''Karate Kommandos'' (also known as ''Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos'') is an American

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

that originally aired in 1986 as a syndicated five episode mini-series. It was created by and starred

Chuck Norris Carlos Ray "Chuck" Norris (born March 10, 1940) is an American martial artist and actor. Born in Oklahoma, Norris first gained fame when he won the amateur Middleweight Karate champion title in 1968, which he held for six consecutive years. H ...

as himself, and produced by

Ruby-Spears Enterprises Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was an American entertainment production company founded by veteran writers and ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' creators, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, in 1977, before closing in 1996. Spec ...

. Re-runs of the cartoon have occasionally aired on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

and

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

Plot

This fictionalized version of Chuck Norris is a United States government operative with a team of racially diverse warriors known as the Karate Kommandos. Together, they fight against the organization VULTURE led by the Claw and his right-hand man Super Ninja.

Production

The series follows the framing device of ''

Mister T Laurence T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952), known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Cl ...

'' (also a Ruby-Spears production). At the beginning of each episode, a live action segment with Norris, usually at a gym or a martial arts studio, is shown to explain what is going on. At the end of each episode, Norris narrates a moral lesson for the audience to learn.

Characters

Karate Kommandos

The team includes: * Chuck Norris (voiced by

himself A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its Antecedent (grammar), antecedent) within the same sentence. In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and ref ...

) is the leader of the Karate Kommandos. * Pepper (voiced by

Kathy Garver Kathy Garver (born Kathleen Marie Garver; December 13, 1945) is an American actress most remembered for having portrayed the teenaged orphan, Catherine "Cissy" Davis, on the popular 1960s CBS sitcom ''Family Affair''. Before that, she was cast ...

) is a technology expert and

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 ...

. * Reed (voiced by Sam Fontana) is Chuck's young apprentice and Pepper's brother. * Kimo (voiced by

Alan Oppenheimer Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s and has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New York ...

) is a

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

warrior. * Tabe (voiced by

Robert Ito Robert Ito (born July 2, 1931) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his television and film work, including the roles of Sam Fujiyama on the 1976–83 NBC series '' Quincy, M.E.'' and Larry Mishima on the 1980s CBS primetime soap opera ''Falcon C ...

) is a sumo champion. * Too Much (voiced by

Mona Marshall Mona Marshall is an American television and voice actress, known for her work in a number of cartoons, anime shows, films and video games. Her major credits include ''South Park'', where she voices many of the female characters on the show, '' .h ...

) is Chuck's young ward.

VULTURE

VULTURE is an evil organization that plots to take over the world. Its members include: * Claw (voiced by Bill Martin) is the leader of VULTURE who serves as the primary antagonist of the series. Claw has a metal claw for a right arm which he often shows when quoting to his operatives on their assignments to "Remember this". * Super-Ninja (voiced by

Keone Young Keone Joseph Young is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Michael Kwan in '' Kay O'Brien'' (1986), Mr. Wu in '' Deadwood'' (2004–2006) and as the dual roles of Judge Robert Chong and Mr. Wan in ''The Young and t ...

) is a

ninja A , or was a spy and infiltrator in pre-modern Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding.Kawakami, pp. 21–22 Antecedents may have existed as ear ...

who is Claw's right-hand man. * VULTURE Ninjas are the foot soldiers of VULTURE.

Episodes

Home media

In 1987, a VHS tape of ''Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos'' was released by Worldvision Home Video. The complete series was released on DVD on April 1, 2011, via

Warner Archive The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the int ...

line.

Comic book

There was also a

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series published by

Star Comics Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and featured titles that were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys. The last comic published under the imprint ...

, an imprint of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

which produced comic books aimed at young children.

Steve Ditko Stephen John Ditko. Page contains two reproductions from school yearbooks. A 1943 Garfield Junior High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen Ditko". A 1945 Johnstown High School yearbook excerpt lists "Stephen J. Ditko" under extracurricular ac ...

provided the art. The series ran four issues from January through July 1987. Issue #1 found Too-Much daydreaming in class about being as great a martial artist as Chuck Norris, even taking down the Super Ninja singlehandedly. Without warning, Too-Much's teacher calls on him to give his book report (which he characteristically has not even started) on

James Clavell James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994) was a British and American writer, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known for his ''Asian Saga'' nov ...

