Talk:Captain Planet and the Planeteers

Deleting the trivia item: "A year after the show’s debut, New Line produced the Toxic Crusaders cartoon, based on the Toxic Avenger movies. Likely influenced by (or designed to be competitive with) Captain Planet, the cartoon carried an ecological theme and polluting villains not seen in the movies."

This is blatantly untrue. Toxxic Cruesaders is based on a film called "the Toxic Avenger." In the book "Everything I Need To Know About Filmmaking I Learned From The Toxic Avenger" Lloyd Kaufman explains that the basis for the animated series was pollution in new york city, not to compete with Captain Planet. In fact, the character of toxie was created five years before the captain planet series.

I changed Soviet Union back to Russia. It specifically says 'Russia' in the opening of the show. DryGrain 15:21, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

I support this change. Derrick Coetzee 17:41, 14 May 2004 (UTC)

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the opening says "Eastern Europe". THe term Russia was never used in the opening. -Sketchee 23:16, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC)

Many of the things on "Captain Planet" are repeated twice in the article, in the Story section and the section after that. I suggest that be changed. 24.76.141.128 23:08, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Multiple Descriptions of Captain Planet

The two descriptions of the character Captain Planet are as follows. Rather than simply choosing one of them, I recomend that we combine the two, taking the positives of both descriptions.

1. In situations that the planeteers could not handle on their own, they could combine their powers to summon Captain Planet, who possesses all of their powers magnified, symbolizing that the combined efforts of a team are stronger than its individual parts. Captain Planet is humanoid in structure, his skin sky-blue and his hair grass-green. He wears red gloves, boots, trunks, and epaulets, with a sunshine yellow globe on his chest. (These are actually a composite of the materials that compose him and not actual clothes.)

Despite his vulnerability to pollution, Captain Planet is a formidable and valiant hero. Once his work is done, Captain Planet returns to the earth, restoring the planeteers' powers. When he does this, he always says "The power is yours", which has become his catchphrase.

2. As a final twist, if all of the Planeteers are present the powers of the rings can be combined to summon a flying humanoid creature of the earth called Captain Planet. Captain Planet has superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and a seemingly endless supply of puns and cliches. He resolves most conflicts, but is vulnerable to pollution and can only act within his jurisdiction, which ends in the stratosphere. The rings can not be used while he is active, and when he is done he returns to the earth to restore his quickly expended power. Whenever he is summoned, he always utters the catch phrase, "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!" Conversely, before returning to the earth, his last words are always, "The power is yours!", echoing the message of the series.

Agreed. Deco 04:48, 16 August 2005 (UTC)

Time Planeteer?

I seem to remember an episode in which a youth from the future playing a virtual reality game was somehow transported back to the time of the planeteers. After assisting them in a mission, he was returned to his time, and had found he acquired a ring possessing the power of Time, making him a sixth planeteer. Is it possible this could be mentioned in the section introducting the planeteers?

- No. While he is given a ring at the end, this ring is never stated to actually do anything. It may have been a symbolic piece rather than functional. There was no "Planeteer of Time" mentioned. Also, while many people in the series, especially kids, were given the status of "Planeteer" by the team, this was an honorary title- these people were never given rings.

I HAVE heard rumors that he was going to become a sixth Planeteer with the power of Time later on, but the show ended up going off the air before they made that script. Just a rumor, nothing verifiable enough to put in the article. Thanos6 07:18, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Speaking of a sixth planeteer with the power of time, did anyone see that episode summary on tv.com? "The Conquerer" or so it's called. I'm pretty sure it;s bogus because I've never seen or heard of the episode (or this planeteer) prior to seeing the tv.com page, and a google search doesn't bring anything up.--Claude 07:38, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Ok. I think you guys need some history lessons. "The Conquerer" is the first time Zarm shows up. As

for "Gorillas Will Be Missed", I think that ring was the Earth Ring. Just my 2 cents. (Dr. Thinker)

Merge needed?

