This article is about the television series. For other meanings, see Space Ace.
A 13-episode animated series based upon Space Ace was produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises, Inc., distributed by WorldVision Enterprises Inc., and originally aired as part of the CBS 1984 Saturday Supercade cartoon block (which was composed of animated shorts based on current video games). The regular cast featured Ace voiced by Jim Piper, his alter ego Dexter voiced by Sparky Marcus, Kimberly voiced by Nancy Cartwright, Commander Borf voiced by Arthur Burghardt, and new character Space Marshall Vaughn voiced by Peter Renaday. The episodes were later aired on Cartoon Network as part of its "Super Adventures" programming block (1995-1997) and later appeared as filler segments in Boomerang's Boomeraction block.[1]
Synopsis[]
The show's opening narration introduced the show's formula: "Space Ace, Defender of the Galaxy! Together with his partner Kimberly they battle the forces of the evil Borf, who seeks to conquer Earth with his dreaded Infanto Ray."
Development[]
With each episode being half the length of a typical half-hour program, the Space Ace segments were originally broadcast alongside other cartoons in the CBS Saturday Supercade and, as a consequence, shared end credits with the block's other licensed shows: Donkey Kong (Nintendo), Q*Bert (Mylstar Electronics, Inc.), and Kangaroo (Atari, Inc.). Most animators, composers, and voice actors were listed together without distinction of their respective shows.[2] Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. contributed some animation for this series.
List of episodes[]
| No. | Episode title | Original airdate | Summary[3][4] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Cute Groots" | 8 September 1984 | Borf modifies the Infanto Ray to turn his Groots into cute kittens, which the then tricks Ace and Kimberly into letting into the moon colony. |
| 2 | "Cosmic Camp Catastrophe" | 15 September 1984 | Vaughn assigns Ace and Kimberly to accompany his nephew’s class on a camping trip that gets interrupted by Borf. |
| 3 | "Dangerous Decoy" | 22 September 1984 | Borf sets his sights on the young winner of a science fair for her video dematerializer device. |
| 4 | "Moon Missle Madness" | 29 September 1984 | Ace and Kimberly infiltrate a space cycle gang in order to prevent them from stealing a missile for Borf. |
| 5 | "Perilous Partners" | 6 October 1984 | Commander Parch steals Earth’s water in order to power his weaponry and conquer the universe, which Borf can’t allow to happen. |
| 6 | "Frozen in Fear" | 13 October 1984 | Dexter accidentally flies too close to warm meteors, thawing out a frozen prehistoric creature just as Borf plans to use various creatures to attack Earth. |
| 7 | "Age Ray Riot" | 20 October 1984 | When Borf is hit by the Infanto Ray, a race is on between him and Space Ace to acquire another ray that can reverse the effects. |
| 8 | "Wanted: Dexter!" | 27 October 1984 | Space Ace and Kimberly are sent after an outlaw that resembles Dexter. |
| 9 | "The Phantom Shuttle" | 3 November 1984 | Space Ace is lured to a phantom space ship so that Dregulon can use his lifeforce to power his universe-conquering monster. |
| 10 | "Spoiled Sports" | 10 November 1984 | Borf decides to conquer Space Command while its crew are competing in intergalactic games. |
| 11 | "Calamity Kimmie" | 17 November 1984 | Borf uses his Infanto Ray on Kimberly and it has a delayed effect. Young Kimmie must escape and try to get back to normal while trying help other Infanto Ray victims escape as well. |
| 12 | "Three Ring Rampage" | 24 November 1984 | Borf has an evil plan to capture Space Marshall Vaughn and 2 planetary leaders when the Cosmic Circus comes to Earth. |
| 13 | "Infanto Fury" | 1 December 1984 | Space Marshall Vaughn and two other Space Command Officers got hit by the Infanto Ray. Ace and Kim had to deal with that and kick Borf’s big blue butt out of the Moon Colony. |
Regular Cast[]
- Jim Piper – Ace
- Sparky Marcus – Dexter
- Nancy Cartwright – Kimberly
- Arthur Burghardt – Commander Borf
- Peter Renaday – Space Marshall Vaughn
- William Woodson – Opening Narration
Reception[]
Independently-published animation critic Scott Gillespie was displeased with Ruby-Spears’ minimalistic production which was an obvious downgrade from the Bluth Studio’s work on the arcade game: “This show, like Dragon’s Lair, is sadder than the rest because it emerged from such a great piece of work by Don Bluth. I sympathize with Bluth; they needed the money (from selling the rights to Ruby-Spears) in order to turn out the good stuff they’re capable of.”[5]
Trivia[]
- Nancy Cartwright's surname was miscredited as "Cartwrights" in the Saturday Supercade end credits.
- Throughout the series, Ace/Dexter reverts between forms an average of five times per episode. The least occur in "Perilous Partners" (two) while the most occur in "The Phantom Shuttle" (nine).[6]
- Dexter's running gag catchphrase is to yell: "Kimmie!" when he needs help, which occurs 27 times over the course of the series' 13 episodes.[7]
Gallery[]
Ruby-Spears Main Models[]
Ruby-Spears Character Model Sheets[]
Screencaps[]
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ The Star Pac's Pitstop
- ↑ YouTube @rinse-repeat "Cartoon Network – Super Adventures Saturday | 1996 | Full Episodes with Commercials" (November 18, 2023)
- ↑ Chris Buchner, "SATURDAY SUPERCADE: SPACE ACE" @SaturdayMorningsForever.com (February 25, 2017)
- ↑ Space Ace @Kinorium.com
- ↑ Scott Gillespie, “Saturday Morning ‘84” Animato #5
- ↑ YouTube @NatYourAverageNerd "Every Time Space Ace or Dexter Transforms in the Cartoon Series" (uploaded May 20, 2019)
- ↑ YouTube @NatYourAverageNerd "KIMMIE! Cartoon Compilation" (uploaded May 27, 2019)