StarBeam
StarBeam is a Canadian superhero animated web television series created for Netflix by Loris Lunsford and Jason Netter. The show follows Zoey (voiced by Nahanni Mitchell), a young girl who is a superheroine.[1][2]
StarBeam | |
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Genre | Animated Superhero Preschool Science fiction Animated sitcom |
Created by |
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Written by | Noelle Wright |
Directed by | Johnny Darrell |
Voices of |
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Theme music composer | Earworm Sound |
Opening theme | "StarBeam Theme" by Kathryn Rende |
Composer | Jim Latham |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 16 |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Editors |
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Running time | 11-14 minutes |
Production company | Kickstart Productions |
Distributor | Netflix |
Release | |
Original network | Netflix |
Picture format | HDTV 1080p |
Audio format | Stereo |
Original release | April 4, 2020 – present |
External links | |
Website |
The first season of the series premiered on Netflix on April 3, 2020,[3] followed by a second season on September 8, 2020. A Halloween special, StarBeam: Halloween Hero, was released on October 6, 2020.[4]
Synopsis
The show is based on Zoey, a girl in second grade. StarBeam, a superhero with unusual powers, including super-speed, super-strength, high-velocity wind breathing, and the power to build force fields with bubbles, is Zoey's alter-ego. With her catchphrase, "It's time to shine!" Zoey turns into StarBeam. Zoey inherited her superpowers from her superhero mother, WonderBeam, and follows the theme of family superheroes.
Only a few people are aware of her hidden existence in Zoey's world. These individuals include her "Gramps" non-superpower grandfather; her closest friend, Henry, a "Boost" superhero who invents devices that strengthen his superhero abilities; and a friend who gives moral encouragement, their seagull sidekick, "Kipper." Gramps, Boost, and Kipper, together, always assist Zoey to save the day.
Characters
- Zoey/StarBeam: The main heroine. Typically energetic and strong-willed, Zoey is very playful and excitable, though she doesn't like snails due to their slow and slimy nature. StarBeam's powers are bubble-based, though she also the ability to blow strong winds in addition to flight and super strength. StarBeam's suit has also changed appearances depending on the mission, from manifesting as a spacesuit to giving her a mermaid tail for underwater missions.
- Henry/Boost: The secondary main character. Henry is the son of Mayor Blumenshine, who is unaware of his superhero identity as much as Zoey's. Henry is relatively more scientific and down to earth than Zoey, but he does enjoy much of the same activities that she likes. Unlike StarBeam, Boost lacks natural superpowers, including super strength and flight, and instead uses a menagerie of high-tech gadgets and inventions to assist any way he can.
- Gramps: The fourth main character and the father of Zoey's mother, as well as Zoey's grandfather. Gramps lacks any superpowers compared to Zoey and her mom, but his main role is mission control; he works in Beam Control at the lighthouse to watch for villains and other emergencies. Gramps has a calming presence, and gives Zoey words of wisdom when things get hairy in a mission. In his downtime, he enjoys fishing at the dock outside.
- Kipper: The third main character and the only one other than Zoey and Henry to appear in every episode. Kipper is a seagull with the attitude of glutton who hangs around the lighthouse, being the pet-like resident of Zoey's household. Much like Gramps, he has no superpowers, but he does accompany StarBeam of her missions. Kipper is notably food-minded, as his primary motive, aside from helping StarBeam, is to constantly snack on miscellaneous foodstuffs, which can get him and/or the mission in big trouble.
- Zoey's Mom/WonderBeam: The fifth main character and Zoey's mother as well as Gramps' daughter. Zoey's mom cares very much about her family, but like Zoey, she is dedicated to her duty as a superheroine. She shares StarBeam's powers of super strength and flight, but she uses more laser-derived superpowers in contrast to StarBeam's bubbles. WonderBeam is the least recurring main character, only showing up in a handful of episodes per season.