There has been discussion that Batman: The Animated Series article should be merged with The New Batman Adventures one, since the latter show is considered truely an extention of the old series. Since those two series are being put up for merging -- and since The New Adventures of Captain Planet article is a stub -- I thought is time to merge this article along w/ The New Adventures of Captain Planet article. Do any of you agree on this, Yes or No? --Roadrunner3000 16:35, 28 October 2005 (UTC)

I think The New Adventures of Captain Planet should definitely be merged into this article. Deco 01:02, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

Toys

I've added a section for the Tiger toys action figure line. I do not have a complete list of what was made, however. Should the known toys be listed anyway? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.162.192.39 (talk • contribs) 06:31, December 12, 2005 (UTC).

Welcome! You should cite sources, so perhaps do a Google search with the ones you do know to try to find a page listing those you don't, too. --AySz88^-^ 19:16, 12 December 2005 (UTC)

I added a link to a heavily-incomplete toy photo gallery, for now. Though I do plan to photograph my own collection soon. Likely after I order another batch from a site that's provided me with a number of items in the past. Individual toys could be listed, either as a separate article covering them, or added to the separate character pages.

I posted soemthing about inetrnational variations... I own a second sculpt Duke Nukem in his Hawaiian shirt, all evidence I've found was that it was a European exclusive. Not that Kenner didn't have the resources to tool their own toys if they wanted.

I also added in a short paragraph on Commander Clash, which could probably stand to be spun off into a larger page with more info. I think a page needs to be done for the Planeteer's vehicles, too.

Conservative criticism

I tried to edit the criticism section so that it had a more NPOV. I notice that the "In defense" section also suffers from perhaps much worse POV problems, to the point where it seems like the section is carrying out a debate with the previous section instead of neutrally presenting opposing viewpoints. If someone has the time, could he or she try to improve this section? Thanks so much. -- Tim Dean 04:08, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree. I took a crack at this already but found it difficult – I think the real issue is that currently it's all hearsay with no specific sources. Some real quotes from notable people would do wonders for the section I think. I'm sure Turner himself must have defended the show against its critics in writing at some point. Deco 05:06, 20 December 2005 (UTC)

You know, half of this stuff IS on the official website... or just watch the show(which many of its detractors often fail to do before attacking it). The network censoring of Spider-Man is also common kowledge- no one on the show threw a punch and all guns were lasers which never injured the select few targets that did actually get hit. Nevermind that a lot of the criticism pages out there seem to be written from a white nationalist standpoint. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.162.192.39 (talk • contribs) 09:33, December 22, 2005 (UTC).

This page is for discussing the article, meaning that discussion about the subject of the article itself is usually offtopic. Please refrain from going offtopic; that sort of discussion can be conducted on websites specifically about Captain Planet. Thanks! --AySz88^-^ 23:10, 22 December 2005 (UTC)

I think you're right in this case, but note that it is reasonable to discuss the subject in order to reach a consensus about which content should be added and which is inaccurate or immaterial. Deco 01:53, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Overall, the POV of the criticism is a bit out of kilter with the rest of the article. I agree that a discussion of both sides of the political debate over the content of the show should be added, but the current "In Defense" section should be overhauled completely as it is rife with POV issues, though the general scope should probably be inserted into the "Conservative criticism" section in an NPOV fashion. - RPIRED 19:49, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Fine, YOU fix it, if you even want to take time out to do research or watch the show. Problem with you Wikipedia hardcore members, you try to mask your own opinions as "neutral" and blame everyone else. I've had enough arguments with those morons at the Gamecube page who wish to keep certain facts off their pages, I'm not playing this game. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 206.162.192.39 (talk • contribs) .

