For creating beloved masterpieces like the 1985 French-American animated television series M.A.S.K. and everyone’s favorite Dennis the Menace, among a host of other animated shows, the now defunct DIC Entertainment Corporation is still well-remembered.
However, in today’s episode, we will be discussing the 1997 short-lived Mummies Alive! Series from the animation company, which was initially created with an older audience in mind. There is no doubting that the content was toned down for youngsters, yet dramaturgical and philosophical depth were nonetheless strongly emphasized.
The story, which Eric wrote and Julia Lewald and Mark Edens, features a young boy from the present day collaborating with time-displaced Mummy warriors to combat the wicked sorcerer, Scarab.
There is obviously a lot more to the story, and the show ended up producing 42 thrilling episodes. This takes us to the topic of today’s film, where we will go into great length regarding the animation, its best episodes, and several extremely intriguing facts that we are rather certain you were unaware of!
Did you prepare? So then, let us get started!
What Is Mummies Alive (1997) Cartoon Television Series All About?
To provide you a thorough understanding of the animated series, we have chosen to break down the first three episodes. The opening theme music for the series is a real banger, and it also has an absolutely amazing chorus. The first episode itself creates the atmosphere, and you find that you have rather high expectations. It starts with Harris Stone coming to an Egyptian tomb with the title “Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra.”
Stone is adamant about opening the tomb despite the local guide’s advice not to do so because it has a seal on it. He examines it more closely and reads the written warning. However, the door flings open before he can finish reading. He enters against the others’ warnings not to, only to be saddened to see the 3500-year-old crypt empty. In addition, he discovers that instead of hieroglyphs, the walls are written with hash marks, as if someone had been keeping track of the days. Stone is heard screaming as an evil-looking monster comes from behind.
What precisely happened to him is unknown. Presley Carnovan, a young child, and his pal Walter are seen skateboarding around San Francisco in the present day in the following scene. He visits the neighbourhood museum where his mother works. Presley finds Amanda on the phone discussing a forthcoming Rapses Exhibit, steals some cash out of her bag, and goes to the museum cafeteria to get something to eat.
Presley originally assumes his friend Walter is pulling a prank on him as a weird voice echoes behind him. Once more hearing the voice, he begins to follow it through the brand-new Rapses display, passing past the Shabti lining on either side of the hall and treating them like regular statues. He walks inside a room that is decorated with numerous Egyptian hieroglyphs, artefacts, statues, and sarcophagi, giving the impression that he is in a tomb.
Presley becomes agitated and terrified all at once when the voice starts talking to him again and says, “Goodbye, my son.” He then decides to go but trips over the cat sarcophagus that belonged to Prince Rapses. Despite the fact that he despises cats, he becomes a little emotional and notices that things are beginning to seem a little strange. Unbeknownst to Presley, he starts to give off a weird glow while being seen by someone else.
The boy starts to leave the room, but a Shabti materialises and assaults him before he can. Presley is absolutely horrified and runs up to a security guard asking for his help, only to realize that he too is a Shabti and goes back inside. Not knowing what to do, he decides to hide himself inside an empty sarcophagus. Without warning, he is pulled out by someone who addresses him as prince and himself as his old pal, Scarab.
As Presley continues to struggle to set himself free from his grip, Scarab tells him how the former’s father entombed him for 3500 years. Of course, this comes as a total shock to Presley and he can neither make the head or tail of his story. While this conversation is going on, four sarcophagi at the back are seen to get open without the duo’s knowledge and with Presley crying out for help, four extremely bright beams of light, each emitting from the sarcophagus, knock both Presley and Scarab down. When the light subsides, four Mummies are seen standing in its place.
Suddenly, the quartet is heard shouting, ‘With the strength of Ra’, and each of them is seen resorting to the power of an Egyptian God and armouring themselves up. The transformation is indeed magnificent and what follows next is an intense battle. On witnessing his army get easily defeated by the Mummies, Scarab transforms too. His body gets covered by gold and purple-hued armor and it is fair to say that his transformation makes him look a lot like a scarab beetle.
Possessing the ability to fly, Scarab grabs Presley and blasts a hole up on the ceiling with the sole purpose of escaping with the boy only to get stopped by one of the mummies called Ja-Kal. Scarab vows to come back and is seen to fly away. Presley, post realizing that the Mummies are the good guys suggests to them that they should all get out of there before someone arrives and sees the messed up place.
With the help of Kahti, the scared cat, the group makes their way out of the ceiling opening minutes before the police arrives. The armoured Mummies are seen reverting back to their regular Mummy selves much to the surprise of Presley, who inevitably asks them how they do it. The Mummies call it magic – the magic which gives them their strength. But it is limited and when it wanes, they have to rest in their sarcophagi to renew it.
Presley decides to take them to his house for the time-being and soon learns of his true identity; he is the reincarnated version of Prince Rapses, the only son of Pharaoh Amenhotep. Of course, he doesn’t believe them and tells them that he has never even been to Egypt. The leader of the Mummies introduces himself as Ja-Kal and the rest as Armon, Rath and Nefer.
It takes Presely only a split second to figure out that Nefer is in reality a girl, and points that out. This comes as a major blow to the rest and Nefer introduces herself as Nefer-Tina. She has been pretending to be a man all this while because women back then weren’t allowed to drive the chariots of the Pharaoh. She further adds that Prince Rapses knew about it even back then.
Back at the museum, Harris Stone is seen to arrive; he is not only one of the major benefactors for the museum but also the identity Scarab has taken over back since the real Harris Stone had discovered his crypt. Stone informs the museum curator Mr. Hepplewhite along with Amanda that considering the safety of the treasures of Rapses, he will be sending the entire exhibit back to Egypt that very night.
Amanda protests and tells him that the exhibit has just opened to which Stone says that it is he who is paying for the exhibit. He further hands over a cheque of ten million dollars to take care of their obligations. Later with Amanda coming home, Presley learns about the whole exhibit being shipped back to Egypt that night, and informs the mummies. Presley comes back to the museum along with the Mummies to see their sarcophagi being loaded into a truck.
The Mummies tell him that they cannot return to Egypt as their job is to stay there and protect him. Ja-Kal tells Presley that the sarcophagus of Rapses was brought here with the sole purpose of luring him into the open. With the Mummies realizing that they need their sarcophagi in order to recharge their magic, they decide to stop the truck. With Nefer-Tina addressing Mr. Hepplewhite’s car outside as a horseless chariot, Rath activates the car using a spell and no points for guessing who takes the wheel.
Inspired by the ‘tiny people’ she has been seeing ‘driving horseless chariots’ in the ‘spirit box’ she drives the car terribly if we may add, and almost hits a child only to make use of her whip lash in the last minute and turn around the car somehow. The group eventually catches up with the truck and Nefer-Tina hands over the wheels to Presley before climbing up on the moving truck.
The rest of the Mummies climb aboard too and enter the truck from above to recharge themselves. However, the truck gets stopped by Shabtis dressed up as police officers and they easily overpower the drivers. Scarab arrives too, transformed, and orders his army to destroy the truck and everything in it. Presley attempts to stop them only to get surrounded by Scarab and his army.
But by then, the Mummies have easily managed to recharge themselves and now they even have a new punch line, ‘let’s kick tut’. For those who do not get the reference and we highly doubt if there’s any, tut goes with butt so now you know. Anyway, there’s another fierce battle between the mummies and Scarab along with his army. While the army is hell bent on destroying the truck for obvious reasons, Nefer-Tina takes on the wheels yet again with the rest of the Mummies landing on the roof.
The fight seems to have moved up on the roof as well. There comes a point when Presley is literally thrown out of the truck and hangs by the window. He would have gotten hit by a street sign had Ja-Kal not pulled him up to safety up on the truck rooftop. However, Scarab appears and blasts at Ja-Kal knocking him down only to knock himself down when the truck passes under a low hanging overpass.
Scarab promises to destroy the Mummies even if that meant shattering the world. As for the Mummies, they drop Presley back to his home. With Presley asking them where will they go, they tell him that it is their responsibility to take care of him and that they will be close by.
The second episode titled, ‘Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian’ begins with Presley using the Eye of Ra amulet and gaining access inside the museum. Rath tells him that it’s the only thing which stands between him and Scarab and that he has charged the amulet with special energies found in a scroll that the Pharaoh left for them. The amulet is what keeps Presley blurred from Scarab’s sight and at the same time helps the Mummies keep an eye on him.
Speaking of Scarab, of course, he is unable to trace the boy and with his magical speaking snake cum staff passing sarcastic remarks at him and calling his situation a ‘living nightmare’, an evil idea crosses through his mind. Scarab spits out a living nightmare scorpion and further sends his shadow to deliver the living nightmare to the boy.
