Captain Flamingo is an animated television series produced by Breakthrough Films & Television, Heroic Film Company, Atomic Cartoons, and PASI Animation Studios. It premiered on YTV on February 7, 2006, and ended on December 19, 2010. The titular character is of unspecified age. Captain Flamingo has no notable superpowers, just a desire to help "li’l kids" in trouble. His "superpowers" take the form of novelty items, such as a whoopee cushion.

Plot

Milo Powell is an ordinary young Japanese-Canadian boy, living in Halverston-in-Area (a fictional neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario) until a kid is in trouble. Any time a kid yells "Uh-oh! Flamingo!", Milo transforms into Captain Flamingo, whose mission is to help little kids who need assistance. Captain Flamingo is aided in his missions by his best friend Lizbeth Amanda Zaragoza, who apparently has a not-so-secret crush on him. CF also has a little brother named Thor. Quite often, when called upon to carry out a mission, Captain Flamingo is busily engaged with something else, a personal goal or problem (such as waiting in line to buy an ice cream before the truck leaves or runs out of ice cream, but someone calls to him, needing his help); like a true hero, he must, and usually does, put aside his own needs to help others (although, quite often, his actions in successfully aiding the person in distress lead to a successful outcome for his personal goals). Captain Flamingo seldom successfully solves a problem on his first try; in fact, it is not uncommon for his initial attempts to make things worse. In trying to solve the simple problems of other little kids he encounters (such as, say, a lost pencil or a missing sock), Captain Flamingo often gets into tight spots. He has, in various episodes, gotten trapped in a bubble with a full bladder, gone underwater to battle an eel, and got trapped in a deadly matrix of bouncing superballs. Despite this, he never gives up and meets every failure or setback with a new attempt. He eventually gets out of these situations by using his "Bird Brain"; this can be his own instincts, but it usually is Lizbeth. A random thought he speaks aloud might be picked up on by Lizbeth and elaborated into an actual, detailed plan (which Lizbeth will assume was what Captain Flamingo planned to do all along), or he can assume that a suggestion spoken aloud by Lizbeth is his "Bird Brain" speaking to him (although he usually misinterprets her suggestion; however, his misinterpretation usually works). In the end, Captain Flamingo always seems to stumble upon a solution either through Lizbeth's cleverness, persistent refusal to give up, and constantly trying new novelty items and plans until he succeeds, or sheer luck (or, quite often, some combination of the three).

Characters

Main

Minor

Episodes

Season 1 (2006–2007)

Season 2 (2007)

Season 3 (2008–2010)

Telecast and home media

Captain Flamingo was first premiered on YTV on February 7, 2006, and ended on December 19, 2010, with the Christmas episode. Nickelodeon also aired the show in reruns from November 2, 2009 (launch date) until June 3, 2013. In the U.S., the show premiered on Toon Disney on January 28, 2008, at 8:30 AM, although it was initially going for broadcast during their Jetix programming block. Captain Flamingo was removed from the Toon Disney schedule on August 12, 2008, but returned on September 2 at 5:30 a.m. When Toon Disney was rebranded to Disney XD on February 13, 2009, Captain Flamingo was once again removed, and has not aired in the U.S. since. As of 2022, the show is now streaming on both Peacock and Tubi. In May 2006, Jetix Europe acquired the European and Middle Eastern pay-TV rights, in addition to television distribution, (serviced by Buena Vista International Television on behalf of the network) home video and consumer product rights to the series in the said territories, except for Spain and Portugal. Therefore, it started airing on European channels of the network, excluding France, in Autumn 2006. The three DVD releases of the show were released on June 29, 2011, only in region four. Each release contained only fourteen episodes from the first season. But other regional releases have not yet been released.

Reception

Captain Flamingo received mixed reviews but has since gained a cult following. Anne Louise Bannon of Common Sense Media rated the show two stars out of five, noting that it targeted adult audiences rather than "the 7-year-olds who will most likely be watching." On the other hand, she also says about "mildly" funny moments "at best."