...portray him more like Earth's equivalent of Ghost Rider.

a full on bout with major pollution wouldnt hurt either with a continent's existence in the balance.

I can see it now - Captain Planet vs. Hedorah. t:

 

[November Rain]

it would also be good to see other dieties or maybe the titans in there since gaiea also exists...


Captain Planet should be a planet based protector based on elements that fights all that he comes up against, not simply pollution. I would say that pollution should be a weakness of his but the planeteers should deal with the majority of aspects that might affect earth as a whole.

I think sticking purely to pollution as a battle front limits the overall potential of the character.

Bring in gods, aliens, mythical creatures, the works...

 

[blud_knight]

i would rather eat a bucket of herpies than watch that damn show again.

 

[Artistsean]

I would re-invent the show like this:
years in the future, maybe present time. They came out how many years ago? The kids were teens, now years later they are adults.
I would make things a little more serious in tone, not dark and gritty but serious like Spider-Man is serious.
I would make Captain Planet a little more serious in his additude. He was a little too hyper for me. My thinking would be, he is the kids powers combined and maybe their personalities combined. When they were teens he was a little more zany. But now they are adults and he is a little more grown up.
I would change their looks, and his looks. He would be designed similar to Alex Ross' Captain Marvel from Universe X. There is a stary universe in his shadows. The globe symbol on his chest would be an actual spinning globe. His green hair would flow like its under water, and parts of his costume would be red, while his skin is pale blue. But not icy.
He would demonstrait powers like Metamorpho does, or even the Super Skrull.
Wish I could draw this idea out fully.

I am not sure how to redesign them for the future without a devostaing post apocalyptic story, they shouldn't have that. Captain Planet should be somewhat light hearted.

It should be along the same lines as Justice League Unlimited, in terms of graphic style and story telling.

 

[Mattchew]

maybe cap can take on a few of the republican presidential hopefuls.

 

[Darthkush]

I thought the racism episode of Planeteers was pretty cool, and I think those are themes that are worth exploring, though honestly, giving the Planeteers some personality-based internal conflicts would go a long way towards making it 'current' 'relatable' 'mature' etc...

What is the name of that episode? I seem to recall one that i saw(which i saw only once), that depiceted a scene of a blood splattered wall after a black family had been shot in a possible drive by shooting. Is that the episode? Did ANYBODY else see that episode? I remember the scene so vividly that I know i can't have imagined it.

 

[Timstuff]

It was decided a few threads back that a Captain Planet movie would have to star Patrick Swayze and Whoopie Golberg.

 

[Mattchew]

Whoopie plays 'Gaia', a mother nature type figure who guides the planeteers until she witnesses a murder and goes into witness protection, posing as a nun...

damnit, it just my work!

 

[Master Blaster]

Oh Good Lord! Why can't Captain Planet just die! Oh! I know! Because Captain Planet is the vile abomination forced upon us by the horned one himself, Ted Turner. A man who complains about how greedy America is and yet buys, sells and trades businesses like Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards. The man is a walking contradiction, as is his bastard child Captain Planet. It was a television cartoon that was supposed to teach kids about how to take care of the environment yet in order to create it the Korean animators hired by Turner, whom he barely paid enough money to so they could support their hungry families, had to use thousands upon thousands of sheets of paper that came from trees. And of course there had to be action figures. For them, they were made out of corrosive, non-biodegradable plastic. But despite this utter hypocrisy, nothing would deter the show from spreading the important messages that it had to deliver to the youth of the nation. That all pollution is cause by laughably bad super villains for no particular reason and that if you are white, American, eat meat, are heterosexual and Christian then that means you are evil! The show couldn’t be more logical!

 

[Timstuff]

Well said. Sadly, I used to think Captain Planet was cool when I was young and naive, but when I got older I realized that it was nothing but propaganda for viewpoints that in my adulthood I do not agree with at all, and that the entire point of the show was to convert kids like me to its cause while we were still young.

