Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars!

Far too few people talk about Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars! These days, which really is a shame.

One of the best cartoons of the 90s, Bucky O'Hare follows in the footsteps of the greats from the 1980s, such as He-Man, Thundercats, Ulysses, etc.

Clearly influenced by Star Wars, O'Hare is a swashbuckling journey through a near dystopia caused by political turmoil, all thanks to the antagonists, the Toads.

Space dogfights, ingenious plans, relentless enemies, slavers, interplanetary corruption - Captain Bucky faces them all with the help of an ensemble of unique crew members.

A real gem of the early 90s. Though, I imagine if you're reading this then you already know that.

This show is another under the radar gem. It's also another one of my childhood gems, I was a kid of both the 80's and 90's and yeah like a lot of kids I was a fan of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", the 80's show truly was a phenomenon that really helped kick the anamorphic subgenre into high gear so it's no surprise that many others would follow suit.

When I saw this show come around it really blew me away being a sci-fi fan, seeing anamorphic characters in space it really was a unique idea and actually was a hit; like Turtles it was based on a graphic novel, it had a toy line, and there were even a couple of video games one for the NES (which I reviewed) and a arcade game, both are awesome. But sadly, it wasn't enough due to the fame of Turtles still going on it, like a comet this franchise passed most of the public eye.

This show really was something else in the animated sub-genre but also even in sci-fi also, it definitely predates the "Guardians of the Galaxy" film franchise, TV show "Firefly" also prematurely cut short, but also the "Star Fox" video game franchise which came out long after this show.

I really like the premise which I'll admit is wild, on an alternate universe where it's sometime in the future and humanoid animals are the dominant species. Yeah, like I said wild but like with the DC verse, there are multiple universes and Earth's in existence, who's to say one universe and world everyone must look human.

This aside it's basically your good against evil plotline as Bucky along with a rag tag group are fighting for freedom against the Toads whom are the fascists, nothing new but it's the execution that makes it stand out. But I really find the aniverse fascinating as we see some futuristic, otherworldly, and even familiar things in places which made me want to explore more of this universe and all it has to offer.

The animation is very good, I really like the designs and colors of the characters. I also like the designs of the spaceships which I think are cool and unique from Bucky's ship as well as the Toad's whos ships they always design with the head of a toad.

The action is solid you see some aerial battles in space as well as some laser battles and in some places you do see some hits which is cool shows there is some sense of jeopardy and that these anamorphic freedom fighters are risking their lives.

And of course, there is that theme song which is one of my favorite theme songs of all time. It's such a rocking and exciting tune, that just gets you pumped up for action which is exactly what the show delivers.

The characters are also good and have a good voice cast ensemble. They all have unique personas and even a certain amount of depth to them as each episode is focused on different crew members. Three characters I really like are Bucky who is just the courage leader arcitype but in a good way as he has some charisma and is highly determined at what he does.

Jenny who is sort of a feline Jean Grey as she has psychic powers where are very useful from telepathic communication, picking up on danger and other things depending on the episode.

Though of course my favorite character is Dead Eye voiced by one of my favorite voice actors Scott McNeil. His character is sort of like Raphael from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" as he's the most aggressive and battle hunger of the bunch, but also has a little of that darkness as he's an ex space pirate. His character also is a bit like Rocket Racoon from "Guardian's of the Galaxy" (man he could of easily fit into this series) is also a spit fire as he has some of the best lines in the show the most notable on is "Let's croak some Toads!"

This is another franchise that can use a revival, there really is a lot of potential to be had. From exploring more of this alternate universe and a lot more of what it has to offer. Bring more depth to the characters and the worlds they inhabit.

Could go either the same direction or even a slightly dark direction make the show a little like "The Expanse" where during this war Bucky is trying to for his crew there is also something more going on at the same time like some conspirators that are causing ruin but also have a dark purpose. Maybe also in part of a season they could take the war straight to our world and Bucky and his crew must come to ours to save it. Well it's all a thought to consider.

Bucky O Hare jump high from space and beyond.

Rating: 3 stars

I vaguely remember this cartoon, mainly from its product line. as I recall the good guys flew ships shaped like giant boots that squashed the toads. When I was little, this show confused me because the charactors where very serious and everything they said was really ridiculous and hard to take serious. and then they were flying these shoe ships and squashing frogs making this woopy cushion fart noise, that seemed like it was supposed to be funny. At the time this show came out there was big demand for cartoons like this. part of the ninja turtle fad. so writers and ideas for this stuff were ramped. In my opion, this is just another junk cartoon thrown together that invovled personified animal warriors, or from space or ninjas or whatever. just another strange part of americana

I must've spent hours watching this as a kid, as it's been there, lodged in my memory all the way up to my current age of 17. I could remember very little about it yet somehow it never left my mind. After getting it on DVD recently I find it is as good if not better than I could recall.

