Captain Planet

My post about the platypus t-shirt reminded me of the cartoon "Captain Planet and the Planeteers", as 5 kids from around the world would combine their powers to summon Captain Planet (with an awesome green mullet). Throughout the series they mainly fight villains that pollute the earth and give tips on how you can save the planet at the end of episodes.

I found the first Captain Planet episode over on Youtube and in it the villain starts drilling for oil in a wildlife sanctuary which looks to be in Alaska, given the wildlife. Despite being made in 1990, this sounds a lot like President Bush's desire to look for oil in Alaska. I'm sure most of the environmental issues dealt with in Captain Planet are still issues today, 10 years later.


(This is part 1/3, the other parts can be found here)

I remember watching episodes in school for teaching purposes, I hope they're still being used in some aspect today. Internet searches seem to indicate that Boomerang still airs episodes, but I don't get fancy cable channels like that, so here's hoping for a DVD box set. Although for younger kids, I still think Its a Big Big World is a wonderful introduction to science and exploration.