The Legend of Calamity Jane is a 1997–1998 animated television series. The series followed the adventures of Calamity Jane in Deadwood, South Dakota. The episode "I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia" takes place during the opening of the Centennial Exposition, establishing the show as being set in 1876. The series had "fuller and richer animation than was customary on Saturday-morning TV." It was directed by Pascal Morelli, Production Supervision, Animation Checks, Copying and Shipping, Sound Readings and titles were created at Warner Bros. Animation (formerly as Warner Bros. Television Animation), and the production crew were also created at Studio B.
The series was produced by Gangster Production and Contre Allée, co-produced with Canal+ and distributed by ITEL. Many of the original members of Warner Bros. Animation were involved with it, including Howard Schwartz and Ken Duer. It aired in France and Canada from 1997 to 1998 and in Portugal in 2002. It also aired on the POP TV channel in the UK from 2003-2004. Despite its short run the series developed a cult following.
Series run[]
In the United States, three episodes were aired on The WB in 1997. The network gave the series heavy promotion, but they quietly pulled it from their line-up after only three weeks. It was stated on Warner Bros.' website that the show would return later in the year, and that Superman: The Animated Series would be filling in for its timeslot, but this proved to be untrue. The series did run complete in Latin America and several European countries, and was dubbed into languages like French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish and Serbian.
Production[]
Development[]
Jennifer Jason Leigh was originally cast as the voice of Calamity Jane. However, two weeks before the show was to premiere, the producers decided to re-cast the role. Barbara Scaff got the part. None of the dialogue recorded by Leigh was used in the final show. However, due to the short notice, the promotional ads aired on the WB used the lines by Leigh.
The series was directed by Pascal Morelli, Production Supervision, Animation Checks, Copying and Shipping, Sound Readings and titles were created at Warner Bros. Animation (formerly as Warner Bros. Television Animation), and the production crew were also created at Studio B. The series was produced by Gangster Production and Contre Allée, co-produced with Canal+ and distributed by ITEL. Many of the original members of Warner Bros. Animation were involved with it, including Howard Schwartz and Ken Duer.
Main characters[]
- Calamity Jane – Although based on the historical frontierswoman, her appearance and background are fictionalized. For example, in the series she knows how to read and write and says she grew up in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and Atlanta, Georgia while the real Martha Jane Canary was illiterate and grew up in Missouri. She also claims to be a member of the Comanche tribe. She is depicted as a 24-year-old, green-eyed, pale-skinned redhead who fights on the side of "law and order". She prefers to use a whip and drink milk. She rides a black horse named Dakota. She is voiced by Barbara Scaff.
- Joe Presto – He serves as a helpful sidekick to Jane and shows great care and concern for her throughout the series. He prefers not to kill, as evidenced by his shotgun only being loaded with rock salt. He rides a mule named Tessy. He is voiced by Frank Welker.
- Wild Bill Hickok – Based on the real Wild Bill Hickok, he is depicted as an old friend of Jane's who helps her on several occasions despite his reservations toward the law. He is voiced by Clancy Brown.
- Quanna Parker – Jane's "blood brother" and Chief of the Comanche tribe. He likes existential philosophy. In "Troubled Waters" his tribe become millionaires thanks to finding oil on their land. He is voiced by Michael Horse.
- Captain John O'Rourke – He is a polite, by-the-book officer in the US cavalry who assists Jane throughout the series and is hinted to have romantic feelings for her. In "The Final Curtain" it is revealed he witnessed the Lincoln assassination as a child and felt responsible because his older brother, who should've been guarding the President, chose to sit by him instead. He is voiced by Tim Matheson.
