Wing Commander Academy

Wing Commander Academy is a 1996 American animated television series produced by Universal Cartoon Studios, along with a team led by Larry Latham.[1] The show was based on the Wing Commander franchise and loosely served as a prequel to Wing Commander. The show's aired from September 21[2][3] to December 21, 1996, on the USA Network's "USA Action Extreme Team" block.[4]

For video game spin-off of Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi, see Wing Commander Academy (video game).
Wing Commander Academy
Title screen
GenreScience fiction
Based onWing Commander
by Chris Roberts
Developed byMichael Edens
Mark Edens
Directed byLarry Latham
Voices ofMark Hamill
Tom Wilson
Malcolm McDowell
Dana Delany
ComposerAlexander van Bubenheim
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerLarry Latham
Running time22 minutes
Production companyUniversal Cartoon Studios
Release
Original networkUSA Network
Original releaseSeptember 21 (1996-09-21) –
December 21, 1996 (1996-12-21)

Cast

Main cast

Additional voices

The series featured many spacecraft introduced in the Wing Commander video games. The Scimitar and Broadsword were the primary fighters and bombers flown by the main characters, with the Dralthi and Grikath fulfilling those roles for the Kilrathi. As in Wing Commander I, the TCS Tiger's Claw was a Bengal class strike carrier. Individual episodes also featured cameo appearances from ships introduced in later games such as Wing Commander III's Arrow, Hellcat and Longbow and Wing Commander IV's Avenger. None of these ships are mentioned by name. A number of new capital ships were introduced by the series including the Achilles class destroyer and the Agan Ra Sivar class dreadnaught.

Episode list
No.TitleWritten byOriginal air date
1"Red and Blue"Mark Edens and Michael EdensSeptember 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)
Blair and Maniac are assigned to the Tiger's Claw for training.
2"The Last One Left"Mark Edens (story)
Michael Edens (teleplay)		September 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)
Maverick and Maniac are captured by Daimon Karnes, a missing legendary space fighter pilot who became disillusioned with the war and turned to piracy.
3"The Most Delicate Instrument"Mark Edens (story)
Shari Goodhartz (teleplay)		October 5, 1996 (1996-10-05)
Mentally unbalanced from stellar phenomena, four cadets begin to exhibit erratic behavior.
4"Word of Honor"Mark Edens (story)
Richard Mueller (teleplay)		October 12, 1996 (1996-10-12)
Blair and Grunt crashland on an alien world, but they're not alone...
5"Lords of the Sky"Mark Edens (story)
Matthew Edens (teleplay)		October 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)
Blair and Maniac land on an alien world where the local savages worship the dastardly "Lords of the Sky".
6"Chain of Command"Mark Edens (story)
Brooks Wachtel (teleplay)		November 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)
Tolwyn meets an old "friend", who just happens to outrank him now.
7"Expendable"Mark Edens (story)
Ted Pedersen and Francis Moss (teleplay)		November 9, 1996 (1996-11-09)
Blair and Payback scout an unstable jump node.
8"Recreation"Mark Edens (story)
Matthew Edens (teleplay)		November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)

The crew of the Claw discovers a mysterious being in suspended animation aboard a derelict space capsule.

Note: This episode is the final part of a crossover storyline that spanned the other shows in the USA Action Extreme Team lineup. The crossover began with episodes of Street Fighter ("The Warrior King"), Savage Dragon ("Endgame"), and Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm ("Resurrection").[5]
9"Walking Wounded"Mark Edens (story)
Ralph Sanchez (teleplay)		November 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)
Maniac scores guard duty on a crippled medical ship.
10"On Both Your Houses"Mark Edens (story)
Shari Goodhartz (teleplay)		November 30, 1996 (1996-11-30)
Blair, Maniac, and Archer pursue Kilrathi fighters to a lush tropical planet where things are not as they seem.
11"Invisible Enemy"Mark Edens (story)
Richard Mueller (teleplay)		December 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)
The Kilrathi have a new and terrible weapon: the Stealth Fighter.
12"Price of Victory"Mark Edens (story)
Steve Cuden (teleplay)		December 14, 1996 (1996-12-14)
Blair crashes on an ice world, where he meets an unusual Kilrathi who just happens to have an agenda...
13"Glory of Sivar"Mark Edens (story)
Mark Edens and Michael Edens (teleplay)		December 21, 1996 (1996-12-21)
Blair and Grunt land on the planet Dolos, and find themselves surrounded by fur.

Home media

In March 2012, Visual Entertainment released Wing Commander Academy - The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time.[6] The series became available on the Peacock streaming service in July 2020.

References
  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 909–910. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. "Electronic Arts Origin Inspired Wing Commander Academy Cartoon Series Premieres Saturday; Universal Cartoon Studios' Production Debuts on USA Network". Business Wire. September 20, 1996. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2021 – via The Free Dictionary.
  3. "America's Most Wanted Ends Its Run With Special". Los Angeles Times. September 21, 1996. p. 222. Retrieved September 3, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.closed access(Subscription required.)
  4. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 699–700. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  5. "Warrior King: The Forgotten Street Fighter / Mortal Kombat Crossover". Den of Geek. 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
  6. "Wing Commander Academy DVD news: Date Change for Wing Commander Academy - the Complete Series | TVShowsOnDVD.com". Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-14.
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