Please read the NPOV policy - we describe both sides of the debate, and we don't say which side is right or wrong. This also means the debate has to be pre-existing from somewhere else, cited - don't insert your own views or try to argue against something yourself, as that's not the point of this project. --AySz88^-^ 17:51, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

For later reference, the section in this edit was removed because it seems to be original research. --AySz88^-^ 02:26, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Ergh, sorry, I reversed the diffs. If there is a citable refutation of criticism, though, they still should be included in the article. --AySz88^-^ 07:07, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

POV

The POV rant is remved. It's conceded it's not neutral and is POV, stop adding it. I was going to work on the Verminous Skumm and Sly Sludge pages, but now, no... you do it if you're not too lazy.

Villians and motives

The Captain Planet villians are commonly criticised for having extremely simplistic or nonexistent motives; they're either incredibly oversimplified [three of them only have 'greed' as a motive and often go far beyond anything that would actually make them money in order to damage the environment, another just gets 'insanity' in the motive box] or their motive is completely outside reality [they're evil spirits / radioactive mutants / etc]. This is comparable to the average bad guy who's the bad guy because it's his job [Dick Dastardly, Skeletor, Mumm-Ra, Cobra Commander et al] but doesn't help the show's value as education any; the real people who actually do damage the environment and pollute do so for far more complex reasons, and even staunch environmentalists have argued that Captain Planet's painting of polluters as evil psychopathic monsters instead of human beings was counter-productive. Compare them instead to a character like Cyril Sneer in The Raccoons.

One of the reviews on Jumptheshark says it best: "It paints the problem of environmental pollution into black and white. Seriously, do you think CEOs of major corporations sit around rubbing their hands and cackling as they press buttons that dump thousands of gallons of oil into the sea JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN? This glosses over the real cause of environmental damage: greed, ignorance and apathy. Vilifying corporations so cartoonishly teaches kids NOTHING." Hrimfaxi 06:37, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Personally, I always felt that most of the villains just polluted as a side-effect of their main goals (money, science, whatever) and didn't start actively polluting out of spite until the Planeteers kicked them around a bit...

Should we go into a villain-by-villain discussion about the motives of each of the seven? Thanos6 07:15, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

The general point here is that by presenting the villians of the show as 'supervillains' instead of regular people, Captain Planet skipped over the idea that anyone who polluted was a human being, instead presenting them as hugely exaggerated freaks and lunatics for the superhero to defeat. That makes sense for a superhero show, but it doesn't help to educate the viewers why real-life people who aren't supervillians pollute or destroy the environment.

This criticism appears commonly; it's repeated by numerous viewers on both Jumptheshark[1] and the IMDB's user comments listing[2]; either the villians are not human and their motives irrelevant to real-life situations, or their motive is so exaggerated and overly cartoonish they are impossible to relate to. Hrimfaxi 07:28, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, the E-Vs are certainly supervillains, no argument there; but I know there were also plenty of "one-shot" 'villains' who polluted mainly out of apathy or ignorance. Thanos6 07:40, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but they're seldom memorable and often in the employ of the supervillians anyway. In the vast majority of episodes we get this naive message painted that environmental destruction happens because Someone Really Bad does it, and if you stop them it'll stop. The fact that everyone contributes to it, from CEO to the kid unwrapping his plastic Captain Planet Action Figure, never gets a look in. Just villians and good guys. Hrimfaxi 07:49, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

"Of important note is that the Eco-Villains were all depicted as intelligent, their plans typically solid and their defeat usually as a result of Captain Planet's powers. This is in a rather stark contrast to many cartoon villains, who are usually depicted as two-dimensionally evil and often stupid." explain delete here? I've read this thread.

The only comments I've ever heard on the subject lampoon the eco-villians as stupid, I've never heard a claim they were intelligent with clear and realistic motives. It's a difficult claim to make: Veminous Skumm wanted to make the world into a hive of Skaven, Duke Nukem was a radioactive mutant who wanted to make the world more radioactive for his radioactive mutant...ness and Zarm was an Evil Gaia.

