TaleSpin

Disney's TaleSpin is a half-hour Disney animated series that first aired as part of The Disney Afternoon. After a preview of The Disney Afternoon that aired on the Disney Channel in May 1990, the series began its run in September of the same year. The original concept was embodied in the introductory television movie "Plunder and Lightning", which was 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. There were 65 episodes total, although one episode is now banned for its terrorist theme.

An interesting aspect of the series is that 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 favourite bar; and Shere Khan, a business tycoon who appears in many episodes.

TaleSpin is set in the fictional city of Cape Suzette, a harbor town protected by giant cliffs (through which only a small opening exists). The opening in the cliffs is guarded by artillery, preventing flying rabblerousers or air pirates from entering the city. Characters in the world of TaleSpin are, as a rule, anthropomorphic animals. The timeframe of the series is never specifically addressed, but appears to be in the mid to late 1930s; the helicopter and jet engine are experimental devices and most architecture is reminiscent of the art deco style of that period. Radio is the primary mass medium.

The series centered on the adventures of bush pilot Baloo the bear, whose air cargo freight business is bought out by Rebecca Cunningham, and renamed 'Higher for Hire'. An orphan boy and former air pirate, Kit Cloudkicker, attaches to Baloo and becomes his navigator. (Most of the description in this paragraph actually happens in "Plunder and Lightning".) From there, the series follows the ups and downs of 'Higher for Hire' and its staff. Their adventures often involve encounters with a gang of air pirates led by the histrionic Don Karnage, or with representatives of Thembria, a parody of the Stalinist Soviet Union inhabited by anthropomorphic warthogs.

The relationship between Baloo and Rebecca owes something to the screwball comedy films of the 1930s.

Characters (Actors)

• at Higher for Hire
  • Baloo (Ed Gilbert), drawn largely as the bear from Disney's The Jungle Book, but with a flight cap and a yellow vest. Although he is lazy and unreliable, he is also an excellent pilot capable of the most daring maneuvers in the air and the courage to do them.
  • Kit Cloudkicker (R.J. Williams, Alan Roberts), an orphan brown bear and former member of the air pirates, who stands roughly half Baloo's size. He typically wears a blue baseball cap with red rim and a green sweater. He is skilled at cloud surfing. Kit looks to Baloo as a father figure, and usually flies as the navigator of the 'Sea Duck'. Kit's mysterious, as well as at times his surprisingly dark background made him a rather popular character amongst the show's fans. In the Hindi version, Kit is called Kit Cloudwalla.
  • Rebecca Cunningham (Sally Struthers), a tall thin brown bear with long brown hair, who usually wears slacks, a white shirt, and a pink-red jacket. A shrewd businesswoman with a penchant for recklessness, she buys 'Baloo's Air Service' and his plane, creating the air cargo company 'Higher For Hire'. In the Hindi version, Rebecca is called Ritika Mahalingam.
  • Molly Cunningham (Janna Michaels), Rebecca's daughter. In Hindi version, she is called Dolly.
  • Louie (Jim Cummings), also a character from "The Jungle Book", Louie is an ape who wears a hawaiian shirt and owns the island restaurant 'Louie's', located near but outside the protection of Cape Suzette.
  • Wildcat (Pat Fraley), a clueless and gangly lion who typically wears a mechanic's outfit. Officially the 'Higher for Hire' mechanic, pure intelligence is not his forte, but he's extremely adept at fixing devices. In Hindi version, he is called Punter.
• air pirates
  • Don Karnage (Jim Cummings), the leader of the air pirates, and the master of the massive pirate airship 'Iron Vulture'. He is some sort of canine, but it's not clear exactly what species he is; jackal, dingo, wolf and coyote are all popular theories. In Hindi, he is called Don Karnaash, (which literally means Don Do-Destruction).
  • Maddog (Charlie Adler)
  • Dumptruck (Chuck McCann)
• Thembrians
  • Colonel Spigot (Michael Gough)
  • Sergeant Dunder (Lorenzo Music)
• others
  • Shere Khan (Tony Jay), a tiger who also appeared in The Jungle Book, but here stands upright and wears a business suit. Khan is a ruthless and extremely wealthy businessman who is the dominant economic force in Cape Suzette.

Episode list

1. Plunder and Lightning (1)
2. Plunder and Lightning (2)
3. Plunder and Lightning (3)
4. Plunder and Lightning (4)
5. I Only Have Ice for You
6. A Bad Reflection on You (1)
7. A Bad Reflection on You (2)
8. Time Waits for No Bear
9. A Touch of Glass
10. It Came From Beneath the Sea Duck
11. Stormy Weather
12. The Bigger They Are The Louder They Oink
13. For a Fuel Dollars More
14. The Idol Rich
15. Mommy for a Day
16. The Time Bandit
17. Polly Wants a Treasure
18. From Here to Machinery
19. A Spy in the Ointment
20. All's Whale That Ends Whale
21. Bearly Alive
22. A Star Is Torn
23. Her Chance to Dream
24. Molly Coddled
25. On a Wing and a Bear
26. The Golden Sprocket of Friendship
27. War of the Weirds
28. Whistlestop Jackson, Legend
29. A Baloo Switcheroo
30. The Balooest of the Blue Bloods
31. Vowel Play
32. Last Horizons
33. Feminine Air
34. Citizen Khan
35. Double or Nothing
36. Flight of the Snow Duck
37. My Fair Baloo
38. Gruel and Unusual Punishment
39. Flight School Confidential
40. Save the Tiger
41. The Old Man and the Sea Duck
42. Bringing Down Babyface
43. Pizza Pie in the Sky
44. Louie's Last Stand
45. Captain Outrageous
46. For Whom the Bell Klangs (1)
47. For Whom the Bell Klangs (2)
48. Jumping the Guns
49. Sheepskin Deep
50. In Search of Ancient Blunders
51. Waiders of the Wost Tweasure
52. Baloo Thunder
53. The Road to Macadamia
54. The Sound and the Furry
55. Destiny Rides Again
56. The Incredible Shrinking Molly
57. Paradise Lost
58. Flying Dupes
59. Stuck on You
60. Bygones
61. The Ransom of Red Chimp
62. Bullethead Baloo
63. Mach One for the Gipper
64. A Jolly Molly Christmas
65. Your Baloo's In the Mail

External links

• Talespin (http://www.talespin.co.uk/)
• Talespin Sourcepage (http://www.talespinsourcepage.i8.com/mainpage.htm)
• Template:Imdb titlezh:航空小英雄