The scorpion stings him and Presley falls into what seems to be like an entranced state. He seems to be day-dreaming about how his spirit’s past life came to be; so in his dream-like state, he is Prince Rapses and sees everybody starting from his mother, Scarab and each of the Mummies in their previous lives. The events in his dream seem to be taking place 3500 years ago. We learn that Scarab was the Pharaoh’s most trusted advisor and even back then, Rapses wasn’t really a fan of him.
As we further move ahead into the events of the episode, we also learn about Rapses’ conversation with Nefer-Tina – the fact that he knew she was a girl and was just pretending to be a boy since it was against the law for girls to drive chariots. Next, he is seen learning his lessons from his tutor, one who happens to be none other than Rath. With Rath teaching him how to transform a staff into a snake, Presley ends up repeating a magical chant that eventually turns his teacher’s pointer stick into a real snake.
Armon’s lessons of combat helps Presley flip a school student calling it Egypt-Tsu. Later with Ja-Kal asking Rapses if he would like to test his skills as a hunter, the latter is euphoric and decides to join him after changing his clothes. However, on the way to his room, he meets Scarab who tells him that his father wishes to meet him in secret and that he is waiting for him in the desert.
Apparently, there’s some conspiracy going on in the palace and that’s the sole reason that his father wishes to talk to him somewhere else in private. The dream sequence also gives us a glimpse of Ja-Kal’s wife Tia and their newborn son, Padget. Eventually, the viewers along with Presley are drawn to the scene where Scarab has brought the young prince under the pretence of making him meet his father. Presley, on the other hand, is simultaneously drawn to the rooftop of an abandoned building that has Scarab impatiently waiting for him.
As for the Mummies, they are also able to figure out that something is wrong and with Presley not having returned from school yet, they take up the ‘Save the Sphinx’ signboards and march along with the other protestors while looking for Presley. In his dream state, Presley finally arrives at the scene that shows Rapses reaching on top of a mountain and calling out his father only to realize that it was just his father’s illusion created by the evil sorcerer, Scarab, who reveals his real intentions.
Thank god for the Mummies, who manage to arrive on the roof top just before Scarab is about to remove Rapses’ soul from a still-in-trance Presley. With Scarab calling out his army of Shabti to deal with the Mummies, the quartet is seen to transform and no points for guessing the epic battle which follows. Presley is also seen to finally wake up from his dream-like state and is able to put the pieces together.
Scarab is seen to transform too and knocks Ja-Kal down telling him that after he is done with the boy, he will anyway not have the need for any guardians. As a Shabti is about to grab Presley, Armon picks it up and hurls it at Scarab. This gives Ja-Kal enough time to come back to his group and protect Presley. An infuriated Scarab orders his army to crush them and push them over the edge of the roof.
But Presley kicks a water tower which collapses on the roof itself. The result of this happens to be all the Shabti getting washed away by the force of the water, which also includes Scarab and he is seen falling down from the roof. A news report later states the mayor’s declaration that the Sphinx will not be demolished for the time being. Rath and Armon, who are seen watching the news are pretty surprised to find themselves both on the tv and inside the Sphinx too at the same time. Rath finds the whole thing too complicated to explain.
Presley is later seen asking Ja-Kal if the dream that he saw was real; the latter tells him that it was and that they couldn’t save him. When he takes the blame on him, Presley asks him about his family to which Ja-Kal replies that he does not know what happened to them. The episode ends with Presley promising Ja-Kal to make it up to him someday.
The third episode titled, ‘Pack to the Future’ begins with a flashback, one that has Amenhotep entombing Scarab alive after the latter took his son’s life. The next scene brings the viewers back to the present times and shows Scarab waking up screaming. Clearly, he has been having those nightmares and he is thinking of all the possible ways to lay his hands on the boy.
Speaking of Presley, he is seen telling the Mummies about his camping trip to Yosemite with his mom. He forbids his protectors from following him and tells them that if Scarab plans any kind of attack on him, he would simply call for help using the amulet. Of course, this makes the Mummies super anxious and they end up sending Kahti to Presley’s camping trip without him knowing anything. They also make the scared cat wear the ‘Eye of Horus’ so as to keep a track of everything.
Scarab, on the other hand, uses a spell and summons the ‘Trackers of Souls’ from the Western Gate to track down Presley. The group initially consists of Set, Anubis, Wolf Deity and Bull Deity but they are soon joined by another mythological creature, Ammut, who decides to tag along with them. Picking up on Presley’s scent, the pack is seen eventually reaching the camping site.
