Captain Planet and the Planeteers is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Cassandra Schafausen. The series was produced by Turner Program Services and DIC Enterprises and United States broadcast on TBS from September 15, 1990, to December 5, 1992, and United Kingdom broadcast on TV-am from 1991, to 1992, GMTV from 1993, to 1996, And Cartoon Network from 1994, to 1999. A sequel series, The New Adventures of Captain Planet, was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc., distributed by Turner Program Services and United States broadcast from September 11, 1993, to May 11, 1996. Both series continue today in syndication. The program is a form of edutainment and advocates environmentalism and is known for having a number of famous actors providing voices for the villains. The show spawned a franchise consisting of a charity, and video games.
Plot
Our world is in peril. Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, can no longer stand the terrible destruction plaguing our planet. She sends five magic rings to five special young people: Kwame, from Africa, with the power of Earth... From North America, Wheeler, with the power of Fire... From Eastern Europe, Linka, with the power of Wind. From Asia, Gi, with the power of Water... and from South America, Ma-Ti, with the power of Heart. When the five powers combine, they summon Earth's greatest champion, Captain Planet. The power is yours!
— Opening Narration
Every episode is followed up with at least one "Planeteer Alert" clip, often connected to the plot, where environmental-political and other social-political issues are discussed and how the viewer can contribute and be part of "the solution" rather than "the pollution".
Characters
Gaia
Gaia (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg in seasons 1-3, Margot Kidder in seasons 4-6), is the spirit of the planet who sends five magic rings – four with the power to control an element of nature and one controlling the element of Heart – to five chosen youths across the globe. She claims to have been asleep for the entire 20th Century and awoken to see a more polluted world than when she was last awake, however this is contradicted by a flashback episode set in the 1920s in which people get guidance from Gaia. Her appearance seems to be a mixture of attractive women of all races, and is often seen as an intangible spirit. However, in cases of serious problems, Gaia gains corporeal form, which puts her in danger of death. In the two-part episode "Summit to Save Earth" where her rival Zarm had defeated her, Gaia was shown as an old, frail woman, with Zarm explaining that given the Earth's several billion years of existence, it would make sense for Gaia to be superannuated in appearance.
Captain Planet
In situations that the Planeteers cannot resolve alone, they can combine their planetary powers to summon the titular Captain Planet (voiced by David Coburn), who is Ma-Ti's magnified heart power in the form of a male blue-skinned superhero avatar with green mullet, possessing all of the other Planeteers' amplified powers. Once his work is done, Captain Planet returns to the planet, and leaves viewers with the message: "The power is yours!" Typically, Planet only manifests to deal with the bigger crisis and then departs, but a few storylines have explored him existing beyond these moments, such as when he was summoned while Kwame and Ma-Ti were in space, with the result that the energy from their rings that created Planet could not return to its source, resulting in Planet being forced to operate on a human level, such as requiring a crowbar and handcuff keys to rescue the rest of the team.
Planeteers
The Planeteers are tasked with helping defend the planet from environmental disasters and making efforts to educate humankind to keep others from happening. In the beginning of the episodes, Gaia uses her "Planet Vision" in the Crystal Chamber to discover where the most devastating destruction is occurring (in most episodes one or more of the Eco-Villains is behind it) and sends the Planeteers to help solve the problem. The Planeteers use transportation (usually a flying machine called a Geo-Cruiser) based on solar power to avoid causing pollution themselves.
• Kwame (voiced by LeVar Burton) – Hailing from Africa, Kwame possesses the power of earth.
• Wheeler (voiced by Joey Dedio) – From Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Wheeler controls the power of fire.
• Linka (voiced by Kath Soucie) – From the Soviet Union (Seasons 1 and 2) and Eastern Europe (Seasons 3-6), Linka has the power of wind.
• Gi (voiced by Janice Kawaye) – Hailing from Asia, Gi controls the power of water.
• Ma-Ti (voiced by Scott Menville) – From Brazil, Ma-Ti wields the power of heart.
• Suchi (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – Ma-Ti's pet spider monkey.
Villains
Eco-Villains
The Eco-Villains are a small group of antagonists who cause danger to the planet through pollution, deforestation, poaching, and other environmentally unsafe activities. They enjoy the destruction they cause to the planet and the harm they bring to obtain wealth, land, or power. The Eco-Villains tend to work alone most of the time, although they're willing to work with one another when it suits their plans. When the Eco-Villains are defeated by Captain Planet and the Planeteers, they would mostly be arrested by the authorities. Only in the two-part episode "Summit to Save Earth" did the entire ensemble of Eco-Villains work as a team with Zarm as the leader. Each of these villains represents a specific way of thought that can cause ecological problems.
• Hoggish Greedly (voiced by Ed Asner) – A pig-like human who represents the dangers of overconsumption and greed, Hoggish is the first villain Captain Planet and the Planeteers encounter. In the episode "Smog Hog", it's revealed Hoggish has a son named Hoggish Greedly Jr. (voiced by Charlie Schlatter) who appears only once and had gotten affected by his polluting Road Hog plot. Because of this, Greedly had to work with Captain Planet to save his son's life. In the episode "Hog Tide," it is revealed that he has a grandfather named Don Porkaloin (portrayed as a parody of Vito Corleone from The Godfather and also voiced by Ed Asner) who in the past was defeated by another group of Planeteers. Unlike Hoggish Greedly, Porkaloin became environmentally friendly as shown in the episode "The Ghost of Porkaloin Past".:
