''Pole Position'' is an

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

series produced by DIC Enterprises and MK Company. The series is loosely based on the

arcade racing Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more realistic ra ...

video game series ''

Pole Position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

'', the name of which was licensed from

Namco was a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Na ...

to capitalize on its popularity. The game and the show have very little in common, other than Wheels being red as in ''Pole Position'' and Roadie being blue as in '' Pole Position II''.

Production

This show was produced by

DIC Audiovisuel DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions), branded as The Incredible World of DIC, was an international film and television production comp ...

's American branch DIC Enterprises in association with Japanese studio MK Company. The animation services were provided by

Artmic was a Japanese animation design studio formed in 1978. It went bankrupt and was liquidated in 1997. AIC RIGHTS now holds the intellectual property of most of Artmic's titles. The studio was founded by Toshimichi Suzuki after he left Tatsunoko ...

Mushi Production or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. It previously had a headquarters elsewhere in Nerima. The studio was headed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka started it as a rivalry wit ...

, and K.K. DIC Asia. The character designs were provided by Filipino cartoonist

Jesse Santos Jesse Santos (June 24, 1928 – April 27, 2013) was a Filipino comic-book artist. He is best known as the co-creator of ''Dagar the Invincible'' and ''Tragg and the Sky Gods'' with writer Donald F. Glut. Biography Jesse Santos was born in Tere ...

, and the mechanical designs were provided by Artmic's co-founder

Shinji Aramaki is a Japanese anime director and mechanical designer from Fukuoka Prefecture. He graduated from Fukuoka Prefectural Fukuoka High School and Okayama University. He was a member of Artmic and is currently the Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at SOLA ...

Broadcast

''Pole Position'' ran for 13 episodes on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

as part of its Saturday morning children's programming line-up. The show had reruns for a few months on Showtime Family-Time Presentation in 1986, followed by a run on The Family Channel (now Freeform) from the late 1980s through the early 1990s. It was also shown in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

during the 1980s, at first on ''

Saturday Superstore ''Saturday Superstore'' is a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 2 October 1982 to 18 April 1987. It was shown on Saturday mornings with presenters including Mike Read, Sarah Greene, Keith Chegwin, and John Craven. The ...

'' in 1986 and in the

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

strand, then was repeated in the early 1990s on Saturday mornings as part of ''

Going Live ''Going Live!'' was a British children's television series that aired on BBC1 from 26 September 1987 to 17 April 1993. It was presented by Phillip Schofield and Sarah Greene. Other presenters included Trevor and Simon, Annabel Giles, Phillip Hod ...

'' on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

Plot

The show features the Darretts, a family of stunt-driving crime fighters, who investigated and thwarted wrongdoing while operating under the front of a traveling show known as the "Pole Position Stunt Show", which was sponsored by the United States government in order to give cover for their investigative activity and provide maintenance for the high-demand vehicles. The Darretts had two adult children and a third child who was much younger in age. A road accident ended the life of the parents, and the father's younger brother, known as Uncle Zack, took charge of the stunt show. He said that now that the patriarch and his wife were dead, it was incumbent upon the two adult children, Tess and Dan, to continue their parents' dangerous and proud work. The vehicles feature numerous hidden gadgets like water skis and hover jets. The vehicles' computers themselves are portable and can be removed from the dashboards and carried around using handles—thus they are often referred to as "the modules". The modules are characters appearing as talking computer-drawn faces displayed on video screens.

Characters

* Tess Darrett – Tess is the older sister of Dan and Daisy and the ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' leader of the group who drives Wheels. Tess is voiced by Lisa Lindgren. * Dan Darrett – Tess's hot-headed younger brother who drives Roadie. Dan is voiced by David Coburn. * Daisy Darrett – The younger pre-teen sister of Dan and Tess. Daisy is voiced by

Kaleena Kiff Kaleena Kiff is an American actress, producer, and director. Kiff is known for her roles in the sitcoms ''Love, Sidney'' and '' The New Leave It to Beaver''. Career Kiff began her acting career in 1980. In 1982, she appeared in the NBC comedy ' ...

. * Dr. Zachary Darrett – A

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

-using engineer and uncle of the Darrett kids. He runs the Pole Position operation and vehicle development. He is voiced by

Jack Angel Jack Angel (October 24, 1930 – October 18, 2021) was an American voice actor, comedian, and radio personality. He provided voice-overs for animation and video games. Angel had voiced characters in shows by Hasbro and Hanna-Barbera such as '' S ...

. * Kuma – Daisy's pet, Kuma is a strange genetic

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between a

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

and a

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

. Kuma is voiced by

Marilyn Schreffler Marilyn Sue Schreffler (June 14, 1945 – January 7, 1988) was an American voice actress who provided voice-overs for several animated television series, mostly for Hanna-Barbera Productions. Biography Marilyn Schreffler was born in Wichita, Ka ...

