Action Man (TV series)

"Action Man" is a 1995 European children's animated television show, created by DiC Entertainment. The cartoon is based on the 1990 Hasbro toy of the same name. "Action Man" is a member of an elite multinational task force who is trying to unlock the mystery of his past. Mainframe Entertainment, in 2000 created a computer-animated version of the show. There have been two European direct-to-video movies created, "Action Man: Robot ATAK" (2004) and "Action Man X Missions: The Movie" {2005).

1995 Series

Tagline: "Let's Get Extreme!"

"Action Man," produced by DiC Entertainment, was labeled as being in the genre of "James Bond" and "Indiana Jones." Show creators claimed the show would "thrill both children and parents." The series was created using live-action footage to enhance the computer animation; DiC's sales promotions touted its "morphing techniques." DiC Entertainment ordered 26 episodes of thirty minutes length for the season.

Action Man was played by Mark Griffin, best known as "Trojan," from "Gladiators", the British version of the United States hit sports show, "American Gladiators." Devon Sawa, before his career took off, was one of the voice-over actors for various characters in the show.

2000 Series

The 2000 series was produced by Mainframe Entertainment, airing on YTV in Canada and Fox Kids Saturday in the United States. The slogan for the series: "Action Man, The Greatest Hero of Them All".Alex Mann, Action Man's civilian identity, is an extreme sports athlete of Team Xtreme. Danger and adrenaline trigger hidden mental powers called AMP (Advanced Macro Probability) Factor, a result of secret experiments by his former coach Simon Grey. Alex is able to calculate all future possibilities, choosing the best course of action. Action Man, Desmond 'Grinder' Sinclair, Fidget Wilson and Rikki Syngh-Baines must stop arch-enemy Dr. X, a brilliant geneticist and bio-engineer who stops at nothing to duplicate AMP Factor to rebuild Earth with the genetically enhanced neo-humanity.

eason One

Dr. X captured and tested Alex Mann repeatedly, as well as his best friend Brandon Caine. Dr. X added nanotech enhancements to Brandon, making him superior to Alex in battle and in athletics. The culmination of the experiments was to mind transfer Dr. X into Brandon's body to become a nanotech cyborg, able to change his appearance and infect others.

eason Two

Dr X founded the Council of Doom with his evil cohorts: Izazi, Tempest, Gangreen, and Quake. Dr. X's nanotech trilobites appeared to gain collective intelligence and rebel against him; but this was actually Brandon Caine's uploaded mind punishing Dr. X for taking over his body.

External links

*imdb title|0147743|Action Man
* [http://www.reelfx.com/ Reel FX Creative Studios home page]