TaleSpin
TaleSpin is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It first aired in 1990 as a preview-run on The Disney Channel before beginning its main run in syndication later that year as part of the programming block The Disney Afternoon. It features anthropomorphized versions of characters adapted from Disney's 1967 animated feature The Jungle Book, which was theatrically re-released in the summer before this show premiered in the fall, notably Baloo the Bear, Louie the orangutan, and Shere Khan the tiger, along with new characters created for the show. The name of the show is a play on "tailspin", the rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep spiral, and on the fact that tale is another word for "story". The show is one of nine Disney Afternoon shows to use established Disney characters as the main characters, with the other eight being Darkwing Duck, DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, Bonkers, Quack Pack, Aladdin, and Timon & Pumbaa. It is also one of two Disney animated television series based on Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, the second being Jungle Cubs.
Background
Development
The series was largely developed by writers Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove, who were also the supervising producers on the series as well as story editors. There were four production teams, each one headed by a producer/director: Robert Taylor, Larry Latham, Jamie Mitchell, and Ed Ghertner.Initially, Disney simply commissioned Magon and Zaslove with creating a thirty-minute animated program for them, with no requirements as to what the show should be about. Nearing the deadline for a pitch without having come up with anything, Magon hit upon the idea of making the story about Baloo, one of the central characters of Disney's The Jungle Book, which had recently been theatrically rereleased. The show Tales of the Gold Monkey was an inspiration according to creator/supervising producer, Jymn Magon. Similar to the main character in that show, they decided to have Baloo work for an air cargo delivery service, a concept also occasionally featured on Disney's successful DuckTales. In order to add dramatic tension, they decided to maintain the impressionable son / bad father dynamic which had driven part of the plot of The Jungle Book, replacing the human Mowgli with the anthropomorphic bear Kit. Inspired by Cheers — then one of the most popular programs on television — Magon and Zaslove created the character Rebecca, basing her on the character Rebecca Howe and giving her that character's arc of being an intelligent and headstrong yet inexperienced manager put in charge of a fledgling business. Deciding to make the show a period piece, the pair lastly decided to make one of the show's primary locations a neutral zone inspired by Rick Blaine's bar in Casablanca, where they inserted the character of Louie in place of Rick. The decision to add Shere Khan to the cast was not made until later in the show's development. Magon and Zaslove also took inspiration from Hayao Miyazaki's 1989 manga Hikōtei Jidai, about a pigheaded man who flies a seaplane and fights air pirates. Two years after TaleSpin premiered, Miyazaki released an anime adaptation called Porco Rosso, which Zaslove felt took cues from TaleSpin. Phil Harris, who voiced Baloo for the film, was initially hired to reprise the role; at age 85, however, Harris had lost some of his comic timing and had to be chauffeured from his home in Palm Springs for each recording session. His work was discarded and Ed Gilbert took over the role for the rest of the series.
Famed Uncle Scrooge comic writer and artist Don Rosa wrote episode 6, "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck", and episode 9, "I Only Have Ice for You".
The series was animated by Walt Disney Animation Inc., Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd., Jade Animation, Tama Productions, Walt Disney Animation S.A., Sunwoo Entertainment, and Wang Film Productions.
Broadcast
After a preview-run of TaleSpin aired on The Disney Channel from May 5 to July 15, 1990, the series began its main syndicated run in September of the same year. The original concept was embodied in the pilot episode and introductory television movie Plunder & Lightning which was the sole nominee for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1991. After its premiere on September 7, 1990, Plunder & Lightning 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 programming block The Disney Afternoon. TaleSpin ended on its 65th episode which aired on August 8, 1991, but reruns continued to be shown on The Disney Afternoon until September 1994. On October 2, 1995, TaleSpin began reruns on The Disney Channel as part of a two-hour programming block called "Block Party" which aired on weekdays in the late-afternoon/early-evening and which also included Darkwing Duck, DuckTales, and Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers. Later, the show was aired on Toon Disney, where it was first aired from April 1998 until January 2006 and later from January 2007 until May 2008. Throughout its broadcast history, the series has been subjected to numerous edits.Synopsis
TaleSpin is set in the fictional city of Cape Suzette. The city lies on an unnamed island, in an unspecified body of water, on a large harbor or bay enclosed by a high cliff wall. A single cleft in the wall is the harbor's only means of access. The cleft is guarded by anti-aircraft artillery, preventing flying rabble-rousers or air pirates from entering the city. The characters in the world of TaleSpin are anthropomorphic animals, though normal wild and domestic animals exist as well. The time frame of the series is never specifically addressed, but the helicopter, television, and jet engine are experimental devices. In the episode "Bygones", Baloo comments that "The Great War ended 20 years ago", thus suggesting that the series takes place around 1938. Radio is the primary mass medium and the episode "The Incredible Shrinking Molly" briefly alludes to the characters having never heard of television.The series centers on the adventures of bush pilot Baloo the bear, whose air cargo freight business "Baloo's Air Service" is taken up by Rebecca Cunningham who has a young daughter named Molly. Upon his default on delinquent bills with the bank and his perceived irresponsibility in running a business by Rebecca, she takes over the business and renames it "Higher for Hire", making herself Baloo's boss. An orphan boy and former air pirate, the ambitious grizzly bear cub Kit Cloudkicker, attaches to Baloo and becomes his navigator. He sometimes calls Baloo "Papa Bear". Together, they are the crew of Higher for Hire's only aircraft, a 20-year-old modified Conwing L-16 named the Sea Duck. The series follows the ups and downs of Higher for Hire and its staff, sometimes in the vein of old action-adventure film serials of the 1930s and 1940s, like the Tailspin Tommy films, and contemporary variations, such as Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Their adventures often involve encounters with a gang of air pirates led by Don Karnage, as well as with representatives of Thembria, inhabited by anthropomorphic boars, or other, often even stranger obstacles. There is no equivalent of the Nazis in the series, although one story in Disney Adventures Magazine, "The Dogs of War!", had the heroes encounter members of the "Houn" nationality, a menacing militaristic nationality of dogs from "Hounsland" who wear uniforms that are based on German ones and who speak in a mock-German accent.
According to Jymn Magon, the relationship between Baloo and Rebecca was fashioned after Sam Malone and Rebecca Howe from the then-popular sitcom Cheers. Some have suggested that their relationship bears a similarity to the screwball comedy films of the Great Depression, such as Godfrey and Irene in My Man Godfrey.
Characters
Episodes
Home media
VHS releases
Eight VHS cassettes containing 15 episodes of the series were released in the United States.| VHS name | Episode titles | Release date |
| True Baloo | "From Here to Machinery" & "The Balooest of the Bluebloods" | August 9, 1991 |
| That's Show Biz! | "Stormy Weather" & "Mommy for a Day" | August 9, 1991 |
| Jackpots & Crackpots | "A Touch of Glass" & "Her Chance to Dream" | August 9, 1991 |
| Fearless Flyers | "Jumping the Guns" & "Mach One for the Gipper" | August 9, 1991 |
| Treasure Trap | "The Idol Rich" & "Polly Wants a Treasure" | February 28, 1992 |
| Imagine That! | "Flight of the Snow Duck" & "Flight School Confidential" | February 28, 1992 |
| Wise Up! | "Molly Coddled" & "The Sound and the Furry" | February 28, 1992 |
| Search for the Lost City | "For Whom the Bell Klangs" | February 28, 1992 |
Australia and New Zealand releases
Eleven VHS cassettes containing 21 episodes of the series were released in Australia and New Zealand.| VHS name | Episode titles | Release date |
| TaleSpin : Fearless Flyers | "From Here to Machinery" & "The Balooest of the Bluebloods" | September 11, 1991 |
| TaleSpin : Baloo Skies | "Stormy Weather" & "For a Fuel Dollars More" | September 11, 1991 |
| TaleSpin : Dare-Devil Bears | "Mommy for a Day" & "The Idol Rich" | September 11, 1992 |
| TaleSpin : Hot Shot Heroes | "Jumping the Guns" & "Mach One for the Gipper" | September 11, 1992 |
| TaleSpin : Imagine That | "Flight of the Snow Duck" & "Flight School Confidential" | September 11, 1992 |
| TaleSpin : Treasure Trap | "Polly Wants a Treasure" & "The Bigger They Are, the Louder They Oink" | April 2, 1993 |
| TaleSpin : True Baloo | "The Time Bandit" & "Louie's Last Stand" | April 2, 1993 |
| TaleSpin : Jackpots & Crackpots | "Her Chance to Dream" & "A Touch of Glass" | September 10, 1993 |
| TaleSpin : That's Show Biz! | "I Only Have Ice for You" & "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck" | September 10, 1993 |
| TaleSpin : Wise Up! | "Molly Coddled" & "The Sound and the Furry" | September 10, 1993 |
| TaleSpin : Search for the Lost City | "For Whom the Bell Klangs" | September 10, 1993 |