Wing Commander Academy (TV series)

Television series
Original title	Wing Commander Academy
Country of production	United States
original language	English
year	1996
Production company	Universal Cartoon Studios
length	22 minutes
Episodes	13 in 1 season
genre	SciFi - animated series
production	Larry Latham
music	Alexander Bubenheim
First broadcast	September 21, 1996 on USA Network

Wing Commander Academy is an animated series produced by Universal Cartoon Studios in collaboration with game publisher Electronic Arts and its development studio Origin Systems in the Wing Commander universe. It acts as a loose prehistory to the computer game series and describes the experiences of the young pilots Christopher "Maverick" Blair and Todd "Maniac" Marshall in the last months of their training as flight cadets on board the carrier ship "TCS Tiger's Claw".

content

The series takes place in the year 2655. Christopher "Maverick" Blair, Todd "Maniac" Marshall, their friend Gwen "Archer" Bowman and other students of the 201st cadet class are transferred to the carrier ship "TCS Tiger's Claw", commanded by Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn to finish their training there. The orders of the "Tiger's Claw" originally only provided for routine exercises and patrol flights for the cadets, but the Kilrathi unexpectedly carried the war into the carrier's area of ​​operations. The young pilots are exposed to real combat conditions very quickly.

The rivalry between Maverick and Maniac as to which of them is the better pilot runs through the entire plot of the series as a continuous motif. Blair, who is described as a rather thoughtful, highly regulated character, faces the impulsive but highly talented pilot Todd Marshall. Blair enjoys the special esteem of Commodore Tolwyn, who specifically builds him up as a command officer and regularly lets him participate in his thoughts and decisions. Despite their rivalry, Blair and Marshall share a deep camaraderie that allows them to stand up for each other at any time in case of doubt.

The third member of the group is Gwen "Archer" Bowman, who, in contrast to her male comrades, is increasingly critical of warfare as the series progresses. Your commander, Tolwyn, has repeatedly shown himself to be a brilliant tactician. His unorthodox way of waging war, however, met with little approval from the high command and therefore earned him the unpopular task of cadet overseer and commander of the "TCS Tiger's Claw". Tolwyn's character is ambivalent. On the one hand, he strives for the well-being of his people, and he does not shrink from sacrificing them to a higher purpose if necessary. In case of doubt, his sense of duty only applies to the final victory over the Kilrathi.

The 13 episodes of the series each tell an independent story that is only slightly linked to one another. The war against the Kilrathi is examined from different perspectives and sometimes also critically. Even if the absolute hostility of the Kilrathi is never seriously questioned, there are also negative representatives and critical situation decisions on the part of mankind.

production

The series was announced on May 14, 1996. The series, comprising a season of 13 episodes, first aired from September 21 to December 21, 1996 on USA Network as part of its USA Action Extreme Team morning children's weekend program. It was never released on VHS , the series was first released on DVD on May 29, 2012 by Visual Entertainment, Inc.

A special feature is the character of the Warrior King shown in episode 8 Recreation . The character set to music by Michael Dorn had, in addition to Wing Commander Academy, previously guest appearances in three other cartoon series on the USA Network ( Street Fighter: The Animated Series , The Savage Dragon , Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm ). All four episodes were broadcast on November 16, 1996 and together told a story of their own about the character of the Warrior King. To ensure the correct order of the episodes, the usual broadcasting slots for the various series have been changed once.

reception

The hoped-for success of the series did not materialize, which is why the series was discontinued after the first season. A game for the series planned by Origin Systems was no longer pursued and the plans for a cartoon adaptation of Origins Ultima series were discarded.

Game journalist Richard Cobbett described the series in a retrospective on the one hand as a cheap cartoon produced mainly for children. For fans of the games, however, it is an acceptable implementation of the Wing Commander theme, which captures the main points of the game and thus stands in contrast to Chris Roberts' real film adaptation for the cinema that was released in 1999 . Wing Commander Academy takes its audience seriously, renounces the usual glorification of the just war and does not shy away from leaving the audience without the usual happy ending. An example of this is the role of the fallen war hero Daimon Karnes in episode 2, who reveals himself to be a follower of Nietzsche ("When you look too long into the emptiness, the emptiness get's inside you"), or if Archer is forced in episode 3 to Shoot down cadet Allen "Blizzard" Goetz, who had just recently declared his love for her. Therefore, Wing Commander Academy succeeded well in comparison to other children's animated series of its time and especially to other game films.

synchronization

The original actors of the games Wing Commander III and IV also took on the dubbing for their cartoon characters.

