BraveStarr is an American Space Western animated series that aired 65 episodes from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. The show was created a year after Mattel had released a line of action figures. BraveStarr was the last animated series produced by Filmation and Group W Productions before Filmation shut down in 1989. Reruns of the show aired on Qubo Night Owl from 2010 to 2013, and on the Retro Television Network from 2010 to 2015.

Background

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 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. The series cost $20 million.

Plot

The episodes combine elements of science fiction and western genres. It is set in the 23rd century on a multi-cultural desert planet called New Texas. As on other Filmation series (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power, Shazam!, The Secrets of Isis, and the animated Ghostbusters), a moral lesson is told at the end of each episode. One notable episode is "The Price", in which a boy buys a drug called "Spin", becomes addicted to it, and dies of an overdose.

Setting

The setting in most episodes is New Texas: a planetary system orbiting three suns, 600 pc from Earth. Much of the food and water supply is imported. The majority of land is desert or prairie but there is one wetland area, which is the home of "apecats". Water is also found in cactus-like 'Aqua-Pod' plants. The chief export is Kerium, a red mineral used as a fuel source, and often therefore the prize of conflicts among characters. Implications exist that New Texas was colonized for Kerium, but will remain inhabited even after the mines are exhausted. The native civilization of New Texas are the Prairie People, who operate most of the Kerium mines.

Points of interest

The following locations are on New Texas: Two episodes are set on Earth, where the city of London resembles a modernized Victorian England, including a time-traveling Sherlock Holmes.

Alien and human species

Characters

Heroes

Supporting characters

Villains

Episodes

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 in 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. Marshal BraveStarr and Tex Hex were also packaged with a Laser Fire Backpack which shot infrared beams and had "space-age" sound effects. Such backpacks were individually available—blue for heroes and black for villains. Other figures available were Handlebar, Sand Storm, Thirty/Thirty, Skuzz, Fuzz, Col. Borobot and Thunder Stick. The Neutra-Laser weapon, which worked with the infrared 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 J. B., Long Arm John, Rampage, and the Starr Hawk vehicle. Lou Scheimer stated that Mattel hindered Bravestarr's success by releasing the toys before the pilot movie or TV series were released, leading viewers to think the show was based on the toy line. Various other forms of BraveStarr merchandise made their way to the market including a Colorforms adventure set, View-Master reels, 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.

Video game

A BraveStarr video game was released for Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum in 1987. It is a side-scrolling shooter game.

Home 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 Entertainment (under its Ink & Paint classic animation entertainment label) (under license from Entertainment Rights) released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in 2007/2008. Each episode on BCI Ink & Paint's DVD releases of BraveStarr was uncut, digitally remastered and presented in its original broadcast presentation and story continuity order. The series was released in two single-volume sets, with the first volume featuring several bonus features. , these releases have been discontinued and are out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations. On December 10, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that it had acquired the rights from Classic Media 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.