BraveStarr is an American space Western animated television series that aired 65 episodes from September 1987 to February 1988 in syndication. The show was broadcast a year after Mattel had released a line of Bravestarr action figures. BraveStarr was the last animated series produced by Filmation and Group W Productions before Filmation shut down in 1989. The show was not a success when it first aired, but has since gained a small cult following due to its mix of Western and science fiction elements.
Background
The idea for BraveStarr began with Tex Hex, his chief adversary. Tex Hex was created by Filmation's staff artists in 1984, during the development of Filmation's Ghostbusters. Lou Scheimer found the character fascinating and pulled Tex Hex from the Ghostbusters cast. He asked Arthur Nadel, Filmation's vice president for creative affairs, and art director John Grusd to develop a science-fiction Western around the character.
Scheimer also believed Native Americans had been either ignored or unfairly stereotyped by American children's television shows,so he wished to create a show with a Native American hero. Another episode, "Sunrise, Sunset", depicts a character's wife giving birth and his elderly father passing away - events that most other 1980s Saturday-morning cartoons did not depict. In Germany, Bravestarr was broadcast on the satellite channel Tele 5, as part of the "Bim Bam Bino" children's show.
Reruns of the show aired on Qubo Night Owl from 2010 to 2013, and on the Retro Television Network from 2010 to 2015.
Action figures and other merchandise
In 1986, a year before the TV series premiered, Mattel released an action figure line based on the Filmation cartoon series. These figures were large for the time at nearly tall and came in a windowed box with artwork similar to that of their Masters of the Universe contemporaries. Each figure had a unique action feature and was packaged with one or more Kerium nuggets.
Marshal BraveStarr and Tex Hex were packaged with a Laser Fire Backpack, which shot infrared beams and had "space-age" sound effects. Such backpacks were individually available—blue for heroes and black for villains. Other figures available were Handlebar, Sand Storm, Thirty/Thirty, Skuzz, Fuzz, Col. Borobot and Thunder Stick. The Neutra-Laser weapon, which worked with the infrared technology, and Fort Kerium playset also made their way to toy shelves. A second series of figures was designed but never produced. This included Dingo Dan, Judge J. B., Long Arm John, Rampage, and the Starr Hawk vehicle.
Lou Scheimer stated that Mattel hindered Bravestarrs success by releasing the toys before the pilot movie or TV series were released, leading viewers to think the show was based on the toy line.
Other forms of BraveStarr merchandise made their way to the market, including a Colorforms adventure set, View-Master reels, Ladybird storybook, pillow case, sticker album, and water gun, among others. A comic book series, BraveStarr in 3-D, began under Blackthorne Publishing in January 1987.
Recently, Ramen Toys, that specialise in producing third party toy products of 80s toy lines and icons, started producing a third party spin-off of Bravestarr, called The Marshal. A 6” figure of the titled character has been released, featuring multiple joints of articulation and swap-out limbs and accessories. The line has now seen the announced release of Thirty-Thirty, named Techno Horse.
Video game
In 1987, a BraveStarr video game was released for Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum. It is a side-scrolling shooter game.
Unrealized projects
During Bravestarr's development, the show's writers planned a cross-over episode between Bravestarr and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. This would have had a young Bravestarr encountering He-Man and being inspired by the former hero to become a lawman.
Lou Scheimer also planned to create two animated series as spin-offs of Bravestarr. The first, Sherlock Holmes in the 23rd Century, would have continued from the events of the two Bravestarr episodes, and feature Holmes having adventures in a futuristic London. The second series, Bravo!, would have been a humourous series, about a group of Prairie People. The Prairie People (led by the titular Bravo) would have travelled in time back to prehistoric New Texas to fight the evil Bitter Root. Due to the closure of Filmation, neither of these projects ever came to fruition. , these releases have been discontinued and are out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations.
In December 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights from Classic Media to re-release the series on DVD in North America. In May 2011, they released a complete series set, and two single-volume releases .
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! DVD name
! Ep #
! Release date
|-
| BraveStarr – Volume One
| style="text-align:center;"|20
| May 10, 2011
|-
| BraveStarr – Volume Two
| style="text-align:center;"|20
| May 10, 2011
|-
| BraveStarr – Volume Three
| style="text-align:center;"|25
| Unreleased
|-
| BraveStarr – Complete Series
| style="text-align:center;"|65
| May 10, 2011
|}
Reception
Hal Erickson, discussing Bravestarr wrote, "The premise was viable, the graphics watchable, the animation servicable. What held Bravestarr back from being totally enjoyable was its sermonizing". Erickson argued that although the show contained laudable messages, "most of the Bravestarr episodes were nothing but lessons, hammering their points home in the blunt style of a homeroom detention teacher." However, Oakley criticised the character of Deputy Fuzz, saying "of all the annoying, gimmicky creatures to beset children's television, Fuzz is surely of Premier League class."