Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors (French: Jayce et les Conquérants de la Lumière) is an animated show which was first broadcast on TF1 on September 9, 1985, The show, which ran for 65 thirty-minute episodes, was created to support Mattel's Wheeled Warriors toyline. The show had an ongoing plot which was left unresolved, with no series finale.
The show featured two duelling forces. The heroes are called the Lightning League, led by a teenager named Jayce who drive white and silver vehicles with assorted weaponry. The villains are organic plant-based creatures called the Monster Minds who travel via large green organic vines, which can grow in and across interstellar space, and sprout seeds that grow rapidly into further Monster Minds. They are led by the very first of the Monster Minds, Saw Boss.
Background
The series was created to accompany the pre-existing line of toys. No backstory was given with the toys for the Lightning League and the Monster Minds doing battle, and so distinct characters were created by DIC and Straczynski to allow for a structured story. Haim Saban and Shuki Levy provided the music for the show. Nearly a decade later, it was rerun on USA Network's USA Cartoon Express block from July 3, 1994 to August 25, 1995.
In the United Kingdom, the series was first screened in some regions on the ITV network in a Sunday early morning slot in 1985, but with not all of the regional franchises having a Sunday morning service at that time, it was moved to Channel 4 where it was broadcast nationally for the first time in 1986. The series was subsequently frequently repeated on Sky Channel between 1989 and 1993. It was later repeated intermittently in a Friday and Saturday evening slot on the children's television networks Fox Kids and Jetix, between 2001 and 2009.
Plot
The series follows protagonists Jayce, Flora, Herc Stormsailor, Oon and Gillian in their search for Jayce's father, Audric. Meanwhile, they are opposing the main antagonist Saw Boss and his followers, the Monster Minds. Audric was a botanist who performed experiments with biotechnology, and one experiment created Flora. In another experiment, Audric attempted to create a plant that could prevent starvation. But when he succeeded, a nearby star exploded into a supernova. The radiation from the supernova's explosion changed the plant and four others into the Monster Minds; a race of plant-like monsters who wish to conquer the universe. Audric created a root that could destroy the Monster Minds, but was forced to flee before he could complete the task, after which the Monster Minds made Audric's laboratory their headquarters. Audric kept half of the root himself and gave the other half to his servant, the Eternal Squire Oon, whom he sent to serve Jayce. Jayce and his friends are thereafter on a quest to find Audric and form the complete root.
Film
Due to less than successful toy sales, the series' 65-episode run was not extended and the series had ended unresolved, but according to Straczynski, They can also operate on pre-programmed battle plans, without drivers, through commands issued on Jayce's communicator. When he talks to the vehicles, they respond with a single phrase, "Command Acknowledged".
1st Lightning League AI Ground Vehicles created by Gillian:
- Armed Force is a vehicle with a large golden grappling arm mounted atop it. Gillian had intended it for Audric, but instead he gave it to Jayce, when Audric was unable to join the League. It seats two, unlike its toy counterpart. Armed Force's toy counterpart included a gimmick dubbed "Stack n' Attack". Any of the other smaller vehicles could detach their wheeled chassis and attach to the top of Armed Force. A promotional comic in He-Man magazine showed two vehicles stacked atop Armed Force, though this was physically impossible using the toys, as only Armed Force featured two lined up holes suitable for another vehicle's underside to attach into. This never happens in the show; instead, the phrase "stack n' attack" refers to the Lightning League vehicles being able to exchange weapons mid-battle. The pilots are Jayce and Oon, although in "The Vase of Xiang", Flora and Brock drive it as they attempt to rescue Jayce.
- Valerie Politis as Flora
- Giulio Kukurugya as Saw Boss
- Len Carlson as Herc Stormsailor and Terror Tank
- Peter Lewis as The opening announcer (uncredited)
- Ernie Anderson as The main opening announcer (uncredited)
- Victor Lanoux as The closing announcer (uncredited)
Mattel Wheeled Warriors toys
Originally conceived as a line of toy vehicles with "stack & attack" as a selling point, the tagline was: "Monster Minds gone mad! Lightning League to the rescue!".
The vehicles could be mixed and matched across most of the product line to allow children to create their own combinations. Accessory packs were released with extra wheels and weapons to allow for even more options. A mini comic was included with the toys, but no overarching storyline was established beyond premise of the Monster Minds versus the Lightning League. Characters included with the toys were blank human drivers as pilots of the Lightning League vehicles and green brains for the Monster Minds. and later released as two DVD boxed sets by Manga Distribution. In 2014, the entire series was re-released as two DVD box sets by IDP Home Video. In America, several compilations were released on VHS in the 1980s by Magic Window, a sub-division of RCA-Columbia Pictures Home Video.
In October 2003, Sterling Entertainment released a single disc release on DVD in Region 1 entitled Escape from the Garden of Evil, which contains four episodes from the series. The DVD was re-issued by NCircle Entertainment in 2007.
Shout! Factory acquired the rights to the series in 2007 and subsequently released Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors - Volume 1, a four-disc set containing the first 33 episodes of the series, on March 25, 2008.
In 2011, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to the series. They subsequently released Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors - Volume 1, containing the first 32 episodes of the series, and a 10 episode "best of" collection on DVD in Region 1 on February 21, 2012 both include a bonus episode of C.O.P.S.. Volume 2, featuring the final 33 episodes of the series, was released on February 19, 2013. Mill Creek later released Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 in March 2018.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! DVD name
! Ep #
! Release date
|-
| Volume 1
| style="text-align:center;"|32
| February 21, 2012
|-
| Volume 2
| style="text-align:center;"|33
| February 19, 2013
|-
| Complete Series
| style="text-align:center;"|65
| March 14, 2018
|}
Comic
An uncredited, unfinished comic based on the series was published in the French comic magazine Pif Gadget #922. The 13-page adventure ended on a cliffhanger as the next issue did not include the follow-up story and the conclusion to that story was never published in Pif Gadget. It included characters created specifically for the comic, such as a white-haired young sorceress called Algora who was an ally of Saw Boss. The story, entitled "Le Sortilège d'Algora" ("Algora's Spell") was later re-printed and completed in Poche Junior, a free supplement for younger readers in the French television listing magazine Télé Poche, in several installments: Poche Junior #1 (May 1987), Poche Junior #2 (May 1987), Poche Junior #17 (August 1987), Poche Junior #23 (October 1987), and Poche Junior #25 (October 1987).
See also
- Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin