Toon Ninja Reviews Halloween Special - Mummies Alive!

 

Hey there, Toonsters!

This is Rekka Dragon Jay with another edition of Toon Ninja Reviews. Halloween is just around the corner and I got a review for this occasion. Mummies, just like other popular monsters, have been in pop culture for many years (other than having an interest in archaeology because of King Tut, Queen Nefertiri and so forth). It is not just movies, but also in cartoons. I know what you are thinking, but I am not doing a review of The Mummy: The Animated Series. This review I am doing is about mummies, but of a different sort. So, strap on some wrapping paper, walk like an Egyptian and prepare to kick some serious Tut, it is Mummies Alive!.

Mummies Alive! is a 1997 Canadian-American cartoon (with some hints of Japanese anime) made by DIC Entertainment and Northern Lights Entertainment. Lasted only a season with 42 episodes, this Egyptian style action cartoon involves 4 mummy guardians, using the power of the Egyptian sun god, Ra, to protect the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's son from an evil sorcerer who wants his soul for immortality, along with other gods and creatures based on Egyptian mythology. Some say it's a Gargoyles rip-off, others say it's a western animation/anime hybrid (like most cartoons in the late 90s), but I say Mummies Alive would've been great if the ratings (and toy sales) weren't that low. Anyway, let's get started on this review, starting with the story.

Story: A long time ago, in ancient Egypt, the son of the Pharaoh, Prince Rapses, was killed by the sorcerer, Scarab, who seeks immortality and was imprisoned and entombed alive for his crimes. Later, in modern times, Scarab was freed from his imprisonment and seeks out Rapses' soul, who is now in the body of his reincarnation, Presley Carnovan. However, young Presley is protected by the Pharaoh's royal guard, who are now mummified. With the power of their animal totems, fused by the essence of Ra, Ja-Kal, Armon, Rath and Nefer-Tina protect the young prince's incarnation from Scarab and every, other entity that comes out of the Western Gate that threatens the entire modern world. Not much on story, but that's the jif of it. With that said, lets talk about the characters. I will focus on the main characters, villains and some recurring characters, not all. Shall we begin? Let's start with the main heroes, the Mummies and Presley himself.

Long ago, the Mummies were the Pharaoh's royal guard, assigned to protect and tutor his son, Prince Rapses. Now in modern times, the Mummies protect Rapses' reincarnation, Presley, while at the same time, try to adjust to modern ways, especially learning to watch TV, which they call a "Magic Box." But, when they have to throw down against Scarab or any other evil force, by shouting the phrase, "With the Strength of Ra!", the Mummies tap into the power of their respective animal totems, which they wear around their necks. But, when their powers get used alot or drained, they will revert back to normal. Only by recooperating in their sarcophagi, their powers get replenished. Here is the lowdown on the 4 mummies themselves.

Ja-Kal: The leader of the Mummies. Although he is Presley's guardian, Ja-Kal tends to be a father figure to him, because in his former life, he was a hunter, who had a wife named Tia and a son named Padjet, who he carried his son's handprint as a reminder. Selfless and benevolent, Ja-Kal helps those in need before his own self. And because of his prowress as a hunter, he is an excellent tracker and good marksman. His animal totem is that of a Falcon, which enables him to fly. His weapon is a bow and arrow, which has flaming tips. And for melee combat, he uses his talons. Ja-Kal was voiced by Dale Wilson.

Armon: The muscle of the team, and the not so bright one, too. Armon's strength is only equal to his hunger, especially Beefy Burgers being his favorite food (AND HE ATE THE BOXES THAT COME WITH THEM, TOO!). His animal totem is the Ram. When he transforms, he gets a gold prosthetic arm, which replaces his right arm that he lost during battle back in olden times. When not fighting, he teaches Presley to defend himself, one arm and all. Armon was voiced by Graeme Kingston.