's '' The Children's Story''. Then Too-Much, his classmates, and their teacher are taken hostage by the Klaw's ninjas, who demand the Super-cruiser in return for their release. The Super-cruiser, which looks like a

U-Haul U-Haul Holding Company is an American moving truck, trailer, and self-storage rental company (law), company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945. The company was founded by Leonard Shoen and Anna Mary Carty in Ridgef ...

truck, is a new anti-terrorist weapon created by Norris for the government. Pepper drives the Super-cruiser to the school, where she and her trusty dog take on the ninjas, while Chuck himself barges into the classroom and knocks out more of the ninjas. One of the ninjas tries to shoot Norris, who stops the bullet with a copy of ''The Children's Story''; he then sells Too-Much a bill of goods about what a great book this is, while the police haul the ninjas off to jail. Issue #2 has Norris looking into a possible conspiracy to steal the new Banana 7000 prototype by going to a seedy seaside bar and asking too many questions. Kimo, Tabe, Pepper and Reed are guarding the newest prototype at a hotel but the Cult of the Klaw get the drop on Pepper, kidnap her and steal it while Kimo and Tabe are taking a break. Reed is distracted by Margie, a stranger whose mother is ill and is convinced by The Cult of the Klaw to help steal the computer for money for her mother's operation. The Karate Kommandos, now joined by Too Much and Wolf, return to find the hotel empty. They change into their battle suits and begin to search for Pepper. Meanwhile Pepper is being forced to show The Klaw's ninjas how to use the computer. Margie does not want anyone to be hurt so turns on them by making a plan with Pepper to escape. The Kommandos arrive at the enemies bungalow and enter politely according to Kimo. They take out the ninjas inside but as a last ditch effort, their leader attempts to threaten Pepper but when he enters Pepper's room, Margie takes him out with a vase. There was a big reward for anyone who helps apprehend the thieves who were after the computer and Norris believes Margie earned it. She is so grateful to be able pay for her mother’s operation she rewards Reed with a kiss.

Action figures

To coincide with the airing of the show,

Kenner Products Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy brand owned by Hasbro. Kenner Products began as a toy company founded in 1946, going on to produce several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures for t ...

made a set of

action figures An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game, television program, or sport; fictional or historical. These fig ...

based on the main characters of the show. Kenner also made many accessories, including weapons and vehicles, to go along with the figurines.

In popular culture

* The show gets a mention in episode 23 of ''

Space Dandy , is a 2014 Japanese comic science fiction anime television series produced by Bones. The series follows the misadventures of Dandy, an alien hunter who is "a dandy guy in space", in search for undiscovered and rare aliens with his robot ass ...

''. * The show is parodied in the 2012 CGI series version of ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' (''TMNT'') is an American media franchise created by comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), D ...

'' via a fictional cartoon show named ''Chris Bradford's 2 Ruff Krew'', starring and produced by

Chris Bradford Chris Bradford is an English author and black belt martial artist, best known for his children's fictional series, ''Young Samurai''. The first ''Young Samurai'' book, ''Young Samurai: The Way of the Warrior, The Way of the Warrior'', was publi ...

, himself a parody of

. This fictional series is first featured in the 4th-season episode "The Weird World of Wyrm".

Stations

References

External links

* *
Classic TV Clip from College Humor
*
Review by Karate Party
{{Chuck Norris 1986 American animated television series debuts 1986 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series 1980s American animated television miniseries American English-language television shows American television series with live action and animation Television series by Ruby-Spears Warner Bros. Television Studios franchises First-run syndicated animated television series American martial arts television series Star Comics titles Television shows adapted into comics Comics based on real people Animation based on real people Cultural depictions of Chuck Norris American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series Television series created by Chuck Norris