Road Rovers | |
---|---|
Created by |
Tom Ruegger Jeff Gordon |
Written by |
Tom Ruegger Mark Seidenberg |
Directed by | Herb Moore |
Starring |
Jess Harnell Tress MacNeille Jeff Bennett Kevin Michael Richardson Frank Welker Joseph Campanella Jim Cummings Rob Paulsen Sheena Easton |
Theme music composer | Richard Stone |
Composers |
Gordon Goodwin Don Harper |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Executive producer | Tom Ruegger |
Producer | Bob Doucette |
Running time | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
Production company | Warner Bros. Television Animation |
Animation services | Studio Junio |
Original release | |
Network |
Kids' WB Nine Network (Australia) |
Release | September 7, 1996 February 22, 1997 | –
Road Rovers is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that premiered on Kids' WB on September 7, 1996, and ended after one season on February 22, 1997. [1] It was later shown on Cartoon Network from February 7, 1998, until 2000.
The show follows the adventures of the Road Rovers, a team of five super-powered crime-fighting anthropomorphic dogs, known as "cano-sapiens". The characters all live with world leaders, including the President of the United States, the British Prime Minister, the Chancellor of Germany, the Swiss President and the President of Russia. [2]
In the town of Socorro, New Mexico, Professor Shepherd was forced to relinquish an experimental transdogmafier technology to General Parvo in exchange for his lost dog, but instead Parvo gives him a bomb that destroys his laboratory. One year later, as normal dogs begin to mutate into monsters, Shepherd, who miraculously survived the attack, takes measures to stop Parvo, who is behind this.
Shepherd selects five different dogs and in his new, secret underground lab, he uses his new transdogmifier on the five, turning them into "Cano sapiens." These dogs are the pets of world leaders, and when called to action, they are a team of crime fighters known as the Road Rovers.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
1 | 13 | September 7, 1996 | February 22, 1997 | Kids' WB |
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Let's Hit the Road" | Herb Moore | Tom Ruegger and Mark Seidenberg | September 7, 1996 | |
The Master assembles the Road Rovers for the first time to stop Parvo from stealing a genetic stabilizer which would enable him to make his canine minions permanently anthropomorphic. | |||||
2 | "Storm from the Pacific" | Jon McClenahan | Earl Kress and Tom Ruegger | September 14, 1996 | |
Disgraced captain Zachary Storm seeks revenge on the United States for his court-martial. | |||||
3 | "A Hair of the Dog That Bit You" | Scott Jeralds | John Ludin and Mark Seidenberg | September 21, 1996 | |
Packs of werewolves take over London, and Exile seems to have gotten bitten (or scratched), which puts him under watch. When Colleen is revealed to have been turned into a werewolf, the Rovers seek help from the wise Confusus, who tells them how to cure werewolf bites. However, they must do so before the sun rises, or else the transformed humans will remain werewolves permanently. | |||||
4 | "Where Rovers Dare" | Herb Moore | Brian Chin and Tom Ruegger | October 12, 1996 | |
The nations of Eisneria and Katzenstok (named after the CEOs of Disney and DreamWorks) are preparing to go to war over an ancient scepter. | |||||
5 | "Let Sleeping Dogs Lie" | Blair Peters | Nick Dubois | October 26, 1996 | |
The Road Rovers must protect ancient artifacts from Parvo's army of ninjas. | |||||
6 | "The Dog Who Knew Too Much" | Jon McClenahan | Earl Kress and Tom Ruegger | November 2, 1996 | |
One dog, Sport, has the answers to a rash of human and canine kidnappings and becomes a temporary Road Rover to testify. However, he has somewhat of a big mouth and often tries to talk himself out of certain situations. | |||||
7 | "Hunter's Heroes" | Scott Jeralds | John Ludin and Mark Seidenberg | November 9, 1996 | |
Parvo begins running a high-tech, heavily armed concentration camp to keep thousands of dogs in captivity. Then, he will transform them into cano-mutants and send them to major cities so he can take over. | |||||
8 | "Dawn of the Groomer" | Herb Moore | Mark Seidenberg | November 16, 1996 | |
The Groomer gets delusions of grandeur involved taking over the world with cats, otherwise known as Felo-Mutants. | |||||
9 | "Still a Few Bugs in the System" | Brad Neave | Nick Dubois | November 23, 1996 | |
Biologist Eugene Atwater does some research on the survival of bugs over the years of their survival. However, General Parvo turns his research subjects into giants using an attachment from his Cano-Mutator. The bugs now plan on making a nuclear winter, with them as the sole survivors. | |||||
10 | "Reigning Cats and Dogs" | Herb Moore | Tom Ruegger and Mark Seidenberg | February 1, 1997 | |
General Parvo builds a successful time machine so then he could stop Prof. Shepherd from creating the Road Rovers. An accident reverts him back to his original form of an alley cat, but the Rovers still have to follow him back to ensure their creation. | |||||
11 | "Gold and Retrievers" | Jon McClenahan | Jeff Kwitny and Tom Ruegger | February 8, 1997 | |
Gold begins to flood the world's markets at an alarming rate. The Rovers trace the source to South America, where a blind boy named Luca leads them to an ancient golden pyramid. | |||||
12 | "Take Me to Your Leader" | Brian Chin and Scott Jeralds | Nick Dubois and Mark Seidenberg | February 15, 1997 | |
Zachary Storm is back again, and hires alien-like recruits to start a nuclear war by manipulating world leaders into fighting one another. | |||||
13 | "A Day in the Life" | Scott Jeralds | Tom Ruegger | February 22, 1997 | |
The episode showcases an ordinary day for the Rovers, consisting of freeing hostages, attending a peace treaty signing at the United Nations, and tracking down Parvo's UFO. Hunter takes time off to visit his mother on a ranch in Wyoming, but returns to save his friends from Parvo, who threatens to kill them with lava. |
A multi-region DVD of the entire series was announced on February 4, 2015, by Warner Archive and was released on February 10, 2015. All of the episodes can be purchased digitally on Amazon Prime, Google Play Movies and TV, Apple TV, and YouTube.
Hunter made a cameo appearance as a background statue in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries fourth season premiere episode, "The Stilted Perch / A Game of Cat and Monster!".
Hunter's canine character model was reused in the animates series Histeria! and renamed "Fetch". In one special he hosted a mock late-night show called "Silly President Tricks" and spoke without needing to transform.
The Road Rovers made a cameo appearance in the Teen Titans Go! sixth-season episode, "Huggbees".