''Walter Melon'' (french: Achille Talon) is a 1997 animated TV show, very loosely adapted from the Franco-Belgian comic

Achille Talon ''Achille Talon'' is a Franco-Belgian comics series featuring an eponymous main character, created by Greg (the pseudonym of Michel Regnier). Starting publication in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Pilote'' in 1963, the series presents th ...

. A co-production between Saban International Paris, ARD/Degeto,

France 2 France 2 () is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4 and France 5. France Télévisions also participates in Arte and Euronews. Since 3:20 CET on 7 A ...

and

Scottish Television Enterprises STV Studios (previously STV Productions, SMG Productions, and originally known as Scottish Television Enterprises) is the television production arm of the STV Group plc. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and with an office in London, England ...

with the participation of

Canal+ Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

, ''Walter Melon'' and aired in the United States on Fox Family from 1998 to 1999. In the UK the series was broadcast on

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

(via Scottish Television), and later reran on Fox Kids. Each episode consists of two shorter adventures, and a total of 52 episodes were produced. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired

Fox Kids Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Television that is responsible for the operations of the U.S. cable network Freeform. The company was originally formed as International Family Entertainment, a spin-off of the Christian Broad ...

, which also includes

Saban Entertainment Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and ...

. The series is not available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Plot

Walter Melon and his assistant Bitterbug run a company as "heroes for hire". Whenever people get in trouble, go missing, or fall victim to a villains' latest scheme, Melon and Bitterbug (Lefuneste) take their places temporarily. In the show, Walter and Bitterbug replaced spoofs of characters from pop culture such as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, Hulk,

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

, Indiana Jones,

Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning "church". It is often used specifically of the Church of Scotland. Many place names and personal names are also derived from it. Basic meaning and etymology As a common noun, ''kirk' ...

and Spock,

Luke Skywalker Luke Skywalker is a fictional character and the protagonist of the original film trilogy of the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. Portrayed by Mark Hamill, Luke first appeared in ''Star Wars'' (1977), and he returned in ''The E ...

and

Han Solo Han Solo is a fictional character in the '' Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. The character first appeared in the 1977 film '' Star Wars'' portrayed by Harrison Ford, who reprised his role in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) an ...

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

Mad Max ''Mad Max'' is an Australian post-apocalyptic action film series and media franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. It began in 1979 with '' Mad Max'', and was followed by three sequels: ''Mad Max 2'' (1981, released in the Unite ...

, two of the

Power Rangers ''Power Rangers'' is an entertainment and merchandising franchise built around a live-action superhero television series, based on the Japanese tokusatsu franchise '' Super Sentai''. Produced first by Saban Entertainment, second by BVS E ...

Jason Lee Scott Jason Lee Scott is a fictional character and the main protagonist in the '' Power Rangers'' franchise, played by actor Austin St. John. Jason is known as the original Red Ranger from the first entry of the franchise, ''Mighty Morphin Power Rang ...

and

Billy Cranston Billy Cranston is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe. He is the Blue Ranger in the series '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,'' and was portrayed by actor David Yost. Billy is the only original Power Ranger to remain for the entire ...

, the Terminator,

Fox Mulder Fox William Mulder () is a fictional FBI Special Agent and one of the two protagonists of the Fox science fiction-supernatural television series ''The X-Files'', played by David Duchovny. Mulder's peers dismiss his many theories on extraterre ...

, John Rambo,

Little Red Riding Hood "Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brot ...

, Aladdin,

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...

and

Jiminy Cricket Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the " Talking Cricket" (Italian: ''Il Grillo Parlante''), a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', which Walt Disney adap ...

, Dr. Alan Grant,

Marty McFly Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Back to the Future'' franchise. He is portrayed by Canadian actor Michael J. Fox in all three films. McFly also appears in the animated series, where he was voice ...

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the ...

and

Casper the Friendly Ghost Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. The ...

. Unlike most heroes, Walter is a dim-witted, overweight jolly

French American French Americans or Franco-Americans (french: Franco-Américains), are citizens or nationals of the United States who identify themselves with having full or partial French or French-Canadian heritage, ethnicity and/or ancestral ties. They ...

time traveler with a large melon-shaped nose and a lot of luck, but nobody ever notices the apparent change in appearance, with his character's apparent weight gain merely being commented on immediately after his arrival and subsequently ignored (such as asking if Robocop had too much oil or D'artagnan accidentally swallowed a bell at Notre-Dame). When he impersonates the heroes, he fights Sneero (le méchant), the main antagonist of the series who represents the main villain of the parody universe. Additionally, Walter is sometimes partnered with Amelia, a woman who represents the heroines, token female characters, female sidekicks, and love interests of the story. In the second season in order to make the show educational, Walter and Bitterbug would receive cross-time distress messages from historical figures such as

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

, Marco Polo,

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventi ...