Leading roles

role	English speaker
Christopher "Maverick" Blair	Mark Hamill
Todd "Maniac" Marshall	Thomas F. Wilson
Gwen "Archer" Bowman	Dana Delany
Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn	Malcolm McDowell

Supporting roles

role	English speaker	episode
Damian Karnes	Ron Perlman	2
Trakath nar Kiranka	Kevin Schoen	1-2, 6-7, 13
Admiral Rhea Bergstrom	Jessica Walter	6th
The Warrior King	Michael Dorn	8th
Dr. Bronwyn Sing	Joan Van Ark	10

Episode list

No.	German title	Original title	First broadcast in the USA	German language first broadcast (-)	script
1	-	Red and Blue	21 Sep 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Michael Edens
While the "TCS Tiger's Claw" is lying in the dock for repair work, its captain, Commodore Geoffrey Tolwyn, who has been transferred to a penalty, visits the flight academy. His job is to take cadets on board the carrier ship and complete their training by deploying under real conditions. Before that, however, they should prove their skills in a training session. At the same time, a Kilrathi spy tries to hand over secret Academy documents to the enemy. In order to cover his escape, he manipulates the test configuration of the trainer so that their weapon systems develop lethal effects instead of harmless energy beams. During the exercise, Blair and Maniac set themselves apart from the rest of the cadets due to a private competition over who was the better pilot. They come across the hidden courier ship of the Kilrathi, which is supposed to receive the secret data of the spy and transmit it to Crown Prince Trakath, heir to the throne of the Kilrathi Emperor. With combined forces, Blair and Maniac can prevent the data from being transmitted and destroy the ship. Upon their return to the Academy, Blair, Maniac, Archer and a number of other cadets received their transfer to the "Tiger's Claw".
2	-	The last one left	28 Sep 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Michael Edens
Blair and Maniac are commissioned by Commodore Tolwyn with a reconnaissance flight in the uninhabited, but strategically important flight routes, solar system M4-21A. In pursuit of a Kilrathi exploration ship, they come across a group of privateers, led by the Terran top pilot and war hero Damian Karnes, who was long considered lost. Disillusioned by the war and the long time in space, the war has left the ideological rifts of the warring parties behind and, in his increasing indifference, has turned to his own goals. Karnes captures Blair and Maniac and confronts them in his secret base "Trinidad" with his emotionless worldview. He dismisses Maniac's awe of his heroic deeds as a deliberately constructed myth of the Confederation, whose sole aim is to guarantee the steady influx of young pilots through hero worship and thus to keep the war machine running. He tries to get both of them to his side. Maniac is the only one who agrees to follow him, only to leave with his hunter during an attack by the renegades on a transporter and to send a futile cry for help to the “Tiger's Claw”. Karnes confronts Maniac, destroys his drive and prepares to destroy him for good. But at the same time the transporter turns out to be a trap for the Kilrathi and Karnes rushes to the aid of his hopeless comrades, only to find his own death. The Kilrathi under Prince Trakath also conquer the renegades' secret base and kill all remaining inmates, with the exception of Blair, who is left alive by Trakath as an eyewitness to the Kilrathi victory. Back on Tiger's Claw, Blair and Maniac learn from Tolwyn that the Confederation had long been aware of Karnes' change of mind, but withheld that information in order to maintain the appearance of a war hero and shining example. So that this does not change, Blair and Maniac are therefore also sworn to secrecy.
3	-	The Most Delicate Instrument	Oct 5, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Shari Goodhartz
Tolwyn assigns the cadets to a standard patrol in an asteroid field. But before the pilots can take off, the "Tiger's Claw" is attacked by Kilrathi fighters, who can only be repulsed with difficulty. The pilots Blair, Maniac, Lindsay “Payback” Price and Allen “Blizzard” Goetz come into the sphere of action of a so-called astro-light. Back on board, all four suffer from hallucinations that lead them to believe that Kilrathi has taken over the ship. In their paranoia, Blair and Goetz each capture a Broadsword bomber with which they want to destroy the "Tiger's Claw" so that it does not fall into the hands of the enemy. Archer and another cadet pursue the two in interceptors. While Blair comes to his senses in time, Goetz prepares to launch a torpedo on the carrier ship. Archer, who had only recently confessed his love to Goetz, is forced to shoot him down to save the ship.
4th	-	Word of Honor	Oct 12, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Richard Mueller
Blair is sent on a flight inspection with Hector "Grunt" Paz to check the area for Kilrathi presence. However, nobody knows that Grunt sustained a serious injury while serving as a Marine during a Kilrathi attack in trench warfare on Repleetah. Because of this injury, he was no longer admitted to the service because his motor skills are impaired. Although it is always to be feared that paralysis could occur in extreme stressful situations, Grunt hides this ailment and signed up for pilot service. When he and Maverick are actually attacked by Kilrathi hunters while on patrol, his old ailment comes back to life.
