Road Rovers

*Road Rovers*
Road Rovers
Created by	Tom Ruegger
Starring	Jess Harnell; Tress MacNeille; Jeff Bennett; Kevin Michael Richardson; Frank Welker; Joseph Campanella; Jim Cummings
Composers	Gordon Goodwin; Richard Stone
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	14 (including one lost episode) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Tom Ruegger
Producer	Bob Deucette
Running time	30 minutes (with commercials)
Original release
Network	Kids' WB
Release	September 7, 1996 –; February 22, 1997

Road Rovers is an American animated television series written and produced by Warner Bros. Animation that premiered on Kids' WB on September 7, 1996. After one season it ended on February 22, 1997. Reruns continued to air until September 6, 1997. It was then on Cartoon Network from February 7, 1998 until 2000.

The show follows the adventures of the Road Rovers, a team of five super-powered crime-fighting anthropomorphic dogs, known as "cano-sapiens".

Plot

In the town of Socorro, New Mexico (one year prior to the formation of the Road Rovers), Professor Shepherd forced to relinquish experimental transdogmafier technology to General Parvo in exchange for his lost dog, but instead Parvo gives him a bomb that destroys his laboratory. Next year, as normal dogs begin to mutate into monsters, Shephard, who miraculously survived the attack, takes measures to stop Parvo who is behind this.

Shepherd selects five different dogs and in his new, secret underground lab, he uses his new transdogmifier on the five, turning them into "Cano-sapiens".

Characters

Hunter (Jess Harnell): A Goldador from the United States and leader of the Road Rovers. He possesses super speed, and tends to list his own made up powers. He and Colleen have romantic feelings for each other, though Hunter's oblivious nature prevents it from progressing. He also really likes dog toy balls. Hunter is also noted as being the only Rover whose relatives appeared during the season; he visits his mother in "A Day in the Life."

Colleen (Tress MacNeille): A Rough Collie from the United Kingdom, and the only female in the group. Colleen is skilled in martial arts and medical aid. Colleen is known for being cheerful with a rapier wit, and she is also calm under pressure. She has a lively sense of humor, and is quite close to most of her teammates, the exception being Blitz.

Blitz (Jeff Bennett impersonating Arnold Schwarzenegger): A Doberman from Germany. Blitz is a team player but shows no proper respect to anyone but himself. His razor sharp teeth and claws can cut through almost anything. Though he puts on a brave face, he has many times of cowardice. He has romantic feelings for Colleen which doesn't work out for him.

Exile (Kevin Michael Richardson): A Siberian husky from Siberia. Exile is the master of fixing and unfixing things. His superpowers are heat, freeze and night vision, along with super-strength (though not as much as Shag). He also frequently mixes up common English phrases such as referring the term "May Day" as "April Day". He is apparently squeamish at the sight of blood.

Shag (Frank Welker): An Old English Sheepdog/Skye Terrier mix from Italy. Shag is a kind of fluke as far as the transdogmafier process goes. Instead of becoming a complete cano-sapien, he is stuck at someplace in between, able to walk on two legs and having human dexterity, but is unable to speak English (though the others can still understand him). Despite being the biggest coward out of the team, he is the team's weapon specialist, most often using a bazooka which he invariably aims the wrong way. His fur also has seemingly unlimited storage capacity which has on various occasions housed food, articles of furniture (some bigger than himself), and fellow Road Rovers.

Muzzle (Frank Welker): A Rotweiler. Muzzle was "Scout", Professor Sheperd's dog that was kidnapped. Though he was subjected to the transdogmafier, Scout's exposure to its energies did not mutate him, instead it rendered him insane, unstable and horribly ferocious. Rescued by Hunter prior to his recruitment, the two became close friends.

Professor William F. Shepherd "The Master" (Joseph Campanella): The geneticist behind the transdogmafier and the Road Rovers. He is the team’s boss and supplier for all their gear. He's always seen as a figure, apart from the episode "Let's Hit The Road" where we see him before his lab is blown up.

General Parvo (Jim Cummings): The Road Rovers' main antagonist who is out to destroy Professor Shepherd and conquer the world. He has a permanent cough. It was later in the series that General Parvo was at one time a Cat before being transformed into a "Felin Sapien", which resemble humans a great deal more than Shepherd's Cano-sapiens. He shares a very similar appearance to wrestler Hulk Hogan. The name Parvo derives from a canine disease which often kills puppies.

The Groomer (Sheena Easton): The Groomer is the mostly loyal assistant to General Parvo. She's generally armed with a portable hair clipper, though she uses other equipment when appropriate. She also provides Parvo with throat lozenges to calm his coughing fits.

Episodes

Home Media releases

A DVD of the entire series was announced on February 4, 2015 by Warner Archive and was released on February 10, 2015.

External links

Road Rovers at IMDb