The series follows the adventures of Captain Bucky O' Hare and the crew of his ship, the Righteous Indignation, in their battle against the toad menace. It's a war of mammals vs amphibians, and with the mammals fleet consisting of just one ship at the start of the series going up against an enormous toad star fleet, Bucky and co. are outnumbered. The crew are joined by human science nerd boy Willy DuWitt, who inadvertently transports himself through to 'The Aniverse' from our own world.

Visually it is quite impressive, the designs are very original, the ships are unique and extremely cool and characters are all fun, colourful and all completely different in appearance. The animation is better than most Saturday morning cartoons and while jerky on occasions, the action comes thick and fast so it is not a bother. The voice artists do a great job, even if speech is a little over-exaggerated from time to time. The story lines are all unique and interesting and on first viewing it's easy to get addicted to wanting to know where they'll end up next.

The heroes of the cartoon are all likable and it's easy to get attached to them. Bucky is completely heroic and there is not a bad bone in his body. However his trusting nature and inclination to walk into at least one trap per episode it seems often get him into trouble. Deadeye Duck is the cocky, trigger happy four armed pirate gunner of the ship. He tends to say the same things a lot, usually something to do with his lust for 'croaking toads' but doesn't get annoying. The ship's sultry pilot, Jenny the Cat will go down with fans of anthropomorphic women, *wink wink*, and she is a pretty cool character, harnessing mysterious witch-like powers. Bruiser the baboon is dumb but lovable and the robot Blinky is painfully cute. You feel sorry for the poor little guy as he is frequently captured.

Humour comes from the utter idiocy of the toads. The air Marshal is suitably stressed out of his head for the whole series and says everything like he's about to explode. Also the frequent commercials on Toad TV, showcasing wart cream and constant images of voluptuous scantily clad toad girls prove amusing.

The parallels to Star Wars are clear from the off. Characters all seem to have Star Wars counterparts, Deadeye duck is a very Han Solo like character, Bruiser could be Chewbacca and Blinky takes on the role of R2D2 and C3PO rolled into one. On the evil side there's an evil toad emperor, his right hand man who is a dead toad inside a mechanical body (Vader anyone?), the bumbling toad legions are referred to as stormtroopers and the money hungry bad-guy-for-hire Al Negator could be seen as a crocodile Boba Fett. There even seems to be scenes and dialogue taken straight from if not heavily influenced by the Star Wars films. e.g. "You're actually going to go into an asteroid field???"

The only negative part of the storytelling is the part of Willy DuWitt. He is the human character who constantly flits between the aniverse and his own uninteresting homeworld of earth. Whenever the storyline goes over to his antics with bullies at school, it gets a bit lame, but then it doesn't last long, so it's easy to forgive. Another negative point is that it's obviously censored. There's no toads getting shot in the head. However there is lots of explosions, spaceship destroying and robot trashing as well as hands on violence.

Overall it's a good, action packed sci fi cartoon that should never have been cancelled. Anyone who says it just jumped on the TMNT bandwagon should be pointed in the direction of the original 70's comics. The TMNT cartoon is undoubtedly why this got the green light but this has not been shoddily thrown together by any means.

9.5/10 Recommended for fans of: -Star Wars -Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles -Any of the 90s super hero animals cartoons (swat cats, biker mice from mars etc) -Science Fiction action in general

I have never read the comic books of Bucky O'Hare before yet but I did hear Bucky O' Hare from video games. When I heard that there is a TV show by Bucky O'Hare I really want to check what is going on with that I am curious to watch it before I decide to play video games and read comics.

When I watched that show it was really good. The animation somehow aged a little well because this show is made in the 1990s. Some of the character designs that I liked are only Jenny, voices in the show are just OK, but somehow despite the show that almost has potential the story and the writing in this show just felt a bit boring and flat.

There is not enough backstory, there is not enough character exploration, and the writing just felt a bit lazy that is one example is that a whole toad army ran away over o e berserker baboon.

In the show is not perfect and not good. It is just OK. But if you feel like wanting a taste of t 1990s then I supposed that I don't mind. I hope this franchise can get a reboot.