More to the point, the official site claims the eco villians were 'buffoonish in character' [3] [third paragraph] and that the series producers didn't want the villians to seem to have realistic motives; instead they were 'intentionally exaggerated' because 'Given the fact that we dealt not only with real-life issues, but also with children, our challenge lay in the concern that children might come to the conclusion that if their parents worked in a polluting industry, they were somehow villainous' [4]. Hrimfaxi 04:10, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

It was compared to 'other cartoon villins'. Not an actual 'villin' with 'real motives' in 'todays society'. Oogles 04:18, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Again, address this proposed deletion: "Of important note is that the Eco-Villains were all depicted as intelligent, their plans typically solid and their defeat usually as a result of Captain Planet's powers. This is in a rather stark contrast to many cartoon villains, who are usually depicted as two-dimensionally evil and often stupid". I would be up for removing 'intelligent' from this, though compared to typical cartoon villins they absolutely are. Oogles 04:30, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Addressed. They are described as buffoonish in the show's own official website, so describing them as intelligent with solid plans contradicts the official statement on the subject. The links above to imdb and jumptheshark, while not usable as sources in the article, also demonstrate the existence of criticism based on the villians being two-dimensional and having poor or unrealistic plans, directly contradicting the article. You cannot say it is 'of important note' when there is so much disagreement over whether it's true at all.

Also of note: the 'anti-American' criticism definately exists, as a search on google returns 44,000 hits with "Captain Planet" + Anti American Hrimfaxi 04:38, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I would also note that the term used for such villians is typically one-dimensional, because I'm really pedantic. >.< Hrimfaxi 04:42, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

"Captain Planet" + "Sex" returns 147,000 hits. What exactly does that demonstrate? Nothing. If you want to provide specific anti-american commentary from a group of people that's fine - source it. Let us revisit was actually removed. First, you removed it was an American television program. What country program is it? Are you suggesting austrialia made it? Oogles 04:45, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

I see you changed that - So we're agreed it is an American television program. How about this: "Of important note is that the Eco-Villains were all depicted as intelligent, their plans typically solid and their defeat usually as a result of Captain Planet's powers. This is in a rather stark contrast to many cartoon villains, who are usually depicted as two-dimensionally evil and often stupid". I would be willing to say "Of important note is that the Eco-Villains all had plans typically solid and their defeat usually as a result of Captain Planet's powers. This is in a rather stark contrast to many other cartoon villains, who are usually depicted as two-demensionally evil and often extremely stupid" (And tell me what in EITHER QUOTE has to do with "Anti-American" or "Pro-American" concepts) Oogles 05:04, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Hee, got an edit cinflict from your adding that, reproducing what I had to say to your previous comment:

No, I would have suggested the combination of removing 'anti-american criticism' plus adding it was an 'American' animated series seemed to be attempting to rebut the idea the show could be anti-american because it was american. Having checked through a number of other animated series articles on the subject, they all seem to be structured like that, and I no longer contest the inclusion of that and have edited it back in.

Google searches can normally be used to demonstrate a point exists; you have probably just discovered that there's such a thing as Captain Planet slash fanfiction <shivers>, and such a search would also include that Captain Planet included some issues of sex [such as contraception to prevent overpopulation] in its run. If you combine the google search result with the indisputable fact that a number of the eco-villians were Americans and the comments on Jumptheshark and Imdb, it's obvious that the comment that the show was criticised for being anti-American belongs here; it very clearly was. NPOV demands that common criticism be included even if we personally believe it to be unfair or incorrect, that's why the Holocaust article has a section on Holocaust-deniers. Though if you can find any official rebuttal to the claim CP was anti-American [I'm checking the official site] you're free to bring it up.

Regarding your suggestion, you'd have to clarify it as an opinion held by some rather than a fact; possibly adding it in after the first 'General' section that '...while some criticise the villians on this basis, others saw their plans as relatively solid compared to those of other cartoon villians such as Dick Dastardly, Megatron, Cobra Commander or Mumm-Ra.'