. * Wheels – a red and black 1965

Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

driven by Tess. Wheels's AI computer is more careful than Roadie. Wheels is voiced by

Melvin Franklin David Melvin English (October 12, 1942 – February 23, 1995) better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin, or his nickname "Blue", was an American bass singer. Franklin was best known for his role as a founding member of Motown singing ...

, who was a member of

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

. * Roadie – a more futuristic-looking light-blue coupe driven by Dan. Roadie's AI computer is very smart and keeps Dan out of trouble. Roadie is voiced by

Darryl Hickman Darryl Gerard Hickman (born July 28, 1931) is an American former actor, screenwriter, television executive, and acting coach. He started his career as a child actor in the Golden Age of Hollywood and appeared in numerous TV serials as an adult. ...

Crew

* Story editors:

Michael Reaves James Michael Reaves (born September 14, 1950) is an American writer, known for his contributions as scriptwriter and story editor to a number of 1980s and 1990s animated television series, including '' Disney's Gargoyles'' and '' Batman: The An ...

and

Jean Chalopin Jean Chalopin (born 31 May 1950) is a French bank executive. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he produced a range of successful animated series, first as the founder and president of the production company DIC, then at his newly created compa ...

* Writers:

Marc Scott Zicree Marc Scott Zicree (born 1955) is an American science fiction author, television writer and screenwriter. Zicree has written for major studios and networks including Paramount, Universal, Disney, Sony/Columbia Tri-Star, MGM, New Line, CBS, NBC, ...

Chuck Lorre Charles Michael Lorre (; born Charles Michael Levine; October 18, 1952) is an American film & television director, writer, producer, composer and actor. Called the "King of Sitcoms", he has created/co-created and produced sitcoms including ''G ...

, Ted Pedersen,

Rowby Goren Rowby Goren is an American writer specializing in comedy. He was a part of the writing team of the comedy series ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'', created by George Schlatter. Goren's writing talents range from variety shows to situation comedy, gam ...

, Michael Reaves * Director: Bernard Deyriès

Episodes

Principal cast

* Lisa Lindgren – Tess Darrett *

– Daisy Darrett * David Coburn – Dan Darrett *

– Dr. Zachary Darrett * Marilyn Scheffler – Kuma * Mel Franklin – Wheels *

– Roadie

Additional voices

* Neilson Ross *

Paul Kirby Paul Andrew Kirby (born 27 February 1966) is an Australian politician. He has been the Labor member for Port Darwin in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly since 2016. Early life and career Kirby was the Northern Territory Organiser for ...

* Phillip Clark * Jered Barclay *

Brian Cummings Brian Douglas Cummings (born March 4, 1948) is an American voice actor, known for his work in radio and television commercials, television and motion picture promos, cartoons and as the announcer on '' The All-New Let's Make a Deal'' from 1984 to ...

* Irv Immerman *

Steve Schatzberg Steve Schatzberg (February 18, 1943 – August 30, 2008) was an American voice actor, best known as the singing voice of Piglet in the ''Winnie the Pooh'' franchise from the 1990s until his death, Tyg Tiger in '' Shirt Tales'', Matt in '' The G ...

Barry Gordon Barry Gordon (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and political talk show host. He was the longest-serving president of the Screen Actors Guild, having served from 1988 to 1995. He is perhaps best known as the original voice of Donatello ...

Derek McGrath Derek McGrath (born June 4, 1951) is a Canadian actor and writer. Life and career McGrath was born in Timmins, Ontario. His career began as Linus in ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''. He is known for his roles in '' Cheers'' as Andy Schroed ...

Tony Pope Anthony J. Pope (March 22, 1947 – February 11, 2004), also known as "Anthony Mozdy", was an American voice actor. He is best remembered for voicing Goofy for eleven years. He also worked on the first two DVDs of LeapFrog Enterprises, LeapFrog, ...

* Hal Smith * Bob Towers

DVD release

Brightspark Productions released a 4-disc box set containing all 13 complete episodes of the series on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

in the UK on April 21, 2008.Amazon.co.uk: Pole Position – Complete Collection [1984]: DVD
/ref> Mill Creek Entertainment released 10 of the 13 episodes of the series in a combo pack with 10 episodes of ''C.O.P.S.'' and 10 episodes of ''Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors'' on January 10, 2012. Later in October 2016, Mill Creek released ''TV Toons To Go'', a 10-disc compilation of various cartoons owned by Cookie Jar, now by DHX Media, and the 10th disc of that set contains the remaining 3 episodes of ''Pole Position'' that weren't included on the combo pack DVD set.

References

External links

*
80scartoons.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pole Position 1984 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings 1984 French television series debuts 1984 French television series endings 1984 Japanese television series debuts Animated series based on video games CBS original programming 1980s American animated television series 1980s French animated television series American children's animated science fiction television series French children's animated science fiction television series Japanese children's animated science fiction television series Animated television series about families Television series by DIC Entertainment Television series by DHX Media English-language television shows Works based on Bandai Namco video games Television series created by Jean Chalopin