Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars!
Animated series based on the cult comic Bucky O'Hare.
Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars (titled Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Menace in Canada and simply Bucky O'Hare in the UK) is an animated series produced through a collaboration between Sunbow Productions, Abrams/Gentile Entertainment, Continuity Comics, and the French company IDDH. Marvel Productions co-produced the show, which was distributed by Hasbro's Claster Television and animated by AKOM. It is based on the cult comic Bucky O'Hare. The series premiered in the United States in 1991 and aired in the United Kingdom on the BBC as part of its Children's BBC block in 1992. The show was created to support a planned Bucky O'Hare toy line; after those plans fell apart, the series was canceled abruptly after just 13 episodes.
The cast includes Long John Baldry as Komplex and Pit Stop Pete; Jay Brazeau as the Toad Air Marshall, Secretary General, Mentor, and Rumble Bee; Garry Chalk as Commander Dogstar, Al Negator, Quentin, MC, Major Bottlenose, Dan, Blackbeak, Kamikaze Kamo, General Baboon, Total Terror Toad, Digger McSquint, Wolf, and Tri-Bot #1; Doc Harris as Toad TV, Harman, and Fake Pirate; Simon Kendall as Security Toad #3 and Bridge Toad #1; Sam Khouth as A.F.C. Blinky, Frix, Doug, Jeff, Croakley, and Tri-Bot #3; Terry Klassen as Rat Produce Merchant, Scarbill, The Newt, and Toad Crew Member; Scott McNeil as Dead-Eye Duck, Frax, David, Tinker, Larry, Wartimer, Dexter, Mostly-Mouth Robot-A, Grebb, Sly Lee-Zard, and False Bucky; Shane Meier as Willy DuWitt; Jason Michas as Bucky O'Hare; Richard Newman as Toadborg, Wolf, Mostly-Mouth Robot-B, and Tri-Bot #2; Pauline Newstone as Lanelle; Doug Parker as Andy Phibian and Bruiser’s Mother; David Steele as Toad-Mammal and Toad Cowboy; Margot Pinvidic as Jenny, Verruca, Sunshine, Mother Aldebaran, Mimi LaFloo, Aunt Iris, Susie, Roona, Toadanne, Felicia, High Artificer, and T.J.; and Dale Wilson as Bruiser, Bruce, Guardroid, Announcer, Captain Smada, Bob, Hopkins, Redjack, Samurai Commander, and Rumble Bee.
The cartoon used most ideas from the comic book, but with several major differences. The parallel universe is called the "Aniverse." Willy DuWitt can travel freely between Earth and the Aniverse rather than being stranded there. Bruce is transported into another dimension instead of being killed. The Toad Empire is controlled by KOMPLEX through brainwashing, not willing allegiance. Dead-Eye Duck has a Southern acce
- First aired
- 1991 (United States); 1992 (United Kingdom)
- Number of episodes
- 13
- Production companies
- Sunbow Productions, Abrams/Gentile Entertainment, Continuity Comics, IDDH, Marvel Productions
- Distributor
- Claster Television (Hasbro subsidiary)
- Based on
- Comic Bucky O'Hare
- Animation studio
- AKOM
Lore & Background
The series follows Bucky O'Hare, a green hare from the planet Warren who captains a S.P.A.C.E. frigate named The Righteous Indignation. His crew includes Jenny, a cat with secret psionic powers; Dead-Eye Duck, a four-armed former space pirate; AFC Blinky, a one-eyed android; and later Bruiser, a Betelgeusian Berserker Baboon. A preteen boy named Willy DuWitt from San Francisco enters the Aniverse via a portal and becomes the ship's engineer. The Toad Empire, brainwashed and controlled by the computer program KOMPLEX, serves as the primary antagonist. The cartoon explored more of the Aniverse and followed a loose unifying arc, with Bucky's home planet of Warren being captured by the toads in the season premiere and liberated in the finale.
Reader's Guide
Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars! is notable as a short-lived but fondly remembered animated adaptation of a cult comic. Its cancellation after 13 episodes, due to the failure of the planned toy line, left the series with a single season that nonetheless completed a story arc. The show introduced several new characters not present in the comics, such as Bruiser, Commander Dogstar, and Mimi LaFloo. Differences from the source material include renaming the parallel universe to 'Aniverse', allowing Willy DuWitt to travel freely between Earth and the Aniverse, and giving Dead-Eye Duck a Southern accent instead of a Scottish one. The series was released on VHS by Family Home Entertainment in North America and BBC Video in the UK, and later on a Region 2 DVD set by Metrodome Entertainment, now out of print.
Did You Know?
- The series was abruptly cancelled after only 13 episodes because plans for the Bucky O'Hare toy line fell through.
- KOMPLEX's name, in toad language, is an anagram for 'Feed me'.
- The season finale was co-written by comic book artist Neal Adams.
- In the cartoon, the Toad Empire willingly follows KOMPLEX, unlike the comics where they are brainwashed.
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