MoonDreamers
Moondreamers | |
---|---|
Genre | Animation, Family, Fantasy |
Created by | Jackie Waterman McLoughlin |
Written by |
Cynthia Friedlob John Semper Betty G. Birney Evelyn Gabai Lainy Morriss Nancy Jane Batchelder Ellen Guon Chuck Lorre |
Voices of |
Peter Cullen Jennifer Darling Elizabeth Lyn Fraser Melanie Gaffin Robin Kaufman Tress MacNeille Clive Revill Neil Ross |
Theme music composer | Robert J. Walsh |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Production company(s) |
Hasbro Sunbow Productions Marvel Productions |
Distributor |
Claster Television Christian Broadcasting Network (1989–1990) International Family Entertainment (1990–1995) |
Release | |
Original network |
The CBN Family Channel (1989–1990) Family Channel (1990–1995) |
Original release | 25 September 1986 – 8 January 1987 |
Moondreamers is an animated television series that aired in 1986 as part of the My Little Pony 'n Friends lineup. My Little Pony aired the first 15 minutes, and the second half rotated among Moondreamers, Potato Head Kids, and The Glo Friends. All of these cartoons promoted Hasbro toys. It appeared on CBN Family Channel from 1989 to 1990, Family Channel from 1990 to 1995 during My Little Pony.
Plot
The Moondreamers are a group of celestial people who create and deliver pleasant dreams to Earth children. Their main enemy is the evil Queen Scowlene who attempts to keep everyone awake at night with her nightmare crystals.
Characters
- Crystall Starr (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - The main protagonist of the series. She is supposedly the leader of the Moondreamers, though it seems they work as a team with equal authority. She designs the stars.
- Whimzee - (voiced by B.J. Ward) - The dream designer. She uses her imagination to create dreams for Dreamcasting. Throughout the series, she encounters many problems doing so. She once accidentally brings her dream, a dreamkin, into reality where it wreaks havoc in Starry Up despite its adorable appearance. Another time she loses her imagination and needs to go on a journey to find it, engaging in a duel with the supposed queen of imagination and nearly getting killed.
- Celeste - Her job is to ride on Galaxia and bring night time to earth so that dreams can begin to be sent out.
- Galaxia - Celeste's magical space dragon with feather-like wings.
- Sparky Dreamer - A brainy MoonDreamer, she is a know-it-all and is often stuck fixing the mistakes of the other Moondreamers.
- Dream Gazer (voiced by Jennifer Darling) - The eldest MoonDreamer, she is considerably older than the other members and is the wisest. She has a star tattooed over her left eye and has a very wistful voice. She does not make many appearances. Dream Gazer stirs the all the different ingredients that make dreams into a secret recipe called the imagination combination.
- Bucky Buckaroo - He is the Moondreamers' "very own comet rider." He takes the dream crystals to the stars on his favourite comet, Halley.
- Blinky and Bitsy (voiced by Robin Kaufman and Elizabeth Lyn Fraser) - Two little Moondreamers in training, they are young girls who want to help the Moondreamers, but often get in the way. They first appeared in episode one. They act as Starfinders.
- Ursa Major (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - A flying solar bear who is Blinky's companion. She and Roary used to work in a Star Circus until they were abducted by Queen Scowlene in an attempt to count them to sleep, but escaped when Ursa Major's fur made her sneeze.
- Roary (voiced by Neil Ross) - A flying lion who is Bitsy's companion. He and Ursa Major used to work in a Star Circus until they were abducted by Queen Scowlene in an attempt to count them to sleep, but escaped when Ursa Major's fur made her sneeze.
- Frolic - A Starfinder who explores the uncharted universe.
- Fluffin - A peacock who is Frolic's companion.
- Stardust - A Starfinder who looks for lonely planets that need stars.
- Hornsby - A ram that is Stardust's companion.
- Dawn - A Sunfinder who searches for the sun to start the morning.
- Bunnyhop - A rabbit who is Dawn's companion.
- Dusky - A Sunfinder who places the sun at the spot where it is supposed to set.
- Sunscout - A dog who is Dusky's companion.
- Sundazzle - A Sunsparkler who polishes the sun.
- Fundreamer - A Sunsparkler who creates happy dreams for children.
- Daystar - A Sunsparkler who supervises every sunny day.
- Cloudpuff - A Sunsparkler who makes the designs of the clouds.
- Ursa Minor - Ursa Major's mischievous niece.
Villains
- Queen Scowlene (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - The primary antagonist of the series who lives in Monstrous Middle. She is the mother of Scowlette. Queen Scowlene hasn't slept a wink and has plans to take over Starry Up so that she could keep everyone up at night. In "The Poobah of Pontoon," it is revealed that Queen Scowlene's older brother is the Poobah of Pontoon making him Scowlette's uncle.
- Scowlette - The daughter of Queen Scowlene. Scowlette seems to be about the same age as Whimzee and lives with her mother. She is often trying to destroy the Moondreamers in order to impress her mother, though it never works out.
- Professor Grimace (voiced by Clive Revill) - A mad scientist who helps Queen Scowlene with her plans by inventing machines that would go horribly wrong.
- Igon (voiced by Peter Cullen) - A short, three-legged troll-like creature who is one of Professor Grimace's worst experiments. He acts as Professor Grimace's lab assistant.
- Sleep Creeps - The minions of Queen Scowlene that go bump in the night.
