Wildfire (1986 TV series)

Wildfire is a 1986 American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera about the adventures of Sara, a 13-year-old girl growing up in the American West as she discovers her true identity as a princess-in-hiding from another realm who is destined to fight the evil witch Lady Diabolyn.[1] The show was first broadcast on CBS for 13 episodes from September 13 to December 6, 1986.[2]

Wildfire
GenreAnimation
Adventure
Drama
Fantasy
Sci-fi
Created by
Directed byArt Davis
Oscar Dufau
Don Lusk
Carl Urbano
Rudy Zamora
Ray Patterson (supervising director)
Voices ofJohn Vernon
Georgi Irene
Jessica Walter
David Ackroyd
René Auberjonois
Billy Barty
Susan Blu
Townsend Coleman
Robert Jayne
Rob Paulsen
Frank Welker
Theme music composerJimmy Webb
Opening theme"Wildfire"
Ending theme"Wildfire" (Instrumental)
ComposerHoyt Curtin
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersWilliam Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Joe Taritero (co-executive producer)
ProducerPeter Aries Jr.
EditorGil Iverson
Running time24 minutes approx.
Production companyHanna-Barbera Productions
Release
Original networkCBS
Original releaseSeptember 13 (1986-09-13) –
December 13, 1986 (1986-12-13)

Plot

As a baby, Princess Sara (voiced by Georgi Irene) of Thurinia was saved from the clutches of the evil Lady Diabolyn (voiced by Jessica Walter) by a mystical talking horse named Wildfire (voiced by John Vernon) following the death of Sara's mother Queen Sarana (voiced by Amanda McBroom). Wildfire took her away from the planet Dar-Shan and deposited her in Montana where she is taken in by a farmer named John Cavanaugh (voiced by David Ackroyd). Lady Diabolyn was a stepsister to Queen Sarana, whom she always considered weak and unfit to rule. To gain her "rightful" throne, she learned dark magic and allied herself with the demonic Spectres.

Twelve years later when Sara was ready to fight evil, Wildfire brought her back to Dar-Shan to regain her kingdom. Wildfire summons Sara through her magic amulet and transports her across dimensions to her real home in Dar-Shan. Sara joins with her friends consisting of a sorcerer named Alvinar (voiced by René Auberjonois), a young boy named Dorin (voiced by Bobby Jacoby), and his cowardly colt Brutus (voiced by Susan Blu) in order to thwart her wicked step-aunt. John and Sara's Native American friend Ellen Crow (voiced by Lilly Moon) provide moral support on Earth.

Lady Diabolyn is helped by the Goons, mischievous creatures consisting of Dweedle (voiced by Billy Barty), Nerts, Booper, Mudlusk (voiced by Frank Welker), and Thimble. They were formerly Diabolyn's personal guards until they gained their monstrous appearances by the Spectres upon opening the urn containing them when Diabolyn told them not to.

Each episode revealed more and more of the mythical world of Dar-Shan and gave its audience a new puzzle piece to help reason out the past events that led up to the current state of affairs. It was later revealed that Sara's adopted father John was actually her biological father Prince Cavan sent to Earth to protect him from the curse which Lady Diabolyn and the Spectres had placed on Dar-Shan. Sara and Wildfire are the only ones who know John's true identity which has been kept secret even from him.

Episodes
No. Title Written by Original air date
1"Once and Future Queen"Jeff Segal and Kelly WardSeptember 13, 1986 (1986-09-13)
Lady Diabolyn captures some butterflies and the Royal Weaver in order to make a dress for her coronation.
2"A Visit to Wonderland"John LoySeptember 20, 1986 (1986-09-20)
Dorin and Brutus encounter some children who have been using a wand to immortalize some young horses into carousels.
3"The Ogre's Bride"Linda WoolvertonSeptember 27, 1986 (1986-09-27)
Lady Diabolyn turns a man named Kent into an ogre before his wedding day in order to prevent his wedding to a girl named Cherylla and prevent the unity of two villages.
4"Secret of Sinti Magic"David Schwartz and John LoyOctober 4, 1986 (1986-10-04)
While running from Rackteos, Wildfire ends up injuring his leg and he and Sara are saved by the Sintis (the source of all magic on Dar-Shan). Dweedle and his fellow goons discover this and report back to Diabolyn who plans to capture a Sinti.
5"A Meeting in Time"Tony Marino and John LoyOctober 11, 1986 (1986-10-11)
Sara falls off Wildfire in the portal between Earth and Dar-Shan. This ends up transporting her to Dar-Shan in the past where Queen Sarana will be married to Prince Cavan the same time when Lady Diabolyn became allies with the Spectres.
6"The Highwayman"Linda WoolvertonOctober 18, 1986 (1986-10-18)
Sara and Wildfire deal with a highwayman named Aragon and his horse Halavax.
7"The Pixie Painters"Jina Bacaar and John LoyOctober 25, 1986 (1986-10-25)
The pixies have come to Dar-Shan to paint the true queen.
8"The Name is the Game"Mark EdensNovember 1, 1986 (1986-11-01)

When Brutus ends up captured by a troll, Sara and Dorin end up working to decipher the troll's real name while encountering others who failed the troll's challenge and one who passed it.

Note: This is the first of three episodes in which John Cavanaugh/Prince Cavan, Lady Diabolyn, the Goons, and the Spectres do not appear. The others are "Strangers In The Night," and "Dragons Of Dar-Shan". Ellen is also absent from the latter two.
9"Strangers in the Night"John LoyNovember 8, 1986 (1986-11-08)
Wildfire takes Sara to meet with the Great Horse Chieftains and prove that she is Queen Sarana's daughter. When Sara and Dorin unknowingly free an ancient evil called the Goblin Master from beneath the ruins of Castle Thorinia, the entire country is thrown into chaos.
10"Dragons of Dar-Shan"Mark Edens, Eric Lewald, Jeff Segal, and Kelly WardNovember 15, 1986 (1986-11-15)
Dorin and Brutus travel to Chimaera, a city that was once threatened by red dragons. When they find a dragon egg in the forest, Sara and Wildfire end up helping Dorin and Brutus into returning the egg to its parents before Chimaera ends up destroyed by the red dragons.
11"King for a Day"John LoyNovember 22, 1986 (1986-11-22)
Lady Diabolyn makes a wish to become Queen of Dar-Shan which almost comes true. The wish ends up activating when a frog looks into the well and is transformed into a King whom Diabolyn plans to manipulate.
12"Where the Dreams Come From"Jeff Segal, Kelly Ward, and John LoyDecember 6, 1986 (1986-12-06)
When a mysterious figure named Mr. Charles Spec appears at the Cavanaugh farm claiming to be Sara's real father, John works with Wildfire to rescue her. Meanwhile, Lady Diabolyn finds that the Spectres are not in their abyss and suspects that they deserted her for their own cause.
13"Wildfire: King of the Horses"John LoyDecember 13, 1986 (1986-12-13)
Vesta, a high Chieftain of the Sanctuary of Horses, is dying and has chosen Wildfire to be her successor over a horse named Thunderbolt. Though his duty to the sanctuary is strong, this happens to bring conflict to his vow to protect Sara when Diabolyn allies with a centauroid cat creature called Rothadode who is an enemy of the Sanctuary. They plan to capture the horses in his plot to rule the horses and her latest scheme to rule Dar-Shan.

Voice cast

Additional voices

Reception

According to the Los Angeles Times, "despite the hackneyed writing and poor animation (the artists don't understand how a horse moves), Wildfire is sure to be a hit with little girls, its obvious audience".[3]

References
  1. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 466. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 695. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. "Saturday Morning: Good And Bad". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
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