From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Invasion America was an animated
science
fiction mini-series that aired in the prime time lineup on the
The WB Television Network and
later as a part of the Kids'
WB programming block. Produced by DreamWorks Animation (then part of
DreamWorks proper, now
its own company), the series was created by Steven
Spielberg and Harve Bennett, who also served as executive
producers.
Plot
The story of Invasion America begins in the early 1980s where humanoid aliens from the planet Tyrus begin to
initiate their plans for making contact with Earth. Cale-Oosha, the ruler of Tyrus, looks into
his uncle's project with Earth. However, his uncle, The Dragit,
claims that their dying planet ought to invade Earth and take hold
of its resources. Cale refuses, and a civil war breaks out.
Cale and Rafe, his bodyguard, trainer, and trusted friend,
escape to Earth, disguising themselves as humans. Cale meets Rita
Carter, a human woman; he falls in love with her, and they marry.
After a long time of running from the Dragit's forces on Earth,
Cale returns to Tyrus to help strengthen his loyalist forces, the
Ooshati, leaving Rita and their young son, David, under Rafe's
protection.
In the present day, when the Dragit finally finds the family, he
is determined to kill them, and David Carter's teenage life is
thrown into a devastating adventure of stopping the Dragit, losing
and gaining friends, and finding out just who he is.
Characters
- David Carter (Oosha) (voiced by Mikey Kelley) - The
main character of the story, a teenage
half-human Tyrusian and the
future ruler of Tyrus. David lost his house, his mother and his
possessions, and learned the truth of his identity all in one
night. Possessing royalty in his blood, he discovers he can harness
his Tyrusian powers with the help of the Exotar, a glove that
enhances these powers.
- Rafe (voiced by Edward Albert) - Somewhat like an uncle
to David, he goes undercover as a county sheriff in Glenport, but
is, in reality, a commander in the Ooshati forces. Rafe was told by
Cale, his friend and king, to watch over David and his mother. Only
a day after he rescues David from a group of captors, he is asked
to lead an attack on the Dragit's headquarters on Earth. After this successful attack, during which
all other involved Ooshati were killed, Rafe succumbs to wounds
inflicted by a stowaway Mangler. Right before he dies, he gives
encouragement to David and passes on the task of saving the
world.
- Rita Carter (Ooshala) (voiced by Kath Soucie) - David's
human mother. She is a kind woman who saved Cale from death and
eventually married him. When a group of Tall Men invade her house,
Rita holds them at bay with a gun while she tells David gets out of
the house. The orb Cale gave to her before his departure years ago
suddenly activates during this ordeal and, shortly thereafter, the
house implodes, and Rita and the Tall Men disappear with it. As of
now, her fate is still uncertain.
- Cale-Oosha (voiced by Lorenzo Lamas) - David's Tyrusian father,
and the true ruler of Tyrus. After a few years of staying on the
run, he leaves his family under Rafe's protection to help his band
of loyalist forces, known as the Ooshati, in their war against the
Dragit.
- The Dragit (voiced by Tony Jay) - The lead antagonist of the story, and David's
great-uncle. He currently has control over much of the Tyrusian
armed forces, and is figured as a great orator and dictator,
possibly having almost complete control over Tyrus. Although this
is uncertain, his forces appear far larger and sophisticated than
the ragged band of Ooshati. Throughout the story, the Dragit tries
to brainwash David into joining his side or
kill him.
- Major Philip 'Phil' Stark (voiced by Greg Eagles) - An intelligence officer and pilot of
an OH-6A Cayuse. He has a heart for David and cares for his safety,
going around his orders to help him out. Stark's original search
started with the discovery of a Mangler skeleton in a cave where
Rafe's fingerprints were found. He was also once school buddies
with the President of the United
States.
- Sergeant Angela "Angie" Romar (voiced by Kristy
McNichol) - Stark's partner and friend. Proud of her Gypsy heritage and
a brave young woman, she accompanies Stark wherever he goes. Romar
is also the one who usually plants the ideas and advice into
Stark's head. The two agents at one point hid David in her
apartment. Despite their close friendship, there are no signs that
Stark and Romar have any romantic relations.
- Jim Bailey (voiced by Rider Strong) - David's best friend. He
helped support David through some of his toughest trials, and
eventually went with him into outer space on the final mission of the
story.
- Doc (voiced by Ronny Cox) - A Tyrusian once positioned in
Charles Air Force Base, he deserted upon hearing of the Dragit's
attempt to assassinate Cale and "went native." Now an old man
living in the middle of the Utah
desert, Doc initially stayed away from any involvement in the war
against the Dragit. However, knowing what David was up against and
seeing his spirit, he eventually changed his mind and tapped into
the Dragit's information network, becoming a big help in the final
mission.
- Blue (voiced by Frank Welker) - Doc's pet Mangler. Like
Doc, Blue is a survivor of the attempted assassination of
Cale-Oosha. With the classic "pull the thorn from the foot," Doc
tamed Blue, who has quite an appetite for steaks. Though Doc believed that Blue only cared
for the meat, Blue nearly attacks and is shot by a police officer
who assaulted Doc. Later, while hiding in the Florida swamps, Blue hunted alligators for Doc to cook
for David and his companions.
