The Karate Kid is a thirteen episode animated series which debuted on NBC's Saturday morning lineup. It starred Joey Dedio, Robert Ito, and Janice Kawaye. It is based on the popular Karate Kid series of films. Hoping to build from the franchise's popularity, DiC Entertainment and Sony Pictures Television premiered an animated Karate Kid on NBC's 1989 Saturday morning schedule. It was produced in association with: Saban Entertainment.
[edit] Overview
The show retains apprentice Daniel LaRusso (voiced by Joey Dedio) and his mentor Mr. Miyagi (voiced by Robert Ito) but abandoned the karate tournament motif for an adventure/quest setting. A miniature shrine with healing powers had been taken from its resting place on Okinawa, and it was up to Miyagi and Daniel to recover it. Together with Okinawan girl Taki (voiced by Janice Kawaye), the karatekas searched the globe and, naturally, encountered several opportunities to chop and kick their way out of trouble.
[edit] Episode formula
The episodes typically followed a similar formula: Mr. Miyagi would obtain a lead on the shrine's location in some exotic corner of the world. Daniel and Taki would follow up on it, and in the process encounter some villains who had either obtained or were seeking to obtain the shrine for their own evil purposes. After engaging, and of course, defeating the villains, Daniel would come within a hair's breadth of retrieving the shrine, only to have it escape from his grasp by random chance (for example, drifting away after being tied to a bunch of balloons, or being swept into the ocean) thus ensuring that the search would continue into the next episode.
[edit] Syndication
As of May 2009, the show can be purchased on iTunes, and can be streamed for free in the US on Netflix, Internet Movie Database, Hulu, and Minisodes are available on Crackle.
[edit] Episode titles
| episode# |
Title |
Air Date |
Synopsis |
| 1 |
My Brother's Keeper |
September 9, 1989 |
|
| 2 |
The Greatest Victory |
September 16, 1989 |
|
| 3 |
The Homecoming |
September 23, 1989 |
|
| 4 |
The Tomorrow Man |
September 30, 1989 |
|
| 5 |
All the World His Stage |
October 14, 1989 |
|
| 6 |
The Paper Hero |
October 21, 1989 |
|
| 7 |
Over the Rainbow |
October 28, 1989 |
|
| 8 |
The Return of the Shrine |
November 4, 1989 |
|
| 9 |
Walkabout |
November 11, 1989 |
|
| 10 |
East Meets West |
November 18, 1989 |
|
| 11 |
The Hunt |
December 2, 1989 |
|
| 12 |
The Gray Ghosts |
December 9, 1989 |
|
| 13 |
A Little World of His Own |
December 16, 1989 |
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[edit] Additional voices
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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The Karate Kid series
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