''The Rocketeer'' (titled ''Rocketeer'' internationally) is an American animated children's television series. It premiered on

Disney Junior Disney Jr. (formerly Disney Junior) is an American pay television network owned by the Disney Branded Television sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Aimed mainly at children two to seven year ...

and

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

in the United States on November 8, 2019, and on November 10 on

in Canada. Based on the comic book superhero of the same name by

Dave Stevens Dave Lee Stevens (July 29, 1955 – March 11, 2008) was an American illustrator and comics artist. He was most famous for creating '' The Rocketeer'' comic book and film character, and for his pin-up style "glamour art" illustrations, especiall ...

and inspired by the 1991

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

, the series focuses on Katherine "Kit" Secord, a 7-year-old girl who receives the family

jet pack A jet pack, rocket belt, rocket pack or flight pack is a device worn as a backpack which uses jets to propel the wearer through the air. The concept has been present in science fiction for almost a century and the first working experimental d ...

for her 7th birthday. ''The Rocketeer'' was aimed for toddlers. While the series received generally positive reviews from critics, it was cancelled after one season for undisclosed reasons.

Premise

In the town of Hughesville, seven-year-old Kit Secord learns she is secretly next in line to become The Rocketeer, a jet pack-wearing superhero who can fly. Armed with her cool new gear and secret identity, Kit takes to the skies to protect Hughesville and its residents from danger. Assisting her on her heroic adventures are her best friend Tesh, bulldog sidekick Butch, and airplane mechanic grandfather Ambrose Secord.

Characters

Main

* Katherine "Kit" Secord (voiced by Kitana Turnbull) is a 7-year-old girl who receives the family jet pack for her 7th birthday which reveals that she is next in line to become the Rocketeer, Hughesville's very own local town hero. She is the great-granddaughter of Cliff Secord. When operating as the Rocketeer, Kit's catchphrase is "Never fear, I'm the Rocketeer." She is a new character introduced in this series. It is possible that she is named after Hollywood actress

Katharine Hepburn Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress whose Katharine Hepburn on screen and stage, career as a Golden Age of Hollywood, Hollywood leading lady spanned six decades. She was known for her headstrong ...

even though she made no appearance within ''The Rocketeer'' franchise. * Ambrose Secord (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American actor who specializes in voice acting. He began his career in the 1960s, and held around 850 film, television, and video game credits as of 2020, making him one of the most prolific v ...

) is an 84-year-old man, Kit's grandfather and the son of Cliff Secord who works as a

mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...

at the Hughesville Airport. * Mitesh "Tesh" Cheena (voiced by Callan Farris) is Kit's 8-year-old best friend who serves as Ground Control when Kit takes to the skies. He is also the inventor of the hi-tech gadgets and upgrades for her jet pack. Tesh is the inventor of Kitcom and the Kit Tracker. * Butch (vocal effects provided by

) is Kit's pet

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

and sidekick.

Recurring

* Dave Secord (voiced by

Billy Campbell William Oliver Campbell (born July 7, 1959) is an American film and television actor. He first gained recognition for his recurring role as Luke Fuller in the TV series ''Dynasty'' and in '' The Rocketeer''. Then, he became known for playing R ...

) is Kit's father who is a

stunt pilot Stunt flying refers to any stunts performed in an aircraft. It encompasses aerobatics, wing walking, and transferring from one airplane to another or to a moving vehicle on the ground, such as an automobile or train, and vice versa. History From t ...

, which is where Katie gets her passion for flying. Campbell also played Cliff Secord, the original hero in the film, reprising his role in a newsreel seen in the episode "First Flight". * Sareena Secord (voiced by

Kathy Najimy Kathy Ann Najimy ( ; ; born February 6, 1957) is an American actress and activist. She was first nationally known for her feminist play ''The Kathy and Mo Show'', which she wrote and performed with Mo Gaffney. On film, she is best known for her ...

) is Kit's mother who works as the

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and chef of the Bulldog Café. * Valerie d'Avion (voiced by

Navia Robinson Navia Ziraili Robinson (born May 4, 2005) is an American actress. She made her acting debut in a recurring role on BET's '' Being Mary Jane'', before being cast in a starring role in Netflix's '' Free Rein''. Whilst appearing in the first two ...

) is Katie's flight school classmate and aspiring pilot whose parents own the Valkyrie Flight Academy. She owns her own plane called the Korsican Skyfang 75. Her superhero identity is the Valkyrie. ** Snickerdoodle (vocal effects provided by

) is Valerie's pet chihuahua.

Villains

* Laura (voiced by

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depression, anxiety, suicide and mental illness. Her first comedy alb ...

) and Harley (voiced by

Kari Wahlgren Kari Wahlgren (born July 13, 1977) is an American voice actress who has provided English-language roles for animated movies, TV series, and video games. She got her start in anime voice-overs as List of FLCL characters#Haruko Haruhara, Haruko H ...

) are two thieving sisters who like stealing things to use in their heists which often has them running from the authorities and the Rocketeer. Harley serves as the brains of the group and Laura has a ditzy personality. They are a clear homage of the golden-age comedy duo

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...

