TaleSpin

If you are viewing this show for the first time, you may start wondering if you are in an alternate reality. Colorful and imaginative characters? Entertaining dialogue? Plots that seem to have some depth to them, even creating atmospheres of suspense and drama at times? I mean, this is a syndicated children's show right? This is the same venue that has brought kids such drek as "Pokemon", "Pepper Ann", "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", and "VR Troopers" (please note that three of the titles mentioned above are crass Japanese exports, courtesy of the Fox Network and Saban Entertainment). Don't worry, you are just sampling some of the quality fare that was available to kids during the late 1980's and early 1990's. Some examples of this period would be "Transformers", "Garfield and Friends", "Captain Power", and "C.O.P.S." (a cartoon NOT to be confused with the live action show on Fox). Besides these prime examples, Disney also returned to syndicated programs for kids, coming up with a lineup called "The Disney Afternoon". Aside from a dumbed-down show called "The Gummi Bears", early shows like "Darkwing Duck", "Duck Tales", and "Chip 'N Dale's Rescue Rangers" gave credence to the Disney animation teams that were also turning out theatrical classics like "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", "The Rescuers Down Under", and "The Great Mouse Detective". But above all these wonders shines "TaleSpin". The premiere of "Plunder and Lightning" was a two-hour thrill ride, and won an Emmy. Much to my delight, the rest of the episodes were up to par on the promise of the premiere.

While I enjoy the plots and dialogue, I guess for me the greatest attraction are the characters. There's Rebecca Cunningham, an independent female, but still fallible; Kit Cloudkicker, full of pre-teen angst and optimism; Louie, with his loyalty and support; Frank Wildcat, the most entertaining engineer since Scotty on the original "Star Trek"; Molly Cunningham, cute and witty, but with some depth that most child characters don't have, and of course in the middle of it all, there's Baloo, whom I would describe as a slobby version of James Bond. This is because whenever there's trouble, Baloo saves the day with the assistance of his sleeker-than-most, fastest-of-all Sea Duck (Read: James Bond's Aston Martin). Of course every great show has to have great villains, and TaleSpin doesn't disappoint here either. From the megalomania of businesstiger Shere Kahn, to the vain and always failing air pirate Don Karnage, to the hilarious and inept Soviet-satirized Thembrians. The animation is good, the music appropriate, and the episodes are (for me) the finest that children's programming has ever had to offer. Great fun for the WHOLE family!

I was born in '83 so I was lucky enough to be old enough to love and appreciate the old incredible Disney Cartoons from the nineties.

The nineties were truly the best decade for animated series. Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles, Duck Tales, and Tale Spin were only a few of some of the best cartoons ever made.

While today's animated series are derivative, fluffy, shallow, and pretty dumb, these shows were epic, fun, entertaining, adventurous, funny, and exciting.

Suffice to say they were three-dimensional cartoons. They never talked down to kids and always took them on one incredible adventure after another. Disney has never been able to re-capture such imagination.

In this spin off from "The Jungle Book"'s most popular character Baloo, he stars as a lazy, self-centered but adventurous pilot who unwittingly gains responsibility stumbling upon Kit, an orphan. He teams up with Kit, a young cub who calls Baloo "papa bear". Their relationship is one of the main reasons to watch this show.

Baloo's airplane is then lost and is then bought back by small business woman Rebecca Cunningham and her daughter Molly who buys the plane and hires Baloo as a cargo pilot setting up the cargo business "Higher for Hire". They all form an uneasy relationship but grow fond of one another as they go from one exciting adventure to another.

Watch for an excellent cast of supporting characters including wildkat the odd mechanic, Shere Khan another Jungle Book character as an intimidating and powerful business mogul, and the pirate Don Karnage who's a mix of Blackbeard the pirate and Ricky Ricardo.

Inspired by "Indiana Jones" and old time adventure serials, this swashbuckling, episodic, animated serial show gave me some of the best memories of my childhood and truly took kids on memorable adventures.

Check it out if you get the chance, it's a can't miss.

