M.A.S.K.
Genre
Developed byTerrence McDonnell (season 1)
Gary Warne (season 1)
Jack Olesker (season 2)
Directed byBruno Bianchi (season 1)
Bernard Deyriès (season 1)
Michael Maliani (season 2)
Voices ofDoug Stone
Brian George
Mark Halloran
Brendan McKane
Graeme McKenna
Sharon Noble
Brennan Thicke
Composers
Country of originFrance (season 1)
United States (season 2)
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes75
Production
Executive producersAndy Heyward
Tetsuo Katayama
ProducersJean Chalopin
Denis Heroux (season 1)
Susan Cavan (season 1)
CinematographyMasayoshi Miyakojima
Running time22 mins
Production companiesDIC[Note 1]
ICC TV Productions
Animation
services		Ashi Productions
Studio World
K.K. DiC Asia
Original release
NetworkSyndication
Release30 September 1985 (1985-09-30) –
26 November 1986 (1986-11-26)
Related
Vor-Tech

M.A.S.K. is a 1985 French/American animated television series produced by DIC and ICC TV Productions, Ltd.[2] The series was based on the M.A.S.K. action figures produced by Kenner Products.[3] It was animated in Japan by Ashi Productions, Studio World and K.K. DiC Asia (later known as K.K. C&D Asia).

Overview

M.A.S.K. (an acronym for "Mobile Armored Strike Kommand") is a special task force led by Matt Trakker, who operate transforming armored vehicles in their ongoing battle against the criminal organization V.E.N.O.M. (an acronym for Vicious Evil Network of Mayhem) with an emphasis on superpowered helmets (called "masks") worn by the characters of both factions.[4]

V.E.N.O.M.'s primary goal was obtaining money through either robbery, extortion, counterfeiting, kidnapping, or attempting to steal historical artifacts, but M.A.S.K. always found a way to foil their plans.

Cast

Main article: List of M.A.S.K. toys & characters

Crew

Season 1 (1985)

Season 2 (1986)

Episodes

A total of 75 syndicated episodes over two seasons were broadcast from September 1985 to November 1986. The first season consisted of 65 episodes. The second season, whose theme deemphasized crimefighting in favor of auto racing, lasted only ten episodes.

Season 1 (1985)

