| TaleSpin | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | |
| Created by | |
| Based on | Characters byRudyard Kipling Larry Clemmons Ralph Wright Ken Anderson Vance Gerry Bill Peet |
| Directed by | |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Silversher & Silversher |
| Opening theme | "TaleSpin Theme" byJim Gilstrap[1] |
| Ending theme | "TaleSpin Theme" (Instrumental) |
| Composer | Christopher L. Stone |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 65(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | Walt Disney Television Animation[a] Walt Disney Television |
| Original release | |
| Network |
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| Release | September 7, 1990 (1990-09-07) – August 8, 1991 (1991-08-08) |
TaleSpin is an Americananimated television series produced byWalt Disney Television Animation. It first aired in 1990 as a preview-run onThe Disney Channel before beginning its main run insyndication later that year as part of the programming blockThe Disney Afternoon. It features anthropomorphized versions of characters adapted fromDisney's 1967 animated featureThe Jungle Book, which was theatrically re-released in the summer before this show premiered in the fall,[2] notablyBaloo the Bear, Louie the orangutan, and Shere Khan the tiger, along with new characters created for the show. The name of the show is a play on "tailspin", the rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral, and on the fact thattale is another word for "story".[3] The show is one of nineDisney Afternoon shows to use established Disney characters as the main characters, with the other eight beingDarkwing Duck,DuckTales,Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers,Goof Troop,Bonkers,Quack Pack,Aladdin, andTimon & Pumbaa. It is also one of two Disney animated television series based onRudyard Kipling'sThe Jungle Book, the second beingJungle Cubs.
The series was largely developed by writersJymn Magon andMark Zaslove, who were also the supervising producers on the series as well as story editors. There were four production teams, each one headed by a producer/director: Robert Taylor, Larry Latham, Jamie Mitchell, and Ed Ghertner.[4]
Initially, Disney simply commissioned Magon and Zaslove with creating a thirty-minute animated program for them, with no requirements as to what the show should be about. Nearing the deadline for a pitch without having come up with anything, Magon hit upon the idea of making the story aboutBaloo, one of the central characters of Disney'sThe Jungle Book, which had recently been theatrically rereleased. The showTales of the Gold Monkey was an inspiration according to creator/supervising producer, Jymn Magon. Similar to the main character in that show, they decided to have Baloo work for an air cargo delivery service, a concept also occasionally featured on Disney's successfulDuckTales.[5] In order to add dramatic tension, they decided to maintain the impressionable son / bad father dynamic which had driven part of the plot ofThe Jungle Book, replacing the human Mowgli with the anthropomorphic bear Kit. Inspired byCheers — then one of the most popular programs on television — Magon and Zaslove created the character Rebecca (voiced by actress Sally Struthers), basing her on the characterRebecca Howe and giving her that character's arc of being an intelligent and headstrong yet inexperienced manager put in charge of a fledgling business. Deciding to make the show a period piece, the pair lastly decided to make one of the show's primary locations a neutral zone inspired byRick Blaine's bar inCasablanca, where they inserted the character ofLouie in place of Rick. The decision to addShere Khan to the cast was not made until later in the show's development.[6] Magon and Zaslove also took inspiration fromHayao Miyazaki's 1989 mangaHikōtei Jidai, about a pigheaded man who flies aseaplane and fights air pirates. Two years afterTaleSpin premiered, Miyazaki released ananime adaptation calledPorco Rosso, which Zaslove felt took cues fromTaleSpin.[7]Phil Harris, who voiced Baloo for the film, was initially hired to reprise the role; at age 85, however, Harris had lost some of his comic timing and had to be chauffeured from his home inPalm Springs for each recording session. His work was discarded andEd Gilbert took over the role for the rest of the series.[8]
FamedUncle Scrooge comic writer and artistDon Rosa wrote episode 6, "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck", and episode 9, "I Only Have Ice for You".
