Mummies Alive!

Plot

In ancient Egypt, an evil sorcerer named Scarab kills the pharaoh's son, Prince Rapses, to become immortal. Entombed alive for his crime, Scarab revives in the modern world and begins his search for Rapses' reincarnation, a San Francisco-dwelling boy named Presley Carnarvon, to retrieve the spirit of Rapses so he can become immortal. Rapses' (Presley's) bodyguards—Ja-Kal, Rath, Armon, and Nefer-Tina—along with Rapses' cat, Kahti, awake from the dead to protect him from Scarab.

They use the power of Ra to transform into powerful guardians. Each of the mummies is aligned with the power of an Egyptian god: Ja-Kal uses the spirit of a falcon, Rath uses the spirit of a snake, Armon uses the spirit of a ram, and Nefer-Tina uses the spirit of a cat. The mummies are able to call upon it for magical armor and powers to fight superhuman evildoers by shouting "With the strength of Ra!". Once their strength is exhausted, they must rest in their sarcophagi to regain the ability.

The mummies also have the power to make a horrifying face, usually used to scare away nosy bystanders. In addition to Scarab, the mummies often had to contend with gods and spirits from Egyptian myth summoned to the modern world, including Anubis, Set, Geb, Apep, Bast, Sekhmet, Bes, and many others, usually as part of one of Scarab's schemes that went out of his control.

Characters

Presley Carnovan (voiced by Bill Switzer) is a 12-year-old boy who has the spirit of Prince Rapses XII (an ancient pharaoh) who is based on Ramses. He lives in San Francisco with his mother. He is reluctant to accept his role as Rapses, but on at least two occasions where he had the chance to be freed of his role, he expressed reluctance at losing his status as "Pharaoh" because it would have also meant him losing the mummies. Prince Rapses was the heir to the Egyptian throne 3500 years ago.

He was protected by the Mummies (before they were Mummies) but was killed when he was Presley's age by Scarab. His spirit now lies within Presley, and is drawn out by Scarab in several episodes. Rapses himself comes to the present in "The Prince and the Presley", when Scarab steals a time travel scroll to draw him to the present. Rapses returns to the past at the end of the episode.

Amanda Carnovan (voiced by Louise Vallance) is Presley's mother, she works at the City Museum. In "Ghouls' Gold", Armon refers to her as "the wise Amanda" when recalling advice she gave Presley. Ja-Kal (voiced by Dale Wilson) is the leader of the Mummies; in his transformed state, his armor resembles a falcon and it also allows him to fly. His weapons are his razor sharp talons and claws, and a bow that can shoot out flaming arrows.

In ancient Egypt, Ja-Kal was a hunter who had a wife named Tia and a newborn son named Padjet, and had died without knowing what happened to his family. He worries the most of Presley's safety, often acting as a father-figure to him. In "Family Feud: Part 2 – New Mummy in Town", it was revealed that he had a brother named Arakh, who was a notorious bandit. Rath (voiced by Scott McNeil) is the most intelligent of the Mummies, the only one able to cast spells.

When he transforms, a green snake which turns into a golden cobra wraps around him and serves as his armor. His weapon of choice is a sword that can transform into a snake. In the past, he had served as prince Rapses' tutor. Armon (voiced by Graeme Kingston) is huge and eats very often.

He is very strong even when not transformed. He lost his right arm fighting in the pharaoh's army, and when he transforms has a golden arm that is used as his weapon. His armor resembles a ram. In the past, Armon was Rapses' teacher of combat.

Nefer-Tina (voiced by Cree Summer) is the only female of the Mummies. She is an expert with her whip, has great agility and is extremely proficient at driving the Hot-Ra, the Mummies' dragster-like vehicle. When she transforms her armor is like a cat. Back in ancient Egypt, she had to hide the fact that she was a woman with a head piece or she would not have been allowed to drive chariots.

Only Rapses knew her true identity during that period of time. Scarab (voiced by Gerard Plunkett) is the pharaoh's adviser, who later sucked the life force from prince Rapses for youth and immortality, but the effects were not permanent and started to wear off after a few centuries. When Scarab transforms, his body is covered in golden and purple armor, resembling that of a scarab beetle and possessing the power of flight. He also possesses a magical talking snake named Heka that acts as his magical staff from time to time.

Heka (voiced by Pauline Newstone) is the Snake Familiar and sometimes Staff of Scarab, who acts as his loyal companion and advisor, often making snide, sarcastic remarks and witty observations. She also has the ability to spit fire. Other characters include Amenhotep (Rapses' father, the pharaoh), Ammut (Scarab's dog-like pet with the head of a crocodile, body of a lion, and hindquarters of a hippopotamus), and Apep (voiced by Jason Gray-Stanford), an anthropomorphic cobra-like creature who can transform into a young human man.

Broadcast

In the United States, Mummies Alive! originally aired on syndicated stations, mostly on The WB, UPN, and Fox affiliates, distributed through Hasbro's Claster Television. In February 1998, Bohbot Entertainment acquired syndication rights and aired it on their BKN block until 2000. In September 2004, the series joined the syndicated DIC Kids Network block alongside Sonic Underground. From 2009 to 2010, it aired on Cookie Jar Toons on This TV. In Canada, the series aired on YTV. In the United Kingdom, it first aired on GMTV's Disney-produced block Diggit, later on Sky One from 1999 to 2002, and on ITV2 from 2004 to 2006. In India, a Hindi-dubbed version ran on Cartoon Network, and it was also dubbed into Tamil and Malayalam for Sun TV and Amrita TV. The show aired on DD Metro Channel from 1998 to 2000.

Home media

The three-episode "Family Feud" storyline was combined into a single movie, Mummies Alive! The Legend Begins, which came out on VHS on April 7, 1998, through Buena Vista Home Entertainment. In August 2001, Lions Gate Home Entertainment and Trimark Home Video put the first four episodes on VHS and DVD under the simple title Mummies Alive!; the DVD version added an extra episode and a conversation with Andy Heyward and Ivan Reitman about the show. Sterling Entertainment released the initial three episodes on VHS and DVD in October 2003 as Mummies Alive! - The Beginning, with the DVD including the fourth episode as a bonus; NCircle Entertainment put out a new version of that DVD in August 2007.

Anchor Bay UK issued a single VHS/DVD volume in the United Kingdom in June 2004, followed by a second DVD in August of that year. Avenue Entertainment brought out two DVDs in June 2005, each containing two episodes. In Germany, three double-DVD sets were released, each holding 14 episodes; the full 42-episode series became available in March 2017 with the third volume.