 |
| Jack and Hanna fending off a dinosaur stampede. |
Cadillacs
and Dinosaurs, also known by its original name of Xenozoic
Tales,
was
an independent comicbook series created by Mark
Schultz. The story is set in a dystopian future where the
human race had been driven into underground cities to escape the rampant
pollution and natural disasters ravaging the surface of the planet. When
mankind reemerged after 600 years in the 26th Century in what was
dubbed the “Xenozoic Age”, they discovered that many previously extinct
lifeforms (particularly dinosaurs, if there was any doubt) had reclaimed the
world.
 |
| Dinosaurs care not for winning hands. |
Technology
became an extremely limited resource, and those with the skill to repair it
were given a great deal of respect and influence. One of the main characters was
one of these beings: mechanic Jack Tenrec, who had an affinity for early 20th
century vehicles (especially Cadillacs, of which his was a 1953 Coupe
de Ville) and converted his cars to run on dinosaur guano due
to the inability to refine oil. Jack’s love interest was scientist Hannah
Dundee, an ambassador from Wasoon (Washington, D.C.) who came to the City in
the Sea (a submerged Manhattan) to build relations between the two cities as
well as find any information she could from the preserved library archives.
Hermes was an Allosaurus (called “Cutters” in this era) that Jack raised and
became his loyal companion.
 |
| The City in the Sea. |
The dystopian world was full of
various criminals, politicians, scientists and inventors, each with their own agendas.
Common antagonists for Jack and Hannah were Hammer Terhune, an overweight
poacher, and Wilhelmina Scharnhorst, leader of the “Moles” that scavenge the
ancient ruins under the City. There was also as a race of reptilian humanoids
called the Grith. The Grith couldn’t speak in a human language and had to
communicate using Scrabble
tiles. They could also communicate telepathically with dinosaurs.
 |
| Death Rattle #8. |
The world of Cadillacs first appeared in 1986 in Death
Rattle #8;
a horror anthology published by Kitchen Sink Press.
The story was spun off into its own series, Xenozoic Tales, in
1987. Because of Schultz’s perfectionism, a monthly schedule was never kept and
the series only reached 14 issues by 1996 when it ended in the middle of a
story. Each issue had two adventures: the first starring the main characters,
and the second was a glimpse into the life of a citizen of that world. The
series was well-received, racking up four Harvey Awards
and three Eisner
Awards.
 |
| Marvel's reprint series. |
The
potential for the series to become a media franchise was there, leading to the courting
of Hollywood to turn it into a movie. Galaxy Films came on board and offered
the suggestion of slowly building up the franchise with the public before adapting it into a film with
things like toys, games and maybe even a cartoon series. They also suggested
using the tagline from the second issue, “Cadillacs and dinosaurs”, as the new
title for marketing purposes (which required a licensing deal with General Motors).
It was under this title that Marvel
Comics would reprint the first
six issues in color through their Epic
imprint.
 |
| Arcade game poster featuring Mustapha, Jack, Hannah and Mess. |
In 1993, Capcom adapted the comic
into a beat ‘em up arcade game. The game followed a condensed version of the
comic’s story and allowed up to three players. Jack and Hannah were amongst the
playable characters, as was their friend and engineer, Mustapha Cairo, and Mess
O’Brandovich, a character who only appeared briefly in the comic. The game was
generally well-received in several markets. Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza,
who was involved in the production of the game, saw potential in the series and
acquired the TV rights to the comic. Through his de Souza Productions partnered
with Nelvana,
the comic’s story was adapted for animation.
 |
| Concept art. |
The show followed the same basic
premise as the comic, following Jack (David Keeley) and Hannah (Susan Roman) on
their adventures in the dangerous new world. Joining them from the outset was
Mustapha (Bruce Tubbe), who already worked at Jack’s fortress-like garage as
its sole employee. Unlike the comics, Jack was toned down considerably; reduced
to merely being slightly grumpy than being the guy who regularly had to beat on
his employees (there was more than just Mustapha) to keep them in line and
loyal. He also preached the philosophy of the Old Blood Mechanics: “Machinatio
Vitae”, which embraced technology with a respect for nature. The show took a
decidedly larger pro-social ecological standpoint. Hobb (Don Francks),
a Grith shaman, often appeared in Jack’s mind to offer him guidance and to keep
him on the Mechanics’ path when he faltered.
 |
| Hermes defends. |
The primary antagonist of the series
became Governor Wilhelmina Scharnhorst (Dawn Greenhalgh). She was just one of a
council of three ruling over the City, including Governor Dahlgren (Kristina Nicoll)
and Governor Toulouse (Philip
Williams). Scharnhorst wanted the best for the City, but felt
that meant having to discredit the Mechanics—especially Jack—and to plow
through nature so that they can expand. She frequently hired poacher Hammer
Terhune (Ted Dillon) and his gang to achieve her goals in exchange for the
technology she could supply with the help of mad scientist Fessenden (John Stocker).
 |
| Hammer, Wrench and Vice. |
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs debuted
on CBS
on September 18, 1993. De Souza himself wrote the first episode, introducing
the world and characters to the viewers which was largely an adaptation of the
first Xenozoic story. In fact,
several episodes were based on the actual issues or a combination of several
issues and took on a serial format; gradually introducing and expanding on
elements of the universe instead of dumping it all on the audience at once.
 |
| Driving amongst the dinos. |
David Wise
wrote five of the episodes, one of them in partnership with Harlan Ellison.
He served as one of the story editors along with fellow episode writers Dennise Fordham
and Martin
Pasko. Executive producer Herbert J. Wright
and comicbook creator Marv Wolfman
also wrote episodes, as did veteran animation writers Ted Pederson,
Marty Isenberg,
Robert Skir
and Michael
Reaves. Kitchen Sink publisher Denis Kitchen
served as the show’s creative consultant and John Tucker
was the series’ composer.
The series, unfortunately, didn’t
run beyond its single season of 13 episodes and cancelled any further plans to
develop the media franchise beyond a second video game, The
Second Cataclysm,
released
for Sega
CD
and PC. Tyco was awarded
the license to produce the toys based on the show and released a single wave of
vehicles
and figures. Jack and a variant, Hannah, Mustapha,
Hammer and Vice all received figures, as did Hermes and three generic
dinosaurs. Jack’s Cadillac and Glider and Hammer’s bike were the vehicles. A
playset based on Jack’s garage was advertised but never saw production. In
promotion with the toyline, Kitchen Sink published a special run the first
issue in both its
original form and in 3-D
as a giveaway at Toys
R Us.
While a million copies were published, the comic has become hard to find.
 |
| The expanded Xenozoic universe. |
In
1994, Topps
Comics began publishing their own series of Cadillacs
and Dinosaurs comics set between
moments of Xenozoic Tales #10 with
input from Schultz. This run is often mistakenly attributed as a continuation
of the animated series, however, while the show did influence the resurrections
of some characters that died in the pages of Xenozoic, it was actually a part of the original comics continuity.
Sony
Home Video released a VHS
with “Rogue” and “Dino Drive” in 1994. United
American Video released six more episodes between two
tapes in 1998. The series was made available for streaming
on Amazon
Video, Shomi
(until it was shut down in 2016), and on the Retro Rerun channel
on YouTube.
The series also ran for years on HBO
Family in Latin America in both English and Spanish.
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