- General Konrad (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) -
The first main antagonist as the show begins, a Tyrusian who has
risen to the rank of an Air Force general. He is the leader of the
Dragit's agents on Earth. Konrad is a seemingly heartless man who
releases Manglers on his own men in an attempt to kill Ooshati
warriors. After the destruction of Charles Air Force Base, he tries
to kill David and Rafe, but David is successful in turning the
situation around. As a direct result, Konrad dies in a plane
crash.
- General Gordon (voiced by James Sikking) -
Once a colonel, he is
promoted after General Konrad is killed. Gordon directs Stark and
Romar's missions when the two agents become suspicious. Later, it
is confirmed that he led the attack on Maple Island to capture
David and Rafe. Gordon also ordered his men to shoot down Stark and
Romar's OH-6A Cayuse when the two attempted their own
investigation. When the space shuttle lifted off for the moon, he
tried to follow in a stealth fighter and
shoot it down, but flew too high for the fighter to take and fell
back to Earth. Gordon is presumed dead.
- Major Lomack (voiced by Jim Cummings) - An
alien humanoid from the
planet Chaon with the ability to morph into a hulking, fearsome
creature as well as imitate other beings, including humans. When in
his real form, Lomack is relatively immune to bullets and other
weapons.
- Simon Lear (voiced by Thom Adcox-Hernandez) - A bounty hunter
working for General Gordon who attempts to capture David. He has a
hissing voice and an anger management problem, often
resorting to killing without thought. After losing a fight to
David, Simon takes Jim hostage and threatens to kill him,
convincing David to come with him and Sonia. He then tries to kill
David by enhancing his Tyrusian powers using the Exotar, but the
Exotar twists and crushes his hand.
- Sonia Lear (voiced by Kath Soucie) - Simon's twin sister and fellow bounty hunter, also after David. She
keeps Simon under control through Tyrusian psychic bonding; in turn, she loses her nerve
and sense of violence without him. While hiding from security on an
island to board a space shuttle to the moon, Simon tries to help
General Gordon find the group by coming back into contact with his
sister, but Sonia, now helping David and his friends, leads them
away.
- Dr. Hazel Lear - Sonia and Simon's "mother," a
geneticist who, for
years, tried to combine the genes of Tyrusians and humans with
mostly failed results. Unable to wait any longer, General Gordon
orders Major Lomack to kill her as a hidden Sonia watches in
safety.
Places of
mention
- Tyrus (Tī rǒǒs) - The homeworld of the Tyrusians. Apparently, Tyrus
is a dying, perhaps desert planet; because of this, the Dragit and
his followers believe they have a right to attack Earth and use its resources. Cale and his
followers, however, prefer to make peaceful trade relations and
attempt to stop the Dragit. While under the influence of brainwashing, David has a dream about
visiting Tyrus.
- Glenport, Massachusetts - A small,
fictional town near Boston where
David lives until his house is destroyed.
- Maple Island - An island near Glenport where
Rita used to take David fishing when he was a child. Beneath the
fishing shack is a hidden chamber containing Tyrusian equipment.
The shack itself is apparently torn down after an attempt by the
Dragit's forces to try to capture David and Rafe.
- Charles Air Force Base - The main headquarters
for the Dragit's forces on Earth, located in the Utah desert. Underneath this seemingly small base
is a massive Tyrusian installation where ships are constructed and
Manglers are bred for the invasion of Earth, primarily America, which possesses the largest
military forces. Rafe leads an Ooshati attack on this underground
base and successfully activates the self-destruct sequence.
- Moon Base - With the destruction of Charles
AFB, the Dragit resorts to Plan B, using a base on the dark side of
the moon to launch meteors at Earth. While still testing the
targeting systems, David warns an Ooshati ship coming to Earth
about the meteors. The Ooshati discover and attack the base;
although the Ooshati are unsuccessful in destroying it, the base
requires several days of repair, buying David more time. After the
bombardment of Earth, David and his new friends go on a dangerous
mission to the moon.
From
Tyrus
- Tyrusians - Humanoid beings from the planet Tyrus. They
are recognizable by very slim, long eyes, deep temples, and various
mental abilities. When threatened or angered, their eyes seem to
involuntarily turn solid black; refer also to the Eye Dilation
Greeting. Many resemble humans enough that Tyrusians have been
able to successfully infiltrate human society and even rise through
the ranks of the U.S. military, and have been doing so since
the mid-20th
century.
- Tyrusian Powers - These powers are not very
clearly defined, but seem mainly centered on telekinetic abilities.
The hybrid twins Sonia and Simon also display the ability to sense
each other's presence and combine their telekinetic powers for
greater effect.
- Eye Dilation Greeting - Without any particular
term, this is often a sign of greeting and identifying people. This
occurs when the greeter seems to turn his or her retina inside out and back again, and in turn,
the greeted person's retina turns outside in, both accompanied by a
blue luminescence in the eye. How Tyrusians identify one another
with this greeting is unknown. David eventually learns how to do it
and uses it to distract an MP officer by doing
that in a "greeting," allowing Stark and Romar to fight them off to
regain possession of their helicopter.
