# Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990)

> Five young Planeteers, each wielding an elemental power, unite with the spirit Gaia to summon Captain Planet and fight eco-villains threatening Earth.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/448

## Facts

- Seasons: 6
- Episodes: 113
- Episode runtime: 25 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, action, family
- Created by: Ted Turner
- Network: TBS, Syndication
- Cast: Joey Dedio, LeVar Burton, Kath Soucie, Scott Menville, Janice Kawaye, David Coburn, Whoopi Goldberg, Charlie Schlatter
- TMDB rating: 6.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098763/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: earnest, hopeful, bright, action packed, educational

## What critics say

Viewers received the series as a mixed, earnest environmental cartoon whose message outweighed its animation and writing.

## Synopsis

Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990-1996) is an American animated superhero series created by Ted Turner and aired on TBS and in syndication. Five young heroes, Wheeler (Joey Dedio), Kwame (LeVar Burton), Linka (Kath Soucie), Ma-Ti (Scott Menville) and Gi (Janice Kawaye), each carry a ring that channels one element: earth, fire, water, wind and heart. Guided by the nature spirit Gaia (Whoopi Goldberg), they combine their powers to summon Captain Planet (David Coburn), a blue-skinned champion who appears when the team unites. Across six seasons and 113 episodes of roughly twenty-five minutes each, the engine is simple and recurring: a polluter, poacher or industrial schemer threatens a region, and the team travels to the site, confronts the villain and resolves the damage. The tone is earnest, bright and hopeful, with broad action and direct moral lessons aimed at young viewers. Set in the present day of its broadcast, the show sits within the Saturday morning tradition of Hanna-Barbera style team superhero cartoons. Fans of Teen Titans, Ninja Turtles and Super Friends will find familiar resonance in its team-based heroics and simple good-versus-evil structure.

## Shows like Captain Planet and the Planeteers

- [Shadow Raiders (1998)](https://ember.film/tv/435)
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- [Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984)](https://ember.film/tv/950)
- [ThunderCats (1985)](https://ember.film/tv/1880)
- [The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (2010)](https://ember.film/tv/30946)
- [Earthworm Jim (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/6155)
- [Ben 10 (2005)](https://ember.film/tv/4459)
- [He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)](https://ember.film/tv/2887)
- [Static Shock (2000)](https://ember.film/tv/1403)
- [Teen Titans (2003)](https://ember.film/tv/570)

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