Also worth pointing out is that there was some criticism about villians being defeated by Captain Planet's powers, though it's a rare view; some environmentists were worried that while an adult would see Captain Planet represented the value of teamwork, a child may see it and believe that environmental problems are impossible to solve without the intervention of a higher power. Not sure that's common enough to be worthy of inclusion, though. Hrimfaxi 05:09, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

And you discovered there exists "Captain Planet" and "Anti" and "American" (based on what you said your google was on) - again, BOTH our positions are totally irrelevent as far as google searches. your anti american ones and my sex ones. (Hey, Dirty mind). I really don't know (or care) what bearing this has on anything. I'm talking about the captain planet cartoon. And I'm talking about this removal you made: "Of important note is that the Eco-Villains were all depicted as intelligent, their plans typically solid and their defeat usually as a result of Captain Planet's powers. This is in a rather stark contrast to many cartoon villains, who are usually depicted as two-dimensionally evil and often stupid".Oogles 05:19, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Ok, let's look at the results' summary text, from just the first page, excluding this article itself:

• Captain Planet and the Planeteers - Cast, Crew, Reviews, Plot Summary, ... The show is clearly anti-American, as a good portion of the villains are American ...

• Reference.com free online encyclopedia article for Captain Planet and the ... The show has been characterized as anti-American, as a good portion of the ...

• Captain Planet and the Planeteers The logo showing Captain Planet and the ... and free market conservatives as being anti-American and promoting socialism. ...

• Encyclopedia subject: 'Captain Planet and the Planeteers' ... The show has been characterized as anti-American, Exception Handler: No article summary ...

• But those who paint all industry this way are a waste of time, forever trapped in a left-wing, anti-American "Captain Planet" episode. ...

It's just silly to claim that this only shows 'Captain Planet' and 'Anti-American' exist on the same pages.

And I addressed that above, fourth paragraph. Has to be noted to be an opinion, not shown as a fact. Hrimfaxi 05:28, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Again - My issue is not anti-american. Expand on that elsewhere if you like. My issue is on your deletion of the following: "Of important note is that the Eco-Villains were all depicted as intelligent, their plans typically solid and their defeat usually as a result of Captain Planet's powers. This is in a rather stark contrast to many cartoon villains, who are usually depicted as two-dimensionally evil and often stupid". Feel free to continue on your diatribe or agenda, but adress the factuality of that (or my proposed compromise) compared to other cartoons. Oogles 05:36, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

For the second time, I pointed that out two replies ago in the fouth paragraph:

Regarding your suggestion, you'd have to clarify it as an opinion held by some rather than a fact; possibly adding it in after the first 'General' section that '...while some criticise the villians on this basis, others saw their plans as relatively solid compared to those of other cartoon villians such as Dick Dastardly, Megatron, Cobra Commander or Mumm-Ra.'

