In the 1990s, many cartoons were produced solely to promote toy sales. But only a select few are able to break out of that box and become famous outside of the animated series. Among them is Mighty Max.
The audience was captivated by Mighty Max as they followed the exploits of the time-traveling cool kid Max. With its funny characters, skilled voice performers, and smooth animation, the series is enjoyable to watch. Mighty Max is regarded as one of the best toys-only animated films ever made. So let us examine the plot of the series and what makes Mighty Max so well-liked.
The main character of Mighty Max is Max, a young man who is selected to be the cap-bearer and who is given a cap that enables him to teleport through portals and across space and time. From 1 September 1993 to 2 December 1994, the show first aired. It is based on the British Mighty Max toys, which were developed from Bluebird Toys’ 1992 Polly Pocket series.
Mark Zaslove and Rob Hudnut worked together to develop it. Gary Hartle produced it, and Phil Roman and Rob Hudnut served as executive producers. There were 40 episodes throughout the two seasons of the show. The core characters of the series are Max, his companions Virgil and Norman, who tour the globe defending it from Skullmaster and his goons.
Mighty Max: What is the show all about?
The first episode of the show opens with Max receiving a package containing a little statue written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, which revealed that he had been selected as the cap-bearer. He is instructed to go to the mini-mart and wait for a sign by the inscription. Max is startled and drops the statue, exposing the red baseball cap with the letter “M” on it. Max travels to the mini-mart, but Lava Beast, Skullmaster’s goon, pursues him and is assigned to kidnap Max.
As max tries to make his escape, the cap is activated and opens a portal that transports Max to the Mongolian desert instantly. There he meets Virgil and Norman, who explain his destiny to him and how he had been prophesied to be the cap-bearer in 3000 BC.
They portal back to Max’s house, where they discover a portal to Skull Mountain, but Virgil gets kidnapped. Max and Norman make their way to save Virgil, but they face Warmonger, who is another one of Skullmaster’s minions. Skullmaster almost defeats the trio, but Max manages to collapse the tunnels around them. The trio uses a portal to teleport to safety, as Skullmaster is left in the dust.
Although Skullmaster is the main antagonist of the series, Max often fights independent villains as well and defends the Earth against such dangers. In the episode titled “The Brain Suckers Cometh!” Max goes against a group of aliens who destroy a space satellite and plan to make their way to earth.
Max’s day at school is interrupted when he receives a note from Virgil and teleports to Kansas, and meets Virgil and Norman, who reveal that aliens are going to be landing there. After escaping from a robotic scout, the trio teleports to the spaceship and find themselves in costumes to blend in with the crowd and be undetected. They enter the computer room and try to find the disk to stop the aliens but end up being discovered.
As the aliens chase after Max, who manages to find an escape craft and flies back to Earth, Virgil and Norman get left behind. What Max doesn’t know is that a Brainsucker is hidden in the back of his space shuttle. Max travels to his classmate Ernie’s house and asks for help. Suddenly the Bloodsucker appears and attacks the duo, and they run out into the street.
The Bloodsucker is run over by a truck while chasing the boys, and Max convinces Ernie to help him as they fly back to the alien ship. Max tells Ernie about the disk he found and that it is a video game about an alien invasion. The two go to the main chamber and enter the disk on the computer. As Ernie gloats about how great he is, the Bloodsuckers arrive and capture the two boys and place them in a cell with Virgil and Norman.
The two boys argue as Max tells Ernie that no one likes him because he talks too much and is very full of himself. Suddenly the group is placed on a brain extracting belt. Just as Max’s brain is about to be removed, Ernie manages to unplug the program.
They all make a run for the nearest portal mark but discover that the portal is outside the spaceship. As they make their way outside, they are attacked by enemy spaceships. Max convinces Ernie to help them, and he shoots back at the enemies. Just before the ship explodes, Max and the others manage to teleport back to safety, and Max thanks Ernie for helping them save the world.
Like every other teenager, Max is mischievous and flirtatious as he often flirts with his crush Jiffy. But sometimes, it lands him in great trouble. Just like in the episode titled “Snakes and Ladies,” Max jumps into a tomb to surprise Jiffy when their class is on a field trip to a museum; he ends up being teleported to Egypt alongside his classmate and friend Bea. The pair find a secret room, and Max discovers the Ankh of Power, an ancient Egyptian relic, and decides to bring it back for Jiffy to impress her. Just as max removes it, the temple begins to shake, and some cloaked figures attack the pair.
They flee, and a note from Virgil asks them to find the nearest portal, and they manage to find their way back to the museum just as their class is leaving. Max gives Jiffy the Ankh as a present. Once he’s back home, he calls Jiffy, and she tells him that people in black cloaks are surrounding her home. Max decides to save her so she will like him and enlists the help of Bea and Felix.
Once the trio reaches Jiffy’s house, they discover that the cloaked people are actually giant snakes. They try to defeat them, but the snakes retreat with Jiffy in their clutches. The trio makes their way back to the museum to use the portal but is stopped by the security guard. Bea and Max manage to handcuff the guard to the railing and run inside, but the guard captures Felix before he can make his way in.
Bea realizes that the snakes are only after Jiffy because of the Ankh necklace. Venom, the Pharoah of the temple, arrives and plans to perform a ceremony to prolong his life. He begins the ceremony, and Jiffy feels the Ankh burning through her sweater. Before Jiffy is harmed, Max manages to rip the necklace off her neck and disrupt the ritual. Venom sends the snakes after the three, but Bea gets caught.
Max goes back and trades the Ankh for Bea, but Venom doesn’t get either. The three finally manage to escape. Venom summons Apophis to aid him, and Apophis possesses the cobra statue kept in Venom’s lair, and the temple trembles. The cobra chases after the group but gets stuck in a hole. As the trio searches for a portal, Venom and the cobra escape the whole, and Max briefly engages in battle with Venom.
Jiffy states that he should have never stolen the necklace in the first place; then, so many problems would not have occurred. Max decides to destroy the Ankh and throws the necklace into the cobra’s mouth, causing an explosion. The three finally find a portal and make their way back to the museum. They offer the officer a croissant and go home, leaving him still attached to the railing.
Skullmaster makes a comeback in episode 6 titled “Let Sleeping Dragons Lie!”. This is his first appearance since the pilot episode. Ravendark, an old wizard, is trying to free his master, Loki, so he can be free of the curse of turning into a raven. Ravendark begins to work on a spell, and Loki reveals himself to be Skullmaster. While shopping for his mother, Max teleports to find Norman and Virgil, who informs him about Ravendark and the Cavern of Doom.
The trio teleport to the cavern, and Norman prepares to fight the Doom Dragon, whom he fought before when he served under Odin. They manage to find Ravendark and try to stop him from finishing his spell, but they fail. Virgil reveals that the Doom Dragon will destroy the world if he awakens, but Ravendark is not phased, as he is determined to break free. Max and Virgil realize that Skullmaster is the mastermind behind this, but it’s too late, and the Doom Dragon awakens. The cavern alights in fire, and the trio runs.
Max trips and must hide in a box till the fire goes out. Norman and Virgil make their way outside but are confronted by the Doom Dragon. Max is trapped inside the dragon’s body and bounces around till the box breaks. Ravendark confronts him, and Max tries to explain the truth to him, but the magician refuses to believe that Skullmaster is manipulating him.
Outside, the Doom Dragon gets annoyed and starts to destroy the surroundings, but Norman manages to divert the dragon’s attention back to him. Max tends to slide down and out of the Dragon’s mouth, and Norman catches him. Ravendark follows and turns into a bird again, realizing that he had been lied to, and agrees to help Max by putting Doom Dragon back to sleep.
The group tries to find a way to teleport back inside the Dragon’s stomach and manages to do it finally, and Ravendark turns back into his human form. Ravendark realizes that the only way to stop is with his blood and soul. Although Max tries to stop him, Ravendark teleports them away and sacrifices himself, sending Doom Dragon back to sleep and saving the world.
Mighty Max and the fantastic characters
The protagonist of the series is Max, who is an adventurous and fun-loving blond teen. He is the bearer of the cap that enables him to travel through space and time. He is often accompanied by Virgil and Norman. He constantly shows reluctance in being the bearer, but Virgil leaves him no choice. He is very clever and humorous. He is often called the Mighty One or the Chosen One. He is voiced by Rob Paulsen.
Virgil is Max’s Lemurian, a fowl-like humanoid mentor. He is the last living Lemurian and is over ten thousand years old. He is pretty knowledgeable about both the past and the future. He is often frustrated by Max’s carefree nature. He was also the mentor of Skullmaster, who later destroyed all of Virgil’s people. Max often teases Virgil by calling him a chicken, something that is a running gag in the show. Virgil often sends Max notes to tell him where to go or which portal to use in order to meet him or do his tasks. He is voiced by Tony Jay.
Norman is Max’s bodyguard. After failing to prevent the death of his father, he vowed to become the greatest warrior alive. He was appointed to his current role by Virgil. Norman earned immortality by defeating the Conqueror, an undefeated champion, and he dedicated his life to defending the Mighty One.
Norman is usually serious but enjoys Max’s carefree teenage spirit. Norman’s adventures and battles through the years were the basis of numerous famous legends like Thor, Hercules, Lancelot, Samson, and Little John. Norman is very fearless but has a great fear of spiders. He is voiced by Richard Moll as an adult and Jason Marsden as a child.
