"Thundring across the stars to save the universe from the Monster Minds. Jayce searches for his father, to unite the magic Root and lead his Lightning League into victory over the changing form of Sawboss. Wheeled Warriors explode into battle...lightning strikes!"
In 1985 DIC Audiovisual in association with Japanese animators (hence this is technically Anime) produced a 65 episode syndicated animated series called Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. As is usual in western animation (especially series designed to sell toys, such as Transformers) there was little or no continuation between episodes (meaning you could watch them in just about any order imaginable and see no problem) and the characters were fairly shallow and stereotypical. Wheeled Warriors was also a known takeoff on at least three prior works - Star Wars, Ulysses 31, and The Mysterious Cities of Gold, not to mention Jayce bearing some noteable similarities to Kim Kinnison from The Lensman.
The scientist Audric is working on a new kind of super vegetable to feed the hungry trillions of the universe when a flare of Black Light from a nearby sun strikes his laboratory. It is strongly implied in the series that the Black Light is a conscious entity, and it's power causes the previously nutritous benign vegetables to mutate into those horrific monstrosities, Sawboss and his Trooper Leaders - the Monster Minds.
Audric flees the laboratory taking with him two halves of the Root - probably part of the vegetable from which the Monster Minds came. He thinks that with time he can use the Root to destroy the Monster Minds, but in the meantime he despatches his loyal squire Oon to take one half to his son, Jayce, in case he is captured.
Oon arrives (in pieces) and presents Jayce with the half of the Root. Gillian declares that they must find Audric as fast as possible and reunite the two halves. The group assume the name of the legendary Lightning League as their goal now is nothing less than combating the greatest evil in the universe - the Monster Minds.
The dome the characters are sheltering beneath is attacked by Monster Minds and Gillian summons a ship to rescue them. The ship is the Pride of the Skies II, piloted by the able, if greedy, Herc Stormsailor. Herc agrees to help them out after Gillian shows him a mountain of gold bars. The group fight their way into orbit, but Gillian's gold was just an illusion and the furious Herc declares he will never leave their company until he gets paid. Thus begins the relatively directionless saga we know as Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors.
The series is not totally without a passage of time. Characters like Jal Gorda, Dr Zorg, and Norrax take part in the series in a more than one episode, and there are even scattered references to previous episodes within the series that seem to suggest a passage of time. For example, in Common Bond, Gillian refers to the Lightning League's last encounter with Norrax on the planet Korvaxx, without mentionning just how long before it took place. Also in that episode, Jal Gorda remembers how Audric rescued him from the Monster Minds as a young fox - which indicates some years must have passed since. If we assume that Flora and Jayce age normally and that Oon's tale of the discovery of the Monster Minds by Audric is accurate, that would put the rescue of Jal Gorda and the creation of the Monster Minds at most four or five years before the start of the series.
Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors featured the following characters:
- Jayce, bearer of the Ring of Light and the Root. The Ring of Light had many powers and would often save the characters from a jam. The Root was one of the two pieces from the creation of the Monster Minds, the other piece being held by Jayce's father, Audric. Jayce's vehicle is Armed Force, reserved for his personal use. He can control the other vehicles with a band he wears on his arm.
- Gillian, magician and scientist. Gillian builds many contraptions for the Lightning League, often improving their efficiancy with a spell. He tricks Herc at the beginning of the series with an illusion of gold bars to convince him to rescue the characters from a Monster Mind attack. Gillian helped Audric create Flora from a pot plant years before the series begins. Gillian is also responsible for building the Lightning League Vehicles, Drill Sergent, Armed Force, Spike Trike, Quick Draw, Trail Blazer, Spray Gunner, Fling Shot, and Battle Base. Gillian's preferred vehicle is Quick Draw.
- Herc Stormsailor, captain of the Pride of the Skies II. Herc rescues the other characters in the first episode when they are under attack by Monster Minds. Very greedy, Herc goes anywhere gold can be found. He is obviously modelled very heavily on Han Solo from Star Wars. Herc's preferred vehicle is Spike Trike.