As for Presley, he suddenly finds Kahti inside the sleeping tent and goes outside leaving his amulet behind. Thinking the Mummies have followed him there, he calls them out but gets surrounded by the ‘Trackers of Soul’ instead. Meanwhile, Rath is able to figure out the route to Yosemite and the Mummies decide to drive down via their Mummy-mobile to the camping site.
The pack attempts to trap Presley who manage to escape them by a whisker only to fall into a river and swim towards a waterfall. He is just about to fall into the waterfall when Kahti ends up saving him. As the duo start running to get out of the woods, they reach a dead end.
The pack has also caught up with them by then. Suddenly, Kahti is seen to transform into a bigger and more powerful lynx-sized cat so as to protect Presley but it doesn’t really help because by then a transformed Scarab along with his army of Shabti has also reached the venue. Scarab shoots a blast at Kahti and nearly knocks the cat off the cliff but Presley is able to pull her up after she transforms back to her usual self.
But just when you think that Presley is about to meet his end at the hands of Scarab, his protectors are seen to arrive. Presley jumps into the car along with Kahti but with Scarab firing another laser beam at the car, the Mummies get out and transform themselves in their armour.
No points for guessing, it’s another intense battle and the Mummies are successful in defeating the pack and even sending them back through the Western Gate except for Ammut who is seen to run away. As for Scarab, he is seen to fly away too. Ja-Kal tells Presley never to venture so far again and that he must stay by his side so that he can watch over him like a father watches over a son.
Clearly, Presley doesn’t mind that and upon reaching his camp, he is seen falling dead on his camp bed the same time Amanda is seen to wake up. The episode ends with Ammut having followed Scarab back to his den and the latter finally realizing that it is the eclipse that will be the end of the boy and the beginning of his immortality.
Cartoon Main Characters and Cast
Presley Carnovan
Our central character here is a 12-year-old boy living in San Francisco with his mother. He is the reincarnated version of Prince Rapses, the heir to the Egyptian throne some 3,500 years back. However, the young prince was killed by the wicked sorcerer, Scarab, who wanted to become immortal.
Coming back to the storyline of the cartoon series, Presley learns about his real identity when the Mummies end up saving him from the wrath of Scarab in the very first episode and introduce themselves as his protective guardians. Presley, in most cases, is usually seen to be both unwilling and hesitant towards accepting his role as ‘Prince Rapses’ except for two particular incidents, which certainly deserve a mention.
The first one is when Amenhotep makes an appearance through the Western Gate and the second instance is when the original Rapses gets drawn into the present world. Both the times, Presley is seen displaying a complete lack of enthusiasm at losing his standing as the ‘pharaoh’ because to be very honest, it would have led him to losing his friends – the Mummies too and his bond with them is shown to get deeper and deeper with each episode.
The character is voiced by Bill Switzer who by the way is also quite famous for portraying the character of Harvey Kinkle in Sabrina: The Animated Series and the superhero Cannonball in X-Men: Evolution.
Scarab
Say hello to the primary antagonist of the cartoon series, who was once the most trusted royal advisor of the Pharaoh. But Scarab had his wicked intentions; he craved a position even higher than the one he was given and soon devised a plan to use magic in order to retain his youth as well as rule Egypt as a Pharaoh. The only thing that stood in his way as a prickly thorn was Amenhotep’s son, Prince Rapses, and Scarab realized that he had to get the young prince out of his way to execute his plans.
Under the pretense of making him meet his father, Scarab was effectively able to lure the young prince to a secluded place away from his protective guardians and suck the life force from Rapses in order to stay young and immortal. The guardians could not save Rapses and in the process lost their lives at the hand of the evil sorcerer. His crimes were eventually discovered by the Pharaoh who had him entombed alive as an act of punishment. Amenhotep had even put a seal on his tomb stating whoever opened it would be cursed.
Post a few centuries, Scarab’s effects started wearing off and he began to grow old inside his crypt. With Harris Stone discovering and opening his tomb in the year 1928, Scarab attacks him and takes over his identity. Over the years, Scarab as Stone has become a wealthy millionaire and post discovering that Prince Rapses has reincarnated as Presley Carnovan, he makes up his mind to steal his spirit yet again.
Making use of the money and knowledge that he has acquired over the years, Scarab is seen going to great extents to capture Presley and terminate the Mummies. He is also capable of transforming himself into what looks a lot similar to a scarab beetle and he is shown to flaunt a gold and purple armour that gives him the ability to fly as well as fire laser beams at his enemies.
