INTRODUCTION "Biker Mice from Mars" premiered in September of 1993. The first season aired weekly in syndication with thirteen episodes. Up until the beginning of the "Mighty Sucky Bunghole Rangers"…forgive me, the "Mighty Morphin' Power Idiots"….sorry, sorry, I mean, the "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers," it was the highest rated syndicated series in the U.S., giving it the momentum for a second season. Many fans reacted very positively to the show's combination of humor, action, a rockin' soundtrack, and good animation. OVERVIEW The major task of the first thirteen episodes was to quickly establish the cast and the conflict. Quite naturally, "Rock & Ride!" serves as an introduction and lays down the framework for the rest of the series. The mice arrive on Earth, meet their human compatriot Charley, explain who the Plutarkians are and how Mars was ruined , discover a Plutarkian (Lawrence Limburger) destroying Chicago, and choose the Quigley Field Scoreboard as their base of operations. Phew! Everything which follows is built on this foundation, although most will be a great deal lighter in character than this one. Incidentally, while the destruction of Limburger Tower will become a running gag, with the building being toppled in almost every episode, it is left virtually unhurt at the end of "Rock & Ride!" Not until the third episode ("The Reeking Reign of Head Cheese Part Two") will the mice first turn Limburger's skyscraper-fortress into rubble. Many of the episodes that followed "Rock & Ride!" deliberately spotlight a single character. In "Road Ravens," Throttle infiltrates a gang of road warriors who have been stealing gas meant for Chicago after one of their raids injures his bros. Additionally, Throttle is also very heavily characterized in "Hard Rock," in which his excessive hatred of the titular character presents a clear picture of how emotionally scarred he was by the Plutarkian War. Modo actually gets two separate episodes. "A Mouse and His Motorcycle" examines the special bond between him and his beloved bike, exposing his sentimental side. "Steelfinger," an hilarious send-up of the James Bond books and movies, allows the usually reserved (well, comparatively reserved) Modo to act the part of the suave ladies' man while simultaneously showing his devotion to his bros. Vinnie, meanwhile, must rescue his bros from "The Pits," which, as one might expect, involves him riding around at insane speeds and blowing up everything in sight. Charley gets a pseudo-spotlight episode in "The Masked Motorcyclist," although we don't initially know it's her. She also has a starring role in "The Pits," where she helps Vinnie plan his attack. Bad guys get spotlight episodes, too. Lawrence Limburger is featured in both "The Reeking Reign of Head Cheese" and "A Scent, A Memory, A Far Distant Cheese." The first shows us his ambitious side, and the second his cowardly one. ANIMATION The company behind all of the first season's animation was Philippine Animation Studios, Inc. (PASI). Animation in this season (and in all seasons, really) is better than average for an American animated series. Characters have expressive faces and move smoothly. Action sequences seem to be a little better done than slower scenes (this improves greatly in the next season). Because most episodes of the first season take place at night in Chicago, the color palette is usually dark. The shading scheme is very simple 2-level, with no highlights. A great deal of attention is given to the backgrounds. While not stunning, they're very good. What really makes the animation in "Biker Mice" better than average, though, is its direction. Ever notice how in many American cartoons, the direction is really lacking? You look at a scene and say, "You know, if they'd just framed it this way, or focused on this, this shot would be better," you know? Well, "Biker Mice" very rarely has this problem. While there aren't any particularly stunning shots or techniques used, everything just looks very smooth, and very well done. EPISODES NOT TO MISS Since all 13 episodes of the first season are available on videocassette, you really shouldn't miss any of them. But here are the episodes that you absolutely need to see:
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