{{infobox television |show name

TaleSpin |image |caption TaleSpin intertitle |genre Animated series |creator Jymn MagonMark Zaslove |director Larry LathamRobert Taylor |voices Ed GilbertR. J. WilliamsSally StruthersJanna MichaelsPat FraleyJim CummingsTony Jay |composer Christopher L. Stone |theme_music_composer Silversher & Silversher |country United States |language English |num_seasons 1 |num_episodes 65 |list_episodes List of TaleSpin episodes |producer Robert TaylorEd GhertnerLarry LathamJamie Mitchell |runtime 22 minutes |channel Disney Channel (1990)first-run syndication (1990-1991) |picture_format 480i SDTV |audio_format Stereo |rating TV-G |first_aired |last_aired }}

TaleSpin is a half-hour American animated television series based in the fictional city of Cape Suzette, that first aired in 1990 as part of The Disney Afternoon, with characters adapted from Disney's 1967 animated feature The Jungle Book. The name of the show is a play on "tailspin", the rapid, often fatal, descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral. The two words in the show's name, tale and spin are a way to describe telling a story. The show is one of three TDA shows to use established Disney characters as the main characters, the others being DuckTales, and Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers.

Background

After a preview of The Disney Afternoon that aired on the Disney Channel in early May 1990, the series began its syndicated run in September of the same year. The original concept was embodied in the introductory television movie Plunder and Lightning which was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (Prime Time for Programming One Hour or More) in 1991 and was later re-edited into four half-hour episodes for reruns. The show was often seen either on its own as a half-hour show, or as part of the two-hour syndicated series The Disney Afternoon. TaleSpin ended on its 65th episode which ran in 1991. However, reruns continued to be shown on The Disney Afternoon until September 1994. Afterwards, it was moved into Disney Channel and later into Toon Disney, where was first aired from April 1998 until January 2006, and later from January 2007 until May 2008.

Several of the characters are loosely based on characters from Disney's animated film version of The Jungle Book: in particular Baloo, the hot-shot pilot hero of the series; Louie, the owner of Baloo's favorite bar; and Shere Khan, a business tycoon who appears in many episodes. However, Mowgli, Bagheera, Kaa, and Colonel Hathi are notably absent (Although some of Shere Khan's soldier panthers do resemble Bagheera, and villain Thadeos E. Klang does bear a striking resemblance to Kaa). Kit Cloudkicker seems to be a stand-in for Mowgli of The Jungle Book, since Baloo calls him by the same nicknames as Mowgli, like "Little Britches" and "Baby Bear" with the former calling the latter "Papa Bear" in return. Shere Khan's soldiers are black panthers, resembling Bagheera. Despite its strong likeliness and the re-use of several characters from the film, Talespin has never been intended to be a "spin-off" or a parody of The Jungle Book.

Also, many of the series concepts seem to be based on the 1982 ABC series Tales of the Gold Monkey, including the main concept of a cocky flying boat cargo pilot and his rocky relationship with his girlfriend (although in this series she was merely his boss), his scatterbrained mechanic sidekick, the era and designs of the aircraft and costumes, the Pacific Islands setting, the secondary character relationships, even the visual appearance of the lagoon. Also, the protagonists of both series fly planes named for waterfowl (Cutter's Goose and Sea Duck) and are regular denizens of similar taverns. In "Tales of the Gold Monkey" it's a bar called 'The Gold Monkey' and run by a man named Louie. In "TaleSpin" it's called 'Louie's' and run by a golden-colored ape (orangutan) of the same name.

There is also a more than passing resemblance to Hayao Miyazaki's film Porco Rosso about a pigheaded man who flies a seaplane and fights air pirates, which the creators of Talespin explain by the influence the previous Miyazaki's films had on them, and the possibility of Miyazaki watching Talespin at some point. While the film was released in 1992 (two years after TaleSpin had already aired) Porco Rosso is based on Miyazaki's manga, Hikōtei Jidai which was first published in 1989.

The series was largely developed by writers Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove, who were also the supervising producers on the series as well as story editors. There were four production teams, each one headed by a producer/director: Robert Taylor, Larry Latham, Jamie Mitchell and Ed Ghertner.

Synopsis

TaleSpin is set in the fictional city-state of Cape Suzette (a pun on the pancake dish, Crêpe Suzette), a harbor town protected by giant cliffs through which only a small opening exists. The opening in the cliffs is guarded by anti-aircraft artillery, preventing flying rabble-rousers or air pirates from entering the city. The characters in the world of TaleSpin are anthropomorphic animals. The timeframe of the series is never specifically addressed, but appears to be in the mid to late 1930s; the helicopter, television and jet engine are experimental devices and most architecture is reminiscent of the art deco style of that period. "The Great War" ended "nearly 20 years ago", and radio is the primary mass medium (one episode even has a brief mention where the characters have never heard of television before).

