I assumed it was a piece of fiction, like talking gargoyles or sewer-dwelling mutant turtles. The environmental hazards and villains I saw on the screen were so cartoonishly over the top, it didn’t occur to me that they might pose actual threats to my future wellbeing. Watching Captain Planet in 2021 is a lot less entertaining than it was in 1990.Īs an 8-year-old, I focused on the action sequences, the cool time-travel narratives, and the inevitable triumph of good over evil.
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Captin planet mvoie series#
The series was one of the longest-running cartoons of the 1990s, with six seasons, 113 television episodes, and one set of Burger King collectible action figures. All the same, kids like me kept watching. Sure, he could deliver a well-timed dad pun while punching an offshore drill rig, but he also spent a significant portion of his airtime straight-up lecturing viewers about recycling and conserving electricity. When those powers combined, as they predictably did at some point every episode, Captain Planet would rise majestically into the air, ready to do battle with a wide array of pollution-spewing supervillains.Ĭompared to the dark and brooding superheroes of the DC and Marvel universes, Captain Planet was a bit of a dorky doodle. He could only be summoned by the Planeteers, a group of five internationally diverse teens with magical, element-themed rings: Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, and Heart (the last one being a combination of empathy, telepathy, and extreme persuasion). It starred a preachy, green-mulleted, pollution-sensitive superhero who used his powers to combat issues like oil spills, greenhouse gases, and nuclear waste. But thinking back on those many hours 30 years later, one show’s staying power rises above the rest: Captain Planet.įor those unfamiliar with the series, Captain Planet was an unlikely hit. and didn’t require cable, I probably watched it. You name it - if it came on after 3:15 p.m.
Like many older millennials, I spent quite a few of my after-school hours in the 1990s parked in front of the TV. This story is part of Grist’s Summer Dreams arts and culture series, a weeklong exploration of how popular fiction can influence our environmental reality.
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