This was one good cartoon series for anyone to remember. As usual, the great people at Disney, always have to come up with up something fun and new every year to regain its magical touch. Just like Ducktales, and the other cartoon series that came before it, this show had everything worthy of excitement and wonder a child wants, it had adventure, comedy, action, and, yes, some romance kicked in.

This time Disney took on the "jungle Book" approach after tackling Chip 'n' Dale the year before. For this, they used some of the cast from The Jungle Book, Baloo, Louiee, and Sheer Khan, who ruled Cape Suzette, like a czar.

There's Baloo, and his sidekick, kit Cloud kicker, who work for the deliverly company "Higher for Hire ( I think that's how I Remember it)and would always stumble into some kind of adventure when their boss, Miss Cunningham, would send them to make some kind of deliveries to other places. Then there's Wildcat, a zany character who somehow memorializes every auto part known to man, and it was with that logic, that enabled him to work for Higher for Hire, as a machininc. Also there was the sweet little, Molly, Miss Cunningham's Daughter. Their enemy was Don Karnage, the pirate that traveled through air rather than by sea.

The main reason I loved this show so much was that contained adventure, clever scenes, and running gags throughout the show. The setting was around World War II, it seems, and featured a lot of technology, it seems for that time period, execpt of course for television. In fact, in one episode , the professor, decides to come up witha new invention, "radio with pictures" he called it, with Baloo, and Cloud kicker, laughing it off, as just another flop! In conclusion, this show is a must see for kids of future generations, and I wish they would make more showzs like this in the years to come.

Along with Darkwing Duck this is unfairly cancelled. Disney has been in decline since Tarzan and we need a show like this to get Disney back on track. Ed Gilbert and Jim Cummings were perfect for the voices of Louis and Baloo (sounds familiar?) The theme tune is also catchy, one of the catchiest theme tunes ever I'd say. Out of all the villains, which are all great on their own merits, Tony Jay stands out as Shere Kahn. Louis and Baloo actually sound very similar to the voice overs in the Jungle Book, which isn't a bad thing at all. As a matter of fact, it's quite inspirational! The animation was spot on, and the script had plenty of wit that has been severely lacking in animations for years. PLEASE BRING THIS SHOW BACK! 9/10. Bethany Cox

Those words came from another post/user. You're so right!!! Tale Spin was Disney's best animated series made for Television, as it attracted me intensely in the early 1990's - I cut college classes to watch TaleSpin (And, I still got my Bachelor's degree in '94!) I was so upset when then Disney-owned KCAL Ch. 9 (Which aired Tale Spin weekday afternoons at 4:00 in 1991-92) pre-empted Tale Spin Apr 29, 92 for the Rodney King LAPD court verdicts (Of course that led to a riot which I won't indulge into). I was a student going to a major local university between 1990-94 and I had to make sure I got either to the Student Union for the TV room or if in class, tape Tale Spin from home for viewing later. I was never into any other animated series before and since. I knew Ed Gilbert by luck (The voice of Baloo in the series) as we took yoga classes together in 1991 - We had met in N. Hollywood at a yoga instructor's house. He was a great person to talk too (I teased him once - called him "Yoga Bear" and he loved it, he called me just "Big Joe") and gave me a lot of Tale Spin secrets & info I could never put here on this post. We lost touch after 1993, and just recently heard of his death two years ago. I feel saddened, but I'm sure he (and Phil Harris...) are looking down on us singing a chord of "The Bare Necessities". (I'm bummed he's not in the new Jungle Book 2 movie -Gilbert would have been great as he reprises his voice of Baloo - He was natural, man... (Tony Jay reprises his voice role of Shere Khan in the new movie) Sally Struthers spells R E B E C C A and was perfect for the single mother - independent-minded entrupeneur of "Higher For Hire" and I loved Wildcat (Pat Fraley) the mechanic and Louie (Jim Cummings) the bartender and party monkey!! What wonderful memories, Ed signed my Tale Spin comic book one day after our workout with this inscription "To Joe, Keep Yer Tail Spinnin, And Don't Fall Outa The SKY!! Ed Gilbert "The Voice of Baloo" ** Miss you and see you in the sky.... Joe "The Bear" Goria - Los Angeles