Nº Title Air date
1"The Deathstone"30 September 1985 (1985-09-30)
VENOM steals a strange meteorite with healing powers using Switchblade disguised as a UFO.
2"The Star Chariot"1 October 1985 (1985-10-01)
VENOM steals a mystical arrowhead rumored to point the way to an alien spacecraft buried in the desert.
3"The Book of Power"2 October 1985 (1985-10-02)
VENOM steals an ancient book which holds the secrets of a mythological city of riches.
4"Highway to Terror"3 October 1985 (1985-10-03)
MASK tries to retrieve a stash of military plutonium that VENOM plans to use to power an earthquake machine.
5"Video VENOM"4 October 1985 (1985-10-04)
VENOM hypnotizes innocent people through their television sets to hijack a powerful laser cannon and threatens to use it to attack a Texas oil refinery if not paid a hefty ransom.
6"Dinosaur Boy"7 October 1985 (1985-10-07)
VENOM abducts a strange lizard creature whose antibodies can prolong human life.
7"The Ultimate Weapon"8 October 1985 (1985-10-08)
VENOM obtains a device that jams the control systems of MASK's vehicles rendering their opposition immobile.
8"The Roteks"9 October 1985 (1985-10-09)
VENOM steals a swarm of metal-eating bugs secretly developed by the military.
9"The Oz Effect"10 October 1985 (1985-10-10)
VENOM uses a strange vortex machine to abduct a village of Australian aborigines and forces them as slaves to mine valuable crystal.
10"Death from the Sky"11 October 1985 (1985-10-11)
VENOM uses a tractor beam to steer a meteor to Earth which threatens to destroy a major city.
11"The Magma Mole"14 October 1985 (1985-10-14)
VENOM uses a mole machine to drill into the Earth which threatens Tokyo with devastating floods and an eruption of Mount Fuji.
12"Solaria Park"15 October 1985 (1985-10-15)
VENOM hides a heat ray weapon in an amusement park.
13"The Creeping Terror"16 October 1985 (1985-10-16)
VENOM unleashes a horde of giant caterpillars to destroy a South American jungle in hopes of finding a lost Mayan temple.
14"Assault on Liberty"17 October 1985 (1985-10-17)
VENOM steals the Statue of Liberty during a magic show and holds it for ransom.
15"The Sceptre of Rajim"18 October 1985 (1985-10-18)
VENOM steals a mystical scepter from an Indian city whose inhabitants hold the MASK team hostage until its return. Matt Trakker must work alone to get it back.
16"The Golden Goddess"21 October 1985 (1985-10-21)
VENOM steals golden relics from ancient temples in Singapore, using a special gas that liquefies gold and smuggling it by pumping it secretly through a pipeline.
17"Mystery of the Rings"22 October 1985 (1985-10-22)
VENOM goes to Sunhenge with three mystic rings that will point the way to a wealth of ancient treasure.
18"Bad Vibrations"23 October 1985 (1985-10-23)
VENOM threatens to destroys buildings in Hong Kong with a sonic weapon.
19"Ghost Bomb"24 October 1985 (1985-10-24)
VENOM plots to destroy the Panama Canal with a captured nuclear submarine.
20"Cold Fever"25 October 1985 (1985-10-25)
During a trip to Alaska, Bruce Sato falls ill from a terrible virus and MASK finds that VENOM has the only cure.
21"Mardi Gras Mystery"28 October 1985 (1985-10-28)
The MASK team enjoys a New Orleans Mardi Gras but finds VENOM there trying to steal the formula to a super-fuel.
22"The Secret of Life"29 October 1985 (1985-10-29)
VENOM steals an Ancient Egyptian tablet from King Tut's tomb which may contain "the secret of life".
23"Vanishing Point"30 October 1985 (1985-10-30)
VENOM hijacks planes by setting up a fake airport, jamming radars and confusing pilots to land there, in order to capture an experimental supersonic jet.
24"Counter-Clockwise Caper"31 October 1985 (1985-10-31)
VENOM conducts heists of Las Vegas casinos.
25"The Plant Show"1 November 1985 (1985-11-01)
VENOM threatens to cover Los Angeles with mutated kudzu vines unless California pays a hefty ransom.
26"Secret of the Andes"4 November 1985 (1985-11-04)
MASK must protect a revived Incan priest, who has been frozen in ice found in the Andes, from VENOM, who may know the secret location of El Dorado.
27"Panda Power"5 November 1985 (1985-11-05)
VENOM abducts endangered panda bears from China and MASK must rescue them.
28"Blackout"6 November 1985 (1985-11-06)
VENOM has a new vehicle called Blackout, which is capable of draining power supplies.
29"A Matter of Gravity"7 November 1985 (1985-11-07)
Firecracker is destroyed in a battle with VENOM, and Hondo gets a new replacement vehicle, Hurricane, in the end. NOTE: Hurricane was called Nightstalker in this episode.
30"The Lost Riches of Rio"8 November 1985 (1985-11-08)
VENOM steals a worthless painting but MASK learns it really contains a secret map to lost Nazi treasure.
31"Deadly Blue Slime"11 November 1985 (1985-11-11)
MASK goes to Africa to stop a botched experiment which has created a deadly blue slime that consumes everything in its path.
32"The Currency Conspiracy"12 November 1985 (1985-11-12)
In the Swiss Alps MASK must stop VENOM from using an organism that eats the ink off printed money rendering the bills worthless at the behest of a corrupt finance minister.
33"Caesar's Sword"13 November 1985 (1985-11-13)
VENOM agent Sly Rax, poses as the ghost of Julius Caesar to scare off a team of archaeologists who have uncovered Caesar's Sword of Victory.
34"Peril in Paris"14 November 1985 (1985-11-14)
Buddie Hawks disguises himself as VENOM agent Dagger in order to infiltrate VENOM's secret base in Paris. There he uncovers VENOM's plan to find a Nazi doomsday machine. NOTE: On the Region 2 DVDs, this episode is titled "Peril Under Paris". This is the same name as the novelisation of this episode.
35"In Dutch"15 November 1985 (1985-11-15)
