Here at Moonbase Alpha, we’re huge fans of Joe Johnston’s The Rocketeer, and so we’re massively intrigued by the news that Disney Junior is starting work on an animated Rocketeer series.
The House of Mouse has officially confirmed the show, with the current plan being for the series to premiere in 2019. The last we’d heard on anything to do with The Rocketeer was back in mid-2016, with a new movie planned at that point. Titled The Rocketeers, that effort was to focus on a fresh set of characters as a young African-American female pilot took on the Rocketeer mantle. All has been extremely quiet on that film since those first rumblings nearly two years ago, so it remains to be seen whether there are still tentative plans in place for that sequel to still happen.
Switching our attention bac to this new animated series, the early official blurb reads:
Inspired by Dave Stevens’ popular comic book series, The Rocketeer follows Kit, a young girl who receives a surprise package on her birthday revealing she’s next in line to become the Rocketeer, a legendary superhero who has the ability to fly with the help of a rocket-powered jet pack. Armed with her cool new gear and secret identity, Kit is ready to take flight and save the day with her gadget-minded best friend, Tesh, and airplane mechanic uncle, Ambrose, who join her on her epic adventures.
On this news, Disney’s Joe D’Ambrosia enthused, “We are very excited to introduce The Rocketeer to our young Disney Junior audience. The vast storytelling found in the original comic books provides the perfect opportunity to create an exciting new adventure series told from a young girl superhero perspective that the whole family can enjoy together.”
The Rocketeer character was created back in 1982 by the aforementioned Dave Stevens, with Rocketeer published by Pacific Comics. The story follows 1938 stunt pilot Cliff Secord as he comes into possession of a jetpack that allows him to head to the skies as he fights the good fight and battles the bad guys. Joe Johnston famously brought the character to live in 1991 with The Rocketeer, starring Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connolly, Alan Arkin and Timothy Dalton.
Expect more on The Rocketeer as we get it.