. * Sylvester Slapdash (voiced by

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...

) is a thief and a master of disguise who utilizes many costumes in his capers. He is also known as the "Costumed Bandit". Sylvester is a homage of early 20th Century vaudeville actor and quick change artist Sylvester Schaffer Jr. ** Lilith (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) is Sylvester's pet

ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to inter ...

. Lilith is a homage to Sylvester Schaffer Jr.'s wife and assistant Lily Kruger. * The Great Orsino (voiced by

Charlie Adler Charles Michael Adler (born October 2, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', the Bigheads on ''Rocko's Modern Life'', Ickis on ''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'', Doc ...

) is a magician that targets Kit's jet pack so that he can become the first flying magician. ** Deany (voiced by

Parvesh Cheena Parvesh Singh Cheena is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Gupta in the TV series ''Outsourced'' and as Sunil Odhav on ''Crazy Ex-Girlfriend''. He also voices Bodhi in '' T.O.T.S.'' and Blades in '' Transformers: Rescue Bots'' ...

) is the Great Orsino's hapless assistant. In "Super Deany", it is revealed that Deany has an engineering background where he helped to fix the Rocketeer's jet pack. His name is a play on

Harry Houdini Erik Weisz (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926), known professionally as Harry Houdini ( ), was a Hungarian-American escapologist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts. Houdini first attracted notice in vaudeville in ...

which is reinforced by frequent dialog of "Who? Deany". * Doctor Doodlebug (voiced by Luca Padovan) is a kid genius who wears

pillbug Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of some other woodlice families, members of this family can roll into a ball, an ability they share with the outwardly similar but unr ...

-themed armor. He invents machines suitable for his schemes out of the garbage that he steals. ** Newton (voiced by D. C. Douglas) is an A.I. that resides in Doctor Doodlebug's wristwatch. Newton advises his master on the course of action to take. * Xena Treme (voiced by

Stephanie Lemelin Stephanie Lemelin is an American actress and screenwriter. She is best known for voicing Artemis Crock on ''Young Justice'', Eep on '' Dawn of the Croods'' and Audrey on ''Harvey Girls Forever!''. Early years Lemelin's father is former NHL goali ...

) is an

extreme sport Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are physical activity, activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly speci ...

s athlete with a big ego that she masks with a laid-back personality who is determined to stay on the top through whatever means possible. * Cast-Iron Chef (voiced by

Ted Allen Edward Reese Allen (born May 20, 1965) is an American author and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the Bravo (U.S. TV network), Bravo network's television program ''Queer Eye (2003 TV series), Queer Eye'', and has b ...

) is a

food truck A food truck is a large motorized vehicle (such as a van or multi-stop truck) or trailer equipped to store, transport, cook, prepare, serve and/or sell food. Some food trucks, such as ice cream trucks, sell frozen or prepackaged food, but m ...

chef who will target any secret recipes in order to improve his business. He wields a high-tech gauntlet that enables him to use any kitchen tool it contains. In "Sitti's Visit", it was revealed that his recipe-targeting motive comes from the fact that his father never let him in on his family recipes. Kit and Sitti persuade him to drop the recipe-targeting motive and create his own cookbook. * Norman Sinclair (voiced by Raphael Alejandro) is the descendant of Neville Sinclair and heir to Sinclair Air. He conspires to become the new Rocketeer by taking the jet pack from Kit so that he can impress his father. He once pulled this off enough for Kit to enlist Valkyrie, Sylvester Slapdash, and Doctor Doodlebug into getting it back.

Hughesville citizens

* Lucille (voiced by

Marianne Muellerleile Marianne Muellerleile is an American actress. Early life Muellerleile was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the daughter of Margaret (née Keaney) and Cecil E. Muellerleile, an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator an ...

) is an old lady who works as a

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the c ...

at the Bulldog Café. * Alfonzo (voiced by

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian voice actor based in the United States. He is mostly known for voicing several ''Looney Tunes'' characters, for which he won three Emmy Awards for his performances in '' Looney Tunes Cartoons'' (20 ...

) is a

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...

at the Bulldog Café. * Officer Crowfoot (voiced by

Robbie Daymond Robert Daymond Howard (born March 11, 1982) is an American voice actor who is mostly known for his roles in video games, animation, anime and audiobooks. Some of his best known roles include Tuxedo Mask in the Viz Media redub of ''Sailor Moon'', ...

) is a Native American police officer who arrests the bad guys thwarted by the Rocketeer. * Mayor Primshell (voiced by

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

) is the mayor of Hughesville. * Richard (voiced by Julian Edwards) is a boy who resides in Hughesville. ** Taffy is Richard's cat that is often rescued by the Rocketeer. * Mr. Coleman (voiced by

Eugene Byrd Eugene Byrd (born August 28, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Wink in ''8 Mile (film), 8 Mile'' and List of Bones characters#Clark Edison, Dr. Clark Edison on the Fox Broadcasting Company, FOX series ''Bones (TV series ...

