Wildfire (1986 TV series)

Wildfire is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1986. The series follows the adventures of Sara, a 13-year-old girl growing up in the American West, as she discovers her true identity as a princess-in-hiding from another realm who is destined to fight an evil witch. The show was first broadcast on CBS for a single 13-episode season from September 13 to December 6, 1986.

Plot
As a baby, Princess Sara (voiced by Georgi Irene) of Thurinia was saved from the clutches of the evil Lady Diabolyn (voiced by Jessica Walter) by a mystic talking horse named Wildfire (voiced by John Vernon) following the death of Sara's mother Queen Sarana (voiced by Amanda McBroom). Wildfire took her away from the planet Dar-Shan and deposited her in Montana where she is taken in by a farmer named John Cavanaugh (voiced by David Ackroyd). Lady Diabolyn was a stepsister to Queen Sarana whom she always considered weak and unfit to rule; to gain her "rightful" throne, she learned dark magic and allied herself with the demonic Spectre.

Twelve years later, when Sara was ready to fight evil, Wildfire brought her back to Dar-Shan to regain her kingdom. Wildfire summons Sara through her magic amulet and transports her across dimensions to her real home in Dar-Shan. Sara joins with her friends consisting of a sorcerer named Alvinar (voiced by René Auberjonois), a young boy named Dorin (voiced by Bobby Jacoby), and his cowardly colt Brutus (voiced by Susan Blu) in order to thwart her wicked step-aunt. John and Sara's Indian friend Ellen (voiced by Lilly Moon) provide moral support on Earth. Lady Diabolyn is helped by the Goons, mischievous creatures led by Dweedle (voiced by Billy Barty). They were formerly Diabolyn's guards until they gained their monstrous appearances by the Spectres upon opening the urn containing them when Diabolyn told them not to.

Each episode revealed more and more of the mythical world of Dar-Shan and gave its audience a new puzzle piece to help reason out the past events that led up to the current state of affairs. It was later revealed that Sara's adopted father John was actually Prince Cavan, her biological father sent to Earth to protect him from the curse which Lady Diabolyn and the Spectres had placed on Dar-Shan. Sara and Wildfire are the only ones who know John's true identity which has been kept secret even from him.

Principal cast

 * David Ackroyd - John Cavanaugh/Prince Cavan
 * René Auberjonois - Alvinar
 * Billy Barty - Dweedle
 * Susan Blu - Brutus
 * Townsend Coleman -
 * Georgi Irene - Princess Sara
 * Bobby Jacoby - Dorin
 * Rob Paulsen -
 * John Vernon - Wildfire
 * Jessica Walter - Lady Diabolyn
 * Frank Welker -

Additional voices

 * Remy Auberjonois -
 * Victoria Carroll - Mrs. Ashworth
 * Louise Chamis -
 * Philip L. Clarke - Lord Samson
 * Gino Conforti -
 * Keene Curtis - Mr. Spec
 * Jerry Dexter -
 * George DiCenzo - Aragon
 * Paul Eiding -
 * Richard Erdman -
 * Bernard Erhard - Rothadode
 * Melanie Gaffin -
 * Richard Gautier -
 * Barbara Goodson - Nerissa
 * Scott Grimes -
 * Noah Hathaway -
 * Darryl Hickman -
 * Laura Jacoby -
 * Lauri Johnson -
 * Aron Kincaid -
 * Ron Leibman -
 * Marilyn Lightstone -
 * June Lockhart - Vesta
 * Janet May -
 * Marissa Mendenhall -
 * Amanda McBroom - Queen Sarana
 * Michael Mish -
 * Daniel O'Herlihy - Jovar
 * Diane Pershing - Lady Aura
 * Brock Peters - Thunderbolt
 * Peter Renaday -
 * Peter Mark Richman -
 * Josh Rodine -
 * Roger Rose - Halavex
 * Neil Ross -
 * Will Ryan -
 * William Schallert -
 * Brandon Stewart -
 * Alexandra Stoddart -
 * Andre Stojka -
 * Jeffrey Tambor - Oberon
 * Les Tremayne -
 * Ginny Tyler -
 * Ted Ziegler -

Crew

 * Gordon Hunt - Recording Director
 * Andrea Romano - Animation Casting Director
 * Kris Zimmerman - Talent Coordinator

Reception
According to Los Angeles Times, "despite the hackneyed writing and poor animation (the artists don't understand how a horse moves), Wildfire is sure to be a hit with little girls, its obvious audience".

Home Media releases
There has yet to be a DVD of the entire series from Warner Archive.