- Captain Fishbeard: An overweight pirate who, much like a few species of birds, kleptomaniacally takes whatever shiny objects he sees, no matter how worthless much of them are. Fishbeard captains a flying pirate ship known as the Delores, and he has a lizard named Leonard instead of a parrot as with most pirates. Rather than a typical pirate accent, he uses a hoarse American accent whenever he speaks. Fishbeard appears the most out of the current villains, showing up in most of the episodes and the Halloween special.
- Miserable Marla: A blue-skinned girl with freckles and generally drab clothing. True to her name, Marla acts miserable when others are enjoying themselves, and she delights in spreading misery to the citizens of Somerset. Marla can levitate in mid-air, and while capable of generating wind, she primarily controls cloud-based weather, namely rain, snow or lightning as well as static electricity. She is sometimes accompanied by a number of sentient storm clouds, but she otherwise goes solo in her schemes. Marla is the only female villain featured in the series, and appears a few episodes short of matching Captain Fishbeard.
- Cosmic Crushter: A large muscular man. Crushter is highly arrogant and believes himself to be the best dancer in all of Somerset, usually arriving to a captive audience. Twice however,, his defeat comes from his overconfidence, which allows StarBeam and Boost to outsmart and defeat him. Cosmic Crushter has super strength and advanced dance moves, but his ego often hampers his performance. He only appears once in every season, and appears the least frequently compared to Miserable Marla and Captain Fishbeard.
- Ms. Winkleman:
- Mayor Blumenshine: The mayor of Somerset and the mother of Henry/Boost. As with much of the other characters, Blumenshine is unaware of Henry and Zoey's superhero identities, but she does appreciate their help to a great extent. Her name is a pun on the words "bloom and shine".
- Luna Diaz: An astronaut who works for an unknown space program in Somerset. Diaz was a local hero of the Somerset citizens, and she researched the possibilities of growing plants in outer space.
- Ms. Fawkes
Cast
- Nahanni Mitchell as Zoey (aka, the superhero StarBeam)
- Dean Petriw as Henry (aka, the superhero Boost)
- Sam Vincent as Kipper
- Terry Klassen as Gramps
- Diana Kaarina as Zoey's Mom (aka, the superhero WonderBeam)
- Laara Sadiq
- Maryke Hendriksen
- Ed Hughes
- Jaeda Lily Miller
- Abigail Journey Oliver
- Rhona Rees
- Zion Simpson
- Dominic Good
- Sarah Almonte Peguero
- Vincent Tong
- Mayumi Yoshida
- Sasha Duncan
- Dee See Four One Four
Episodes
Season | Episodes | Originally released | |||
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1 | 8 | April 4, 2020 | |||
2 | 8 | September 8, 2020 |
Season 1 (2020)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | |
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1 | 1 | "Something's Fishy" | April 4, 2020 | |
Captain Fishbeard begins stealing shiny objects all over Somerset on Fun Food Friday, and it is up to both StarBeam and Boost to try and stop him from stealing the city hall bell. | ||||
2 | 2 | "Gotcha Goop" | April 4, 2020 | |
On Gramps's birthday, Goop manages to enter the lighthouse on a mission from Todd to infiltrate Beam Control, forcing StarBeam, Boost and WonderBeam to find him before he gets the key needed to free Todd and before the birthday party begins. | ||||
3 | 3 | "Picture Day" | April 4, 2020 | |
Miserable Marla sets out to ruin picture day by overloading the school building with static electricity. While Henry tries to fix things in the classroom, StarBeam must figure out how to stop the static storm. | ||||
4 | 4 | "Spaced Out" | April 4, 2020 | |
Local Somerset astronaut Luna Diez encounters a meteor shower that dislodges the fuel tank from her space shuttle, and with Kipper by her side, StarBeam sets out to make sure Diez returns safely with Boost transmitting repair instructions from Beam Control. | ||||
5 | 5 | "Dancing Shoes" | April 4, 2020 | |
