The Nacelle Company Is Rebooting 'Biker Mice From Mars' And 'Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa'
Guess nothing really ever stays dead anymore...
As Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has its romp in theaters, two long-dormant franchises considered ripoffs of the Turtles back in the heyday of the original animated series are being reawakened. Biker Mice from Mars and Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa are getting reboots from their new rightsholders, The Nacelle Company.
The Biker Mice from Mars reboot is also coming from Fubo and Maximum Effort, Ryan Reynolds’s production company that also produces his films and TV series since 2018, everything from Deadpool 2 to Welcome to Wrexham and next year(?)’s Deadpool 3 and IF. As the story goes: On the planet Mars, there existed a race of anthropomorphic mice who live similarly to Earth humans, especially those with an affinity for motorsports. The Plutarkians, an overweight, odorous race of fish-like humanoids eventually plundered the planet for its natural resources, wiping all but three of the mice out. The three, Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie, come upon a spaceship and make their escape, crash-landing on Earth in Chicago. They meet mechanic Charlene “Charley” Davidson, helping them defend Earth and regrouping in hopes of defeating the Plutarkians so they can go home.
The original Biker Mice from Mars was created by Rick Ungar, running from September 1993 to February 1996, running 3 seasons and 65 episodes. It starred Rob Paulsen, Ian Ziering, Dorian Harewood, and a lot of Jeff Bennett. Many of Ziering’s Beverly Hills 90210 castmates had roles on the series as well. Nacelle obtained the rights to the property and rolled out a new toyline for it earlier this year.
The pilot will be directed by Brian Volk-Weiss, the founder of Nacelle Company who also serves as executive producer alongside Cisco Henson, Matt Kravitsky, and Michael Goodman, also for the company. The executive producers on Maximum Effort’s side include Reynolds, George Dewey, Kevin Hill, and Patrick Gooing, and Fubo’s will be David Gandler and Pamela Duckworth. Airing on Maximum Effort’s FAST channel, it will its first original animated series.
But that’s not all, Thursday came the report that Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa would also get rebooted by the company. The series was created by comic book artist Ryan Brown, who created many Turtles characters including Leatherhead, Wingnut, Scumbug, Ray Fillet and Mondo Gecko. It ran for two thirteen episode seasons, 26 total, on ABC from September 1992 to December 1993. It starred Pat Fraley, Jim Cummings, and Bennett, and included Joe Piscopo in its supporting cast. Here’s how Nacelle describes the series
"As the story goes, an irradiated comet struck the late 19th century Western plains creating a miles high mesa shrouded in clouds. Everything trapped on top of the mesa was "cow-metized" by the light from the "cow-met" and "evolved" into a "bovipomorphic" state. Inspired by old tales of the Wild West, this new bovine community developed to the point where they emulated that era's way of life, including the requisite ruffians and corrupt sheriffs. The lawbreakers were too much for the corrupt regulators of Cowtown (namely Mayor Oscar Bulloney and Sheriff Terrorbull) to handle by themselves. Helping them out, whether they wanted it or not, were a group of peacekeepers known as C.O.W.-Boys (the C.O.W. part is short for "Code Of the West"). Led by Marshal Moo Montana, the C.O.W.-Boys also included the Dakota Dude and the Cowlorado Kid. Marshal Moo Montana and his deputies had their hands full with various ruffians and outlaw gangs that plagued the otherwise peaceful town."
Brown said about the acquisition "I am extremely lucky and incredibly honored to have the Nacelle Company want to continue the adventures of my Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa. So very excited to see what Brian and his team have in store for the future of Marshal Moo Montana and the C.O.W.-Boys up on Moo Mesa! Whatever it may be, I know the franchise is in expert hands. I can't wait!" A home for this series has yet to be indicated.
Nacelle Company does scripted and unscripted production, as well as various other business including management toys, and consumer product, which makes them also behind each toyline relaunch. The company’s television output includes Netflix’s The Movies That Made Us, The Toys That Made Us, Down To Earth with Zac Efron, and Kevin Hart’s Guide To Black History, as well as Behind The Attraction on Disney+, Sony’s Mad About You revival season, and Icons Unearthed on Vice, among others.