- Flora, created from a plant by Audric and Gillian. Flora looks like a regular eight-year-old girl, aside from her brilliant green eyes and huge pigtails. She can talk to plants and animals, sense Monster Minds from a distance, and manage many of the vehicles used by the Lightning League in battle. Flora is probably modelled on Yumi from the animated series Ulysses 31. Flora's preferred vehicle is Brock, though when she needs something that can actually do offensive damage she goes for Drill Sergent.
- Oon, a living suit of armor thousands of years old. Oon is an Eternal Squire, loyal previously to Audric, but after the first episode to Jayce. He is extremely cowardly, but takes some solace from his lance, which he believes to be magic. Oon is probably modelled on No-No from the animated series Ulysses 31. Oon, as Jayce's squire, travels with him in Armed Force.
- Brock, a huge flying fish. Brock seems to have a saddle permenantly grafted to his back. Flora uses Brock to fly around and keep up with the other members of the team. Brock speaks in squeeks and birdlike chirps.
- The Zoggies, are Flora's three metallic pets (pests?). They enjoy tormenting Oon, and often get under Herc's feet. Later in the series they learn to control Battle Base and begin to play a more useful role. The Zoggies preferred vehicle is, then, Battle Base.
- Audric, Jayce's father. He has the other half of the Root, and is trying to meet up with Jayce to unite the halves at which point the Monster Minds will finally be annihilated. Audric created the Monster Minds by accident while working on growing a super vegetable to feed the hungry masses of the universe. Audric is probably modelled on Ulysses from the animated series Ulysses 31.
- Jal Gorda, Audric's confidant. Looks like a large fox and sometimes ferries information from Audric to the Lightning League.
- Sawboss, the vegetable king and leader of the Monster Minds. Sawboss has a very big head, and hence a huge brain - but judging from the nature of his evil plans there isn't much in there. Sawboss was created when a flare of Black Light from a nearby sun struck the lab where Audric was working. Like any vegetable Sawboss prefers a sedentary existence, and spends most of his time sitting on his throne brooding and giving orders. He also has the power to move the Monster Mind base by calling upon the power of the Black Light. Sawboss can transform into a futuristic streamlined vehicle with a deadly spinning saw, but struggling up from his comfortable chair seems to not be worth the effort.
- Trooper Leaders. These are Monster Mind generals who control vast armies of troopers. Whereas the Trooper Leaders can take on humanoid form, the troopers themselves are just vehicles and much stupider. The Troop Leaders are Sawtrooper Commander, Gun Grinner, Terror Tank, KO Cruiser, and Beast Walker. The Trooper Leaders rarely leave the Monster Mind base and prefer to send their troopers in their stead.
The complete ending credits for Wheeled Warriors were:
Executive Producers: Jean Chalopin, Andy Heyward, Tetsuo Katayama
Supervising Chief Directors: Bernard Deyries, Kazumi Fukushima and Bruno Bianchi
Assisted by: Tricia Piascik-Goetz
Assistant Director: Michael Maliani
Creative Supervision: Jean Chalopin
Assisted by: Lori Crawford and John Andrucci
Executives in Charge of Production: Thierry Laurin, Kevin O?Donnel and Janan Roberts
Story Editors: Jim Carlson and Haskell Barkin
Writers: J. Michael Straczinski, Larry Ditillio, Howard R. Cohen, Jina Bacarr, Rod Baker, Haskell Barkin, Jim Bertges, Jack Bornoff, Rhonda Fields, Patrick J. Furlong, Barbara Hambly, Seth Hill, John Howard, Ken Kahn, Dale Kirby, Ken Koonce, Natasha Lubin, Lynn Manning, Dennis O?Flaharty, Glen Olsen, Mike O?Mahoney, Daniel Pitlik, David Pitlik, Bruce Schaefer, Bill Schienkai, Judy Strauss, David Weimers, John Wilkman and Karen Willson
Associate Producer: Joellyn Marlow