A madman hires VENOM to destroy the flood dikes in the Netherlands if their parliament doesn't allow him a political position.
36"The Lippizaner Mystery"18 November 1985 (1985-11-18)
VENOM steals the famous Lipizzaner Stallions where an Arab purchases them for $4 million, but MASK team member Dusty Hayes foils their heist.
37"The Sacred Rock"19 November 1985 (1985-11-19)
VENOM frightens a tribe of Australian aborigines who believe their god "Mimi" is angry with them. When T-Bob makes an appearance, the tribe thinks he is their deity.
38"Curse of Solomon's Gorge"20 November 1985 (1985-11-20)
MASK goes to Africa to stop VENOM who has discovered King Solomon's treasures.
39"Green Nightmare"21 November 1985 (1985-11-21)
VENOM agent Vanessa Warfield sabotages Matt Trakker's private jet which crashes in the jungles of New Guinea, while returning a priceless gem his father was entrusted with. The rest of the MASK team goes to rescue them.
40"Eyes of the Skull"22 November 1985 (1985-11-22)
VENOM leader, Miles Mayhem, uses an ancient "crystal skull" which allows x-ray like vision to see through Matt Trakker's mask and discover his identity. Mayhem then kidnaps Scott Trakker for ransom.
41"Stop Motion"25 November 1985 (1985-11-25)
VENOM obtains an EMP bomb and threatens to loot bank vaults across the country by knocking out all electronics for miles around.
42"The Artemis Enigma"26 November 1985 (1985-11-26)
VENOM plans to steal a sacred horn from a group of monks that is rumored to detect gold.
43"The Chinese Scorpion"27 November 1985 (1985-11-27)
VENOM agent Bruno Sheppard disguises Stinger as a giant iron scorpion and kidnaps an archaeologist who knows the location of buried treasure inside the Great Wall of China.
44"Riddle of the Raven Master"28 November 1985 (1985-11-28)
VENOM agent Vanessa Warfield uses trained ravens to steal London's crown jewels. As a diversion, Sly Rax plants a bomb in Big Ben. Scott and T-Bob meet the Ravens of the Tower of London.
45"The Spectre of Captain Kidd"29 November 1985 (1985-11-29)
MASK must foil a plot by VENOM to get their hands on the lost booty of the pirate Captain Kidd.
46"The Secret of the Stones"2 December 1985 (1985-12-02)
VENOM steals a strange stone that makes objects weightless.
47"The Lost Fleet"3 December 1985 (1985-12-03)
MASK tries to stop VENOM who goes to Iceland in search of a legendary "golden" fleet.
48"Quest of the Canyon"4 December 1985 (1985-12-04)
MASK goes to Carlsbad Caverns where VENOM plans to steal the lost treasure of legendary gunman Jesse James.
49"Follow the Rainbow"5 December 1985 (1985-12-05)
VENOM goes to Ireland to find the treasure of Brian Boru at the end of the rainbow.
50"The Everglades Oddity"6 December 1985 (1985-12-06)
Matt Trakker is bitten by a venomous snake, and while he recovers, Alex Sector must lead the MASK team to stop VENOM's plan of stealing the NASA Space Shuttle.
51"Dragonfire"9 December 1985 (1985-12-09)
VENOM goes to Borneo to seek a lost temple. When they find it, they unleash the temple's lizard guardians against MASK.
52"The Royal Cape Caper"10 December 1985 (1985-12-10)
VENOM steals Kamehameha's cape and helmet, then mass produce replicas selling them as expensive fakes.
53"Patchwork Puzzle"11 December 1985 (1985-12-11)
VENOM steals a Civil War-era quilt that contains a secret message to finding buried treasure near the Washington Monument in Washington D.C.
54"Fog on Boulder Hill"12 December 1985 (1985-12-12)
VENOM kidnaps an old woman who is unknowingly hiding $20 bill printing plates. VENOM wants the plates so they can make counterfeit money.
55"Plunder of Glowworm Grotto"13 December 1985 (1985-12-13)
MASK member Julio Lopez goes to New Zealand to help a local tribe preserve their land. There he discovers a VENOM plot to steal pearls from giant clams that live in the ocean.
56"Stone Trees"16 December 1985 (1985-12-16)
MASK member Jacques LaFleur finds a stone tree inscribed with strange symbols. VENOM later steals the tree hoping it will lead them to a golden Indian totem.
57"Incident in Istanbul"17 December 1985 (1985-12-17)
VENOM hijacks an armored car in Istanbul stealing Constantine's chess set which contains secrets to finding his golden crown.
58"The Creeping Desert"18 December 1985 (1985-12-18)
A corrupt landowner hires VENOM to destroy land in Acapulco, Mexico, rendering them worthless patches of desert so he can buy it up real cheap and restore the land later with an advanced hydration machine.
59"The Scarlet Empress"19 December 1985 (1985-12-19)
MASK member Calhoun Burns accidentally shrinks a priceless statue VENOM is trying to steal. A curious bird makes off with the statue.
60"Venice Menace"20 December 1985 (1985-12-20)
VENOM has a special chemical that turns the waters around Venice to jelly, allowing Stinger to drive on the surface and dig up Cleopatra's sunken barge.
61"Treasure of the Nazca Plain"23 December 1985 (1985-12-23)
MASK foils a plot by VENOM to steal a prehistoric South American treasure.
62"Disappearing Act"24 December 1985 (1985-12-24)
VENOM steals priceless automobiles by shrinking them with a shrink ray.
63"Gate of Darkness"25 December 1985 (1985-12-25)
VENOM abducts a cobra whose hood shows the way through a maze that leads to treasure in the Himalayan Mountains.
64"The Manakara Giant"26 December 1985 (1985-12-26)
VENOM uses a magnetic weapon to crash ships into rocky beaches. Local natives believe it is caused by an ancient curse until MASK discovers otherwise.
65"Raiders of the Orient Express"27 December 1985 (1985-12-27)
VENOM infiltrates the Orient Express train looking for clues to "Mad" King Ludwig's treasures.

