RetroBlasting takes a hard look at 1985's Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors! retroblasting retroblasting www.retroblasting.com #RetroBlasting #WheeledWarriors #Jayce
What made "Jace and rhe Wheeled Warriors" most memorable, was the fact that this was the Early Morning Cartoon that I saw M-F before I had to catch the School Bus...
My nephew LOVED this cartoon at the time in 1985 and am GLAD someone was wise enough to post this forgotten odd cartoon. He also collected the cars and some of the figures, I wonder where they are now? Oh, the memories of 80's nostalgia..that was 28 years ago! Damn Im old
Actually in France it's called Jayce et les Conquerants de la Lumiere, litteraly Jayce and the Conquerors of Light. Because the toys weren't really in Toy Store, made more sense.
So we got that little kid from Fist of the North Star, the robot from Ulysses 31, the wizard from Dungeons and Dragon, Han Solo, and the little _girl_ from Fist of the North Star. Also weeds. Nice.
I admit the writing in this cartoon wasn't the best quality. But damn that intro theme song fucking ROCKS! I still have it on one of my 80s rock mix CDs. When the woman's voice comes in to sing the chorus - "Come take a chance, keep 'um turnin. Don't stop 'um rollin. The FIRE is on! WHEEEEEEEELED WARRIORS!" - Love it!
This series needs to be a reboot. I loved the show. I thought it was great. I STILL think it's great. It needs a new start. A beginning, middle and end. Nothing is left unresolved. No cliffhangers. No build-up to a final movie. Just have it end as it should've ended; Jayce finds his father and saves the universe.
Wouldn't it be funny if the Magic Root Audric gave to Oon actually had no effect against the Monster Minds? Think about it, Audric gives the Root to Oon, tells him to go find his son Jayce, and the Monster Minds pursue Oon, thinking the Root is dangerous, so Audric can make a break for it while Oon is chased down for the useless Root. He probably never expected Oon to make it to Jayce and the whole Root was to send the Monster Minds on a wild goose chase.
The French version was better. But I do agree that the opening theme could have been a radio hit. So would the closing theme. But something always bugged me about the opening sequence. After knocking a Monster Mind up in the air, Dumbledore smiles and draws a 1 in the air and smiles, and later Herc winks and gives the thumbs up! Why are they so happy during this battle, and who are they smiling and winking at?
The hilarious thing about the JMS connection is that Alan Moore said something similar about Swamp Thing when he began his much lauded run (that he was trying to do something good with a really silly concept).
Really. This is one of my all-time fav cartoons EVER. I always took it how i saw it. Never thought too much about it. Now I am past my 30's and bam! I watch this video. And I started laughing. Don't get me wrong I am really positive about you and your input - but ofcourse I am also still positive about the cartoon itself. And yes... The song intro and outro still blow my mind each and every single time. Shuki Levy is one of THE best if not THE BEST EVER!!! Thanks for your input.
In the live action film, Herc would have been played by Bruce Campbell. Saw Boss would have been Doug McClure in a big rubber mask. Gotta get William Shatner in there somewhere, and Jayce, boom, Corey Haim.
You totally just killed this cartoon for me. LOL Just kidding, I just never thought that into it and accepted it at face value. But thats hilarious how you broke it down. That deserves a like, subscribe, and a comment. LMAO
My response (having been there when it was all new) is that the toys came out first, and the show came out second. The toys really were not geared for a TV show, or a least the sort they were making in the mid-1980s, because all the little hero men looked alike, and all the plant brains were the same. They really were just very complicated Tonka trucks. That said, the quest idea for the show was dirt common and just accepted because it was an '80s cartoon. It should be mentioned that when they ran the show in my area, they didn't start with that botch of a pilot, they ran the second or third episode. I agree that the show is a weird concept, but I think DIC was thinking about selling it to Europe, and they wanted something comparable to complete with all the dubbed Japanese cartoons being imported in markets DIC wanted to sell to, so Mattel got screwed....if each of the little men had a backstory as with G.I. Joe, the cartoon would have been radically different and we might have seen things turn out differently.
love how you give so much props to the theme (it's often number 1 on many online lists....As far as the convoluted storyline....please remember this was written by J. Michael Stryzinski (of babylon 5 fame)
Another enjoyable video made by some folks that appreciate the era! Nice job once again. I'm learning alot about the toys and shows I missed in the 80s.
When I was 7-8 years old watching this series I didn't care about any plot, I just enjoyed the cars and the intro on a daily basis and since I'm from Mexico we got the latino dub and intro theme which imo are even better😅
Because the Wheeled Warriors cartoon was different to the toy line, it was probably hard to imagine. Also Mattel probably got furious with Dic Animation so they called it: Wheeled Warriors and left DIC for some reason.
Great vid! I remember back in 2000 when VHS hadn't died yet but DVD had yet to take over the world, I got it into my head that I would collect VHSs of all the 80s cartoons I had grown up with. Keep in mind this was before we even dreamed that they would release all these cartoons on DVD or put them on youtube. After finally tracking one down I came to the sad conclusion that it just wasn't as good as I thought it was. I think part of the reason was that I was convinced it was anime.
I really liked this show, but I do agree that: 1) the pilot episode makes no sense 2) the Ring of Light was an over-powered do-anything plot-device that let them get out of any corona the writers had backed them into.
The second time watching this I think I get the show and where it was going. It is a lot to absorb if not that familiar to the show. Excellent job as always! I put the theme on French and English version and it has been on repeat the past week or so.