The series was animated by Walt Disney Animation (Japan) Inc.,Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd., Jade Animation, Tama Productions, Walt Disney Animation (France) S.A.,Sunwoo Entertainment, andWang Film Productions.[9]
After a preview-run ofTaleSpin aired onThe Disney Channel from May 5 to July 15, 1990,[10][11] the series began its mainsyndicated run in September of the same year. The original concept was embodied in thepilot episode and introductorytelevision moviePlunder & Lightning which was the sole nominee for anEmmy Award forOutstanding Animated Program (For Programming More Than One Hour) in 1991.[12][13][14] After its premiere on September 7, 1990,Plunder & Lightning was re-edited into four half-hour episodes for reruns.[citation needed] The show was often seen either on its own as a half-hour show, or as part of the two-hour syndicated programming blockThe Disney Afternoon.TaleSpin ended on its 65th episode which aired on August 8, 1991, but reruns continued to be shown onThe Disney Afternoon until September 1994. On October 2, 1995,TaleSpin began reruns on The Disney Channel as part of a two-hour programming block called "Block Party" which aired on weekdays in the late-afternoon/early-evening and which also includedDarkwing Duck,DuckTales, andChip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.[15] Later, the show was aired onToon Disney, where it was first aired from April 1998 until January 2006 (with a hiatus between 2001 and 2002) and later from January 2007 until May 2008. Throughout its broadcast history, the series has been subjected to numerous edits.[16]
TaleSpin is set in the fictional city of Cape Suzette (a pun on the dishCrêpe Suzette). The city lies on an unnamed island, in an unspecified body of water, on a large harbor or bay enclosed by a high cliff wall. A single cleft in the wall is the harbor's only means of access. The cleft is guarded byanti-aircraft artillery, preventing flying rabble-rousers or air pirates from entering the city. The characters in the world ofTaleSpin areanthropomorphic animals, though normal wild and domestic animals exist as well. The time frame of the series is never specifically addressed, but thehelicopter, television, andjet engine are experimental devices. In the episode "Bygones", Baloo comments that "The Great War ended 20 years ago",[17] thus suggesting that the series takes place around 1938.Radio is the primary mass medium and the episode "The Incredible Shrinking Molly" briefly alludes to the characters having never heard of television.[18]
The series centers on the adventures ofbush pilot Baloo the bear, whose air cargo freight business "Baloo's Air Service" is taken up byRebecca Cunningham who has a young daughter named Molly. Upon his default on delinquent bills with the bank and his perceived irresponsibility in running a business by Rebecca, she takes over the business and renames it "Higher for Hire", making herself Baloo's boss. An orphan boy and former air pirate, the ambitious grizzly bear cubKit Cloudkicker, attaches to Baloo and becomes his navigator. He sometimes calls Baloo "Papa Bear". Together, they are the crew of Higher for Hire's only aircraft, a 20-year-old modifiedConwing L-16 (a fictitioustwin-boom cargo plane using elements from the FairchildC-82 transport, GrummanG-21 Goose amphibian, and a ConsolidatedPBY-3) named theSea Duck.[original research?] The series follows the ups and downs of Higher for Hire and its staff, sometimes in the vein of old action-adventure film serials of the 1930s and 1940s, like theTailspin Tommy films, and contemporary variations, such asRaiders of the Lost Ark.[original research?]
Their adventures often involve encounters with a gang ofair pirates led byDon Karnage, as well as with representatives of Thembria, inhabited by anthropomorphicboars, or other, often even stranger obstacles. There is no equivalent of theNazis in the series, although one story inDisney Adventures Magazine, "The Dogs of War!", had the heroes encounter members of the "Houn" nationality, a menacing militaristic nationality of dogs from "Hounsland" who wear uniforms that are based on German ones and who speak in a mock-German accent.[19]
According to Jymn Magon (co-creator of the series), the relationship between Baloo and Rebecca was fashioned afterSam Malone andRebecca Howe from the then-popular sitcomCheers.[20] Some[who?] have suggested that their relationship bears a similarity to thescrewball comedy films of theGreat Depression, such as Godfrey and Irene inMy Man Godfrey.
Eight VHS cassettes containing 15 episodes of the series were released in the United States.
| VHS name | Episode titles | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| True Baloo | "From Here to Machinery" & "The Balooest of the Bluebloods" | August 9, 1991 |
| That's Show Biz! | "Stormy Weather" & "Mommy for a Day" | |
| Jackpots & Crackpots | "A Touch of Glass" & "Her Chance to Dream" | |
| Fearless Flyers | "Jumping the Guns" & "Mach One for the Gipper" | |
| Treasure Trap | "The Idol Rich" & "Polly Wants a Treasure" | February 28, 1992 |
| Imagine That! | "Flight of the Snow Duck" & "Flight School Confidential" | |
| Wise Up! | "Molly Coddled" & "The Sound and the Furry" | |
| Search for the Lost City | "For Whom the Bell Klangs" (Parts 1 & 2) |
Eleven VHS cassettes containing 21 episodes of the series were released in Australia and New Zealand.
| VHS name | Episode titles | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| TaleSpin (Volume 1): Fearless Flyers | "From Here to Machinery" & "The Balooest of the Bluebloods" | September 11, 1991 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 2): Baloo Skies | "Stormy Weather" & "For a Fuel Dollars More" | September 11, 1991 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 3): Dare-Devil Bears | "Mommy for a Day" & "The Idol Rich" | September 11, 1992 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 4): Hot Shot Heroes | "Jumping the Guns" & "Mach One for the Gipper" | September 11, 1992 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 5): Imagine That | "Flight of the Snow Duck" & "Flight School Confidential" | September 11, 1992 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 6): Treasure Trap | "Polly Wants a Treasure" & "The Bigger They Are, the Louder They Oink" | April 2, 1993 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 7): True Baloo | "The Time Bandit" & "Louie's Last Stand" | April 2, 1993 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 8): Jackpots & Crackpots | "Her Chance to Dream" & "A Touch of Glass" | September 10, 1993 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 9): That's Show Biz! | "I Only Have Ice for You" & "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck" | September 10, 1993 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 10): Wise Up! | "Molly Coddled" & "The Sound and the Furry" | September 10, 1993 |
| TaleSpin (Volume 11): Search for the Lost City | "For Whom the Bell Klangs" (Parts 1 & 2) | September 10, 1993 |
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has released the complete series on DVD; three volumes have been released in Region 1 featuring all 65 episodes of the series. The first volume was released on August 29, 2006 (containing episodes 1–27) and the second on November 13, 2007 (containing episodes 28–54).[21][22] Volume 2 includes the controversial episode "Last Horizons", which never re-aired on broadcast syndication although it did re-air on The Disney Channel and Toon Disney. On June 25, 2013, the third and final volume was released on DVD via the Disney Movie Club Exclusives.[23][24]TaleSpin: Volume 3 is also for sale on DisneyStore.com.[25][26]
TaleSpin: Volume 3 received a wide retail DVD release on January 13, 2015,[27][28] and has been seen as a Wal-Mart Exclusive in Canada since October 12, 2014.[29] It was also available inSoutheast Asia and in the United States since October 14, 2014.[30]
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| TaleSpin: Volume 1 | 1-27 | August 29, 2006 |
| TaleSpin: Volume 2 | 28-54 | November 13, 2007 |
| TaleSpin: Volume 3 | 55-65 | June 25, 2013 (Disney Movie Club) October 12, 2014 (retail) |
The series has been released into several volumes in different countries, each containing only 4 episodes each.
In Germany, the series of 3-disc sets, starting with Collection 1, was released on December 5, 2012, in Region 2, PAL format. The sets contain the episodes in the same order as the US releases, as well as a Fastplay feature and 6 language tracks: English, Danish, German, Italian, Norwegian and Swedish, but no subtitles have been added. the first collection has only 17 episodes. A second collection, containing 16 episodes, was released on March 7, 2013. A third collection, containing 17 episodes, was released on May 29 of the same year.
A few episodes have been removed from the original list. The 1st collection does not include "From Here to Machinery" and "Vowel Play". The 2nd set excludes "A Touch of Glass", while the 3rd set misses out "Jumping the Guns". There is no confirmation on whether these episodes will be released, along with the final 11 episodes of the series.
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Käpt'n Balu und seine tollkühne Crew Collection 1 | 17 | December 5, 2012 |
| Käpt'n Balu und seine tollkühne Crew Collection 2 | 16 | March 7, 2013 |
| Käpt'n Balu und seine tollkühne Crew Collection 3 | 17 | May 29, 2013 |
| Käpt'n Balu und seine tollkühne Crew Collection 4 | 15 | N/A |
The United Kingdom had only two releases, each containing 3 discs per set, the sets do skip over episodes that were present on the North American sets. The first collection came out on February 11, 2013 and the second collection was released on May 20 of the same year.