As a highly skilled sorcerer, he is capable of summoning various mythological creatures and also has an army of Shabti at his service. Please note that he also has quite a good hold over modern technology and in case we have missed out, he actually has a magical speaking snake cum staff called Heka who actually has an ability to spit fire. Gerard Plunkett voices the character
Ja-Kal
The Pharaoh’s royal hunter became the leader of the Mummies and is seen transforming using the spirit of a falcon. His armour lets him fly and his main weapons happen to be his exceedingly sharp claws and a bow capable of shooting flaming arrows. He is extremely protective of Presley Carnovan and is usually seen acting as a father figure to him. In fact, it is mostly Ja-Kal who is seen standing between Presley’s safety and his death in the hands of the evil sorcerer; he is the sole reason Scarab’s sinister plans have always failed.
It is the second episode of the series that gives us a glimpse of his wife Tia, and their newborn son, Padget, and it is a pity that he dies not knowing what happened to his family. For someone who will always put the need of others before him, Ja-Kal will choose to sacrifice himself without the slightest bit of hesitation if it comes to saving others. But having said that, he is also quite sharp-minded and will always think of the best possible way to defeat his enemies. The cartoon series also takes a pretty interesting turn when Ja-Kal’s older evil brother, Arakh, is finally revealed.
The character is voiced by the Canadian voice actor, Dale Wilson who is also famous for lending his voice to characters Capt. Grid-Iron, Mutt, Overkill and Skydive in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero.
Rath
As the Pharaoh’s chief scribe and sorcerer, Rath is the wittiest amongst all the mummies known for his spell-casting abilities and often regards himself as a know-it-all. While it is true that not much is known in particular about his past life, but we do know that the Pharaoh assigned him to teach Rapses all about ancient Egyptian magic.
One of his former students, Chantra, also deserves a special mention here; Rath was both proud and fond of Chantra but with the former dedicating most of his time to Rapses after the Pharaoh asked him to be the young prince’s tutor, Chantra felt betrayed. Rath was forced to end his relationship with Chantra which obviously infuriated the latter and she promised to take his vengeance on him for walking away from her.
Coming back to the storyline of Rath, he was mummified along with the other guardians after being killed in a battle against Scarab’s forces only to reawaken years later to safeguard the modern day reincarnation of Prince Rapses in San Fracisco. Rath is seen using the spirit of a snake when he transforms and it is a golden cobra that wraps around him and serves as his armour.
His primary weapon happens to be a sword that can, no points for guessing, change itself into a snake. As mentioned before, Rath is the only one among the mummies to be able to use magical spells, being in possession of a horde of ancient scrolls. He has also been successful in learning to blend ancient Egyptian magic with modern day technology and has his engineering skills on display while building the Hot-Ra.
His character is voiced by the celebrated Scott McNeil, who has also lent his voice for characters Set and Bob in the cartoon series. Besides Mummies Alive!, he is notable for his work in Dragon Ball Z, Beast Wars: Transformers, X-Men: Evolution, Inuyasha and Fullmetal Alchemist amongst others.
Armon
As a warrior in the Pharaoh’s royal army, Armon had lost his right arm while fighting one of his battles. The Pharaoh had given him a magical golden arm that he could use as a substitute. Armon was even assigned as the young prince’s bodyguard as well as his Egypt-Tsu trainer.
After his death in the battle against Scarab’s forces, the Pharaoh mummified him along with the other guardians and he reawakened years later with the sole goal of protecting the reincarnated son of the Pharaoh. Armon is seen using the spirit of a ram to transform and his primary weapon happens to be his golden arm that he can use both as a drill as well as a propeller.
Conclusively, the strongest amongst the Mummies, he is powerful even when he isn’t beefed up with his armour. It’s fair to address him as a gentle giant, one that loves to eat and spend time watching things on the ‘magic box’ aka the television. While, he isn’t really the sharpest in the group, he does like to punch his way through a problem, something that usually works out in his favour. Graeme Kingston voices him.
Nefer-Tina
Okay, first things first, she is the only female member of the Mummies, something that came as a shock to the trio of Ja-Kal, Rath and Armon when Presley pointed that out. A little bit of digging leads us to her childhood where we learn that she was the only child and that her father always wanted a son in the first place. So, it’s quite obvious that he was never really proud of her.
Nefer-Tina, on the other hand, wanted to prove that she was capable of doing all the things that a man does so she ended up disguising herself as a man wearing a head piece and started driving chariots and addressing herself as Nefer. After she won the Nile Valley Championship, she became the Pharaoh’s chariot driver and the fact that she was brilliant at it made the Pharaoh choose her to be one of the prince’s protectors.