I really hope someone will do a revival of the toy line, it looks like something I totally missed. And I confess I did have sort of a crush on the girl when I was young.
just subscribed! been binge watching ever since you hooked me with the D and D cartoon documentary (and i do mean documentary. you guys are that good)! i don't own any toys now, but i had a lot of these growing up. I'm not as hardcore as you guys! lol. what I'm saying, is i think this could have major mainstream appeal. it's the age of nostalgia. thanks for helping me piece together my childhood. ps the bit about the logo even looking like a marvel team-up! hahaha
The bad thing is that the episodes didn't have a title card listing the writer of an episode so it's hard to narrow down what episodes J. Michael Stryzinski wrote.
Mattel probably changed the toy line so they could sell toys if the cartoon was crap, however Mattel in my opinion did the right thing kind off, by keeping it in their version of Wheeled Warriors. So these 2 comments say it all.
What if in the movie it was revealed that Sawboss, and Jase's father are one one in the same and when he comes to reunite the root he reveals himself as saw boss, takes the root, and that's where the series ends with the Monster Minds winning
Sadly, I associate my (late 1980's) youth with "Jace & the Wheeled Worriors, Transformers, and G.I. Joe... As of the era, they where the pinochle of Cartoon Emphasis other than learning Computer Coding. I'd rather live in the "Dreamland" of adventure rather rhan read "Some stupid book" back then. But now, I can work on stuff, but cannot even manage my own Cell Phone!😪
What would really help integrate the wheel warriors into the plot is if maybe the vehicles were weapons of the lighting league created from that magic ring or an invention made by Jayce's father to protect Jayce from his creation.
As always. For hundredth some odd time I watched this review I agree with it all. These are questions I always had. The song rules. It’s on my playlist snd I’m over forty. How this show was ruined in a hundred ways.
I totally missed this one back in the day. But the disjointed storyline is not surprising, as the voice actors would have been recording their lines separately and just reading off a list of their lines out of context. The way the storyline unfolded in that episode, it sounds like it was being written as it was recorded and the director may have been just as clueless as the voice actors as to where it was going.
I think that the Silver hawks should have guest starred on some of the episodes, just like the X-Men on the Spiderman and His Amazing Friends cartoon!!!
This show was certainly a hot mess, this is what happens when there isn't a clearly defined set of characters to start with, too many plot holes, and a rushed story. Both sides made too many compromises!
its funny i still have a couple of these and i never knew there was a cartoon.... it was the same with silver hawks i can't help but feel like i missed out lol
Lol! Even the cartoon was awful! Only Capt. Planet was dumber. Herc was obviously based after Han Solo, minus the cool factor. And Robotech/Star Blazers & Thunderbirds 2086 had a more cohesive tale. Even Pole Position made far better sense. Even Tess Darrett looks better than what heroines Jayce has. He-Man would laugh at this! The Visionaries, too. Evil Kudzo? Thunderbirds 2086's 'Kudzilla' episode was far more logical.
People who say Wheeled Warriors was like the best thing ever because Straczynski wrote half the episodes annoys me. It's like saying Gilligan's Planet was the best thing ever because Paul Dini wrote a bunch of episodes.
Yes it’s terrible. DiC overall isn’t good in general especially at the time. M.A.S.K is just slightly above average for 80s cartoons. *aka mediocre. And real ghostbusters and the good stuff came out in 1986
I don't think my seven year old mind back then could process things like plot holes...It was just entertainment for us. It's kind of cringy that you are over-analyzing an 80's cartoon show made for age groups of seven to ten year olds. It's what made the 80's cartoons so great. Man, I really feel for kids today.
Wheeled Warriors may have the second best intro song. Galaxy Rangers takes the crown for rockin cartoon intro songs (especially when heard in its entirety). And its associated cartoon is equally underwhelming.
That means Mattel probably got the toy designs wrong and made the vehicles and forgot about DIC and did it The Mattel Way so yeah 3 comments wrap up the story.
I have to give M.A.S.K. the nod for best 80s toy cartoon theme - but I am probably biased by the fact that at least M.A.S.K. wasn’t the complete internal logic dumpster fire that this show was!
you're juding an 80's cartoon designed for children with adult logic, of course it's not going to make sense to an adult, but the plot flaws wont be picked up by children.
Fair point, I understand what you're saying but will a TV show designed for kids ever make sense to the logic of an adult, even if it was the same adult that watched those shows as a child?
IrrepressibleGuile Mr Irrepressible Who says that you can't make a show for kids with a plausible storyline? The best animated series are the ones that work on multiple layers ... flashy action and cool basic story points and characters for the kids and a certain sense of depth and plausability for adults. "Family Entertainment" is something that has become so rare nowadays. My favorite one is Disney's Gargoyles, the two Last Airbender Series, the entire DC animated universe under Bruce Timm up until the end of JLU and parts of Marvel's 90's animated universe. It can work quite well. Children don't have to be dumpsters for lazy storytelling and uninspired writing. They can grow and evolve when being confronted with intelectually challenging situations.
Dude....come on...it's 80s cartoons...you dissecting the show too much...i was 10yrs old when it came out.... And i have good memories of this cartoon and toys...
I never watched this cartoon as a kid...and I am glad. I am pretty sure it would have given me a headache. lol However, like you said, the animation is very well done; so, that's something at least. :-)
