Cadillacs and Dinosaurs (TV series)

Lore & Background

The series chronicles the exploits of Jack Tenrec and his crew of ecological freedom fighters known as the 'Mechanics.' Set after the year 2627, the series takes place in a post-apocalyptic jungle in the vicinity of the ruins of New York City (now known as 'The City in the Sea'). Societies have had to re-learn 20th-century technology, lost due to a never-explicitly-stated catastrophe, and have only been partially successful in doing so. The Mechanics have maintained much 'Old World' technology and knowledge. Jack Tenrec's often-reluctant companion is Hannah Dundee, an ambassador from the city-state of Wasoon somewhere south. Dundee hires Tenrec as a liaison, while she attempts to establish communication between Wasoon and the City in the Sea, both of which have varying levels of technology.

Reader's Guide

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is notable for its strong ecological and political themes, which were central to its plot development. The series was based on Mark Schultz's Xenozoic Tales comic, and creator Steven E. de Souza had previously produced the video game adaptation. The show cost $430,000 per episode, with each episode containing 20,000 more animation cels than comparable cartoons at the time. Despite its ambitious production, the series lasted only one season of 13 episodes on CBS, facing preemption due to the 1994 Winter Olympics. Executive producer Sasha Harari criticized CBS's handling of the show, saying network management focused more on prime time programming and did not support their children's division as Fox or ABC did. The series was later rebroadcast on the USA Network as part of USA Cartoon Express for the 1994-95 season, and the network was reportedly interested in a possible second season. The show aired in Canada on YTV, in Ireland on RTÉ Two, and for many years on HBO Family in Latin America. Select episodes were released on VHS in the 1990s by Sony Wonder.

Did You Know?

• The show's creator, Steven E. de Souza, acquired TV rights after producing the video game Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.
• Mark Schultz, creator of the original comic, was involved in development and insisted on horizontal dinosaur designs, avoiding 'tail dragging' depictions.

From Comic Panels to Saturday Morning

The animated series Cadillacs and Dinosaurs traces its lineage back to Mark Schultz's graphic novel Xenozoic Tales. Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza, who had already produced a video game adaptation of Schultz's comic, secured the television rights and became the show's creator. The production was a collaborative effort among Nelvana, De Souza Productions, and Galaxy Films. CBS picked up the series for its Saturday morning children's programming block in the United States, where it ran from 1993 to 1994. The entire run consisted of a single season comprising thirteen episodes. Despite its brief broadcast life, the show carried forward the post-apocalyptic spirit of its source material while translating Schultz's visual storytelling into the language of mid-1990s animation. De Souza's involvement as both creator and rights-holder gave the adaptation a degree of creative continuity that linked the comic, the game, and the television series into a single franchise ecosystem.

A World Rebuilt in the Ruins

The series is set in the distant future, after the year 2627, in a post-apocalyptic landscape where the ruins of what was once New York City now sit half-buried in overgrown jungle, a place the inhabitants call The City in the Sea. A catastrophe whose specifics are never made explicit wiped out much of modern civilization, and the surviving societies have been forced to re-learn twentieth-century technology from scratch, with only partial success. The Mechanics, Jack Tenrec's crew, have managed to preserve a great deal of Old World knowledge and machinery, giving them a significant edge over their neighbors. Meanwhile, much of the former United States has reverted to wilderness, and species of dinosaurs that had been extinct for millions of years have spontaneously reappeared, roaming the wilds alongside scattered human settlements. This blend of reclaimed technology, ancient creatures, and fractured societies creates a world where survival depends on both mechanical ingenuity and an uneasy coexistence with prehistoric life.

Heroes, Rivals, and the Mechanics

At the heart of the series is Jack Tenrec, a survival-savvy garage mechanic who belongs to the Old Blood Mechanics. His signature passion is restoring the shells of classic Cadillacs, which the crew uses as their primary mode of transport through the overgrown terrain. His constant companion is Hannah Dundee, an ambassador from Wasoon, a region far to the south whose technology lags well behind the City in the Sea. She hires Jack as a liaison while working to open channels of communication between her homeland and the more advanced civilization to the north. Jack also travels with Mustapha Cairo, a skilled engineer, and counts Kirgo, a local ferryman, among his friends. Loyal to the pair is Hermes, a juvenile Cutter, the show's name for an Allosaurus, that Jack hand-reared after its mother perished. On the opposing side, the corrupt Governor Wilhelmina Scharnhorst and her hired poacher Hammer Terhune, along with his brothers Wrench and Vice, repeatedly threaten Jack and his crew.

Ecology as Narrative Engine

A defining characteristic of the series is the way it weaves ecological and political concerns directly into its plot structure rather than treating them as mere backdrop. The show's central conflict often revolves around the balance of nature in a world where dinosaurs have reappeared and human settlements must negotiate their place alongside these ancient creatures. Governor Wilhelmina Scharnhorst embodies the antagonistic pole: she is power-hungry, uncaring of ecological balance, and driven by a vision of humanity's dominance over the environment. In contrast, Jack Tenrec operates as a practical conservationist, and even Governor Dahlgren, the voice of reason among the Council of Governors, is described as having governing styles heavily influenced by Jack's philosophy. The existence of the Griths, an intelligent race of lizards dwelling in caverns, further complicates the political landscape by introducing another sentient species into the equation. Through these layered conflicts, the series uses its post-apocalyptic setting to explore questions of stewardship, resource control, and the responsibilities of a civilization rebuilding itself in a world that has not waited for its return.