Zoey is struggling to master a move for her dance recital, so Henry gives her some high-tech dance shoes to help her practice. Unfortunately, Zoey chooses to use them in the recital, and stuck to her feet they begin malfunctioning just as Cosmic Crushter begins attack the school before the recital, and even as StarBeam they remain stuck on her. | ||||
6 | 6 | "Delores in Distress" | April 4, 2020 | |
After Captain Fishbeard steals a jewel from a volcanic island, the island begins attacking him for his misdeed and he is forced to return it with the help of StarBeam. | ||||
7 | 7 | "Critter Sitter" | April 4, 2020 | |
Zoey has to take care of Quincy the classroom caterpillar for one day, but he ends up hatching out of his chrysalis and flies out into town as a butterfly. Zoey is then forced to chase him as StarBeam to get him back, with Boost and Kipper by her side. | ||||
8 | 8 | "Super Sniffles" | April 4, 2020 | |
Zoey's mom has contracted the super sniffles and can't control her powers. While Henry and Gramps try to modify a citron fruit to make a super tea, Zoey has to struggle to keep her mom in bed, which gets harder as Miserable Marla sets out to worsen WonderBeam's condition. |
Season 2 (2020)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | |
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9 | 1 | "Friendsnatcher from Outer Space" | September 8, 2020 | |
A mysterious meteorite arrives on planet Earth and is revealed to be a UFO. The extraterrestrial inside also seems interested in a meteor in the Somerset museum, forcing StarBeam and Boost to try and keep him out of trouble. | ||||
10 | 2 | "Superfan" | September 8, 2020 | |
Zoey has to deal with a StarBeam Superfan just as Cosmic Crushter begins causing problems, also almost coming to harm's way as StarBeam tries to stop him. | ||||
11 | 3 | "Clean Machine" | September 8, 2020 | |
Zoey and Henry end up making a supersized mess in the house and when Henry's cleaning robot goes haywire, StarBeam and Boost must hurry before Zoey's mom returns. | ||||
12 | 4 | "Mother's Day Mayhem" | September 8, 2020 | |
Zoey and Henry plan on gifting flowers to their mothers on Mother's Day, but Miserable Marla finds beautiful flowers to be repulsive, and StarBeam and Boost are forced to try and stop her from flooding the community garden and ruining the flowers. | ||||
13 | 5 | "Whale Tale" | September 8, 2020 | |
StarBeam and Boost set off underwater to help a whale calf tangled in a fishing net, but the young aquatic mammal keeps swimming away. | ||||
14 | 6 | "Fishstick Fiasco" | September 8, 2020 | |
It's fishstick Friday at lunchtime, and Captain Fishbeard is hoarding all off the fishticks he can find. To save the day, StarBeam must teach him the value of sharing with others. | ||||
15 | 7 | "Snacktime for Stewart" | September 8, 2020 | |
StarBeam must find a runaway sea snail before he dies. Already not a fan of snails, things get problematic when the snail is enlarged by a mistaken shot from Boost's new invention. | ||||
16 | 8 | "Super Playdate" | September 8, 2020 | |
Twin classmates arrive at the lighthouse for a playdate, but Goop manages to enter the premises, forcing StarBeam and Boost to send him on his way before things take a turn for the worst. |
Specials
No. | Title | Original release date | |
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S1 | "Starbeam: Halloween Hero" | October 6, 2020 | |
Halloween is essentially ruined for the people of Somerset when Captain Fishbeard steals all the candy and the prize for a cosume contest, forcing StarBeam and Boost to step into action. Kipper, meanwhile, sets out to try and steal candy from a bowl that Gramps set up specifically for Trick-or-treaters, but the gluttonous seagull is consistently foiled. |
References
- "Stream It Or Skip It: 'StarBeam' on Netflix, a Cheery You-Go-Girl Kiddie Superhero Cartoon". Decider. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- "StarBeam review – will it distract your children for long enough to preserve your sanity?". Ready Steady Cut. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- Dutta, Anisha (2020-09-07). "Starbeam Season 2 Release Date, Cast, Netflix, New Season 2020". The Cinemaholic. Retrieved 2020-09-17.
- https://ew.com/movies/coming-to-netflix-october-2020/