Captain Planet
| Captain Planet | |
|---|---|
 Promotional shot of Captain Planet. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | TBS Productions/DiC; Hanna-Barbera |
| First appearance | Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Episode #1 (A Hero For Earth), Television |
| Created by | Ted Turner |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | Planeteers Gaia |
| Notable aliases | The Captain, CP, Planet |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed and stamina, Flight, Invulnerability, Super-breath, Telepathy, Psychokinesis, Shape-shifting, Control over the elements, Matter transmutation |
Captain Planet is a superhero in the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers and The New Adventures of Captain Planet. Captain Planet is often referred to as a superhero as he is a caricature of nobility, wears a flamboyant costume and has many superpowers. Captain Planet's appearance was loosely based on that of DC Comics superhero Captain Atom [citation needed].
Character history and development
Captain Planet was created by Ted Turner[1] in 1990. The idea behind the series was to create an entertaining action program that was meant to make viewers aware of environmental hazards. The villains Captain Planet had to fight included Sly Sludge, Hoggish Greedly, Doctor Blight, Looten Plunder, Verminous Skumm, and Duke Nukem.
Possessing a classically heroic, noble personality not unlike the one associated with characters such as Superman and He-Man, Captain Planet is formed by combining the powers of the rings of the five Planeteers, which represented the four Classical elements: Earth (wielded by Kwame), Fire (Wheeler), Wind (Linka), Water (Gi) - and the additional power of Heart (Ma-ti). Upon his formation, he proclaimed, "By YOUR powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"
Captain Planet is the combined and magnified powers of all five of the Planeteers' rings, and stands for all that was good and environment-friendly. The Captain is sky-blue skinned, with a grass-green mullet and eyebrows. He wears red shorts, a half-shirt and gauntlets with matching red knee-high boots (his boots were missing in the first episode). His body is composed mainly of a crystal compound.
Captain Planet has a very impressive array of powers: he can fly, has great strength, the ability to blow hurricane force winds, telepathy, telekinesis, change shape, transmute matter, and virtually any other super-power required by the circumstances currently facing him, which, in fact was one of the criticisms against the show. Much like Superman and his kryptonite, however, Captain Planet also possesses weaknesses to pollution, radiation, toxic waste, smog, etc. The powers of the Planeteers' rings are also diminished by excessive pollution in the environment around them; as well as powerless when Captain Planet is made manifest. He, like Gaia, is also bound to the physical realm of Earth: while capable of flying into space, his powers -- and even his very existence -- begin to fade the further away he gets from the planet. Conversely, Captain Planet is often healed from the damage he sustains from pollution by absorbing solar energy. However, despite his abilities, even he knows that he cannot solve all the world's problems and that humans must change. Even if he were to clean up all the pollution on Earth, it would matter little if humans continued polluting.
Captain Planet is an ancient entity, who has served with Gaia for many centuries (possibly even longer). While his appearance and certain mannerisms are taken directly from the minds of the Planeteers, he is a sentient being, with his own will. He is also quite aware of current events, even those that occur when he is not active, as well as the modern world and even some knowledge of pop culture. His modern-day superhero attire and name seem to stem from the modern world, as even Gaia does not give his name in the beginning - he appears to actually name himself. Any previous names or forms were never revealed, however. Note that the story Gaia told of his being called in the 1940s just seemed to be that - a tale of fiction she used to entertain the Planeteers. A later meeting with the real Don Porkaloin gave no indication the story had been true.
Captain Planet generally does not get angry, let alone act out with intense violence. However, he may be capable of some degree of anger even if he never shows it. Especially in later seasons, his dealings with the Eco-Villains was a bit harsher, if not overly so (in No Place Like Home, instead of simply saving a drowning Doctor Blight, he opts to "sell" her a life raft for a small price- enough money to build low-cost housing for the homeless population of the city Gaia had become trapped in). Though his strength may force him to be overly cautious at times- he is strong enough to tear steel in half. He could easily injure or kill a human if he wanted to, but never would due to his noble, kind, nature.
Though powerful, he has become depowered at least twice in the series. In one episode, when the powers of heart and earth could not return to their rings due to being in outer space; Captain Planet was re-formed with only those two rings, effectively leaving him with only the earth and heart abilities (wind is necessary to fly); this could be taken as meaning that Earth and Heart are the bare minimum requirements for his existence, with Earth representing his "body" and Heart representing his "soul". In another, when Gaia was taken from Hope Island and turned into a regular human, both Captain Planet and the rings lost their powers, leaving Captain Planet powerless and weak as a normal human. In this story, he was also forced to wear an old hat and coat taken from a dumpster to "blend in" while they searched for the missing Gaia.
Toys
Of the Captain Planet toy line from Tiger Toys, Captain Planet himself had the most versions, often variations with new color schemes detailing various powers as "action features":
- Flying Captain Planet (attach a piece in his back to the included ring, and "fly" the toy around)
- Color Change Captain Planet (color-change temperature-sensitive paint would represent dirt)
- Professor David McKenna action figure with ray gun (arch nemesis of Captain Planet)
- Pollution Armor Captain Planet (had attachable armor pieces)
- Tornado Captain Planet (the upper torso would spin at the waist when a button was pressed)
- Light & Thunder Captain Planet (light-up chest with thunder sounds)
- Captain Planet with Eco Commands (light-up chest with voice clips)
- Captain Planet with Flashing & Exploding Meteor
- Arctic Captain Planet (no action feature, merely a "winter" color scheme)
- "All-American" Captain Planet (no gimmick, had a US flag/patriotic color scheme)
- Anti-Radiation Armor Captain Planet (recolor of Pollution Armor)
- Firestorm Captain Planet (recolor of Tornado Captain Planet)
- Thunder & Lightning Captain Planet (recolor of Light & Thunder Captain Planet)
- "Pure Energy" Captain Planet (Meant to represent Captain Planet when he 'teleported')
There may be more, as certain toys in the line are rarer in the collector market and co-sells on packages often excluded toys. Applause also produced an 11 1/2" action figure in 1990.
Comics
Marvel Comics printed a Captain Planet series in 1991, but the series did not continue after the cancellation of the show in 1993. Issues of this series are considered collectors items.
Parodies
In Fairly Odd Parents,there is a parody of Captain Planet called Captain Green and the Eco Teens.
It was also parodied in the Robot Chicken episode "1987", where an enraged Ted Turner takes on the role of Captain Planet and violently confronts environmental violators.