Shadow Raiders (War Planets in USA) | |
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Written by |
Marv Wolfman Dan DiDio Katherine Lawrence Gillian Horvath Steven Cuden W.Shetterly Brooks Watchel Art Holcomb Christy Marx E. Bull Len Wein |
Directed by |
Owen Hurley J. Falconer Steve Ball Mark Schiemann Andrew Duncan Raul Inglis George Samilski Colin Davies Craig McEwen Dwayne John Beaver James Boshier Vladimir Stettof Sebastian Brodin James E. Taylor Mark Sawers |
Starring |
Donna Yamamoto Paul Dobson Mark Oliver Enuka Okuma Matt Hill Scott McNeil Jim Byrnes Garry Chalk |
Composer(s) | Robert Buckley |
Country of origin | Canada |
No. of episodes | 26 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Christopher Brough Ian Pearson |
Producer(s) |
Mark Ralston B.F. Painter |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company(s) |
Mainframe Entertainment YTV Alliance Atlantis |
Release | |
Original network |
YTV (Canada) First-run syndication (US) |
Original release | September 16, 1998 – June 23, 1999 |
Shadow Raiders is a Canadian animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment (now known as Rainmaker Entertainment) and syndicated by the The Summit Media Group, that aired from 1998 to 1999. The show was loosely based on the Trendmasters toy line, War Planets. The original character designs were created by ReBoot designer, Brendan McCarthy. Although the show ended after its second season, a proposed third would have answered major questions, like the origin of the Beast Planet. The series focused on the four warring planets of a solar system called the Cluster as they were forced to set aside their differences and form a coalition against the menace of the Beast Planet.
Shadow Raiders is set in a five-planet solar system known as the Cluster. The four inhabited planets are in a constant state of war, always raiding one another for resources unique to each planet. However, when an alien named Tekla comes from another solar system, she brings a warning: the Beast Planet is coming. Now Graveheart, a humble miner of Planet Rock, must convince the leaders of Fire, Rock, Bone, and Ice to put aside their differences and stand together against the Beast, their new common enemy.
The story begins as Tekla's homeworld of Planet Tek is consumed by the Beast Planet. She and her robotic companion, Voxx, escape to the Cluster through a Beast jump portal to warn them of the impending danger. Tekla is pursued by Beast drones and crash-lands on Planet Ice, where she is rescued by Graveheart. The drones subsequently attack and slaughter the combined forces of Rock and Ice in the area, leaving only Tekla, Graveheart, and Ice King Cryos. The threat convinces Cryos and Graveheart to form an alliance of the Cluster worlds against the Beast Planet.
The first season revolves around the efforts of Graveheart, who has become the de facto leader of the Alliance, to convince the leaders of the other Cluster worlds to join the Alliance. The first planet they visit is his home planet, Planet Rock, but Lord Mantle stubbornly refuses to ally himself with the other worlds after Rock's Battle Moons repel a Beast attack. Graveheart's friend and captain of the Royal Guard, Jade, joins him to help rally planets Fire and Bone to his cause. Fire and Bone join the Alliance.
The Beast forces are tracked to the dead world of Remora, converted into a fortress by the Beast drones. An attack by the combined forces of Ice, Fire, and Bone, with some timely intervention by Rock's Battle Moons, sees the destruction of Remora. However, this only serves to anger the Beast Planet, which emerges from within the Cluster's star and proves its superiority by destroying one of the Battle Moons with a single blast from halfway across the system. It then unleashes its wrath upon the nearest planet; Fire.