Pole Position is an animated series produced by DIC Enterprises and MK Company. The series is loosely based on the arcade racing video game series Pole Position, the name of which was licensed from Namco to capitalize on its popularity. The game and the show have very little in common, other than Wheels being red as in Pole Position and Roadie being blue as in Pole Position II.
Production
This show was produced by DIC Audiovisuel's American branch DIC Enterprises in association with Japanese studio MK Company. The animation services were provided by Artmic, Mushi Production, and K.K. DIC Asia. The character designs were provided by Filipino cartoonist Jesse Santos, and the mechanical designs were provided by Artmic's co-founder Shinji Aramaki.
Broadcast
Pole Position ran for 13 episodes on CBS in 1984 as part of its Saturday morning children's programming line-up. The show had reruns for a few months on Showtime Family-Time Presentation in 1986, followed by a run on The Family Channel (now Freeform) from the late 1980s through the early 1990s.
It was also shown in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, at first on Saturday Superstore in 1986 and in the CBBC strand, then was repeated in the early 1990s on Saturday mornings as part of Going Live on BBC1.
Plot
The show features the Darretts, a family of stunt-driving crime fighters, who investigated and thwarted wrongdoing while operating under the front of a traveling show known as the "Pole Position Stunt Show", which was sponsored by the United States government in order to give cover for their investigative activity and provide maintenance for the high-demand vehicles. The Darretts had two adult children and a third child who was much younger in age. A road accident ended the life of the parents, and the father's younger brother, known as Uncle Zack, took charge of the stunt show. He said that now that the patriarch and his wife were dead, it was incumbent upon the two adult children, Tess and Dan, to continue their parents' dangerous and proud work.
The vehicles feature numerous hidden gadgets like water skis and hover jets. The vehicles' computers themselves are portable and can be removed from the dashboards and carried around using handles—thus they are often referred to as "the modules". The modules are characters appearing as talking computer-drawn faces displayed on video screens.
Characters
Tess Darrett – Tess is the older sister of Dan and Daisy and the de facto leader of the group who drives Wheels. Tess is voiced by Lisa Lindgren. Dan Darrett – Tess's hot-headed younger brother who drives Roadie. Dan is voiced by David Coburn. Daisy Darrett – The younger pre-teen sister of Dan and Tess. Daisy is voiced by Kaleena Kiff. Dr. Zachary Darrett – A wheelchair-using engineer and uncle of the Darrett kids. He runs the Pole Position operation and vehicle development. He is voiced by Jack Angel. Kuma – Daisy's pet, Kuma is a strange genetic hybrid between a raccoon and a monkey. Kuma is voiced by Marilyn Schreffler. Wheels – a red and black 1965 Ford Mustang driven by Tess. Wheels's AI computer is more careful than Roadie. Wheels is voiced by Melvin Franklin, who was a member of The Temptations. Roadie – a more futuristic-looking light-blue coupe driven by Dan. Roadie's AI computer is very smart and keeps Dan out of trouble. Roadie is voiced by Darryl Hickman.
Crew
Story editors: Michael Reaves and Jean Chalopin
Writers: Marc Scott Zicree, Chuck Lorre, Ted Pedersen, Rowby Goren, Michael Reaves Director: Bernard Deyriès
Episodes
Principal cast
Lisa Lindgren – Tess Darrett
Kaleena Kiff – Daisy Darrett
David Coburn – Dan Darrett
Jack Angel – Dr. Zachary Darrett
Marilyn Scheffler – Kuma
Mel Franklin – Wheels
Darryl Hickman – Roadie
Additional voices
Neilson Ross
Paul Kirby
Phillip Clark
Jered Barclay
Brian Cummings
Irv Immerman
Steve Schatzberg
Barry Gordon
Derek McGrath
Tony Pope
Hal Smith
Bob Towers
DVD release
Brightspark Productions released a 4-disc box set containing all 13 complete episodes of the series on DVD in the UK on April 21, 2008.