The three main characters are often accompanied by Max’s mother, Bea, one of Max’s best friends; Felix, another friend of Max’s; and Thor, Max’s pet iguana.
The main antagonist of the series and the Mighty One’s number one nemesis is Skullmaster. He is an ancient sorcerer who destroyed the Lemurians to gain more power. He was imprisoned underground by Max’s predecessor Maximus and gained control of the inhabitants there, garnering himself a following of minions. He is highly manipulative and powerful and seeks to control the universe. He is voiced by Tim Curry.
Warmonger is a demon and Skullmaster’s main minion and errand-runner. He is cruel and sadistic and even tries to kill Skullmaster. He managed to do so but did not know what to do with his newfound power. Although Skullmaster’s death was a ruse, the sorcerer was proud of Warmonger for such a devious act. He is voiced by Rob Paulsen, the man who also voices our protagonist.
Max also fights some other independent villains like Cyberskull (voiced by Danny Goldman), Professor Eggbert Zygote (voiced by Kenneth Mars), Arachnoid (voiced by Rene Auberjonois), and more.
Marvelous Verdict: Darker and more suspenseful than predicted!
Mighty Max, while sounding like another dumb kid adventure animation in the vein of Captain Planet or Thundercats, was actually a very well-written series. It met the thirst for mythical stuff for any fantasy nerd and was written in a funny yet captivating manner.
The animation is fantastic. The character and background animation are excellent. Some of the gloomy hues really give this show a dark fantasy sense, which I adore since dark fantasy is sort of equal to neo-noir in that the world Max inhabits, despite being intriguing, still has indications of danger even from his own house.
The music is also excellent; it has a robust metal/rock soundtrack that, like the theme, matches the essence of the program because it shouts excitement, which this show offers. Mighty Max’s opening sequence perfectly sets the tone for each episode, and the incidental music never feels out of place. Mighty Max’s writing is one of its finest attributes: amusing, scary, touching, intellectual, and surprisingly informative. Also, it features some extraordinarily well-thought-out and fascinating plot lines.
The adventures are also what makes this show, most of them are random, but that’s a good thing because each episode is always a different adventure, making waiting for the next episode all the more exciting, making the viewers wonder what other monsters Max and company will face or what other dimension or place they will visit. There are many notable episodes and even arcs, such as one episode that was the show’s version of “The Magnificent Seven,” another episode where two versions of Max compete for the crown, which is a cliché plotline but a nice one reminding us why Max (the original one) is deserving.
The show’s ending was dark since it was all or nothing, but what made this episode stand out to me was the fact that an animated show had a denouement that was unusual for its day. The animation has some limited parts, with specific episodes lacking fluidity in the backdrops or with the odd static movement, but I always observed some outstanding visuals in action; the characters look great in general, especially Skullmaster, and there are some bright, ethereal colors.
Aside from the writing and characters, I must also commend the voice acting. Rob Paulsen is fantastic as Max, and he never feels over-the-top. As Virgil, Tony Jay matches him in every way, and Tim Curry’s ominous and distinct accent as Skullmaster is pitch-perfect.
While the show was mainly lighthearted and amusing, some viewers thought the brutality and descriptions of violent deeds were overdone. Many episodes opened with the main monster of the story slaughtering a victim. Aside from this, the show was quite popular and enjoyed by a variety of audiences, with adults coming across it even now and, thanks to YouTube, being able to watch the episodes, which sadly aren’t available on any DVDs or other places. It has earned its reputation, and no doubt remains a classic in the animation series world.
Is there a possibility of a reboot?
As many animated series from the 1990s are being revived or rumored to be so, there’s no question about veteran actor Rob Paulsen wanting a reboot of Mighty Max. Paulsen voiced the titular character. While speaking with Den of Geek, the voice actor mentioned roles he would like to do again. “I did a show years ago that I liked a lot called Mighty Max,” said the actor. “That was a really, really excellent show.
Tim Curry, Richard Moll, Tony Jay, and yours truly as the main characters. It was dark [and] pretty intense.” With such a star-studded cast, Mighty Max indeed was a masterpiece, and fans can hope that it is chosen to be rebooted, giving today’s generation a look into Max’s adventurous teenage life.
Mighty Max gave the audience a fun, time-traveling, albeit sometimes dark world, with Max going on many adventures and being a hero. No one probably expected the show to be so popular since its primary goal was to accompany and sell the toy line. It broke out of the money-monger shell it arose from and gave the world a genuinely splendid animated series.
Its premise and plot call for a reboot and would undoubtedly make for a popular animated series with the right direction. Fans of this forgotten gem certainly hope for a revival, and with so many old animated series being given the green light for a reboot, I know the Mighty Max lovers out there are dying for the blond teenage hero to make his well-deserved comeback into the world of animation.