Road Rovers

*Road Rovers*
Road Rovers
Created by	Tom Ruegger; Jeff Gordon
Written by	Tom Ruegger; Mark Seidenberg
Directed by	Herb Moore
Starring	Jess Harnell; Tress MacNeille; Jeff Bennett; Kevin Michael Richardson; Frank Welker; Joseph Campanella; Jim Cummings; Rob Paulsen; Sheena Easton;
Theme music composer	Richard Stone
Composers	Gordon Goodwin; Don Harper
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer	Tom Ruegger
Producer	Bob Doucette
Running time	30 minutes (with commercials)
Production company	Warner Bros. Television Animation
Animation services	Studio Junio
Original release
Network	Kids' WB; Nine Network (Australia)
Release	September 7, 1996 –; February 22, 1997

Road Rovers is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that premiered on Kids' WB on September 7, 1996, and ended after one season on February 22, 1997.^[1] It was later shown on Cartoon Network from February 7, 1998, until 2000.

The show follows the adventures of the Road Rovers, a team of five super-powered crime-fighting anthropomorphic dogs, known as "cano-sapiens". The characters all live with world leaders, including the President of the United States, the British Prime Minister, the Chancellor of Germany, the Swiss President and the President of Russia.^[2]

Plot

In the town of Socorro, New Mexico, Professor Shepherd was forced to relinquish an experimental transdogmafier technology to General Parvo in exchange for his lost dog, but instead Parvo gives him a bomb that destroys his laboratory. One year later, as normal dogs begin to mutate into monsters, Shephard, who miraculously survived the attack, takes measures to stop Parvo who is behind this.

Shepherd selects five different dogs and in his new, secret underground lab, he uses his new transdogmifier on the five, turning them into "Cano-sapiens". These dogs are the pets of world leaders and when called to action they are a team of crime fighters known as the "Road Rovers".

Characters

Hunter (Jess Harnell): A Goldador from the United States and the leader of the team. Hunter is optimistic, funny, devoted, friendly, level-headed, and an effective leader. Hunter's power is super speed; this allows him to run faster than the speed of sound. He lives with President Bill Clinton in the White House. He also has a flirtatious relationship with Colleen in the later episodes of the series, which the latter reciprocates.
Colleen (Tress MacNeille): A no-nonsense Rough Collie from the United Kingdom, and the only female member of the Road Rovers. She is the coordinator of the team, always checking to see if everything is going well without any problems or issues. Colleen is also very athletic, being a skilled martial artist. She resides with the prime minister of the United Kingdom, John Major, and his wife Norma Johnson. She is openly attracted to Hunter, with whom she developed a flirtatious relationship during later episodes of the series. She was turned into a werewolf after getting attacked by werewolves she and the team were fighting in London and was later turned back to normal by the swamp water.
Exile (Kevin Michael Richardson): A Siberian Husky from Russia. His full name is Exilo Michalovitch Sanhusky. Exile speaks English with a thick Russian accent, sometimes mixing up words in the process. He is friendly and easygoing, but often clashes with Blitz. Exile is super strong and also has heat, ice, and night vision. He used to work with other huskies as a sled dog, but now lives with the President of Russia Boris Yeltsin. Exile and Blitz shared a running gag in which Blitz would make a comment that could be interpreted in various ways, to which Exile would reprimand Blitz for being a "weird boy".
Blitz (Jeff Bennett): A Doberman from Germany. Unlike Hunter, Blitz is often selfish, immature, spiteful, faint-hearted, and has an ill temper. He has razor-sharp claws and strong jaws, which allow him to bite and cut through almost any substance. Blitz was formerly a guard dog for thieves, but now lives with the chancellor of Germany, Helmut Kohl. Blitz attempts to flirt with Colleen several times over the series, part of a running gag in which his flirting is met with her pretending not to know who Blitz is. This joke ran up until the series' final episode, at which point she finally acknowledges Blitz by name.
Shag (Frank Welker): A cowardly Old English Sheepdog from Switzerland. Shag only transformed halfway into a Cano-sapien. As such, he is incapable of comprehensible speech and does not wear a uniform. Like Exile, Shag is super strong, and also his hair can store a lot of things like weapons and random items. He lived in a valley with a flock of sheep, but now lives with Arnold Koller, the president of the Swiss Confederation. Despite his strength and ability to store extreme amounts of weaponry, Shag is extremely fearful, and often hides behind the other Rovers when confronted by danger.
Muzzle (Frank Welker): A shy but kind, sweet, lovable and curious Rottweiler. Muzzle was once "Scout", Professor Shepherd's dog that was kidnapped. He was never transformed into a Cano-sapien, but instead became aggressive due to Parvo's failed experiment on him. Due to this aggression, he is often restrained on a cart while wearing a straitjacket and mask.
Persia (Sheena Easton): An Afghan Hound and commander of the Space Rovers.
Professor Hubert (David Doyle): A Bloodhound scientist.
Confusus: A wise dog in the mountains.
Professor William F. Shepherd "The Master" (Joseph Campanella): The geneticist behind the transdogmafier and the Road Rovers. He's the master of the Road Rovers, and the one who selected each of them. Without him, the world would have been ruled by the cano-mutants led by Parvo.
General Parvo (Jim Cummings): The Road Rovers' main enemy, who seeks to destroy Professor Shepherd and conquer the world. It was revealed later in the series that he was previously a cat before being transformed into a "Feline Sapien", which resemble humans a great deal more than Shepherd's Cano-sapiens.
The Groomer (Sheena Easton): The Groomer is the mostly loyal assistant to General Parvo. She's generally armed with a portable hair clipper, though she uses other equipment if it's appropriate.
Cano-mutants: Dogs turned into humanoid monsters and led by Parvo.
Werewolves: A pack of werewolves appearing in "A Hair of the Dog That Bit You" that turned Colleen into one and were restored by Hunter with the swamp water.