5	-	Lords of the Sky	Oct 19, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Matthew Edens
To investigate the unusually high Kilrathi presence in the sector, the "Tiger's Claw" enters the Dioscuri system. Tolwyn instructs Blair, Maniac, and Grunt to carefully examine the second planet for possible evidence of Kilrathi. The planet is considered to be inhabited only by primitive inhabitants. During their atmospheric reconnaissance flight, however, the three pilots are suddenly attacked by a strong formation of Kilrathi ships. Blair and Maniac strand on the surface and are captured by the indigenous people, Grunt escapes into space. When Blair and Maniac are tied up in a temple of the indigenous people, it turns out that they worship the Kilrathi as "Lords of the Sky". Grunt can meanwhile inform the "Tiger's Claw" about the occurrences and then returns to the planet. The Aborigines, meanwhile, hand over Maverick and Maniac to a Kilrathi troop during a sacred ceremony. It turns out that the Kilrathi armed the natives with hunters and controlled them remotely from a mountain station. Grunt is able to free Maverick and Maniac from the hands of the Kilrathi and with the help of reinforcements from the "Tiger's Claw" it is possible to destroy the Kilrathi outpost. The pilots leave the planet and leave the indigenous people to their own responsibility.
6th	-	Chain of Command	Nov 2, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Brooks Quail
Commodore Tolwyn receives an order from Admiral Rhea Bergstrom, an acquaintance from his academy days, to lure a fleet of Kilrathi ships into an ambush in the nearby Setti-Beta system. Tolwyn only reluctantly carries out the orders, as the plan seems too risky to him. In fact, on Prince Trakath's orders, the ambush system hides a second Kilrathi fleet that completely destroys Admiral Bergstrom's units. The pilots of the "Tiger's Claw" can only bring some survivors to safety in escape pods, including Admiral Bergstrom. The "Tiger's Claw", now trapped between superior armed forces, tries by a desperate collision course to break through the blockade of the saving jump gate by Prince Trakath's flagship. Only at the last moment does Trakath order the evasive maneuver and thus enable the “Tiger's Claw” to escape.
7th	-	Expendable	Nov 9, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Ted Pederson, Francis Moss
Blair and Price are sent on a scouting flight through the jump gate of a pulsar to scout the target point of the jump gate. Despite the instruction at the target point to avoid any contact with the enemy and to return as quickly as possible, Price engages in a firefight with the Kilrathi and loses her Broadsword bomber in a battle against a Kilrathi top pilot. Blair can rescue Price, who is drifting in space, but when he breaks through to the jump gate, his hunter is severely damaged and his life support systems are affected. There are also a number of enemy fighters on their heels. The return succeeds, but Blair and Price are incapacitated due to a lack of oxygen supply. The approaching enemy hunters are meanwhile awaited and intercepted by the hunter associations of the "Tiger's Claw", Blair and Price are rescued and brought back to the mother ship.
8th	-	Recreation	Nov 16, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Matthew Edens
The "Tiger's Claw" receives an emergency call from an ambulance. Blair, Maniac, and several other comrades are sent to secure and escort the ship. When they arrived at their destination, they found the ship largely destroyed. While Blair follows an unknown energy signature, Maniac is supposed to watch out for the wreck, on which signs of life point to survivors. The situation turns out to be a trap for the Kilrathi. A hijacked Terran transporter sends a line of fighters towards Blair and his colleagues, while a hitherto hidden Kilrathi corvette is on course to attack the hospital ship. Maniac can prevent the Kilrathi from destroying the ship with missiles, but has to give up his hunter and seeks refuge on the ambulance. The Kilrathi send a boarding party to kill the survivors, but with an improvised plan, Maniac and the remaining crew manage to destroy the Kilrathi. During the same period, a number of Terran hunters controlled by Kilrathi reached the "Tiger's Claw" and tried to destroy it. It takes a lot of effort to fend off the opponents. Archer, who has suffered from serious doubts in combat since Goetz was forced to be shot down, briefly overcomes her inhibitions and saves the "Tiger's Claw" from being shot down.
9	-	Walking Wounded	Nov 23, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Ralph Sanchez
Price, Archer and Maniac find Kilrathi on patrol with an escape pod in tow, which they bring to the bottom of the "Tiger's Claw". In the escape pod they find an enigmatic, cryostasis-placed space viking. When the "Tiger's Claw" reaches the planet Oasis, the stranger awakens from his stasis and uses his superior powers to force Blair to bring him to the planet. He hopes to find a powerful sphere there with which he can restore his destroyed home planet. In fact, the sphere protects the planet and its peaceful inhabitants from the normally deadly radiation from their sun. The Kilrathi are also on the lookout for them to use as a weapon. A fight ensues between the cadets of the "Tiger's Claw", the Kilrathi and the stranger. The Kilrathi are repulsed and Blair and Archer are finally able to convince the stranger to leave the Sphere behind and thus save the planet from the otherwise inevitable destruction.
