Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars

In anothe dimension,

another time and space,

a parallel universe is falling on it's face!

When out of the chaos,

who else could it be?

But the animal adventures from S.P.A.C.E!

Bucky! Captain Bucky O'Hare!

So who remembers this cartoon? The theme song is very catchy! I have it on my Ipod...yes I have a list dedicated to cartoon themes...don't judge! This was one of my absolute favourites as a kid! My friends and I would argue over who got to be Bucky every time we played it! I must have spent endless hours in front of the TV just watching this over and over about a group of mammals battling the evil Toad Empire who were under the control of an evil A.I called Komplex. So you had a hare, a cat, and a duck among others fighting toads in space! Awesome! Also their costumes were pretty cool too.

Bucky O'Hare was first created as a comic by Larry Hama before becoming popular enough to become a TV series. Although having worked on the comic he was not greatly involved with the series which I think is a bit of shame. I'd like to have the say on my creation. 

The story begins when Bucky's home planet of Warren has been invaded by the toads. So he becomes a captain of his own crew and ship, the Righteous Indignation, and sets off to free his fellow captured hares and free the aniverse (their version of our universe) from their clutches.

I have to say his crew are a very unique bunch! We have our cat, first mate Jenny who has magical powers including telepathy and healing. She serves as a love interest for Bucky.

Next we have Deadeye Duck, Bucky's gunner and a former space pirate with an eye patch! Hence the name. Oh and he has four arms! Yes! Four! I imagine clothes must be hard to come by so perhaps that's the reason he always wears the same thing...who knows?

Then we have Blinky! A humble android who also has one eye...is there a pattern occurring here? Obviously he does all the technical stuff.

We also have Bruiser, a Betelgeusian Berserker Baboon, who has mammoth strength and just happens to be the toads greatest fear. Why wouldn't you want one on your side right?Bruiser acts as a replacement for his brother Bruce, another team member of Bucky's crew. What happens to him? Watch and find out ;)
Last but certainly not least is the human member of the crew- Willy DuWitt! A geeky school kid who loves inventing. He invents a machine called the photon accelerator which also happens to be an exact duplicate of the photon accelerator that powers the Righteous Indignation. Bucky and Willy end up turning these machines on at the same time which creates a doorway into the aniverse. Later Willy becomes the ships engineer! I remember waiting many nights for my door to act as a portal into Bucky's world. Now I wonder why that didn't happen??

So that sets the scene for the series to really kick off! But of course it would be pointless having an awesome crew of heroes if you didn't have any villains to fight against right?

Most of them were toads and the ones that stood out were Frix and Frax. These two reported directly to the Air Marshall and to be honest they were a couple of bumbling fools which made them enjoyable to watch. I think they'd prefer to watch toad TV (looks awful by the way) than do any work.

The Air Marshall is in charge of the toads and is quite a short and angry character. He wants nothing more than to destroy Bucky O'Hare and gain the respect of those around him. He must have had a hard time dealing with Frix and Frax though.

Toadborg is the next level up from Air Marshall, reporting only to Komplex himself. He's half cyborg and half toad after being injured in a previous war. Toadborg is kinda tough, he easily captures Bucky, Jenny and Deadeye in an early episode. I know I wouldn't want to mess with him!
Lastly we have the evil computer Komplex. He was created by the toads themselves but he is so intelligent he ends up brainwashing them and creates his army to rule the aniverse. Who needs Skynet eh?
Another ally of the toads was Al Negator (almost forgot about him!) a purple crocodile who is very sleazy and loves Simoleans which was the currency used.

What follows is a series of fun adventures that would earn a cult following. The series included weapons such as laser pistols and spaceships like the Toad Croaker and Toad Double Bubble. Unfortunately there were only 13 episodes produced but all have been released on DVD (yes I do have it).
A set of action figures were released including Bucky, Deadeye, Bruiser, Blinky, Willy, Commander Dogstar (an ally of Bucky's with his own ship and crew), Air Marshall, Toadborg, a toad trooper and Al Negator. Jenny was planned with a second wave of action figures but was never released.
An arcade game and a video game for NES (which I will talk about at a later date) were also released.

Nothing much has happened since the series went off air but...I have actually spoken to Larry Hama on Facebook who informed me that a sequel to the comic has been written but was never published which of course could lead to a second series or even a film. The novel is sitting in his drawer in the office and he last informed me that there were talks going on about it...here's hoping!

I have a Bucky O'Hare quiz up at Funtrivia if you'd like to try it- Bucky

For the time being buy the DVD, sit back, relax and...

Let's croak us some toads!