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Captain Planet: Parody and kitsch
Nick Boxer talks about a comic book that once did a Captain Planet parody in this exclusive behind-the-scenes video. (Meredith Darlington/MNN and Mike Lindsay/MNN)
 
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Nick Boxer: There was a show that came out right around the same time that we did called Toxic Crusader, which was a spin-off of the movie Toxic Avenger, or the comic book Toxic Avenger, and then they made movies out of it. But I don’t think they really focused on sort of the science and the issues nearly as much as we did, although in their comic book — we both had comic books — and they made a great, they did a great parody of Captain Planet and the Planeteers.  It was Corporal Globe and the Globeteers, and they had these powers, and they were like — I forget what the first four, but I remember they replaced Heart, like, they had a character, it was like, Ma-Ti, and they replaced his power. His power was Coochi- Coo. So they sort of just mocked Captain Planet, but we decided that, still, that was the sincerest form of flattery, the fact that they, you know, were so focused on us that — it was a sign of success. And I sort of feel that Captain Planet has over the years had various renaissances, and it’s like, I feel like that in some ways going forward they can have that again in the same way, you know, Speed Racer. I think that, you know, at a certain point, as it goes further and further away, it becomes sort of more and more kitsch. You know, and obviously Captain Planet was very corny in a lot of ways, very tongue-in-cheek, sometimes badly done, sometimes over the top in terms of the corniness, but that was sort of — you got one shot. You didn’t have that much opportunity, you know, once you create a genre and a mythology, you’ve kind of got to stick with it and just try and do it better and better as you go along.
 

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goraxthegreat's picture
Gorax Jan 19 2010 at 11:56 PM
It's amazing how many people know about this show even though it hasn't aired much since the mid 90's (it hasn't here, anyway.) As silly as this sounds, I think the corniness, gaping plot holes, impossible science, and general so-bad-it's-good attribute is one of the reasons why Captain Planet has stuck around for so long. Sure, people make fun of it a lot--but that means they still talk about it :P I think Captain Planet could be brought back, if done properly. The story re-done with a darker, futuristic,
.... More
and somewhat Orwellian setting would work quite well. Combined with a pro-freedom theme (as well as pro-environmental), science that makes sense, and action, you'd have a recipe for asskickery. I think MNN.com is making a mistake by aiming these CP episodes/exclusives at young children and their parents only. My interest in this show has only been rekindled recently and, after searching the Interwebz for a while, noticed that the two main groups of people who still mention Captain Planet are 1) people in their mid/late 20's who used to watch the show as kids, and 2) Internet hooligans. [RANT] I might as well say this now, too: the main thing that annoys me with the Captain Planet series is how it's laced with pro-government propaganda. Then CP turns around and says "The power is YOURS!" ...WTF? If I were to use said power to be eco-friendly and, say put some solar panels on my house to save energy, some government official would come along and I'd get in trouble for not having the proper permits (and if I had the permits, my property tax would go up. Some incentive.) I'd like to see the Planeteers defend the owners of an sustainable house while they're being harassed by government because they didn't have "permission" to build. I'd like to see the Planeteers help a land owner who's about to get bumped off his 1000-acre land because the State wants to build a road there. I'd like to see the Planeteers stick up for some village somewhere that is being occupied by "foreign invaders". Basically, I'd like to see the Planeteers fight for individual freedoms as well as for the environment, because these days it seems that the power is yours only if you're willing to go to jail for using it. I don't believe in this "write to your head of state if you want something changed" garbage. Change the message of the series a bit, and it would teach people about how politics and Leviathan governments fuck everything up, environment included. Want the environment to look nice? Let it be privately owned, so that people who own it have incentive to keep it looking nice. Want more "green" products? Get rid of the BS regulations and licenses so that more upstart companies and innovations can see the light of day. [/RANT] Naturally, if the Planeteers (and their magical powers) went against Big Gov, they'd be labelled as "terrorists". Wouldn't that make an interesting story? :D Oh, and Cap needs to lose the mullet, too. And utter less bad puns. I don't know why I'm still writing. Odds are that not many people will read this. Still, I can dream!
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