''The Adventures of the Black Stallion'' is a drama television series that starred

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

and

Richard Ian Cox Richard Ian Cox (born October 3, 1973) is a Welsh-born Canadian actor, comedian and online radio host. He is best known for his voice work for English language dubs of anime, mainly for ''Inuyasha''. Cox gained prominence for playing the ch ...

, as a trainer and a teenaged horse racer and was loosely based on the book series by Walter Farley. The series originally ran on The Family Channel and YTV from September 15, 1990, to May 16, 1993, before cancellation. It has since been shown in re-runs throughout the world. Mickey Rooney is the only original cast member from ''

The Black Stallion The Black Stallion, known as the Black or Shêtân, is the title character from author Walter Farley's bestselling series about the Arab stallion and his young owner, Alec Ramsay. The series chronicles the story of a Sheikh's prized stallion a ...

'' to reprise his role in the show. In France, the show ran on M6 from April 20, 1991. Most of the episodes are set around Canada. During the second and third season, the show moves away from the farm, and has many episodes set in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

and the United States. ''The Adventures of The Black Stallion'' was filmed on location in British Columbia, Canada, as well as France and New Zealand. 16 horses portrayed The Black across the three countries.

Synopsis

The show follows the life of fifteen-year-old horse racer Alec Ramsay (

), his wild stallion The Black, and their trainer Henry Dailey (

). In the series, Alec's father died before the series start, leaving Alec and his mother to run Hopeful Farm. The show focuses both on life at Hopeful Farm and on the racing circuit. During the first season, most of the races are unprofessional circuit races and match races because The Black's an unpapered horse, meaning there is no proof of his lineage. During the second season, The Black's history is uncovered and Alec is able to obtain his papers, allowing him to be raced on the professional circuits around the world. The series maintained that Alec was the only one who can ride The Black. He is known for having a violent temper with anyone besides Alec, though he does allow some people around the farm to hold his halter and lead him around, most notably Henry. He only seems to do grudgingly, however, and tends to be far less tolerant of others if Alec isn't around to keep him under control. To help keep the high-strung horse calm at the track, the gelding Napoleon is frequently taken on the road with them.

Characters

as Henry Dailey *

as Alec Ramsay *Marian Filali as Nicole Berthier (Season 2 - Season 3) *Michele Goodger as Belle Ramsey (Season 1) *Virginie Demians as Catherine Varnier (Season 1) *Jean-Paul Solal as Pierre Chastel (Season 1) *David Taylor as Nathaniel 'Nate' MacKay (Season 3) * Docs Keepin Time as The Black

Reception

In 1991, the series was nominated for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

in the "Best Off-Prime Time or Cable Family Series" category, and while it lost to ''

Harry and the Hendersons ''Harry and the Hendersons'' is a 1987 American fantasy comedy film directed and produced by William Dear and starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Joshua Rudoy, Lainie Kazan, and Kevin Peter Hall ...

'', Richard Ian Cox won the award for the "Best Young Actor Starring in an Off-Prime Time or Cable Family Series" category. Cox was nominated again in 1992 for the "Best Young Actor Starring in a Cable Series" category. In the same year,

was nominated for a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

in the category of "Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role" for his portrayal of Henry Dailey.

Episode list

When the show was first aired, many of the episodes were shown out of production order, especially during the first season.

Season 1: 1990–1991

Season 2: 1991–1992

Season 3: 1992–1993

Other media

Film

Other theatrical films, ''

'' (1979), ''

The Black Stallion Returns ''The Black Stallion Returns'' is a 1983 film adaptation of the book of the same name by Walter Farley, and is a sequel to ''The Black Stallion''. It is the only film directed by Robert Dalva. It was produced by Francis Ford Coppola for MGM/UA ...

'' (1983), and The Young Black Stallion (2003) were also based on Farley's book series.

DVD releases

Echo Bridge Entertainment Echo Bridge Entertainment is an American independent distribution company. It acquires and distributes feature films, scripted and non-scripted series, documentaries, and children’s programming for home video, digital and television in the United ...

released all three seasons on DVD in Region 1 in 2006, 2007, and 2008. These releases contain the episodes arranged in production order instead of air date. Alliance Home Entertainment has released all three seasons on DVD in Canada.

References

General * Specific

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures Of The Black Stallion, The 1990s Canadian drama television series 1990 Canadian television series debuts 1993 Canadian television series endings 1990 French television series debuts 1990 New Zealand television series debuts 1993 French television series endings 1993 New Zealand television series endings Family Channel (Canadian TV network) original programming Television series about horses Television series about teenagers