Episodes[]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Air date (France) | Air date (USA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Slip of the Whip" | Pascal Morelli | Mark Zaslove | January 1, 1997 | September 13, 1997 |
| The Comanche and the army are pitted against each other by Bill Doolin, an outlaw who plans to rob a train. | |||||
| 2 | "An Army of Rogues" | Pascal Morelli | S : Mark Zaslove S/T : Jeremy Cushner |
January 1, 1997 | September 20, 1997 |
| A mad Napoleon wannabe sets out to conquer the United States using armaments stolen from a cavalry fort. | |||||
| 3 | "Like Father, Like Daughter" | Pascal Morelli | Mark Zaslove | January 10, 1997 | September 27, 1997 |
| A man claiming to be Jane's father turns up at the same time a series of bank robberies occur. | |||||
| 4 | "As Easy as One, Two, Three..." | Pascal Morelli | S : Ken Pontac, David Bleiman S/T : Jeremy Cushner |
January 10, 1997 | March 24, 1998 |
| Jane deals with triplet bandits. | |||||
| 5 | "Train Kept a' Rollin'" | Pascal Morelli | S : Mark Zaslove S/T : Jeremy Cushner |
January 20, 1997 | April 7, 1998 |
| Bill Doolin escapes from custody and hijacks a military train full of TNT. | |||||
| 6 | "The Final Curtain" | Pascal Morelli | Michael Patrick Dobkins | January 20, 1997 | April 14, 1998 |
| O'Rourke is convinced that a travelling actor named Jeremiah Wilkinson is really John Wilkes Booth. | |||||
| 7 | "The Way of the Buffalo" | Pascal Morelli | Mark Zaslove | February 1, 1997 | April 17, 1998 |
| Jane and the Buffalo Soldiers try to break up a feud between a racist settler and the Blackfoot. | |||||
| 8 | "Troubled Waters" | Pascal Morelli | S : Mark Zaslove T : Ken Pontac & David Bleiman |
January 1, 1997 | April 21, 1998 |
| A corrupt bureaucrat attempts to force the Comanche off of their oil-rich land. | |||||
| 9 | "Waiting for the Cavalry" | Pascal Morelli | Mark Zaslove | February 10, 1997 | May 29, 1998 |
| Jane, Joe and Wild Bill are cornered in a desolate shack by desperadoes. | |||||
| 10 | "Dead or Alive" | Pascal Morelli | S : Mark Zaslove T : Jeremy Cushner |
February 20, 1997 | June 5, 1998 |
| Jane fends off bounty hunters while transporting John Wesley Hardin to face trial. | |||||
| 11 | "Protege" | Pascal Morelli | S : Mark Zaslove T : Ken Pontiac and David Bleiman |
February 20, 1997 | June 12, 1998 |
| Jane is shadowed by an overly enthusiastic girl named Ellie. | |||||
| 12 | "I'd Rather Be in Philadelphia" | Pascal Morelli | Mark Zaslove, Ken Pontac & David Bleiman | March 1, 1997 | June 19, 1998 |
| Neo-Confederates plot to assassinate President Grant. | |||||
| 13 | "Without a Vengeance" | Pascal Morelli | Mark Zaslove | February 1, 1997 | June 26, 1998 |
| When Jane is beaten and left for dead by an outlaw, Wild Bill is overcome with lust for revenge. | |||||
Release[]
Home media[]
On October 3, 2022, Texas-based company - Comix.tv launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a special DVD box set and special edition comic to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary in 2022. The company previously did a Kickstarter campaign for a DVD release of Stone Protectors in 2021 which was successful. It would be the first time the remaining episodes were released in the United States. This campaign was successfully funded with $24,284 on 426 backers. On January 30, 2023, it was announced Discotek Media will release the series on Blu-ray.
The series is currently available on Tubi as of March 31, 2023.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This TV series is rated by TV-Y7.
- TV-Y7 indicates that programming is designed for chil- dren ages 7 and older. An additional rating, TV-Y7-FV, is used to indicate that a program contains “fantasy violence” that may be more intense or combative than other TV-Y7 programs.
- The series with production supervision, Animation Checks, Copying and Shipping, Sound Readings and titles were created at Warner Bros. Animation (formerly as Warner Bros. Television Animation)
- This is the first non-Warner animated television series made by another studio, followed by Skull Island.
External Links[]
 |
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page The Legend of Calamity Jane. The revision history lists the authors. The text on Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki and Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). |