, Lewis and Clark, Georges Méliès, and the

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, ...

astronauts, rather than fictional characters, unlike the first season. The series was available on

Jetix Play Jetix Play (formerly Fox Kids Play) was a preschool entertainment brand, owned by Jetix Europe. The Jetix Play name was primarily used as a sister channel to Jetix in a small number of regions, such as Central and Eastern Europe, and Middle East ...

, but is not currently available through any other outlet, although many of the episodes are available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

to view.

Episodes

Season One

# "Marzipan the Apeman/Goldrod" # "The Melon Strikes Back/The Glob" # "Star Blecch/Splatman and Rubin" # "The Mark of Zero/Windiana Bones and the Temp of Doom" # "Molasses Park/Superguy" # "The Far Out Flower Rangers/Dobin Wood" # "Groggy XII/Peter Pun" # "Mutiny on the Bouncy/Moperminator" # "Big Red Riding Hood and the Pizzas/The Stout Musketeer" # "Melon Impossible/Robomelon # "The Incredible Bulk/Noman The Barbarian" # "A Fistful of Melon/Melon in Blunderland" # "Whambo/Gums" # "The Hard Labours of Hercules/The Hound of the Basketvilles" # "Back to Melon's Blundering Future/New Age Pizza Lovin' Tae Kwon Do Tortoises" # "Incompetence Day/King-Gong" # "Ben Hurdy-Gurdy/The Jungle Schnook" # "Frank & Stein/The Derisible Man" # "Shalien/Dance A Lot" # "T.E.T. The Temporary Extraterrestrial/Arachnoman" # "Squashymodo/Walter, The Jolly Ghost" # "Top Fun/Gnocchio" # "Melon of Snoz/Fat Max - The Roo's Revenge" # "The Vampire Bites Back/Christopher Columsy" # "Hex Files/Kerazy Kid" # "Dr. Jiggle and Mr. Snide/Palladin & The Capricious Lamp"

Season Two

# "Walter XIV, The Fun King/Melon on the Mountain" # "Houston, the Melon has Landed/Walterius Caesar" # "Attila, the Melon/Melon Takes Flight" # "Vini Vici Da Vinci/Go West Young Melon" # "Ponce de Melon/Rough Rider Melon" # "Melon at the O.K. Corral/Melon Lights the Way" # "You Reykjavik and I’ll Rake Mine/Caveman for Hire" # "Charlemagne/King Walter, The Melon-Hearted" # "And Yet It Make Your Head Spin/Melon of Liberty" # "Maestro Melon/Johan Melonberg" # "Hot Air Melon/Sir Francis Melon" # "Francisco Vasquez Melon de Colonado/Samurai Melon" # "Walter Casanova, Lady Killer/Walter Picasso" # "A Napoleon With Melon on Top/Hula Hula Melon" # "Serf-City Serfitude/Walter Crockett" # "The 7th Melon of the World/Queen Elizabeth I & Sir Walter Melon" # "Alexander the Greatest/Alexander Graham Melon" # "Marathon Melon/It's Melon by George" # "Melon of Arabia/Chicken Curie with Melon" # "Melon, I Presume/Walter Melonbal" # "Walter Hears Voices/There's a Trick in It" # "Once Upon a Melon/You're Driving Me Crazy" # "Melon of the Amazon/Melon, Heal Thyself" # "Pasteurized Melon/Walter Vidocq-The Adventurer With The Big Heart" # "Walter Desmoulins, Hero of French Revolution/Mephisneereles" # "E=Melon2 / That's Usin' Your Noodle, Walter Polo"

Cast

* Richard Bell - Walter Melon * Jeremiah Nagle - Bitterbug (season 1) * Samuel Vincent - Bitterbug (season 2) *

Michael McConnohie Michael McConnohie is an American voice actor, writer and director who has provided many voice roles in movies, anime, and video games. He and fellow actress Melodee Spevack run a production company called VoxWorks. Some of his major works includ ...

- Sneero (season 1) * Lee Tockar - Sneero (season 2) * Francine Elcar - Amelia

Crew

* Bruno Bianchi - Director & Producer * Jaxqueline Tordjman, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, Sandy Ross - Executive Producers *

Jamie Simone Jamie Simone is an American voice director and producer, best known for directing ''Naruto'', ''Sailor Moon'' and ''Tiger & Bunny''. He is the owner of the recording studio Studiopolis. In 2012, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Out ...

- Casting & Voice Director * Micheal Dax - Music * Natalie Altmann - Script editor

References

External links

"Retrojunk on Walter Melon"
on Retrojunk.com * {{IMDb title, 0283817, Walter Melon 1990s American animated television series 1997 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings 1990s French animated television series 1997 French television series debuts 1998 French television series endings American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American time travel television series Canal+ original programming Fox Kids French children's animated adventure television series French children's animated comedy television series French time travel television series Fox Family Channel original programming Television series based on Belgian comics Television series by Saban Entertainment Television shows produced by Scottish Television