Season 2 (1986)

Nº Title Air date
R1"Demolition Duel to the Death"6 September 1986 (1986-09-06)
During a harrowing demolition derby, VENOM agents discover one of their own, a new VENOM recruit named Boris Bushkin, is really a MASK double agent who foils their plans to eliminate MASK member Buddie Hawks.
R2"Where Eagles Dare"1 October 1986 (1986-10-01)
Matt Trakker takes on the Mayhem brothers in a race that will win the victor a profitable transportation licence.
R3"Homeward Bound"8 October 1986 (1986-10-08)
MASK member Ali Bombay returns to his homelands in India but finds that VENOM is using villagers as slaves to mine a valuable meteorite.
R4"The Battle of the Giants"12 October 1986 (1986-10-12)
Matt Trakker and the Mayhem brothers race to win a trophy that contains a secret formula, but the Mayhem twins, of course, play dirty in order to win the prize.
R5"Race Against Time"22 October 1986 (1986-10-22)
Brad Turner undertakes a mission to retrieve a rare plant needed to fight a spreading virus, but he soon finds VENOM is after the plant as well.
R6"Challenge of the Masters"29 October 1986 (1986-10-29)
MASK and VENOM battle in a race to win a trophy containing a microfilm that has secret access codes to any computer in the world.
R7"For One Shining Moment"5 November 1986 (1986-11-05)
VENOM surprisingly shows kindness by organizing a race for "charity", luring MASK to participate, but the race is really a VENOM trap to eliminate MASK once and for all.
R8"High Noon"12 November 1986 (1986-11-12)
MASK and VENOM enter a land, air and sea race to show off their vehicle capabilities. VENOM uses the race as a diversion to steal plans for a top secret jet.
R9"The Battle For Baja"19 November 1986 (1986-11-19)
MASK enters a Baja race where the Mexican President's son, Raul Vega, is also a competitor and offered to drive Goliath I by Matt Trakker. VENOM uses the opportunity to kidnap Vega for ransom.
R10"Cliff Hanger"26 November 1986 (1986-11-26)
VENOM gets their hands on dangerous seeds that can cause a plague and MASK races to stop them.

