''The Rocketeer'' (titled ''Rocketeer'' in the UK and other countries) is an American

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

children's television series. It debuted on

Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven yea ...

and

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

in the United States on November 8, 2019, and on November 10 on

in Canada. Based on the comic book superhero of the same name by

Dave Stevens Dave Lee Stevens (July 29, 1955 – March 11, 2008) was an American illustrator and comics artist. He was most famous for creating ''Rocketeer, The Rocketeer'' comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, ...

and the 1991

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, the series focuses on Katherine "Kit" Secord, a seven-year-old girl who receives the family

jet pack A jet pack, rocket belt, or rocket pack is a device worn on the back which uses jets of gas or liquid to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and became widespread in the 1960s. ...

for her seventh birthday. The series was aimed for ages 2–5. The series was cancelled after only one season.

Plot

In the town of Hughesville, seven-year-old Kit Secord learns she is secretly next in line to become The

Rocketeer The Rocketeer is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books originally published by Pacific Comics. Created by writer/artist Dave Stevens, the character first appeared in 1982 and is an homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes f ...

, a jet pack-wearing superhero who can fly. Armed with her cool new gear and secret identity, Kit takes to the skies to protect Hughesville and its residents from danger. Assisting her on her heroic adventures are her best friend Tesh, bulldog sidekick Butch, and airplane mechanic grandfather Ambrose Secord.

Characters

Main

* Katherine "Kit" Secord (voiced by Kitana Turnbull) is a seven-year-old girl who receives the family jet pack for her seventh birthday which reveals that she is next in line to become the Rocketeer, Hughesville's very own local town hero. She is the great-granddaughter of Cliff Secord. When operating as the Rocketeer, Kit's catchphrase is "Never fear, I'm the Rocketeer." She is a new character introduced in this series. * Ambrose Secord (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

) is Kit's grandfather and the son of Cliff Secord who works as a

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...

at the Hughesville Airport. * Mitesh "Tesh" Cheena (voiced by Callan Farris) is Kit's eight-year-old best friend who serves as Ground Control when Kit takes to the skies. He is also the inventor of the hi-tech gadgets and upgrades for her jet pack. Tesh is the inventor of Kitcom and the Kit Tracker. * Butch (vocal effects provided by

) is Kit's pet

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.Billy Campbell William Oliver Campbell (born July 7, 1959) is an American film and television actor. He first gained recognition for his recurring role as Luke Fuller in the TV series ''Dynasty''. Then he became known for playing Rick Sammler on '' Once and A ...

) is Kit's father who is a

stunt pilot Stunt flying refers to any stunts performed in an aircraft. It encompasses aerobatics, wing walking, and transferring from one airplane to another or to a moving vehicle on the ground, such as an automobile or train, and vice versa. History From th ...

, which is where Kit gets her passion for flying. Campbell also played Cliff Secord, the original hero in the film, reprising his role in a newsreel seen in the episode "First Flight." * Sareena Secord (voiced by

Kathy Najimy Kathy Ann Najimy ( ; ar, كاثي ان نجيمي ; born February 6, 1957) is an American actress and activist. She is best known for her roles in the films ''Soapdish'' (1991), ''Sister Act'' (1992), '' Hocus Pocus'' (1993), ''Hope Floats'' (1 ...

) is Kit's mother who works as the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

of the Bulldog Café. * Valerie d'Avion (voiced by Navia Robinson) is Kit's flight school classmate and aspiring pilot whose parents own the Valkyrie Flight Academy. She owns her own plane called the Korsican Skyfang 75. Her superhero identity is the Valkyrie. ** Snickerdoodle (vocal effects provided by

) is Valerie's pet

chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to: Places *Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state **Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state **Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state **Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state **Chihuahua Mun ...

Antagonists

* Laura and Harley (voiced by

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work has drawn critical acclaim and controversy because her humor often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depression ...

and

Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American actress who has provided English-language voices for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as Haruko Haruhara in '' FLCL'', and would later land ma ...

respectively) are two thieving sisters who like stealing things to use in their heists which often has them running from the authorities and the Rocketeer. Harley serves as the brains of the group and Laura has a ditzy personality. They are a clear homage of the golden-age comedy duo

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American Double act, comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–19 ...

. * Sylvester Slapdash (voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

) is a thief and a master of disguise who utilizes many costumes in his capers. He is also known as the "Costumed Bandit." Sylvester is a homage of early 20th Century vaudeville actor and quick change artist Sylvester Schaffer Jr. ** Lilith (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) is Sylvester's pet

ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, Domestication, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their Hybrid (biol ...

. Lilith is a homage to Sylvester Schaffer Jr.'s wife and assistant Lily Kruger. * The Great Orsino (voiced by

Charlie Adler Charles Michael Adler (born October 2, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Ed and Bev Bighead on ''Rocko's Modern Life'' and Ickis on ''Aaahh!!! Real Monst ...

) is a

magician Magician or The Magician may refer to: Performers * A practitioner of magic (supernatural) * A practitioner of magic (illusion) * Magician (fantasy), a character in a fictional fantasy context Entertainment Books * ''The Magician'', an 18th-ce ...

that targets Kit's jet pack so that he can become the first flying magician. ** Deany (voiced by

Parvesh Cheena Parvesh Singh Cheena (born July 22, 1979) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Gupta in the TV series ''Outsourced'' and as Sunil Odhav on ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend''. He also voices Bodhi in '' T.O.T.S.'' Early life Cheena was ...

) is the Great Orsino's hapless assistant. In "Super Deany," it is revealed that Deany has an engineering background where he helped to fix the Rocketeer's jet pack. His name is a play on

Harry Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

which is reinforced by frequent dialog of "Who? Deany." * Doctor Doodlebug (voiced by Luca Padovan) is a kid genius who wears

pillbug Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of some other woodlice families, members of this family can roll into a ball, an ability they share with the outwardly similar but unre ...

-themed armor. He invents machines suitable for his schemes out of the garbage that he steals. ** Newton (voiced by

D. C. Douglas D. C. Douglas is an American actor. He is best known for his voice roles as Albert Wesker in the ''Resident Evil'' series, Legion in the ''Mass Effect'' series and Yoshikage Kira in ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''. On camera, he has appeared on sh ...

) is an

A.I. Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...

that resides in Doctor Doodlebug's wristwatch. Newton advises his master on the course of action to take. * Xena Treme (voiced by

Stephanie Lemelin Stephanie Lemelin is an American actress and comedienne. She is best known for voicing Artemis Crock on ''Young Justice'', Eep on ''Dawn of the Croods'' and Audrey on ''Harvey Girls Forever!''. Education Lemelin graduated in 2001 from the Univers ...

) is an

extreme sport Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...

s athlete with a big ego that she masks with a laid-back personality who is determined to stay on the top through whatever means possible. * Cast-Iron Chef (voiced by

Ted Allen Edward Reese Allen (born May 20, 1965) is an American author and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the Bravo network's television program '' Queer Eye'', and has been the host of the TV cooking competition series '' ...

) is a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van) or trailer, equipped to cook, prepare, serve, and/or sell food. Some, including ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food; others have on-board kitchens and prepare food from scratc ...

chef who will target any secret recipes in order to improve his business. He wields a high-tech gauntlet that enables him to use any kitchen tool it contains. In "Sitti's Visit", it was revealed that his recipe-targeting motive comes from the fact that his father never let him in on his family recipes. Kit and Sitti persuade him to drop the recipe-targeting motive and create his own cookbook. * Norman Sinclair (voiced by Raphael Alejandro) is the descendant of Neville Sinclair and heir to Sinclair Air. He conspires to become the new Rocketeer by taking the jet pack from Kit so that he can impress his father. He once pulled this off enough for Kit to enlist Valkyrie, Sylvester Slapdash, and Doctor Doodlebug into getting it back.

Hughesville citizens

* Lucille (voiced by

Marianne Muellerleile Marianne Muellerleile (born November 26, 1948) is an American actress. Early life Muellerleile was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Margaret (married and maiden names, née Keaney) and Cecil E. Muellerleile, an American football pla ...

) is an old lady who works as a

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the ...

at the Bulldog Café. * Alfonzo (voiced by

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on ''The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot ''Fairly Odder'', Thunderbolt Ro ...

) is a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen. Duties and functions The sous-chef has many re ...

at the Bulldog Café. * Officer Crowfoot (voiced by

Robbie Daymond Robert Daymond Howard (né Niles; born March 11, 1982) is an American voice actor who is mostly known for his roles in audiobooks, video games, and animation, best known for voicing Jesse Cosay in the second season of ''Infinity Train'', Spider- ...

) is a

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

of Native American descent who arrests the bad guys thwarted by the Rocketeer. * Mayor Primshell (voiced by

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

) is the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Hughesville. * Richard (voiced by Julian Edwards) is a boy who resides in Hughesville. ** Taffy is Richard's cat that is often rescued by the Rocketeer. * Mr. Coleman (voiced by

Eugene Byrd Eugene Byrd (born August 28, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Wink in the film '' 8 Mile'' and Dr. Clark Edison on the FOX series '' Bones''. Early life Byrd was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gre ...

) is Kit's

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * Ben (voiced by

Antonio Raul Corbo Antonio Raul Corbo is an American child actor known for his role as Nikolaj Boyle in the series '' Brooklyn Nine-Nine''. Biography He began his acting career in Austin, Texas at the age of 5. He auditioned and made several national commercials. ...

) is a boy who is Kit's classmate at the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * Logan (voiced by Ian Chen) is a boy who is Kit's classmate at the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * River (voiced by Kai Zen) is a girl who is a fellow Trailblazer to Kit and Tesh. * Farmer McGinty (voiced by

Mark L. Taylor Mark Lawrence Taylor (born October 25, 1950) is an American actor, known for his roles in such films as ''Innerspace'' (1987), ''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), ''Arachnophobia'' (1990), and ''High School Musical 2'' (2007), as well as telev ...

) is an elderly

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

. * Goose (voiced by

Roger Craig Smith Roger Craig Smith (born 11 August 1975) is an American voice actor. He is well known for his video game voice roles as Chris Redfield in the ''Resident Evil'' series (2009–2017), Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series ( ...

) is a

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

that wears an airplane costume. * Malcolm (voiced by

Carlos Alazraqui Carlos Jaime Alazraqui (born July 20, 1962) is an American actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his role as Deputy James Garcia on ''Reno 911!'' and for his voice acting roles. His extensive ...

) is an

air traffic controller Air traffic control specialists, abbreviated ATCS, are personnel responsible for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. Usually stationed in air traffic control centers and control ...

who works at Hughesville's air field. * Aarush Cheena (voiced by

Rahul Kohli Rahul Kohli (born 13 November 1985) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti in '' iZombie'' (2015–19), Owen Sharma in ''The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), and Sheriff Hassan in ''Midnight Mass'' ...

) is Tesh's father, owner of Cheena Hardware, and Scoutmaster of the Hughesville Trailblazers. * Chandi Cheena (voiced by

Sarayu Rao Sarayu Rao (born March 7, 1975), also known as Sarayu R. Blue, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her recurring role as Angela on the Fox sitcom ''Sons of Tucson'', as well as Dr. Sydney Napur on David E. Kelley's ''Monday Morn ...

) is Tesh's mother. * Sonal Udana Cheena (voiced by Sarayu Rao) is Tesh's baby sister born in "Special Delivery". Her middle name Udana, which means "flying", is in honor of the Rocketeer. * Irma Philpot (voiced by

Susan Silo Susan Silo (born July 27, 1942) is an American actress who is known for her work in voice-over roles. Early life Susan Silo was born in New York City. Both her parents were actors. Career Her acting career started in television on the episo ...

) is an old lady who lives near Hughesville. ** The Critter Gang are a group of animals that are friends with Irma. They consist of a

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

, a

hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

, 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 ...

, two

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

es, and some

squirrel Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...

s. * Chantal d'Avion (voiced by

Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of ''The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the ABC sit ...

) is Valerie's mother and co-owner of the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * Captain Michael d'Avion (voiced by Imari Williams) is Valerie's father, Navy Captain, and co-owner of the Valkyrie Flight Academy.

Episodes

Broadcast

''The Rocketeer'' had its first international debut when it premiered on Canada's Disney Junior on November 10, 2019. It premiered in Latin America on April 6, 2020, and in Spain, it was previewed on July 20, 2020, and it officially premiered on September 28, 2020. It will premiere on Southeast Asia's Disney Junior & France's Disney Junior in 2021. It premiered on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

in the United Kingdom in October 2020. It will premiere on

Rai YoYo Rai Yoyo is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's television channel for kids, and is known for its programming for children between ...

and

in Italy in 2021 and on Dutch Disney Channel in the Netherlands in 2021. Following the season one finale, the series went into hiatus before unexpectedly getting cancelled. No exact reason was said, but given that a direct sequel to the film was announced for

the following year, it is possible that the series' end was to make way for the new movie.

Reception

The show received a positive review from Vodzilla, which praised the attention to detail in vehicle design, the strength of the characterization, and the diversity of the cast.

Awards and nominations

''The Rocketeer'' has been nominated for five awards in the

47th Daytime Emmy Awards The 47th Daytime Emmy Awards, presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), honored the best in U.S. daytime television programming in 2019. The winners in leading categories were presented in a remotely-produced spec ...

. The nominations are for: Outstanding Main Title for an Animated Program, Outstanding Performance in a Preschool Animated Program (for

in the role of Sylvester Slapdash), Outstanding Writing for a Preschool Animated Program, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Preschool Animated Program, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Preschool Animated Program.

References

External links

* on

DisneyNOW DisneyNow (stylized as DisneyNOW) is an online TV Everywhere app and website/URL for Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD. It launched on September 29, 2017, replacing the individual "Watch" apps that originally launched for these networ ...