My last post got me wondering. When I was a kid, I used to have this custom/game/tradition/(not sure what I’m supposed to call it) with my brother and sister. Whenever we watched something, be it a tv show or a movie, we would have to pick one character out of the show, which we would have to “be”. We couldn’t be the same person and if you called it first, the other had to pick some one else.

When the show wasn’t on, we wouldn’t actually do anything with the chosen characters. They only had meaning when we were watching the show. Besides rooting for them during an episode, you got to “be” them in the case that there was some special song or special sequence. For instance, in the case of Captain Planet, I was Linka. So whenever you had the Captain Planet summoning scene (which of course happened every episode), I got to shout “Wind!”.

For most TV shows I can remember exactly who me and my brother and sister were. For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, I was Donatello, my brother Leonardo and my sister Michelangelo. With Samurai Pizza Cats, I was Polly Esther, my brother was Speedy Cerviche and my sister Guido Anchovy. For Power Ranger, I was the Pink Ranger (”Pterodactyl!”), my brother was the Red Ranger (until he decided the White Ranger was cooler), and my sister the Yellow Ranger. With X-Men, I was Rogue, my brother was Wolverine, and my sister Jubilee. Need I continue?

Am I (and my brother and sister) completely crazy? Looking back, it’s seems such a silly thing to do and I can’t help but wonder if other kids used to do this too. I was talking to Cristiano about this tonight and he never did such a thing when he was young. So please speak up; I want to know I wasn’t a complete crazy kid with these actions.

Episode 35: “Gonna help him put asunder, Bad guys who like to loot and plunder”

One of my favourite cartoons from when I was a kid was Captain Planet and The Planeteers (I was 7 when it first aired). Besides a catchy theme song, the cartoon had some great easy-to-hate villains and lovable main characters, each with their own special magic ring. Theme Song! Villains! Magic powers! What more do you need from a tv show as a kid?

The show revolved around 5 kids, the Planeteers, with the task of defending Earth against disasters and pollution. They were chosen by Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, who gave them magic rings, with which they each can control an element. Kwame from Africa controls Earth, Wheeler from the US controls Fire, Linka from the Soviet Union controls Wind, Gi from Asia controls Water and Ma-Ti from South America controls Heart (telepathy). When needed, they can combine their powers and summon Captain Planet, a Green terrestrial Superman (Green as in environmentally friendly, not as in skin color).

I was always Linka when I was a kid, despite her being blonde and me brunette (if you don’t know what I mean here check out my next post). For some weird reason though, in my mind I remember her being from Sweden. Don’t ask me why, I just know that I have that memory “Linka is from Sweden”. Maybe I somehow made a faulty link as a kid that Sweden = Soviet Union, and, while I now know that that isn’t true, the memory of Linka was never updated.

Fun Facts: Most people know that Gaia was voiced by Whoopi Goldberg and Kuwame by LeVar Burton (the blind/visor guy in Star Trek: The Next Generation). But did you know most villains were voiced by well known actors?

Hoggish Greedly - Ed Asner
Dr. Blight - Meg Ryan (1990-1991)
Sly Sludge - Martin Sheen (1990-1993)
Duke Nukem - Dean Stockwell (1990-1992)
Verminous Skumm - Jeff Goldblum (1990)
Zarm - Sting (Season 1-2), David Warner (Season 3), Malcolm McDowell (Season 4)
Rigger (Hoggish Greedly’s henchman) - John Ratzenberger
MAL (Dr. Blight’s evil high-intellectual supercomputer) - Tim Curry

So as the video for today, here are the fantastic end credits of Captain Planet and The Planeteers:

I’ve even got the lyrics here for those of you who want to sing-a-long:

Captain Planet, he’s our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
He’s our powers magnified
And he’s fighting on the planet’s side

Captain Planet, he’s our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
Gonna help him put asunder
Bad guys who like to loot and plunder

“You’ll pay for this Captain Planet!”

We’re the Planeteers, You can be one too
‘Cause saving our planet is the thing to do!
Looting and polluting is not the way
Hear what Captain Planet has to say!
The Power is Yours!

Here’s also the opening sequence of Captain Planet and The Planeteers: