Street Sharks
Street Sharks is an American-Canadian animated series about the adventures of crime-fighting half-man/half-sharks. It was produced by DIC Productions, L.P. and aired from 1994 to 1997, originally as a part of the Amazin' Adventures programming block. The show promoted a line of action figures by Mattel. The creators were David Siegel and Joe Galliani of Mr. Joe's Really Big Productions.
In 1996, the Street Sharks were paired with the Dino Vengers, and the show was retitled Dino Vengers Featuring Street Sharks.
Plot
A university professor named Dr. Robert Bolton and his partner Dr. Luther Paradigm create a machine known as the "gene-slammer" which is capable of changing aquatic animals into anthropomorphic hybrids by combining their DNA. In his attempt to prevent Paradigm from using this machine for personal power, Bolton is transformed into an unseen monstrosity, but escapes. Later, Paradigm gives Bolton's four sons John, Bobby, Coop, and Clint the likeness of four different sharks. When Dr. Paradigm captures their friend Bends, the resulting "Street Sharks" rescue him and combine Paradigm with piranha DNA. In subsequent episodes, Dr. Paradigm creates a variety of monsters to destroy the Street Sharks while attempting to persuade the inhabitants of their native metropolis of Fission City to imprison them. Of these monsters, a few sided with the Sharks themselves: namely Rox, Moby Lick, Mantaman, and El Swordo.The final few episodes introduced the Dino Vengers: a group of extraterrestrial dinosaurs allied with the Street Sharks against their own rivals in the Raptor Gang. When Dr. Paradigm wanted to get a sample of the Raptors' DNA to improve himself, they trick him by giving him iguana DNA which transforms him into "Dr. Iguanoid" leading to him working with the Raptors where they will reward him by correcting the DNA mistake they gave him. In the end, Paradigm is captured and imprisoned while the Raptor Gang leaves Earth.
The Dino Vengers later had their own series called Extreme Dinosaurs where they and the Raptors had different backgrounds.
Characters
Bolton family
- Ripster – John Bolton is the smartest, the leader, and oldest of the four brothers who enjoys creating inventions. He has taken up most of his knowledge and skills from his father. He is also an avid pool player. In the first episode of the show, John rides a motorbike. When transformed into Ripster, he becomes a great white shark able to bite through steel, as well as having extrasensory abilities.
- Jab – Clint Bolton is the laziest of the Street Sharks, but enjoys boxing and appears to have some talent with mechanics. When transformed into Jab, he becomes a Scalloped hammerhead shark and uses his head as a battering ram.
- Streex – Robert "Bobby" Bolton Jr. is a level-headed, cool and self-proclaimed . He is always shown wearing his rollerblades and appears to enjoy parachuting and snowboarding and later plays drums professionally. When transformed into Streex, he becomes a tiger shark, named after the purple streaks on his body. In the toyline, he was originally called "Blades" for his skills as a rollerblader.
- Big Slammu – Coop Bolton is the strongest and youngest of the four. He is also a football player in high school. In the first episode, he uses a skateboard. When transformed into Big Slammu, he becomes a whale shark and his most prominent maneuver is the "Seismic Slam" in which he may shake or crack the ground with his fists.
- Dr. Robert Bolton – A university professor and the father of the Bolton Brothers who invents the gene-manipulation device for peaceful uses. He is only seen on-screen in the first episode where he tries to stop Dr. Paradigm's experiments only to become changed into an unseen inhuman creature. Afterward, he is only ever represented by a shadow cast on the wall. It is suggested through the series that Dr. Bolton secretly assists his sons. The episode "Shark Source" shows him defeating Dr. Piranoid to rescue a kidnapped mutant crocodile. Despite the fact that he helps them, Dr. Bolton is never reunited with his sons. However, he does contact his sons through a TV screen where the transmission keeps even the viewers from seeing his current appearance.
- Sir Thomas Bolton – An ancestor of the protagonists who is encountered in the episode "Sir Shark-a-Lot". He is the target of Paradigm's time-travel excursion to destroy the Bolton family.
Allies
- Lena Mack – A student of Dr. Paradigm's who suspects him of crime, and therefore assists the Street Sharks. She is later reduced to a background role and has a younger brother named Malik.
- Bends – Fission University's technical genius and a source of comic relief who supplies the Street Sharks with their motorbikes and weapons and conceals them underneath the University's ice skating rink. In episode 16, it is revealed that he cannot be mutated by a gene-slamming airborne virus. This genetic trait was passed down to his great, great, great grandson who is a member of the resistance against Dr. Paradigm in an alternate future as seen in "Shark to the Future".
- Moby Lick – Jets Taylor is a good friend of the Bolton Brothers and Bends. Under Dr. Paradigm's mind-control, Jets is combined with a killer whale by Dr. Paradigm in order to make him his latest Seaviate. Becoming Moby Lick, he later broke free of Paradigm's mind control and became an ally of the Street Sharks. Moby Lick has a long prehensile tongue, great strength, and the ability to inhale water and expel it through his blowhole; and later demonstrated the ability to communicate with other killer whales. In "Shark Hunt", it is revealed that Moby became an eco-conservationist in the Everglades National Park.
- Rox – Melvin Kresnik is an up-and-coming musician mistakenly combined with a bull shark who exposes Dr. Paradigm's plan to change Kresnik's audience into mutants. Thereafter, Rox continues as a rock star by explaining his altered form as a costume and remains a friend of the Sharks. He was dropped from the series after Season Two. In the toyline, Rox is labelled as a mako shark instead of a bull shark.
- President David Horne – The President of the United States. The Street Sharks save from Dr. Paradigm before he can be "gene washed" like he did with Vice-President Russell. Following this incident, President Horne secretly leaks information to the Street Sharks.
- El Swordo – A circus performer who worked with a large marlin named Spike. The two were eventually "fused" together by Dr. Paradigm resulting in a combination of memories under the man's personality. El Swordo remains active in entertainment as a professional swordsman.
- Mantaman – A flying dinosaur-like alien specimen was found encased in stone by Dr. Terrence "Terry" Morton and reactivated by Dr. Paradigm. Dr. Morton then deliberately gene-slammed himself with a combination of the alien's DNA and manta ray DNA to help the Street Sharks fight the original alien. He has a younger brother named Ryan who appears in "Shark Jacked" when he gets captured by Dr. Paradigm. By the end of the episode, Mantaman's parents learn of what became of their son and accept his appearance. Around the "Ancient Sharkonauts" episode, Mantaman returns under the control of the Raptors when it was revealed that they were behind the flying dinosaur-like alien whose DNA is part of Mantaman. He is later liberated by the Street Sharks.
- T-Bone – A Tyrannosaurus and the leader of the Dino Vengers.
- Stegz – A Stegosaurus.
- Bullzeye – A Pteranodon.
- Spike – A Triceratops.
Antagonists
- Dr. Luther Paradigm – The main antagonist of the series and arch-enemy of the Street Sharks. A professor at Fission City University, he is easily identified by his metal eyepatch and later by a giant yellow robotic exoskeleton, with offensive capabilities including the ability to fire harpoons. In the second episode, Dr. Paradigm is injected with piranha DNA meant for the Street Sharks who nicknamed him Dr. Piranoid. Afterwards, Paradigm's face assumes inhuman attributes at moments of strong emotion. When in public, Dr. Paradigm wears a robe to hide his exoskeleton. When Dr. Bolton defeated Dr. Piranoid to rescue a captive mutant crocodile and damaged his armor, it was shown that parts of his body was fish-like. During episodes featuring the Dino-Vengers, Dr. Paradigm injected himself with iguana DNA which was given to him by the Raptors instead of Velociraptor DNA and was renamed Dr. Iguanazoid as a result. He has since helped out the Raptors with their plots hoping that they will actually give him Velociraptor DNA. By "Shark-apolypse Now!," Dr. Iguanazoid is apprehended by the Street Sharks.
- SharkBot – Dr. Paradigm's experimentation with robotics. It was used to free the monster Repteel from prison and frame the Street Sharks for the crime. The Sharks ultimately reprogrammed SharkBot to destroy Paradigm's laboratory. SharkBot was later rebuilt into SharkBot 2.0, which fought the Street Sharks until the end of the series' second season.
- Tentakill – A biped creature of unknown origins and species, first seen in the episode "Sir Shark-a-Lot" as Paradigm's newest weapon. It is incapable of speech, shows limited intelligence, and was not utilized often.
- Seaviates – A group of mutant sea creatures that serve Dr. Paradigm.
- Slobster – An anthropomorphic monster created by injecting a lobster with the DNA of Genghis Khan and Thomas Blood. He was defeated when Season 1 ended.
- Slash – A swordfish injected with the DNA of villains like Genghis Khan and Thomas Blood like Slobster. Thus, he becomes an anthropomorphic fish with a drill bit on its nose who speaks in a hissing lisp. Slash is usually defeated by immobilization of his nasal drill. He was defeated when Season 1 ended.
- Killamari – An anthropomorphic squid able to project natural "spears" or "harpoons" from his mouth and the many suckers covering his body. In the episode "Lone Shark," he almost kills Jab with his poison. Lena and Bends concoct an anti-venom which has since reduced his threat.
- Repteel – The only one of Dr. Paradigm's Seaviates to have originally been human. Mr. Cunneyworth is the aged owner and hotel manager of a run-down hotel accidentally demolished by the Street Sharks during a fight with Dr. Paradigm's Seaviates. As he had nowhere else to go, Mr. Cunneyworth willingly allowed Dr. Paradigm to merge his genetic codes with those of a moray eel and an electric eel. As Repteel, he feeds on electricity and shoots miniature eels from his hands and wears a special pack to store energy.
- Shrimp Louie – A mutated shrimp and one of Paradigm's later Seaviates. He is not very strong, is quite the coward, and his primary weapons are big blaster guns.
Greco's Group
- Maximillian Greco – An aged mafioso who blackmails Dr. Paradigm into gene-slamming him with the DNA of a rhinoceros and the DNA of a desert tortoise upon learning of his illegal and secret experiments. This granted Greco the strength of a rhinoceros and the longevity of a desert tortoise which rejuvenated Greco to half his real age. He later resurfaced as the owner of a casino.
- Zeus and Apollo – Maximillian Greco's pet chihuahuas. Like their owner, they were also genetically enhanced by Dr. Paradigm which made them larger than normal.
Malcolm Medusa's Force
- Malcolm Medusa III – A rich, business-owning big game hunter who frequently targets endangered animals. The Street Sharks and Moby Lick expose him. In "Shark Hunt", Malcolm Medusa III traps Moby Lick and the Street Sharks in a hunting enclosure. He is eventually imprisoned in an island prison as he plans his revenge.
- Clammando – A mutant clam who is Malcolm Medusa III's right-hand man. He started out as a dock worker for Malcolm Medusa III who fell into a toxic waste part of the water where there were clams. As a result upon being fished out by Malcolm, he turned into a mutant clam. In "Shark to the Future," Clammando's appearance was first used as a Seaviate that worked for Dr. Paradigm during the Street Sharks' visit to the future.
Bad Rap's Evil Raptor Gang
- The Raptors – A trio of rogue Velociraptor-like criminals.
- Bad Rap – The leader of the Raptors, who has a metal brace-like device on his mouth and a rocket-launcher on his right hand.
- Haxx – A Raptor with implants on the backs of each wrist that produce green blades, whose tail has been replaced with a blade capable of spinning like a drill.
- Spittor – The scientist and brains of the Raptors. Spittor carries a tank with various liquids released from nozzles on his hands, tail, and mouth.
Recurring characters
- Guy in the Sky – Fission City's top air radio reporter and paparazzo. He was never fully seen, but recognized by a yellow helicopter. The Guy in the Sky was later dropped from the show after Season Two.
- Detective Michael Brock – The police detective who investigates the Sharks' activities. He was later dropped from the show after Season Two.
