Cartoons of the late 80s and early 90s #1

Ahhh, cartoons of the late 80s and early 90s were just something else. It was also around then that certain animes and mangas began to come across to our shores from Japan. Some not really altered but some REALLY edited in the initial release.(Which was a smart move in my opinion.) But we're going to talk about a little cartoon that ran for 13 episodes which was based upon a comic book.

This series is called Cadillacs and Dinosaurs. One would tend to think it had a comic of the same name, but this was one of those few exceptions where the comic only had a few issues with that title, while the official series is called Xenozoic Tales which was given publication in 1986. So as I said, late 80s and early 90s.

Cartoons being based upon comic books was nothing new, as it had been done a lot, although the quality of the cartoons themselves were a bit to be desired at the time.(Very very early ones, but they did get far better quality down the line.) But at any rate, while most of the cartoons back then did essentially follow their source materiel almost to a T, some did take some creative liberties.

Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is one of those cartoons that was a little of both. For instance, the characters were still named after their comic counterparts, while two still retained their appearances somewhat, the rest of the crew did get a bit of a change in appearance, not to mention one getting a far more prominent role.

So let's talk about our two main characters that the series follows, Jack Tenrec and Hannah Dundee. Most of the characters if not all in the cartoon, were a little bit on the old side. Not super old, but still, oldER. Jack had a bit of a gruff look to him, and kept his shirt closed most of the time.

However in the cartoon, he was made younger, and was given a bit of more unique design compared to his comic counterpart.

Jack's cartoon appearance was given a far more youthful and well fit build compared to his comic version, not saying the comic one wasn't strong looking or his look was bad, but I can understand the choice to make him look younger. Also they made the cartoon more unique in giving him a green shirt and a tattoo on his right arm. The mark of the Old Blood Mechanics. While it's never explicitly told that Jack is the last Old Blood Mechanic, I think it's a safe bet he is one of the remaining few at least of the Old Bloods. While we don't see a lot of them, later in the series we do see an old friend of Jack's that kinda changed his ways a little. The reason there are so few Old Bloods left is as stated by the other main character, Hannah Dundee, is that they all died off in her home. What of we'll never know, old age, killed, whatever, it does add an interesting sense of mystery and kinda fortitude to it.

But now onto Hannah herself. 

Her appearance in the cartoon wasn't that drastically changed from her comic look, except for the style of shirt she wore, that's pretty much it aside from the fact she is also younger than her comic self. A real interesting point of interest is that she was given a unique weapon, a double crossbow, and had an array of different arrows for it aside from basic ones. A rope one, a bola one just to name a few. Hannah generally accompanied Jack on his adventures and wasn't ever really absent from them, although there were times she wasn't with Jack she was always doing something. Be it either looking after someone or fully uncovering a plot.

Hannah sure wasn't a damsel in distress although in some episodes both her and Jack did end up tied up together, and only in one episode did she end up in a life threatening situation, but now onto the series itself.

The Cadillacs and Dinosaurs series only ran for 13 episodes, which was a bit of a shame, it was really good, and even if an episode did have some slight issues, it was overall enjoyable and kept you pretty entertained. To list a real major character change would be the role of the Poacher named Hammer, who originally in the comic died pretty quickly in the beginning, but was given a far more prominent role in the cartoon, as he was the leader of the Poachers, and a life time enemy of Jack.

He served the more basic combating good and evil of the cartoon, where as Governor Scharnhorst served the more complex role against good and evil. To really explain her character, I'll now explain the setting. If you haven't guessed ti already, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs is set in a future time where man had to hide underground for awhile from a Cataclysm, and once they surfaced the entire Earth had changed, and Dinosaurs once again roamed the Earth.

Scharnhorst kinda wants to get us back to the former days before said Cataclysm happened. Buuuut her means of wanting to do so are a bit extreme. Her intentions are a bit justified to an extent but she sure could handle it better. Hence why she isn't the only governor. Her role in the cartoon is pretty identical to the comic, down to her workings with the poachers to try and take care of Jack once in awhile. Shady shady shady!

One thing the cartoons and comics had in common were an original race called the Grith. A humanoid lizard race, and their leader Hobb is one of Jack's many friends. The appearance of these guys are essentially the same as in the comic, only Hobb was given a bit more of a distinctive look, while not changing him too much he was simply given a staff and a slight robe, giving an elder look, which looked pretty good. The Grith only appeared in a number of episodes, which is fine given they are a bit of a secluded race. The only reason Jack is friends with Hobb is because their teachings and beliefs are so similar.

Some cartoons either A, follow comic plots almost to a T, or B simply come up with their own stories. C&D was slightly a mixture of both. In some episodes it actually borrowed one or two panel shots from the comics rather than completely animate the entire issue essentially.

However one particular episode did slightly follow an example from an issue and in using one particular plot to kinda act as the starting plot but the actual story was within another. In fact they did use the idea of the one plot and changed it up a bit, while the rest of the episode was it's own idea.

Essentially all the episodes were original ideas and settings, being it's own thing from the comics. Given the premise of the series it was pretty easy to do, essentially the cartoon and comics could be consider their own separate universes. I do wish the series had lasted longer. It had memorable characters and stories. Then again there was one episode that I believe was more or less based upon a comic issue, where Hannah finds a wild child, who in fact was found and raised by the Grith.

But yeah, this was an interesting show I would have liked to have been continued. In fact I can picture a couple of episodes if they did continue. This is one of those rare gems that should have been longer, and is well worth a watch if you can find the episodes. None of the episodes ever really stunk, and it was good quality entertainment, with a slight message that well, some may argue it was kinda hammered in, but not really. It's really a unique take on if dinosaurs returned and how we would adapt to it.

As said before, this show should have lasted longer, it would have been nice to see where the adventures eventually led to.

Oh, and for those of you with good ears, might notice that the actress who played Hannah, also went on to play Sailor Jupiter from Sailor Moon! Interesting role of choice. Personality wise both are pretty different, so it does mean different performances, but hey, it's interesting info to know none the less. :)

Hannah Dundee and Sailor Jupiter voiced by Susan Roman

So if you can, track down the series and give it a watch, it's a fun ride!