Episodes

Series overview

Season	Episodes		Originally aired
Season	Episodes		First aired	Last aired	Network
1	13		September 7, 1996 (1996-09-07)	February 22, 1997 (1997-02-22)	Kids' WB

Season 1 (1996-1997)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Let's Hit the Road"	Herb Moore	Tom Ruegger and Mark Seidenberg	September 7, 1996 (1996-09-07)
The Master assembles the Road Rovers for the first time to stop Parvo from stealing a genetic stabilizer which would enable him to make his canine minions permanently anthropomorphic.
2	"Storm from the Pacific"	Jon McClenahan	Earl Kress and Tom Ruegger	September 14, 1996 (1996-09-14)
Disgraced captain Zachary Storm seeks revenge on the United States for his court-martial.
3	"A Hair of the Dog That Bit You"	Scott Jeralds	John Ludin and Mark Seidenberg	September 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)
Packs of werewolves take over London, and Exile seems to have gotten bitten (or scratched), which puts him under watch. When Colleen is revealed to have been turned into a werewolf, the Rovers seek help from the wise Confusus, who tells them how to cure werewolf bites. However, they must do so before the sun rises, or else the transformed humans will remain werewolves permanently.
4	"Where Rovers Dare"	Herb Moore	Brian Chin and Tom Ruegger	October 12, 1996 (1996-10-12)
The nations of Eisneria and Katzenstok (named after the CEOs of Disney and DreamWorks) are preparing to go to war over an ancient scepter.
5	"Let Sleeping Dogs Lie"	Blair Peters	Nick Dubois	October 26, 1996 (1996-10-26)
The Road Rovers must protect ancient artifacts from Parvo's army of ninjas.
6	"The Dog Who Knew Too Much"	Jon McClenahan	Earl Kress and Tom Ruegger	November 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)
One dog, Sport, has the answers to a rash of human and canine kidnappings and becomes a temporary Road Rover to testify. However, he has somewhat of a big mouth and often tries to talk himself out of certain situations.
7	"Hunter's Heroes"	Scott Jeralds	John Ludin and Mark Seidenberg	November 9, 1996 (1996-11-09)
Parvo begins running a high-tech, heavily armed concentration camp to keep thousands of dogs in captivity. Then, he will transform them into cano-mutants and send them to major cities so he can take over.
8	"Dawn of the Groomer"	Herb Moore	Mark Seidenberg	November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)
The Groomer gets delusions of grandeur involved taking over the world with cats, otherwise known as Felo-Mutants.
9	"Still a Few Bugs in the System"	Brad Neave	Nick Dubois	November 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)
Biologist Eugene Atwater does some research on the survival of bugs over the years of their survival. However, General Parvo turns his research subjects into giants using an attachment from his Cano-Mutator. The bugs now plan on making a nuclear winter, with them as the sole survivors.
10	"Reigning Cats and Dogs"	Herb Moore	Tom Ruegger and Mark Seidenberg	February 1, 1997 (1997-02-01)
General Parvo builds a successful time machine so then he could stop Prof. Shepherd from creating the Road Rovers. An accident reverts him back to his original form of an alley cat, but the Rovers still have to follow him back to ensure their creation.
11	"Gold and Retrievers"	Jon McClenahan	Jeff Kwitny and Tom Ruegger	February 8, 1997 (1997-02-08)
Gold begins to flood the world's markets at an alarming rate. The Rovers trace the source to South America, where a blind boy named Luca leads them to an ancient golden pyramid.
12	"Take Me to Your Leader"	Brian Chin and Scott Jeralds	Nick Dubois and Mark Seidenberg	February 15, 1997 (1997-02-15)
Zachary Storm is back again, and hires alien-like recruits to start a nuclear war by manipulating world leaders into fighting one another.
13	"A Day in the Life"	Scott Jeralds	Tom Ruegger	February 22, 1997 (1997-02-22)
The episode showcases an ordinary day for the Rovers, consisting of freeing hostages, attending a peace treaty signing at the United Nations, and tracking down Parvo's UFO. Hunter takes time off to visit his mother on a ranch in Wyoming, but returns to save his friends from Parvo, who threatens to kill them with lava.

Home media

A multi-region DVD of the entire series was announced on February 4, 2015, by Warner Archive and was released on February 10, 2015. All of the episodes can be purchased digitally on Amazon Prime, Google Play Movies and TV, Apple TV, and YouTube.

In popular culture

Hunter made a cameo appearance as a background statue in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries fourth season premiere episode, "The Stilted Perch / A Game of Cat and Monster!".

The Road Rovers made a cameo appearance in the Teen Titans Go! sixth-season episode, "Huggbees".

References

↑ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 507–508. ISBN 978-1538103739.
↑ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 669–670. ISBN 978-1476665993.

External links

Road Rovers at IMDb

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[Perlmutter-1] Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 507–508. ISBN 978-1538103739.

[2] Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 669–670. ISBN 978-1476665993.

[1]

[2]