 

[Mattchew]

Oh Good Lord! Why can't Captain Planet just die! Oh! I know! Because Captain Planet is the vile abomination forced upon us by the horned one himself, Ted Turner. A man who complains about how greedy America is and yet buys, sells and trades businesses like Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards. The man is a walking contradiction, as is his bastard child Captain Planet. It was a television cartoon that was supposed to teach kids about how to take care of the environment yet in order to create it the Korean animators hired by Turner, whom he barely paid enough money to so they could support their hungry families, had to use thousands upon thousands of sheets of paper that came from trees. And of course there had to be action figures. For them, they were made out of corrosive, non-biodegradable plastic. But despite this utter hypocrisy, nothing would deter the show from spreading the important messages that it had to deliver to the youth of the nation. That all pollution is cause by laughably bad super villains for no particular reason and that if you are white, American, eat meat, are heterosexual and Christian then that means you are evil! The show couldn’t be more logical!

wow... you are ALL over the place.

I agree this show being a failure in terms of it's stated goals, but since you're on such a rant about this show in terms of it being some find of propaganda against 'white, American, eat meat, are heterosexual and Christian' (because everyone remembers the ep where they chopped down the rain forest to make bibles) i'd suggest there is WAY WAY WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more examples of extreme-right ideas in children's entertainment.

... or maybe you're just pissed because global warming is every day becoming more and more a moderate issue.

 

[Donnie Darko]

Well said. Sadly, I used to think Captain Planet was cool when I was young and naive, but when I got older I realized that it was nothing but propaganda for viewpoints that in my adulthood I do not agree with at all, and that the entire point of the show was to convert kids like me to its cause while we were still young.

I actually really agree, but perhaps if this was done differently, and it was based more on elemental powers and action instead of just stupid pollution villains, it could be pretty cool.

My One Casting Idea::

as

 

[Master Blaster]

I don’t remember the episode with the bibles (And I’m kind of glad I don’t.)

If such an episode existed, it pretty much proves my point that Captain Planet was as far left as you could possibly get. We're talking militant, fascist leftism here and not the cute, cuddly Hollywood kind either. Back in the day if you were a parent or just a kid, at first glance you would think it was nothing more than typical Saturday morning fare with a nice, wholesome environmental message tacked on but when you really sit down and watch it, begin to take it in (Especially if your an adult who grew up watching it as a kid. And if you were, I pity you. Don’t worry. You will heal.) it isn’t hard to read between the lines.

Perhaps the greatest example of its out right bias was The Planeteer Wheeler (What kind of loser names his kid Wheeler? Does he want him the get beaten up?) He was your typical ugly American character. He seemed to be the only Planeteer with character flaws. All the other Planeteers, who came from foreign countries and had different cultural backgrounds, always appeared as saintly and pure. They were smart and sensible while Wheeler was perceived as an asshead. How one-sided can you get? And then of course there were the villains. Everything was black and white with this show. The villains were your stock comic book bad guys with no souls. They polluted simply for the sake of doing something evil. How utterly ridiculous! Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, willingly pollutes the environment. Pollution is merely the byproduct of big business. And the guys in big business are not evil super villains who go around wearing stupid costumes intent on destroying the planet. Most of them are just trying to make their families’ lives better and they would have a far better fashion sense than the buffoons on this horse hockey. And do they ever show the human side of the villains? Show the audience that people are capable of both good and evil and not just one. No, because if they do that the audience watching it will begin to think for themselves and that means the presidential candidate that Ted Turner is endorsing might not get enough votes.

I’m all for protecting the planet’s ecosystem, but this show was all for anything but that. If anything, it was all about protecting fascism. I’ll admit that it did have a few moments where it didn’t seem like a total farce. Like the anti-racism episode, the anti-gang episode and the anti-drug episode but not even those brief moments of poignancy couldn’t wash the commie stank off of this thing. Transformers and Toxic Crusaders taught me and several other kids more about protecting the environment than this diarrhea ever did.

So if you happen to be able to catch it one VERY early morning on Cartoon Network sometime, where thankfully it was buried it long ago by the good people of Williams’ Street, Try doing this. Turn the volume down all the way and listen very hard for a certain sound. If you listened hard enough, you can clearly hear the voice of Ted Turner whispering "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength." Into your ear.