Wildfire

"Wildfire" is perhaps the best of all animated programs produced during the 1980s. It only lasted 13 episodes, but displayed a level of sophistication rarely seen in animation, and especially rare among Saturday Morning toons. This is undoubtedly due to the the influence of the brilliant fantasy-fiction writer Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn). The show centered around the adventures of a young girl living in Monatana named Sara who is in fact a royal refugee from the distant planet Dar-Shan which is ruled by a clan of supernatural horses. Their rule is threatened by the evil witch Diabolyn who seeks (what else?) global domination. The most heroic of Dar-Shan's horses is Wildfire, a wise stallion who was a loyal companion of Sara's mother (the Queen of Dar-Shan and Diabolyn's sister, who died during childbirth). Sara returns periodically to help Dar-Shan when it is in trouble with Wildfire usually being the ultimate weapon of 'Good'.

The dialogue of the show was extremely well-written, making the show not only adventurous and suspenseful, but moral and even existential. It's a shame that no studio has stepped forward to put the show back in circulation or to release it on DVD (it was produced by Hana-Barbera). It is probably the supreme example of a cult cartoon which has survived primarily because its quality was unmatched by any other 80s toon.

Largely forgotten today, this fantasy cartoon about a princess in hiding and a talking horse was remarkably complex, beautifully drawn, and amazingly well-written. Each episode revealed more and more of the mythical world of Dar-Shan and gave its audience a new puzzle piece to help reason out the past events that led up to the evil Diabolyn's tyrannical rule.

The only "flaw" this series has is the fact that it ran for a mere 13 episodes. The final episode reveals just enough surprises to make me long for more; thus, it sadly leaves the story quite unfinished.

Everyone I knew that watched the cartoon enjoyed it; I'm not sure why it was not continued. I very much hope that it will come to DVD and, furthermore, that its release will generate interest from talented writers and animators who might wish to continue the story in a new animated series.

I loved this show when I was a kid. Having my own horse at the time and crazy about anything horse-related, this show became an instant favourite. I loved the idea of the horses being able to talk and take Sara (the main character) into this amazing other world to fight evil. It was an unusual storyline and its a huge pity that the series was never continued and even more of a pity that it has never been released on DVD. There is a whole new generation of horse-mad kids out there who would love this show (not to mention the adults who want to re-live their childhoods!). I know I would certainly buy it for my daughter so fingers crossed that it will be released on DVD soon.

Wildfire was an imaginative, well-put-together series, with high-quality animation and great music. The stories were sophisticated enough to appeal to a wide age range, while still drawing in a fan base of horse-crazy little girls.