Wing Commander Academy

Wing Commander Academy is a 1996 American animated television series created and produced by Universal Cartoon Studios, along with a team led by Larry Latham.[1] The show was based on the Wing Commander franchise and loosely served as a prequel to Wing Commander. The show's aired from September 21 to December 21, 1996 on the USA Network's "USA Action Extreme Team" block.[2]

For video game spin-off of Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi, see Wing Commander Academy (video game).
Wing Commander Academy
Title screen
GenreAnimated television series
Science fiction
Created byUniversal Cartoon Studios
NBC Universal
Directed byLarry Latham
Voices ofMark Hamill
Tom Wilson
Malcolm McDowell
Dana Delany
Kevin Schon
Lauri Hendler
ComposerAlexander van Bubenheim
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
ProducerLarry Latham
Running time22 minutes
Production companyUniversal Cartoon Studios
DistributorMCA TV
Release
Original networkUSA Network
Original releaseSeptember 21 (1996-09-21) –
December 21, 1996 (1996-12-21)
Chronology
Related showsWing Commander (franchise)

The series featured many spacecraft introduced in the Wing Commander video games. The Scimitar and Broadsword were the primary fighters and bombers flown by the main characters, with the Dralthi and Grikath fulfilling those roles for the Kilrathi. As in Wing Commander I, the TCS Tiger's Claw was a Bengal class strike carrier. Individual episodes also featured cameo appearances from ships introduced in later games such as Wing Commander III's Arrow, Hellcat and Longbow and Wing Commander IV's Avenger. None of these ships are mentioned by name. A number of new capital ships were introduced by the series including the Achilles class destroyer and the Agan Ra Sivar class dreadnaught.

Episode list
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
01"Red and Blue"TBATBASeptember 21, 1996 (1996-09-21)
Blair and Maniac are assigned to the Tiger's Claw for training.
02"The Last One Left"TBATBASeptember 28, 1996 (1996-09-28)
Maverick and Maniac are captured by Daimon Karnes (voiced by Ron Perlman), a missing legendary space fighter pilot who became disillusioned with the war and turned to piracy.
03"The Most Delicate Instrument"TBATBAOctober 5, 1996 (1996-10-05)
Mentally unbalanced from stellar phenomena, four cadets begin to exhibit erratic behavior.
04"Word of Honor"TBATBAOctober 12, 1996 (1996-10-12)
Blair and Grunt crashland on an alien world, but they're not alone...
05"Lords of the Sky"TBATBAOctober 19, 1996 (1996-10-19)
Blair and Maniac land on an alien world where the local savages worship the dastardly "Lords of the Sky."
06"Chain of Command"TBATBANovember 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)
Tolwyn meets an old "friend"- who just happens to outrank him now!
07"Expendable"TBATBANovember 9, 1996 (1996-11-09)
Blair and Payback scout an unstable jump node.
08"Recreation"TBATBANovember 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)
The crew of the Claw discovers a mysterious being in suspended animation aboard a derelict space capsule.
09"Walking Wounded"TBATBANovember 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)
Maniac scores guard duty on a crippled medical ship.
10"On Both Your Houses"TBATBANovember 30, 1996 (1996-11-30)
Blair, Maniac, and Archer pursue Kilrathi fighters to a lush tropical planet where things are not as they seem
11"Invisible Enemy"TBATBADecember 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)
The Kilrathi have a new and terrible weapon: the Stealth Fighter.
12"Price of Victory"TBATBADecember 14, 1996 (1996-12-14)
Blair crashes on an ice world, where he meets an unusual Kilrathi who just happens to have an agenda...
13"Glory of Sivar"TBATBADecember 21, 1996 (1996-12-21)
Blair and Grunt land on the planet Dolos- and find themselves surrounded by fur!

Home media

On March 6, 2012, Visual Entertainment released Wing Commander Academy- The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 for the first time.[3] On July 15, 2020, the series became available on the Peacock streaming service.

Crossover

The episode 8, "Recreation" is the final part of a 4-episode crossover with 3 other shows that aired as part of the US "Action Extreme Team" programming block:[4]

References
  1. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 909–910. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 699–700. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2011-10-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Warrior King: The Forgotten Street Fighter / Mortal Kombat Crossover". Den of Geek. 2017-05-13. Retrieved 2020-06-25.
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