Crew
- Executive producers: Andy Heyward, Robby London, Michael Maliani, Allen Bohbot, Mark Freedman
- Produced by: Michael Maliani, Ron Myrick, Ron Harris
- Directed by: Ron Myrick, Ron Harris
- Post production director: Stan Phillips
- Adapted for television by Phil Harnage, Martha Moran
- Story editor: Phil Harnage, Doug Booth, Martha Moran
- Executive in charge of production: Brian A. Miller
- Production supervisor: Stacey Gallishaw
- Production supervisor assistant: Tracy Hansen
- Associate producer: Kim Rawl, Margaret M. Dean
- Production coordinators:
- * Season 1: Mieka West, Jamie Turner, Pamela Taylor
- * Season 2: Nicole J. Speed, Steve Minor
- * Season 3: Treasure Dawn Rawson, Zoe Seals
- Casting: Marsha Goodman, Paul Quinn, Pam Carter
- Voice direction: Marsha Goodman, Paul Quinn, Pam Carter
- Talent coordinator:
- * Season 1: Stephanie McCorkle
- * Season 2: Brenda Frank, Katie Jones
- * Season 3: Brenda Frank, Shirley McGregor-Ford, Karen Abbott
- Recording engineer: Tom Ware
- Recording assistants: Karen Abbott, Katie Jones, Shirley McGregor-Ford
- Script coordinator: Lori Crawford
- Script assistants: Kevin Donahue, Penny Lee, William A. Ruiz
- Director of research: Renee Toporzysek
- Studio B Productions
- * Art director: Chris Bartleman
- * Character design: Rob Davies, Curt Spurging
- * Prop design: Trevor Bentley, Chris Roberts
- * Background design: Olaf Miller, Dean Sheriff, Gord McBride, Richard Forgue
- * Background color styling: Richard Zieler-Martin, Hector Martinez
- * Character & prop color styling: Li Rene Harman, Bonni Reid, Kellie De Vries
- * Development coordinator: Allison Heitner
- Art director: Ellen Heindel
- Storyboards
- * Season 1: Oliver Thomas, Tom Nesbitt
- * Season 2: Canuck Creations, Dell Barras, Art Mawhinney, Fun Bag Animation Studio, Michael V. Bennett, David Rodriguez, Kevin Gallaher
- * Season 3: Milimetros, Dell Barras, Art Mawhinney, Adrian Gonzalez, Tom Nesbitt, Thom Tholen, Rex John Irvine, Gangster Productions, Canuck Creations, Romeo Francisco, Romeo C. Tanghal, Scott Jorgenson, Abudio Job Cudia, Ashwini Jabotkar
- Slugging: Ron Crown
- Exposure sheets: Glenn Wright
- Music supervisor: Joanne Miller
- Music by Reed Robbins
- Executive in charge of post production: Kevin McLaughlin
- Post production coordinator: Kathleen Mary O’Hara
- Administrative assistants: Ted Supa, Dunta Bell
- Supervising editor: Tonda Lark
- Picture editor: Trudy Alexander
- Assistant editor: Kris Gilpin
- Music editor: John Mortarotti
- Supervising sound engineer: Michael J. Cowan
- Dialogue editors: Heather C. Elliott, Michael J. Cowan
- Post production audio by Gnome Productions, Inc.
- Supervising sound effects editor: Bruce Nazarian
- Sound effects editors: Gregory Beaumont, Richard Davis
- Re-recording mixers: Dennis Patterson, Lance Wiseman
- Foley effects: Lenise Bent, Richard Partlow, Doug Madick
- Videopost supervisors: Tonda Lark, Fifun A. Amani
- Online editors: Jeff Gold, Kenny Drapkin
- Assistant editors: Ron LeBlanc, Trey Freeman
- Colorist: Brian Borne
- Electronic graphics: Alexandra Sloan Ennis
- Creative supervisors: Andy Heyward, Michael Maliani
- Animation production by Plus One Animation
Series overview
Episodes
Season 1 (1994)
Season 2 (1994)
Season 3 (1995–97)
Home Media releases
North America
In 1995, Buena Vista Home Video released a VHS titled The Gene Slamming Begins, which featured all three of the Season 1 episodes: Sharkbait, "Sharkbite" and "Sharkstorm" combined into a feature-length format. Buena Vista followed this release with two tapes featuring Season 2 episodes: Shark Quest, which had the episodes "Shark Quest" and "Lone Shark", and the other: Shark 'n' Roll which featured the episodes "Shark 'n' Roll" and "Fresh Water Shark". Unusually, these releases were branded as regular BVHV releases rather than being released under the DIC Toon-Time Video label.In late September 2012, Mill Creek Entertainment announced they would release the series to DVD during early 2013.
On February 19, 2013, Mill Creek Entertainment released Street Sharks – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. This release has been discontinued and is out of print.
On January 16, 2018, Mill Creek Entertainment re-released the complete series to DVD in Region 1.
United Kingdom
In 1996, BMG Video released three VHS tapes in the United Kingdom, featuring the same episodes as the US VHS's, although the first tape was retitled as Jawsome!.In 2004, Anchor Bay UK released a single-DVD/VHS volume featuring all 3 Season 1 episodes, and the first Season 2 episode "Shark Quest".
In 2005, Avenue Entertainment released two DVD volumes containing two episodes each: Volume 1 featured "Sharkbite" and "Shark Fight" and Volume 2 featured "Sky Sharks" and "Shark of Steel".
Tie-in products
In 1996, Archie Comics released a short-lived comic book series based on Street Sharks. They published a three-issue mini-series which were based on the first three episodes of the series, and a regular comic series, which lasted three issues.From 1994 to 1997, Mattel released a line of Street Sharks action figures.