Police Academy: The Series, also known as Police Academy: The Animated Series, is a popular 1988 American animated television series based on the Police Academy series of movies. It aired on Saturday mornings and lasted two seasons for a total of 64 episodes.
Some episodes feature a crime boss named Kingpin. His keen intelligence, girth, and stature are very similar to the Marvel Comics character of the same name. New characters were added to the show as well. Among them were a group of talking police dogs called the Canine Corps. They were made up of Samson (the bulldog leader), Lobo (the noble yet clumsy husky), Bonehead (the dimwitted giant St. Bernard), Chilipepper (the excitable chihuahua), and Schitzy (the only female golden retriever with an identity crisis).
The show was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions and Warner Bros. Animation. In later years, the latter company would gain distribution rights to most of the pre-1990 shows by the former, thanks to Time Warner buying Turner Entertainment (which had acquired the R-S library) in 1996.
The animated serie takes place chronologically between the fourth and fifth film of the series of films.
Twelve characters are re-created for this animated version, including a team of Academy graduates led by Carey Mahoney, a likeable rogue bachelor boy, who unconsciously—and consistently—does his best to make life miserable for Captain Harris and his knucklehead assistant Sgt. Proctor.
Mahoney's friends include the aptly named Moses Hightower, walking sound effects machine Larvell Jones, trigger-happy Eugene Tackleberry, sweet & timid Laverne Hooks, tough-as-nails Debbie Callahan, larger-than-life House, and the bread-&-butter duo of reformed gang member Zed and his best buddy, Sweetchuck.
Eric Lassard is the highly-respected (albeit dreamy) Commandant, and Academy newcomer The Professor is also on hand, and also the cadets new friends, the K-9 Corps, a group of cops dogs, and stocking our crime-fighting heroes with an endless supply of wacky gadgets as they combat a motley crew of Kingpin and other recurring villains such as Numbskull, The Claw, Mr. Sleaze, Lockjaw and Amazona.
- Carey Mahoney - The most clever among the cadets, always ready to lend a hand to his companions, is in patrol with Jones.
- Larvell Jones - On patrol with Mahoney, skilled in martial arts and exceptional ventriloquist. His main skill is to recreate the mouth with different sounds and noises (sirens, gunfire, helicopters, etc. ...). Very often this will be useful skills for companions.
- Sweetchuck - Glasses and down Sweetchuck is the most fifone of the group always tries to do his best but always ends up in trouble to finish. It is the companion to patrol Zed.
- Zed - Certainly the most strange group, Zed always ends to combine the mess, and is skilful in the fall in the pitfalls of the enemy in turn, often drags along his colleague Sweetchuck.
- Moses Hightower - Robust and forced, almost sound like a closet human Hightower is the cadet knows that in scazzottate always be useful. Often uses his strength to bend bars sovraumana and improve the means of the police who remain bogged. In addition to its large arms are ideal for immobilizing and handcuffed criminals. It is the companion to patrol Hooks.
- Laverne Hooks - Small of stature and with a stamp of a voice that seems that of a shy little girl is the officer to the police switchboard. If the launches are angry shouts of very strong and unpleasant with which can be enforced. It is the companion to patrol Hightower.
- Thomas "House" Conklin - Fat and nice is the most trouble guy of group. He is always hungry and obviously not very courageous. It is the companion to patrol Sweetchuck and Zed.
- Eugene Tackleberry - Characterized by a pronounced jaw almost always wears glasses and helmet, is a fanatic of the weapons, gun enthusiast and Bazooka; has a weakness for his fellow patrol Callahan. Often uses the armored car of the police with whom ultimately erode the walls and doors. When it comes to shoot there think twice to press the trigger and frequent launches of networks with the bazooka to trap thieves.
- Debbie Callahan - Connect to Tackleberry, is a woman's physical strength from the slender, being skilful in respect to the sound of punchs, his numerous court, often the offenders themselves, have never easy.
- Capt. Thaddeus Harris - Always carry a walking stick and is almost always in the company of his sidekick Proctor. Not keen to see the cadets and always tries to put a spoke in the wheels to Mahoney and his companions to discredit the Comm Lassard, to obtain the command of School Police. Its shady attempts fail systematically and Proctor and he always ends by being in a jam and embarrassing.
- Proctor - Is Harris' sidekick. Silly and always ends in vain to make all the plans of the Harris Comm. Unsurpassed in the slip and get trapped by the gangsters.
- Com. Eric Lassard - Elder and colorful chief of police, brings with it a goldfish from which it never separates. For his sbadataggine often to get into trouble but thanks to the cadets always manages to appear as a brilliant commander. Many times unlocks situations so daring, and catch criminals, almost always by accident.
- Professor - He is the inventor of numerous devices and strange weapons that often come with useful cadets.
- K-9 corps - This is a group of police dogs, helpers of Cadets: The bulldog Samson, the chihuahua Peper, sleepyhead the Lightning, the high and senior Oliver Skittzy, the only female to make the different verses. Their boss is the assistant sergeant Bouser (Mauser).
- Kingpin - He is the largest of all the bandits of all the episodes of the series, and together makes a great ceremony to the Council of crime.
- Numbskull
- Mr. Sleaze
- Claw
- Phoenix Amazona
- Shark
- The Clown Gang
- The Phantom
- The London Bridge Gang
- The Phantom of the Opera
- George and Lenny
- Seedy McLeech
- The Mummy
- The Highway Robbers
- Madame Zelda and the Land Pirates
- Awesome Ape
- The Magnificent Mystopholes
- The Ninjas and Father
- Flung Hi
- The Hang Ten Gang
- Mr. Glitch and Cratchit
- Professor Jekill and Gangster Hyde
- King Neptune
- Ace, Queen of Hearths and Chester
- The Comic Book Thief
- Falcon
- Big Mary
- Fox
- Mr. Watkips and Watso
- Lady Tina and Smalto
- Skull Ned and the Rock Gang
- Sheikh and the Guards
- The incredible Shandar
- Maxine
- Krutz and his gang
- The Mexican Gang
- Slik and his gang
- Pop Corn and Family
- Bad Knight
- The Twin Humongo
- Professor Pilpers/Bates
- Giaguar the voodoo
- Mr. Shee, Pack, Squitty and Fufy the crocodile
- Big Burger
- Mr. Ego and Charles
- Prof. Pherril and Pack
- Dr. Deadstone
- The Hillbilly Sheriff
- The Junkman
- Robin Good
Police Academy was released through chronological volumes on VHS. At least six volumes were released, each including two episodes. In 2009 on DVD with the complete series.