As you continued your discussion about the google result, I assumed you were still contesting that section. If you're not, nevermind. As I said above regarding opinions on the villians, the view is equally common that the Captain Planet bad guys came up with silly plots and the official website calims they were 'buffoonish' rather than intelligent as this section claims. Therefore, the deleted section doesn't belong being stated as if it is factual in the 'villians' section, but rather as a counterpoint in the social criticism / general section to the first stated criticism. I suggested it be phrased as above. Hrimfaxi 05:42, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Regarding Google, No, I have no doubt you can google on lots of things. Regardless either way I fail to see it's relevance as to what was deleted as far as an "Captain Planet" + anti + american google (or my "Captain Planet" + "sex" google). If there is or is not anti american junk going on in the american cartoon, created by americans and broadcast by americans, well, that's neither here nor there. Most vllins in Captain planet involved doing something to the environment. Such as chopping down the rainforests. They weren't doing this to HURT captain planet, but he did come to the rescue. Ok. Lets compare that to megatron - as Mumm-Ra suggested. Megatron might capture some robot, infect him, and send him to sabotage optimus prime. Maybe Megatron would simply just make Azrael pretend to be good. See, Megatron is always after the bad guys (to him) and usually very 1 dimensional in that, all he wants is to see them dead. However, Captain planet bad guys are usually unconcerned with captain planet - at least directly. Oogles 06:01, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. As I said, they compare relatively well to other cartoon villians [though not ones with complex motives like Cyril Sneer fron The Racoons or the first appearence of Ezekiel Rage in The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest], but it's often noted that they seemed to be out to destroy the environment for the sake of destroying the environment, particularly Zarm, Duke Nukem and Verminous Skumm, and are therefore regarded as somewhat one-dimensional. It's also often noted that their schemes either make no business sense or are so exaggerated they undermine the message they're attempting to show.

Again, saying they're 'intelligent' is highly POV since the official website says they weren't supposed to be, and the issue of whether their plans are 'solid' is contentious; some say yes, some say no, so NPOV demands we can't just have a section that says they were hovering around with no counterpoint. Also, their defeat due to Captain Planet being 'in contrast to other villians' simply isn't true; most villians are defeated by the good guys, so that section makes no sense. Hrimfaxi 06:15, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Misc.

ha ha, refering to the "Note: Heart in not an elelment" , i didn't know any of the others were really elements either. except maybe to Aristotle Bantosh 12:02 May 24, 2006

This sentence is under one of the trivia facts: "The episode dealt with gang violence, guns, and the peace messages of Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Rosa Parks, and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as their assassinations." I don't know if this sentence is just poorly worded or if it should list someone other than Rosa Parks, since she wasn't assassinated. Vic Troy 04:11, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Movie

Writer Michael Reaves penned a script for a direct-to-TV animated movie intended as a darker, re-imagined version of Captain Planet, titled Dark Planet. It was never produced.

Proof? Thanos6 03:35, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Micheal Reeves website Dr. R.K.Z

• Is it Reaves or Reeves? And where is this site?Thanos6 23:52, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Michael Reaves wrote a live action script titled "Planet" I added the information, with a link to an interview with Reaves. The information is about 3/4 of the way down the page. PureSoldier 11:21, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

This is the passage that Michael Reaves said about the movie: "Last year I wrote the script (based on a story by Nick Boxer and Mario Pilusio) for a revisionist look at Captain Planet. It was going to be a theatrical feature, called simply Planet, and it was a good 180 degrees different from the TV series. It was quite dark, set in a post-apocalyptic future, and I think it was one of my better efforts. Everyone seemed to like it, but it got lost in the shuffle when Turner and Warner Bros. merged. A pity -- I think it would've turned some heads." Please do not add any other information about the movie, unless you can cite a source.PureSoldier 03:30, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Irrelevant paragraph

I removed this:

Commander Clash was also introduced in season one. A former military commander assigned to defend a small island on his own, his superiors failed to inform him that the war had ended, leaving him alone to fight a war that was long over. During the “Mission to Save Earth” story, the Eco-Villains stole the Planeteers’ rings and dumped the Planeteers on the island, where Commander Clash determined them to be enemies. After a lengthy fight, the Planeteers ultimately convinced him to call his superiors, who then informed him the war was over. Now free of his duties, he helped the Planeteers regain their rings. He would later show up to do battle with Zarm.

As it seems to have no relationship to anything in the article. This is not the place for episode capsules. 82.92.119.11 10:29, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

German Song?

Is the german version of the song relevant at all? Dkkicks 04:45, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Go Planet!

Amovie in 2009? What has become of the world... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iowaseven (talk • contribs) 00:53, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Missing Section

What happened to, "The Sequel"? AkvoD3 16:34, 4 October 2007 (UTC)