Production

One of many cartoons produced during the 1980s as a vehicle for toy merchandising, M.A.S.K. was a hybrid of popular era cartoons G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero and The Transformers.[citation needed] When originally broadcast, M.A.S.K. was the first closed-captioned series to air in first-run syndication.[5]

Home video

Several episodes of the series were released under Karl-Lorimar's "Kideo Video" branding on VHS in the 1980s, with two episodes per tape. The "racing" second season was distributed by Tempest Video.[citation needed]

In the United Kingdom, two releases titled M.A.S.K The Movie, and M.A.S.K The Movie II were released by Tempo Video, featuring episodes edited into a feature-length format. Several episodes of season one were distributed by The Video Collection in association with Karl Lorimar's Kideo Video, then a lot of these episodes would be distributed on later VHS tapes by Castle Vision. While episodes from season two would be distributed by Golden Book Video.[citation needed]

M.A.S.K. episodes have been released on DVD in three different regions:

Reception

While certain critics criticized the show for showing the weaponry and vehicles "at the expense of anything deeper in terms of plotting and characterization",[10] the show was quite successful. IGN voted M.A.S.K. the 99th-best animated series in 2009, calling it one of the most popular cartoon/toy marketing franchises of the 1980s, stating that it took many of the strengths of G.I. Joe and Transformers while taking few of their flaws.[11]

In other media

In 2015, Hasbro and Paramount were planning a cinematic universe combining Micronauts with G.I. Joe, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light, M.A.S.K. and Rom.[12] A group of writers consisting of Michael Chabon, Brian K. Vaughan, Nicole Perlman, Lindsey Beer, Cheo Coker, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein, Joe Robert Cole, Jeff Pinkner, Nicole Riegel and Geneva Robertson-Dworet was formed in April 2016 to create a writer's room to develop a storylines for the film.[13] F. Gary Gray was attached to direct the live-action adaptation,[14] while the writer Chris Bremner was hired to pen the script.[15]

Notes

  1. ^ The first season was produced by DIC Audiovisuel while the second season was produced by its American branch DIC Enterprises.

References

  1. ^ Reddish, David (1 September 2016). "15 Animated Superhero TV Shows You Completely Forgot about". Screen Rant. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  2. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 532–533. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. ^ "Battle of the Fun Factories". Time. 16 December 1985. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  4. ^ "MASK: The Complete Series: DVD Talk Review of the DVD Video". Dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. ^ Engelhardt, Tom (1986). "Children's Television: The Shortcake Strategy". In Gitlin, Todd (ed.). Watching Television: A Pantheon Guide to Popular Culture. Pantheon Books (Random House). p. 94. ISBN 0-394-74651-1.
  6. ^ "MASK – The Complete Series". TV Shows on DVD. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  7. ^ "MASK – Volume 1". TV Shows on DVD. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 June 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  8. ^ "M.A.S.K. DVD news: DVD Plans for M.A.S.K.". Tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  9. ^ "M.A.S.K. Collection 2 (Mask)". Madman.com.au. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  10. ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 380–381. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  11. ^ "99, M.A.S.K." IGN. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 23 January 2009.
  12. ^ Kilday, Gregg (15 December 2015). "Paramount, Hasbro Creating Movie Universe Around G.I. Joe, Four Other Brands (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016.
  13. ^ Kit, Borys (21 April 2016). "Hasbro Cinematic Universe Takes Shape With Michael Chabon, Brian K. Vaughan, Akiva Goldsman (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
  14. ^ Couch, Aaron (18 April 2018). "F. Gary Gray to Direct Hasbro's 'M.A.S.K.' Movie". The Hollywood Reporter.
  15. ^ Kit, Borys (28 February 2020). "'M.A.S.K' Movie Finds Its Writer (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.

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