Production Coordinator: Donald P. Zappala
Animation Production Manager: Shigeru Akagawa
Production Assistants: Hideki Akiyama, Tina Bigham, Jay Francis, Gail Forest, Allison Heitner, Earnie McKeithen, Elizabeth Miller, Masako Nighida, Minoru Tareo, Jeffrey Thorin, Hiroshi Toita, Takahiko Tsuchiya, Mary P. Willhide and Rikiu Yoshida
Assistant Production Coordinator: Mitsuya Fujimoto
Music by: Shuki Levy and Haim Saban
Voice Direction by: Terry Burke
Talent Coordination by: Jennifer Goldie
Voice Recording Engineer: Vic Pyle
Starring: Darrin Baker, Len Carlson, Dan Hennessey, Charles Joliffe, Guilio Kukurugya and Valerie Politis
Storyboards by: Tetsuya Endo, Yohito Hata, Zuiryo Motohira, Michael Maliani and Hitoshi Nanba
Character Design: Francois Allot, Don Greer and Junzaburo Takahata
Image Design: Christian Choquet, Tim Gula and Stephan Martiniere
Supervising Director: Kazuo Terada
Key Animators and Layout: Studio Giants, Studio Look, Studio Sunrise, Studio Shaft and Swan Production
Art Director: Mitsuharu Miyamae
Animation: Kanzunori Iida and Kanzuhisa Takeda
Production Manager: Toshitsugu Mukaitsubo
Camera Direction: Masahide Ueda
Edited by: Syuichi Kaketsu
Lip Sync Editors: Linda Davies and Woody Yocum
Color Styling: Yukiko Nunomoto, Setsuko Tanaka and Kimie Yamana
Unit Directors: Tetsuya Endo, Yoshito Hata, Zuiryo Motohira and Hitoshi Nanba
Post Production Executive: W.R. Kowalchuk, Jr.
ANIMATION CITY EDITORIAL SERVICES, LTD.
Post Production Supervisor: Clinton A. Solomon
Editorial Department Supervisor: Tim Roberts
Supervising Editor: Barry Gilmore
Sound Editors: Jeremy MacLaverty, Oliver Manton, Dan Sexton and Kevin Ward
Music Editors: Steven R. Mitchell and Jackie Heeren
Assistant Editor: Donna Powell
Sound Engineers: Patrick Calvert and Teve Pepin
Track Department: Trudy Alexander, Andy Attfield, Alison Brown, Cindy Fret, Kelly Hall, Peter Jones, Fiona Paterson and Brian Jeffrey Street
Format Editor: Helen Watson
Videotape Supervisor: Patty Hayes
Post Production Coordinator: Ted Harrison
Assistant Coordinators: Maya Koizumi and Paul Quinn
Produced by: Jean Chalopin, Denys Heroux and John Kemeny
Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors is Copyright 1985 by DIC Audiovisuel and ICC TV Productions, Ltd., was produced as an official Canada-France co-production, and was distributed by the SFM Entertainment Division, SFM Media Corporation.
The complete ending credits for Wheeled Warriors were copied from Cindy's amazing website at http://www.wheelies.net/~cindy/wheelies/ww_intro.html
The beginning song lyrics are:
There's a power that comes from deep inside of you
And every day you're reachin toward the light
And you know there's a long long way ahead of you
But when your wheels get you there, things will turn out right
Just keep 'em turning, don't stop 'em rolling,
The fire is on--Wheeled Warriors!
Battle drums burning, wheels moving--Wheeled Warriors
Wheeled Warriors!
Cause we can just keep 'em turning, don't stop 'em rolling
The fire is on--Wheeled Warriors!
Battle drums burning, wheels moving--Wheeled Warriors
Wheeled Warriors!
The ending song lyrics are:
Drivin' down on the highway (drivin')
And my wheels are spinnin' fast (spinnin' fast)
I've been drivng now for a long long time
And soon I will be there
Keep on rollin'!
Keep on rollin'!
There's no turning back we're goin' all the way!
Miscellaneous Wheeled Warriors triva:
- J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5, who scripted some of the episodes of Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, also scripted a never made film that was supposed to wrap up the series. DIC (the company that created WW) own the copyright on the script, though inquiries I've made indicate they no longer have a copy in their archives. It is possible that the only copy still existing is in JMS's possession.
Much of this information from Cindy's superb website at http://www.wheelies.net/~cindy/wheelies