- Shiner - A Sleep Creep who wakes children with his flashlight.
- Creaky - A Sleep Creep who fills the night with creaks and groans.
- Squawker (voiced by Tress MacNeille) - A Sleep Creep who makes loud noises that keep people awake.
Episodes
# | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Moondreamer Pt. 1" | TBA | John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | September 25, 1986 |
Two Star Children named Blinky and Bitsy want to be Moondreamers, but then Scowlene and her Sleep Creeps attack. | ||||
2 | "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Moondreamer Pt. 2" | TBA | John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | October 2, 1986 |
The Moondreamers defeat Scowlene and Blinky and Bitsy earn their place as Moondreamers. | ||||
3 | "All In a Night's Sleep" | TBA | Betty Birney | October 9, 1986 |
Stumbles the Snoozer falls off the Dreamalong Drifter and onto Earth where he uncovers a sinister plot by Queen Scowlene. | ||||
4 | "The Star of Stars" | TBA | Astrid Ryterband, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | October 16, 1986 |
The Moondreamers go on a quest to find their original base caled the Star of Stars, but Queen Scowlene has taken control of it. | ||||
5 | "The Poobah of Pontoon" | TBA | Nancy Jane Batchelder, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | October 23, 1986 |
Queen Scowlene's older brother the incredibly fat Poobah of Pontoon returns and becomes Monstrous Middle's king. Due to Roary unknowingly stopping the Sleep Creeps earlier, Queen Scowlene and Scowlette plan to have the Poobah of Pontoon take Roary. | ||||
6 | "The Dreamkin" | TBA | Ellen Guon, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | October 30, 1986 |
A strange creature called the Dreamkin comes to life and Whimzee is sad to see it go. | ||||
7 | "Minor Problems" | TBA | Evelyn Gabai | November 6, 1986 |
Ursa Minor flies into Sparky Dreamer's new machine and is cloned. Both sides have problems caused by the Ursas. | ||||
8 | "Igon the Terrible" | TBA | Bob Smith, Barry O'Brien | November 13, 1986 |
After being sent on a vacation to the Frightful Forest by Queen Scowlene for accidentally wrecking Professor Grimace's Anti-MoonDreamer Beamer, Igon ends up befriending a giant Gundar named Hebo after saving him from a volcano. As a favor to Hebo, Igon uses him to get revenge on Queen Scowlene and plans to take Starry Up for himself. | ||||
9 | "Stuck on Bucky" | TBA | Evelyn Gabai, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | November 20, 1986 |
Sparky and Bucky use Galactic Glue and get stuck on each other. They must work together to foil an evil Scowlette invasion. | ||||
10 | "The Dreamnapping" | TBA | Chuck Lorre, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | November 27, 1986 |
A boy gets pulled into a dream by Queen Scowlene. | ||||
11 | "Bucky's Comet" | TBA | Betty Birney | December 4, 1986 |
Bucky wants Crystal Starr to think he's special, so he lassos a comet with Professor Grimace and Igon inside. | ||||
12 | "Dreamland Express" | TBA | Mark McClellan, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | December 11, 1986 |
N/A | ||||
13 | "Whimzee, Come Home!" | TBA | Betty Birney | December 18, 1986 |
Whimzee is afraid she has lost her imagination, so she goes to a world and battles a imagination demon. Note: This is the only Moondreamers episode that does not feature Queen Scowlene. | ||||
14 | "Zodies on the Loose" | TBA | Kathy Selbert, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | December 25, 1986 |
Scowlene sets all the Zodiacs in the Blue Zoo loose, and it's up to Celeste and Galaxia to stop them all. | ||||
15 | "The Night Mare Pt. 1" | TBA | Lainy Morriss, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | January 1, 1987 |
Blinky and Bitsy are looking after a Starhorse at the Blue Zoo until the Starhorse falls into Monstrous Middle. Meanwhile, a horse-hating boy falls into there. | ||||
16 | "The Night Mare Pt. 2" | TBA | Lainy Morriss, John Semper, Cynthia Friedlob | January 8, 1987 |
The Starhorse transforms into a Night Mare in Monstrous Middle and is captured by Scowlene. It's up to the boy, Blinky, and Bitsy to save the day. And will the boy like horses again? |
Cast
- Adam Carl -
- Peter Cullen - Igon
- Jennifer Darling - Dream Gazer
- Elizabeth Lyn Fraser - Bitsy
- Melanie Gaffin - Ursa Minor
- Liz Georges -
- Renae Jacobs -
- Robin Kaufman - Blinky
- Tress MacNeille - Crystal Starr, Queen Scowlene, Squawker, Ursa Major
- Terence McGovern -
- Clive Revill - Professor Grimace
- Neil Ross - Roary
- Ken Sansom -
- Judy Strangis -
Crew
- Alan Dinehart - Voice Director
Reception
One of very many children's animated series of the 1980s, Moondreamers didn't leave a lasting impression on many viewers. In 2014, listing it among twelve 1980s cartoons that did not deserve remembrance, io9 characterized it as "a cartoon about coolness and friendship created by a marketing committee of old white men who had never experienced either of them before."[1]
References
- ↑ Bricken, Rob (11 November 2014). "12 Cartoons From The 1980s No One Will Ever Have Nostalgia For". io9. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
External links
- Moondreamers Identification Page
- Moondust4Moondreamers
- MoonDreamers at the Internet Movie Database
- Moondreamers at the Big Cartoon DataBase