) is Kit's teacher at the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * Ben (voiced by

Antonio Raul Corbo Antonio Raul Corbo (born June 4, 2009) is an American child actor known for his role as Nikolaj Boyle in the series ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine''. Biography Corbo began his acting career in Austin, Texas at the age of 5. He auditioned and made several ...

) is a boy who is Kit's classmate at the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * Logan (voiced by Ian Chen) is a boy who is Kit's classmate at the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * River (voiced by Kai Zen) is a girl who is a fellow Trailblazer to Kit and Tesh. * Farmer McGinty (voiced by

Mark L. Taylor Mark Lawrence Taylor (born October 25, 1950) is an American actor, known for his roles in such films as '' Innerspace'' (1987), '' Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' (1989), '' Arachnophobia'' (1990), and '' High School Musical 2'' (2007), as well as t ...

) is an elderly farmer. * Goose (voiced by

Roger Craig Smith Roger Craig Smith is an American voice actor. He is known for his voice roles in video games such as Chris Redfield in the ''Resident Evil'' series (2009–2017), Ezio Auditore da Firenze in the ''Assassin's Creed'' series (2009–2011), Kyle C ...

) is a clown that wears an airplane costume. * Malcolm (voiced by

Carlos Alazraqui Carlos Jaime Alazraqui (born July 20, 1962) is an American actor. His voice acting roles include the original voice of Spyro from '' Spyro the Dragon'', the Taco Bell chihuahua in the Taco Bell commercials, Rocko on ''Rocko's Modern Life'', D ...

) is an

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

who works at Hughesville's air field. * Aarush Cheena (voiced by

Rahul Kohli Rahul Kohli (born 13 November 1985) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti in '' iZombie'' (2015–2019), Owen Sharma in '' The Haunting of Bly Manor'' (2020), Sheriff Hassan in ''Midnight Mass'' ...

) is Tesh's father, owner of Cheena Hardware, and Scoutmaster of the Hughesville Trailblazers. * Chandi Cheena (voiced by

Sarayu Rao Sarayu Rao (born March 7, 1975), also known as Sarayu R. Blue, is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her recurring role as Angela on the Fox sitcom ''Sons of Tucson'', as well as Dr. Sydney Napur on David E. Kelley's ''Monday Morni ...

) is Tesh's mother. * Sonal Udana Cheena (voiced by Sarayu Rao) is Tesh's baby sister born in "Special Delivery". Her middle name Udana, which means "flying", is in honor of the Rocketeer. * Irma Philpot (voiced by

Susan Silo Susan Silo (born July 27, 1942) is an American actress who is known for her work in voice-over roles. Early life Susan Silo was born in New York City. Both her parents were actors Jon Silo and Ruth Silo. Career Her acting career started in ...

) is an old lady who lives near Hughesville. ** The Critter Gang are a group of animals that are friends with Irma. They consist of a moose, a

hawk Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are very widely distributed and are found on all continents, except Antarctica. The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks, and others. This ...

, a

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

, two foxes, and some squirrels. * Chantal d'Avion (voiced by

Yvette Nicole Brown Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 reboot of '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS, and as Dina Rose on the ABC sitcom '' The Mayor''. Br ...

) is Valerie's mother and co-owner of the Valkyrie Flight Academy. * Captain Michael d'Avion (voiced by Imari Williams) is Valerie's father, Navy Captain, and co-owner of the Valkyrie Flight Academy.

Episodes

Broadcast

''The Rocketeer'' premiered on

, and

DisneyNOW DisneyNow (stylized as DisneyNOW) is a TV Everywhere platform offered by Disney Branded Television. The service offers programming from Disney Channel, Disney Jr, and Disney XD for subscribers to the three networks on television providers. It la ...

on November 8, 2019. The series debuted internationally on Canada's Disney Junior on November 10, 2019. It debuted in Latin America on April 6, 2020, and in Spain, it was previewed on July 20, 2020, and it officially premiered on September 28, 2020. ''The Rocketeer'' debuted on

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

in the United Kingdom in October 2020. The series aired on Southeast Asia's Disney Junior and France's Disney Junior in 2021. It was released on Southeast Asia's Disney Junior and France's Disney Junior in 2021. It premiered on

Rai YoYo Rai Yoyo is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's television channel for young children, and is known for its programming for childr ...

and

in Italy and on Dutch Disney Channel in the Netherlands in 2021. The series ended on July 25, 2020. Following the final episode, the series went into hiatus, before unexpectedly getting cancelled. While no exact reason was disclosed, a direct sequel to the film was announced for

the following year, hinting that the series' end was to make way for the new movie.

Reception

Critical response

Merrill Barr of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' called ''The Rocketeer'' an "adorable" series, writing, "It’s sweet, charming, aware of itself and filled to the brim with the kind of positive messaging every program of its type should be striving for. There will be no reason for any parent to not sit their child down in front of this one come premiere time." Emily Ashby of ''

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

'' gave ''The Rocketeer'' a grade of four out of five stars, praised the depiction of positive messages and role models, saying that the characters challenge gender stereotypes and that Kit is eager, determined, and fearless, saying, "Every story sees the hero learn a valuable lesson that is further illustrated as events play out, reinforcing positive themes."

Accolades

References

External links

* on