10	-	On Both Your Houses	Nov. 30, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Shari Goodhartz
Blair, Maniac and Archer, still struggling with their launch problem, fly patrol to the planet Greenhouse, which houses a hidden Terran research station. They intercept a group of Kilrathi hunters over the planet, but one Kilrathi manages to escape in time. In search of the survivor, the pilots also inspect the research station and make the acquaintance of the attractive director Dr. Bronwyn Sing. Blair and Maniac quickly become engulfed by the researcher's charms. But it is becoming increasingly obvious that the research idyll is deceptive. Sing's goal is to develop a killer virus that will wipe out all Kilrathi. Sing infects the surviving Kilrathi and gives him the opportunity to escape with Maniac's hunters. In doing so, she knowingly risks a possible bioweapon counter-attack by the Kilrathi. Archer pursues the fugitive and tries to get him to stop his escape. But he doesn't believe her words about a virus and Archer reluctantly only has the option to shoot him down. Your already great bitterness about the war only increases.
11	-	Invisible Enemy	Dec 7, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Richard Mueller
Maniac and his wing pilot Easy unknowingly come across a test flight of a new Kilrathi secret weapon, a camouflaged fighter, during a patrol flight. While Maniac is involved in a battle with a regular Kilrathi battleship, the tarn hunter destroys Easy's ship. The perplexed maniac, followed unnoticed by his camouflaged opponent, returns to the "Tiger's Claw" and thereby reveals the location of the carrier ship and its convoys. With a large number of support ships, the Kilrathi attack the formation for the purpose of a further test of the camouflage technology. Unnoticed by the interceptors under Blair's command, the stealth fighter succeeds in severely damaging the transport ship "Suffolk" and returns to its mother ship for analysis. Blair is accused of neglecting to protect the convoy after the Tolwyn skirmish and is therefore released from flight duty. However, Blair suspects that the Kilrathi have developed a stealth prototype and takes the maniac, which is also released, on an unauthorized reconnaissance flight. When the camouflage hunter actually visits the position of the convoy one more time to destroy the "Tiger's Claw", Blair and Maniac manage to confront the enemy and force them to self-destruct.
12	-	Price of Victory	Dec 14, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Steve Cuden
During a patrol flight, Blair is shot down and has to make an emergency landing on an ice planet. While the "Tiger's Claw" searches for the location of the enemy carrier ship, Blair has to flee from Kilrathi search parties on the planet. He comes across the Kilrathi Boc nar Ragitagah. He wants to defer to the Terrans because he is not ready to swear unconditional obedience to the death together with his clan Prince Trakath in an upcoming ceremony and thus to give up his clan identity. He asks Blair to rendezvous with the "Tiger's Claw" and helps him escape. But Tolwyn suspects a trick and instead gives Blair the order to destroy the carrier of Boc's clan. Disappointed by Blair's dishonorable behavior, Boc is also killed in the attack. While Blair reproaches himself for breaking his word with the Kilrathi, Tolwyn is delighted at the chance that Boc's confidently given information about the impending blood oath for a Confederation attack.
13	-	Glory of Sivar	Dec 21, 1996	-	Mark Edward Edens, Michael Edens
On the planet Dolos, preparations are underway for the clans' blood oath against Prince Trakath. The "Tiger's Claw" jumps into the system to prevent this and to free the inhabitants of the planet from the yoke of Kilrathi rule. Blair and Grunt are sent to the heavily guarded planet as a raiding party in a hijacked Kilrath Hunter to contact the residents and incite them to revolt. Secretly, however, both are considered pawn sacrifices in Tolwyn's plan of attack, just as the “Tiger's Claw” and its crew were described by the Confederation staff as dispensable to Tolwyn. As expected by Tolwyn, Grunt and Blair are captured during the operation and give the Kilrathi the never seriously pursued landing plans of the "Tiger's Claw". While the Kilrathi set up an ambush for the alleged landing command, Trakath's flagship is Tolwyn's actual target. The attack succeeds, albeit with great losses. During the attack, Blair and Grunt, who were held captive on board, can free themselves and also steer the spaceship, which is falling on the planet, into the pyramid built for the ceremony, before leaving it with an escape pod. The Kilrathi are morally hit so badly by the defeat that they withdraw from the system. At a memorial service for the fallen, Tolwyn thanks the surviving cadets for their sacrifice. He awards Blair the Wing Commander badge of the best of the year pilot. But Blair, deeply disappointed in Tolwyn's lies and his willing sacrifice of life for an uncertain prospect of Trakath's death, refuses the award and throws it into space.