The series centered on the adventures of bush pilot Baloo the bear, whose air cargo freight business, "Baloo's Air Service", is purchased by Rebecca Cunningham upon his default on delinquent bills with the bank and renamed "Higher for Hire." An orphan boy and former air pirate, the ambitious Kit Cloudkicker, attaches to Baloo and becomes his navigator. He sometimes calls him "Papa Bear". Together, they are the crew of Higher for Hire's only aircraft, a modified Conwing L-16 (a fictitious combination of a Fairchild C-82 transport and a Grumman HU-16 amphibian), named the Sea Duck. From there, the series follows the ups and downs of Higher for Hire and its staff, sometimes in the vein of old action-adventure film serials of the 1930s and '40s and contemporary variations, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Their adventures often involve encounters with a gang of air pirates led by the histrionic Don Karnage, with representatives of Thembria, a parody of the Stalinist Soviet Union inhabited by anthropomorphic boars, or other, often even stranger obstacles. In deference to contemporary sensitivities, there is no equivalent of the Nazis in the series, although one story in Disney Adventures Magazine had the heroes encounter "the Hausers", a menacing militaristic nationality of dogs who wear uniforms that are clearly based on German ones.

The relationship between Baloo and Rebecca owes something to the screwball comedy films of the 1930s. More precisely, according to Jymn Magon (co-creator of the series), the two characters were fashioned after Sam & Rebecca from the then-popular sitcom Cheers.

Famed Uncle Scrooge comic writer and artist Don Rosa wrote episode 6, "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck", and episode 9, "I Only Have Ice for You."

Characters and cast

Episodes

DVD releases

On August 29, 2006, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the first 27 episodes (including the 4-part pilot) of TaleSpin on DVD in Region 1. Volume 2 of the series was released on November 13, 2007, contains the second half of 27 episodes of which includes the controversial episode (which had been banned from television) "Last Horizons". Disney has yet to confirm a third volume with the remaining 11 episodes of the series, and there is no word on whether the other controversial episode (which had also been banned from television), "Flying Dupes" will be included.

!DVD Name ! style="text-align:center;" style="text-align:center;"

Ep# !! Release Date !! Additional Information
TaleSpin: Volume 1	27	August 29, 2006
TaleSpin: Volume 2	27 ||	November 13, 2007
TaleSpin: Volume 3	11 ||	TBA

Reception

IGN listed TaleSpin as the 81st best cartoon in the Top 100 Animated TV Shows.

Comics

A monthly comic book based on the show was published by Disney Comics in 1991, running for seven issues (eleven, counting a four-issue mini-series based on the series premiere). Bobby JG Weiss was the writer for issues 1-4 and 6-7. As issue 5 was adapted from the episode 35, "The Old Man and the Sea Duck", Weiss only is credited for adaptation.

The comic's cancellation seven months later terminated several planned stories that would have revealed pieces of background for the main characters. Issue 7 explored Kit's past, and how he joined up with the pirates. According to the letter page in #3, a planned story for the comic's annual would have explored the origin of the Iron Vulture. #4-7 would have letters 'answered' by the characters.

A collected edition called Disney's Cartoon Tales featuring TaleSpin came out in 1991 (ISBN 1-56115-269-2). It reprints #4 and 6 from the regular comic book series.

Subsequent comic stories were also printed in Disney Adventures from 1990 to 1995 then re-appeared in the Summer 2006 Disney Adventures Comic Zone Magazine, as well as in The Disney Afternoon comic book published by Marvel Comics.

TaleSpin #8

While issue #8 of the monthly comic series never made it to print, the end of issue #7 included a preview for it:

"Spies in Cape Suzette?! There are some mighty mysterious folk sniffing around Shere Khan Industries. When Special Agent Booker shows up to handle the problem he finds that battling foreign agents is easier than dealing with Baloo as an assistant in... THE SPY WHO BUGGED ME!"

Video games

Three different TaleSpin video games were produced. One was a scrolling shooting game developed by Capcom for the NES and Game Boy. The other two were platform games, one developed by Sega for the Sega Genesis and Game Gear, and the other developed by NEC for the TurboGrafx-16.

References

External links

Category:The Disney Afternoon Category:1990s American animated television series Category:1990 television series debuts Category:1991 television series endings Category:Aviation television series Category:Disney Channel shows Category:Disney Comics titles Category:English-language television series Category:Playmates Toys Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Category:Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters Category:Television series by Disney

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