Captain Planet and the Planeteers
Captain Planet and the Planeteers is a popular animated series created by Ted Turner and produced by Jane Fonda to promote environmentalism in children. It ran from 1990 until 1996 and continues in syndication.
Characters
The main characters, called the Planeteers, are summoned by Gaia, a modern rendition of the ancient Greek goddess of fertility and the Earth, to defend the world from polluting criminals and natural disasters. The five teenagers, who each come from a different region and represent several major ethnic groups, are each given rings that allow them to temporarily control the four classical elements Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, as well as a fifth one, Heart, that represents love and communication and enables telepathy. The Planeteers are:
| Name | From | Power |
| Kwame | Africa | Earth |
| Wheeler | North America | Fire |
| Linka | Eastern Europe † | Wind |
| Gi | Asia | Water |
| Ma-Ti | South America | Heart |
†: in the first two seasons (1990-91), Linka is mentioned to come from the Soviet Union.
As a final twist, if all of the Planeteers are present the powers of the rings can be combined to summon a flying humanoid creature of the earth called Captain Planet. Captain Planet has superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and a seemingly endless supply of puns and cliches. He resolves most conflicts, but is vulnerable to pollution and can only act within his jurisdiction, which ends in the stratosphere. The rings can not be used while he is active, and when he is done he returns to the earth to restore his quickly expended power. Whenever he is summoned, he always utters the catch phrase, "By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!" Conversely, before returning to the earth, his last words are always, "The power is yours!", echoing the message of the series.
A small group of villains, usually referred to as the "eco-villains", make appearances repeatedly in most episodes. Due to conflict among them due to their varying self-serving interests and backgrounds, they tend to each work alone most of the time. These include Looten Plunder, a wealthy poacher; Duke Nukem, a radioactive mutant who represents the dangers of nuclear power; Dr. Blight, a mad scientist who represents the dangers of uncontrolled technology; Sly Sludge, an unscrupulous garbage collector; Verminous Skumm, a half-man, half-rat who represents the dangers of poor sanitation and urban blight; Hoggish Greedly, a cross between man and pig who represents the dangers of unchecked industrialization and greed; and Zarm, a malicious spirit that is Gaia's evil counterpart.
A polluting counterpart to Captain Planet named Captain Pollution appears in the two-part episode "Mission to Save Earth" when Dr. Blight steals the Planeteer's rings, creates polluting duplicates of them, and distributes the duplicates to the other eco-villains. She gives Plunder a Deforestation Ring, Nukem a Super-Radiation Ring, Sludge a Smog Ring (opposite of Wind), Skumm a Toxics Ring (opposite of Water), and keeps the Hate Ring (opposite of Heart) for herself.
The Planeteers, who on principle can't cause any pollution themselves, prefer to travel the world in a flying solar-powered vehicle.
Many famous actors voiced some of the characters, including, LeVar Burton (Kwame), Whoopi Goldberg (Gaia), Edward Asner (Hoggish Greedly), James Coburn (Looten Plunder), Meg Ryan (Dr. Blight), Jeff Goldblum (Verminous Skumm), and Sting (Zarm).