Rath: The brains of the team and a full fledge alchemist, inventor, sorceror and master swordsman. Although brilliant and very intelligent, Rath can be a bit hotheaded and arrogant at times. He serves as Presley's tutor in alchemy, science and other educational stuff that is too long to list. He is also reponsible for the creations of the vehicles the Mummies ride on, such as the Hot-Ra (a chariot like roadster), the Nile-Later (a high powered boat similar to the Batboat) and the Sky-Cophagus (a Jet Plane of sorts). He also has an on/off relationship with his former student turned enemy, the sorceress, Chontra. His animal totem is the Snake. In his armored form, for his mastery of the sword, he carries a nodachi (even in Ancient Egypt, Japanese swords exist in this world). Rath was voiced by veteran voice actor, Scott McNeil, who has a long resume on voices he has done in both western animation and in Japanese anime, which I will list up another time, but here are a few samples like Jimmy Lee from Double Dragon, Piccolo from the Ocean dubbed Dragon Ball Z and Rattrap, Dinobot and Silverbolt from Beast Wars.

Nefer-Tina: The female mummy of the crew. In olden times, she pretends to be a man, just to ride the chariots, against her father's wishes. When reborn in modern times, she sheds away her facade and embraces her femininity and her free spirit, too. Unlike her fellow mummies, Nefer-Tina, like to know more about the customs of modern times. She serves as Presley's mother figure/big sister, when things get tough and dire. She mostly rides the Hot-Ra or her own motorbike. Her animal totem is the Cat. She is not only dangerous with her claws, but also with her whip. "Whip them good", indeed. Her name was based on Egyptian queen, Nefertiri. Nefer-Tina was voiced by Cree Summer, daughter of the late Don Francks. Cree was not only Freddie from the Cosby spinoff, A Different World, but as long as I am a fan of voice acting, she has a long line of characters she had voiced,She-Hulk from the 2nd season of the 90s Incredible Hulk cartoon, the Green M&M, Blackarachnia from Transformers Animated, Chloe from Sabrina the Animated Series, Susie Carmichael from Rugrats and All Grown Up, Kitana from Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm, Dulcey the Dragon from Sonic SatAm, Hagar from Voltron: Legendary Defender, Maxine Gibson from Batman Beyond, Numbah 5 from Codename: Kids Next Door, Princess Kida from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Elmyra Duff from Tiny Toon Adventures and my most favorite of them all, Penny from Inspector Gadget (which was the first character she had voice. She was 8 years old when she voiced her at the time).

Kahti: A mummifed cat that was Rapses' pet a long time ago, now serves as Presley's pet and companion, who watches him at all times. Although a normal, mummified cat, she can transform into a Lynx when need in battle.

Presley Carnovan: A young boy living in modern San Francisco. He is the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's son, Rapses. Although he reluctantly didn't want this responsibility, but he slows embraces his role as the Mummies watch over him. He not only wears Rapses' amulet, but his weapon of choice is a 4-bladed boomerang (which doubles as Ja-Kal's secondary weapon sometimes). He lives with his mother, Amanda, who works at the City Museum and his father is always away (though he did appear in the episode, My Dad the Hero). Presley was voiced by Bill Switzer, who also voiced Harvey Kinkle on Sabrina the Animated Series, Sai Argyle from Gundam SEED and played as Mitchell Taylor in Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension.

And now, we will talk about the villains, starting with the big bad himself.

Scarab: A powerful sorcerer and the mummies' sworn enemy. Back in ancient times, Scarab was once the advisor to the Pharaoh until he killed Prince Rapses to claim his soul and immortality. For his crimes, he was sealed away by the Pharaoh himself. Centuries later, he was set freed when an archaeologist uncovered his tomb. Now freed to roam the modern world, Scarab continues to search for the soul of Rapses, now resides within Presley. As a sorcerer, Scarab can disguise himself into anyone, from a little kid to his main disguise as Harris Stone (the aforementioned archaeologist who freed him, who was later killed), who runs the museum where Amanda Carnovan works, created his army of clay soldiers called the Shabti, who blends in with the other humans despite having pupil-less eyes, and can summon other entities from the Western Gate, a portal underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, only those of Egyptian descent can see. But, when he has to gets his hands dirty, just like the Mummies, he has an armor form, becoming a literal armored scarab beetle. Scarab was voiced by character actor Gerald Plunkett.

Heka: A talking golden snake, who doubles as Scarab's staff (if he doesn't have his actual staff sometimes) and can spit fire. She is voiced by Pauline Newstone, who also voices Airazor from Beast Wars and as Frieza from the Ocean Dub Dragon Ball Z.

Chontra: Back in Ancient Egypt, she was once a student to Rath. In time of her student/teacher relationship, she fallen in love him. All that changed when Rath was assigned to be Rapses' tutor. That, in turn, enraged Chontra, to the point of vowing vengeance against Rath for abandoning her. Her sorcery rivals that of Scarab. Chondra was voiced by Kathleen Barr, who did most voice work in other cartoons, anime and videogames, but these days, she is best known for voicing Trixie Lulamoon (the so-called Great and Power Trixie!) and Queen Chrysalis from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

Arakh: Ja-Kal's evil brother. Like the mummies and Scarab, he has his armor form, that of a scorpion. He is jealous of and resents Ja-Kal so much, that he alingned himself with Scarab and uses Kimas, his own son, against him.

Kimas: The son of Arakh and nephew of Ja-Kal. Like his father, he can transform into his armored scorpion form. Though not a true villain, Kimas was used by Arakh and Scarab to get rid of Ja-Kal until he realized that he was being used as a weapon to kill his uncle. After that revelation, he turned on his father and sided with his uncle until he gave his life to save his uncle when he forced himself and his father back into the Western Gate.

The other characters in the show, some villains, others neutral, although bearing the same names in Egypt mythology, their physical appearances are nothing like how they were in the aforemetioned mythology. Here are a few examples:

Set and Anubis: Two anthropormophic dog like creatures, who serve Scarab from time to time. They serve as the comic relief. Although Anubis is based on the same god in myth, Set, on the other hand, nothing like his Egyptian counterpart. Set, in mythology, has the head of a composite of an aardvark, donkey, jackel and fennec fox, and doesn't have a head of a dog. Set and Anubis were voiced by Scott McNeil and Blu Mankuma respectively.

Ammut: Scarab's pet dog like creature, who has the head of a crocodile.

Apep: A humanoid like cobra like creature, who was banished by Rapses' grandfather back in ancient times. When summoned by Scarab, he seeks vengeance against Rapses for what his grandfather has done. But, he rebelled against Scarab after falling for Nefer-Tina, who he knew 3,500 years ago after admiring her driving prowess. In his human form, he and his followers assume the identity of a biker gang. Apep was voiced by Jason Gray-Stanford, who not only appeared in the TV crime drama, Monk, but was also the voice of both Joe Higashi from the 3 Fatal Fury anime movies and Kento of Hardrock from Ronin Warriors.

Sekhmet: Goddess of Sickness and Health. In Egyptian myth, she was portrayed as a benevolent sun goddess, almost like the daughter of Ra herself and has a lioness has her animal totem. But in the cartoon, she has a vulture for a totem instead of a lioness and just a villain of the day of sorts.

Nuhn: A powerful water spirit, based on Nu, a primordial watery abyss in the Hermopolitan Ogdoad cosmogony of ancient Egyptian religion.

Talos: A man of bronze, based on the very same bronze automaton from Greek mythology.

Geb: A huge rock like giant, who is nothing like his Egyptian counterpart, who is the God of the Earth and member of the Ennead of Heliopolis.

Net: The cloud-like Spirit of the Sky, completely different from her Egyptian counterpart, Nut, who is the goddess of the sky, stars, cosmos, mothers, astronomy and the universe.

Production

For a DIC cartoon, we have our familiar producers like Andy Heyward and Robby London, while having others such as Micahel Maliani, Janice Sonski, Joe Medjuck, Daniel Goldberg and most importantly, Ivan Reitman (more on him later). Writers/producers, Eric and Julia Lewald, who were the head writers for the third season of Gargoyles aka The Goliath Chronicles, did the writing of this show, as well. Some fans critizied the show for being a clone of Gargoyles, but I beg to differ. Unlike Gargoyles, you don't see the mummies team with Scarab, just as the Gargoyles have a uneasy relationship with David Xanatos. But that's another story. Rounding up the production team are editors Mike DePatie and Gail McIntyre.

As far as the animation goes, it is mostly Western Animation, but with hints of Japanese anime, which has since became extremely popular around that time, thanks to Toonami. Most of the anime like sequences were mostly from the stock footage transformation scenes from both the mummies and Scarab. Of course, stock footage, especially with the transformation sequences, was the norm for most animation shows at the time.

Music

The music from the show, which has hints of both modern and Egyptian tones, was done by John Campbell and legendary composer Ron Wasserman (who was credited as RAW). Wasserman, as we know, did music for our childhood in the 90s, from doing music the Ocean dub of Dragon Ball Z to doing music for some of shows from Saban, such as Space Strikers, Teknoman (the English version of Tekkaman Blade), Sweet Valley High, VR Troopers, X-Men, and most of all, did the music and theme song for the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. He did music for other Power Rangers, such as Zeo, Turbo, In Space and SPD, we would never gotten Go, Go, Power Rangers, if it wasn't for the man known as The Mighty Raw. Here's to you, Mr. Wasserman and thanks for making our childhood even more "Morphinominal."

Trivia

One of the producers for Mummies Alive! was none other than famed movie producer/director, Ivan Reitman. Reitman, as we all know, has helped produced and directed many of the movies we are all familiar with, mostly with comedies. This list includes, Meatballs, Stripes, Twins, Kindergarten Cop, Animal House, Space Jam, Beethoven and my most favorite of them all, Ghostbusters. Which is ironic, that before Mummies Alive was around, there was another cartoon did by DIC, which was based on the aforementioned movie I was talking about, The Real Ghostbusters. Man, oh, man, this would've been a great crossover, which makes perfect sense, with the Ghostbusters teaming up with the mummies against a force even more powerful than Scarab and Gozer combined. And it will take a lot more than "Crossing the Streams" to stop this evil, that's for sure.

Experiences and What Ifs

I didn't have much experience with this show at the time, since I was into other shows like Sailor Moon, Double Dragon, Street Sharks, Extreme Dinosaurs and so forth. But thanks to the internet (and a great big imagination), Mummies Alive! is now a part of that very universe that is in my head. I haven't seen the show in quite a long time, but I will give you some experiences from the a few episodes I can think of.

Ra, Ra, Ra! (The First Episode): This is the very episode where we were introduced to Presley, his mummy guardians and the sorceror, Scarab. And this is where Nefer-Tina, revealed to her fellow mummies that she is a girl. You see, in the tranformation sequence, when Nefer-Tina transforms, she has her Egyptian-style crown on. But afterwards and here on out, when she transforms, she doesn't have the crown on her no more. She is all woman, but mummified.

Desert Chic: This episode involves Nefer-Tina with Apep, who known each other 3,500 years ago.

Good Bye, Mr. Cheops: Presley's teacher, Mr. Huxley, was swiched places, by means of a obelisk-powered shortwave radio, with the magic temptress, Chontra. And in this episode, we get some backstory between Rath and Chontra, as the go from having a student/teacher relationship to romance to the bitterest of enemies.

Body Slam: Armon enters a competition to prove that he is still a great fighter (even though he got weak when Scarab placed an amulet that saps his strength to begin with).

Loss of Face: You are wondering how Nefer-Tina looked over 3,000 years ago (without disguising herself as a boy)? When in this episode, thanks to a potion Scarab created (which was meant for him), Nefer-Tina has become absolutely beautiful. 3,000 years beautiful to be precise. She defintely give Kitana a run for her money.

A Dark and Shrieky Night: This is where the mummies, after fighting off Scarab's Shabti, had to blend in the public to get back to the Sphinx to recharge their powers, even if it means walking through San Francisco at night. Hi-jinks happened here, even when the mummies get to play music in front of a hostile crowd.

(Audience boos)

Rath: "You dare taunt us?!"

True Believer: During their time, as the mummies look for more clothes for their disguises, Nefer-Tina meets a nerdy sales clerk named Bix Bingsley, who became infatuated with her, which ends up being a target by Scarab.

My Dad the Hero: This is where we meet Presley's father, who is not what he seems. And to make matters worse, the Crown of Ramses the Great (yes, THAT Ramses), which he stole, ends up in the hands of Scarab. And in this episode, we get a little backstory in why Nefer-Tina disguised herself to ride chariots in the first place, as she talked to Presley about her experiences with her father. We will never know the full story about that, but I will mention one suggestion before this review is over.

Family Feud (and NO, I am not talking about the game show): This 3 parter is where Ja-Kal meets his evil brother, Arakh. Along with Kimas, who later rebelled against his own father to aid his uncle Ja-Kal.

Show Me the Mummy (The Final Episode, which doubles as a clip show): This is where Joe Pendleton, a police officer who was a recurring character, along with his partner, Bob, talks about his expirences with the mummies in a style of a radio show. And this is how the show ends, with a clip show, of all things.

Unlike my last review, I don't know a typical end game on how Mummies Alive! would end. I know, in my heart that the mummies do defeat Scarab and Presely can live the rest of his days as a normal kid once more. But, I would keep this adventure going a little bit long with some ideas of my own.

Crossover Ideas

The Real Ghostbusters: As I stated before, one of the executive producers of Mummies Alive! was Ivan Reitman, who directed Ghostbusters, which makes sense with this crossover. In this one, as the mummies were fighting against Scarab as usual, a strange disturbance has disrupted the Western Gate, causing all of the aboritions to spread all over the world, even in doorsteps of New York City. And that's where the Ghostbusters come in, as they take the next flight to San Francisco to investigate and stop the disturbance before the world falls into darkness. It will have a lot of action and drama, but like the movie, it will have lots and lots of comedy, especially with the chemistry between Armon and our favorite green, onion-headed ghost, Slimer, whose appetite is as big as Armon's. Speaking of Armon...

Super Duper Sumos: Another DIC cartoon, which tells the exploits of a trio of sumo wrestlers who fight evil, as they learn the ways of the "Phat" (Their words, not mine!). In this crossover, Armon, feeling that his strength alone couldn't earn the respect of his fellow mummies, especially Rath, who teases him thinking that brains are better than brawn, decided to leave San Francisco and go traveling places to find the answers he seeks to better himself in battle. Which ultimately leads him to Generic City, where he meets the Super Duper Sumos, Kimo (The Sumo of Honor), Booma (The Sumo of Peace) and Mamu (The Sumo of Truth). As Armon helps the sumos fight against evil, especially against Ms. Mister's Bad Inc., Armon learns the ways of the sumo, being one with mind, body and spirit (not to mention a big butt to boot). This one will have a lot of action and some funny one liners. For instance;

Ms. Mister: "The end is near for you, Stupid Dupid Sumos!"

Armon: "That's SUPER DUPER SUMOS, to you, lady!"

And on the subject of one liners, instead of Armon saying "Let's kick TUT!", he would say this;

Armon: "Let's get PHAT!!"

Ronin Warriors: Since I have mentioned anime in my review thus far, I thought I put this underrated gem in this one shot story idea. Although we get to see the Ronin Warriors and the mummies together (as enemies first due to a misunderstanding, and then after some explanations, became friends and allies), the subplot of the story revolves around Nefer-Tina and Ryo of the Wildfire, who reminds her of someone she knew a long time ago. This crossover was inspired by not only the Dolune/Lorre backstory from Lupin the 3rd: The Secret of Twilight Gemini, but also from a drawing I saw from Deviantart, where Ryo was a warrior from Egyptian times by aoi-ryu.

Ryo's Egyptian descendant, Kyoseph, by aoi-ryu

Anyway, the fight between the mummies and the Ronin Warriors ended when Nefer-Tina discovered a fighting style that was familiar to her when fighting Ryo. As she took off his helmet to reveal his face, Nefer-Tina was shocked in the fact that Ryo is the descendent of a warrior named Kyoseph, who she fell for long ago. Kyoseph was a wandering warrior from a distant land, until one day he fainted due to exaustion, but found by Nefer-Tina and nursed him back to health. And this is where I extend with Nefer-Tina's backstory even further and why she dressed up as a boy to ride chariots. From Kyoseph's point of view, by day, Nefer-Tina dresses as a boy to ride chariots, but by night, to honor and respect her father's wishes, she was a part of the pharaoh's harem, as a dancer at the royal palace. Nefer-Tina and Kyoseph fell for each other. But it was short-lived, when Scarab attack the pharaoh to get to his son, Rapses. Kyoseph fought bravely against him, but he succumb to his wound at the hands of Scarab, which enraged Nefer-Tina to avenge him. And you know the rest, despite his guardians' best efforts, Scarab killed Rapses, gained immortality, only to be sealed away by the pharaoh. And that sums up Nefer-Tina's backstory in a nutshell. The rest of the story is about the mummies team up with the Ronin Warriors to fight against both Scarab and the most powerful evil demon emperor known to man, Talpa.

In short, despite being cancelled (due to low toy sales, why I am not surprised), Mummies Alive! was an awesome cartoon to watch, especially wanting to know about mummies, ancient Egypt and so forth. If you stumble across it on YouTube, give it a watch. You won't regret it. Until next time. Stay frosty, keep on rollin' and Happy Halloween, folks. Go with Ra!

Saraba da (Farewell)...for now.