Well, it was the prince who knew about Nefer-Tina’s secret identity and using that as leverage, he made her teach him how to drive a chariot. Cut to present, she is seen reawakening along with the other guardian protectors and like the rest, swearing to defend Presley. Nefer-Tina is seen using the spirit of a cat to transform and the armour gives her sharp claws, which can easily cut through anything.
Her primary weapon happens to be a whip, one that she is quite efficient with. As someone who is free-spirited, Nefer-Tina is more than willing to try anything that’s new. She eventually becomes quite proficient driving the Hot-Ra too. At the end of the day, she boasts a very strong soul, one that always makes her do what is right for her friends.
Her character is voiced by Cree Summer, who is quite famous for lending her voice in popular shows such as Inspector Gadget, Sonic the Hedgehog, Gargoygles, Superman: The Animated Series, The Incredible Hulk, ThunderCats, Rick and Morty, Avengers Assemble, and Teen Titans Go! amongst many more.
What Went Wrong With The Cartoon?
Well, it is a known thing that Eric and Julia Lewald, the writers as well as producers of Mummies Alive! were also the head writers of the third season of the popular Gargoyles series. So to those who have seen both the animated series will clearly be able to figure out that the 1997 cartoon shared a hell lot of similarities in terms of the plot elements. So there are these warriors awakening from the past in the present, similar mission, an immortality-obsessed enemy, the initial hitches in getting used to the modern world, the various usage of mythological creatures – these are just a few basic instances and no way can these be coincidences! Of course, these made Mummies Alive! Look like a clone of Gargoyles.
Best Episodes Not To Miss
Here’s the list of our top 10 favourite episodes ranked in order. Please make sure that you don’t miss them and if you happen to have a different list, do not hesitate to share them with us in the comments section.
‘Pack to the Future’ – Episode 3
‘The Gift of Geb’ – Episode 4
‘Desert Chic’ – Episode 5
‘Body Slam’ – Episode 9
‘The Face in the Mirror’ – Episode 16
‘Sleep Walk Like an Egyptian’ – Episode 2
‘Paws’ – Episode 10
‘Dead Man Walking’ – Episode 7
‘The Curse of Sekhmet’ – Episode 11
‘Family Feud: Part 1 – Brothers’s Keeper’ – Episode 38
Interesting Facts About The Cartoon
Well to begin with, if you take a closer look at the name of the central character here – Presley Carnovan, both the names share some great references. The first is obviously Elvis Presley and his well-known abode in Memphis, Tennessee, which happens to share the same name with an ancient city in Lower Egypt. The second happens to be George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert 5th Earl of Carnovan, an aristocratic benefactor of the archaeologist Howard Carter. In case you did not know both are given credits for discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings back in the year 1922.
Next, in case you were not aware of, the series’ voice work was actually done in Canada, one of the main reasons why Mummies Alive! is often addressed as a Canadian series.
Then there’s Shabti, which is often considered to be a work of pure fiction. But, in reality, they are actually based on the painted wooden figurines of servants and workers who were placed inside the Egyptian tombs to do the work for the dead.
Lastly, the producers of the show purposely chose 1525 B.C. as the time period post doing a fair share of research about ancient Egyptian history. There are facts that prove that the Pharaoh Amenhotep the First reigned from the period 1549 B.C. to 1526 B.C. In the series, Amenhotep is shown to be the father of Prince Rapses and we all know how the story turned out to be. As for the real events taking place in the life of the Pharaoh, his son had also died but in infancy, which points out to the simple fact that Amenhotep actually died without a surviving heir. Does it ring a bell?
The Future Of Mummies Alive!
Remember the part where we told you that the cartoon series was initially geared towards an older production but it was during the time of production that Mummies Alive! Chiefly became a children’s show. So, don’t be surprised when we tell you that of course, there was a second series which was planned. And, if we are not wrong, a total number of 65 episodes were planned to be produced out of which only 42 were generated. An interview of Andy Heyward has Heyward himself confirming the original number. The series was eventually canceled and the blame was given to its low ratings.
DIC Entertainment’s Mummies Alive! was part of a general trend of mummy mania in the 1990s pop culture. Boasting an intriguing premise, a bunch of interesting characters with power ranger-style armour transformations and an impressive opening theme song with a mind-blowing chorus, the cartoon series was categorically entertaining!