Often, when an original medium
with content for older audiences is retooled into a kiddie-friendly adaptation,
the results are a mixed bag with a tendency to be subpar. When news came from
2018 that Disney was making a younger-ages spinoff series for their 1991
Touchstone Pictures film “The Rocketeer” (based on the comic-book character
created by Dave Stevens), reactions were cautious at best. How does one “kiddify”
a story about a pilot and his prototype jetpack fighting against the mob and Nazis?
How about making the hero his daughter? That is how “The Rocketeer” for Disney Junior
is being hyped.
According to IGN, Disney Junior has finally revealed the premiere date for their
3D-animated series “The Rocketeer.” It will be on next month not just at Disney
Junior but also the main Disney Channel and the DisneyNOW TV “everywhere” app.
From the basic show premise of a young girl receiving a mysterious jetpack
which she uses to fly and help her community, it is now further explained that
the girl is Kit Secord (Kitana Turnbull), daughter of pilot (and original
Rocketeer) Cliff Secord and his wife Sareena (Kathy Najimy). For bonus points,
Cliff is being voice-reprised by Billy Campbell, who portrayed him in the flesh
for Disney’s 1991 “Rocketeer” film.
The show’s format has been
elaborated on as well. In the same fashion as most Disney Junior animated
shows, each half-hour episode will contain two stories, each running 11 minutes
at most, showcasing how Kit uses her flying jetpack to rescue townspeople in
trouble, or to fight against (thankfully) comedic criminals and other villains.
She will get help from “ground control,” her best friend Tesh, and her Grandpa Ambrose,
who does regular maintenance and upgrades on her jetpack with Tesh’s help at
Hughesville Airport. On missions, Kit is also accompanied by her pet bulldog
Butch.
Disney’s announcement of the
young-ages “Rocketeer” series last year noted how the “vast storytelling from
the original comic books” provides fertile ground for the development of an
adventure show fit for the whole family, with a little girl as the hero. The same
vast storytelling is also the catalyst for a separate “Rocketeer” production
that is supposedly a film sequel to the 1991 movie. Scant information reveals
that the planned follow-up takes place in the latter days of World War II, with
a new Rocketeer using another jetpack following the disappearance of Cliff
fighting Nazis. Meanwhile, the Disney Junior “Rocketeer” animated series can be
expected to start on November 8.
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