Web links

• Wing Commander Academy in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Wing Commander News: Wing Commander Academy . Extensive archive for the cartoon series and the entire Wing Commander series.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Electronic Arts : Electronic Arts Origin Inspired Wing Commander Academy Cartoon Series Premieres Saturday; Universal Cartoon Studios' Production Debuts on USA Network. ( English ) In: Press release . The Free Library. September 20, 1996. Retrieved May 4, 2012.
2. ↑ Frank Cifaldi: This Day in History: Wing Commander Gets Animated ( English ) In: 1UP . UGO . May 14, 2010. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved on April 7, 2012.
3. ↑ David Lambert: Wing Commander Academy - 'The Complete Series' DVDs Scheduled for USA, and MAY Be Delayed in Canada ( English ) In: TV Shows on DVD . January 13, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
4. ↑ Ben "LOAF" Lesnick: Saga of the Warrior King ( English ) In: Wing Commander News . January 7, 2004. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
5. ↑ IMDb : Warrior King (Character) , last accessed on May 5, 2012.
6. ^ Markus Krichel: Wing Commander: Prophecy - Alien Invasion . (Article scan) In: PC Games . No. 08/1997, August 1997, pp. 20-24.
7. ↑ Richard Cobbett: Saturday Crapshoot: Wing Commander Academy ( English ) In: PC Gamer . Future Publishing . April 16, 2011. Retrieved May 4, 2012.