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| TaleSpin First Collection (Volumes 1–3) | 17 | February 11, 2013 |
| TaleSpin Second Collection (Volumes 4–6) | 16 | May 20, 2013 |
The sets from Germany and the United Kingdom have also been released in Australia. The first collection came out on August 17, 2012. The second collection was released on March 15, 2013, followed by the third on October 11 of the same year.
| DVD name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| TaleSpin First Collection (Volumes 1–3) | 1-27 | August 17, 2012 |
| TaleSpin Second Collection (Volumes 4–6) | 28-54 | March 15, 2013 |
| TaleSpin Third Collection | 55-65 | October 11, 2013 |
In India,TaleSpin was dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu for TV broadcast in the 90s along withDuckTales. In 2012, 63 Hindi dubbed episodes out of the total 65 episodes were released by Disney India on 21 DVD volumes in PAL format.[31] These discs support DVD Region 2, Region 4 and Region 5, but due to limited number of copies, they quickly went out of stock. Each DVD contained only 3 episodes.
The entire series is currently available for purchase in standard definition onAmazon Prime Video and theiTunes Store in the United States.
As of November 12, 2019, the series is available to stream onDisney+, with the exception of the banned episodes "Last Horizons" and "Flying Dupes".[32]
In 2009,IGN listedTaleSpin as the 81st best animated series in its list of the Top 100 Animated TV Shows.[33]
A monthlycomic book based on the show was published by the Disney subsidiary W. D. Publications, Inc. as part of theirDisney Comics line in 1991, running for eleven issues, including a four-issuelimited series called "Take Off" based on the series premiere episodePlunder & Lightning, which was published between January and April,[34][35][36][37] followed by a series of seven regular issues published between June and December.[38] Bobbi J.G. Weiss was the writer for regular issues 1–4 and 6–7, while "Take Off" was adapted fromPlunder & Lightning and regular issue 5 was adapted from episode 35, "The Old Man and the Sea Duck", for both of which Weiss is credited for adaptation.[38]
The comic's cancellation at the end of 1991 terminated several planned stories that would have revealed pieces of background for the main characters. This one seems to be an exception though: issue #7, "The Long Flight Home", explored Kit's past, and how he joined up with the pirates. According to the letter page in #3, a planned story for the comic's annual would have explored the origin of theIron Vulture. In addition, #4–7 would have letters 'answered' by the characters. A collected edition calledDisney's Cartoon Tales featuringTaleSpin came out in 1991 (ISBN 1-56115-269-2). It reprints #4 and 6 from the regular comic book series. Subsequent comic stories were also printed inDisney Adventures from 1990 to 1995, and then re-appeared in the Summer 2006 issue ofDisney Adventures Comic Zone Magazine, as well as inThe Disney Afternoon comic book published byMarvel Comics.
Although issue #8 of the monthly comic series never made it to print, the end of issue #7 included a preview for it: "Spies in Cape Suzette?! There are some mighty mysterious folk sniffing around Shere Khan Industries. When Special Agent Booker shows up to handle the problem he finds that battling foreign agents is easier than dealing with Baloo as an assistant in... THE SPY WHO BUGGED ME!"
Three differentTaleSpin video games were produced.One game was a scrollingshooting game published byCapcom for theNES andGame Boy.The other two wereplatform games; one developed bySega for theGenesis andGame Gear, and the other byNEC for theTurboGrafx-16.[39] Rebecca, Kit, Baloo, Don Karnage and Shere Khan fromTalespin also appeared on cards in the 1993 puzzle gameMickey's Memory Challenge, released forAmiga andMS-DOS compatible operating systems, developed by Infogrames.
Although not an officialTaleSpin game, Gaijin'sWar Thunder 2021 April Fools' Day event called "TailSpin" is apparently related to or inspired by the show.[40]
This became a game mode forWar Thunder again from March 10–30, 2022.[41]
A number of aircraft in the game appear to be inspired by those in the original show. Players start with the "Nimble" biplane seaplane fighter, and progress to more advanced aircraft by shooting down or getting "assists" on shooting down enemy aircraft, until reaching the mighty "Sly Duck" seaplane (which closely resembles theSea Duck from the show). The game also includes a "Bear" pilot icon resembling Baloo and a "Fox" pilot icon. Every aircraft in the event besides the "Nimble" is fromTaleSpin or heavily based on one seen in the show.
Gameplay is air arcade, and players are randomly allocated to a side. Both sides have the same aircraft.
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