- Ooshati - The name applied to an organized
band of resistance fighters led by Cale-Oosha. When the Dragit
usurped Cale's rule nearly two decades ago and announced his
intentions to invade Earth, not everyone was happy with the change
in the monarchy. Composed mainly of Tyrusians, those few humans who
know of the invasion also count themselves among their number. The
Ooshati are, as a people, willing to fight (and if necessary, die)
for their beliefs. Actual numbers are unknown, but there have never
been many. The main goal of the Ooshati is to see Cale back on the
throne of Tyrus, and to bring Earth and Tyrus together
peacefully.
Tyrusian
language
- "Yosh" – A Tyrusian exclamation meaning
"awesome, cool."
- "Oosha" - Translates roughly as 'ruler' or,
more exactly, as 'ruler of us all.' The title of the given
planetary leader of Tyrus. There is no average length of rule, and
terms have ranged from one day to nearly eighty years.
- "Dragit" - A term only applied to one ruler in
Tyrusian history, we may assume that this is a title usually
applied to a regent, or to one
who is within the royal family but not in the direct line of
succession (barring the death or departure of the current leader
and/or the absence any heirs to the throne). The Dragit himself
seems to have chosen to retain the title throughout his entire
life, to the point that his real name has been lost from recorded
history.
- "Erdlufi" – 'Erd' literally means 'Earth' and 'Lufi' means 'people.'
Quite literally, 'people of Earth.' Like a number of Earth
languages (Spanish, for instance), Tyrusian has
both masculine and feminine forms of certain words. For example,
'Luf' is the both the singular and masculine form of the word
'people,' and can mean either 'person' or 'man' respectively.
'Lufa' is the singular feminine version, and can also be translated
literally as 'woman' or, as in the case of the Lufa Kinlo,
'lady.'
- "Kek'luf" - A swear word favored by
the Dragit. From what we can gather, 'Kek' means 'nothing,' and
'Luf' means 'person.' To have this term applied to you means that
you are a worthless person, or a waste of space.
Tyrusian
technology
- Exotar - A thin glove able to fit on the right or left hand of
the Oosha as a sign of power and authority. Rafe states it was used
by eight hundred of David's ancestors. Cale initially wore the
glove, and eventually it was passed onto David. The Exotar enhances
the Tyrusian powers of the user, allowing David to cut the very
fibers of branches, hurl objects (as well as manipulating them in
other ways), and even use it as a type of detector. At one point,
David used it like a flashbang grenade, momentarily
blinding Tall Men and preventing them from capturing him. If anyone
without royal blood tries to wear the Exotar, it crushes their
hand. The creation of the Exotar remains a mystery.
- Arbus - A Tyrusian hand weapon roughly
equivalent to an Earth pistol,
with as much (if not more) stopping power as a .45 caliber handgun. Usually requires
slight telekinetic abilities to fire, although
only minor modifications are required for humans to be able to use
them. The weapon is silvery, crescent-shaped, and has two small twin
barrels set very close together. Usually worn on a harness over the
chest, it can be drawn using telekinesis. The arbus fires
interlacing twin energy beams (that somewhat resemble glowing DNA
strands) powerful enough to blast through almost any material.
Unknown power supply, but it never needs recharging. The color of
the beam (green or gold) is dictated by which side the wielder is
on.
- Ar'kron - A much heavier design based on the
arbus, this weapon packs a slightly stronger punch, and often sees
use as a ranged weapon. Good over long distances, but the weight
tends to throw off aim during close encounters, although some
people find the size reassuring. When paired with a temple piece
modified as a sight, it is also useful as a sniping rifle.
- Temple Piece - Like the Exotar, these devices
boost a Tyrusian's mental abilities, although not to the same
degree. Anyone can wear these, and in their normal form, they
resemble a metallic framework with a retractable amber visor worn
over the eyes. They may also be disguised as a less noticeable pair
of sunglasses with only minor modifications. They can also be used
as recording devices, and can be programmed to give vital
statistics and so forth. See the Ooshati during the attack on the
underground base for examples.
- Comm-Orb - A universal device used by
Tyrusians. Some are used for controlling vehicles like a Raider or
David's motorcycle, while others are for communication, spying and
viewing activities. How these communication devices are linked is
unknown, but Doc fixed his broken one using tools he owns on Earth.
These orbs are only powered and used by Tyrusian energies, which
may explain why anyone of the Oosha family make naturally better
pilots as their energies appear stronger.
- Tachyon Drive - The Tyrusian version of faster-than-light (FTL) speed, a
method of crossing interstellar distances. Tachyons are hypothetical particles with a
theoretical ability to travel faster than the speed of light. Long
ago, Tyrusian scientists hit upon a way of harnessing the strength
of the reaction between matter-antimatter pairs. In order to engage
tachyon drive, they use a form of particle acceleration to emit
this energy as a highly-concentrated beam of tachyons, amplify the
process and produce a high-momentum outflow of particles that
consumes enough internal energy to perfectly balance the gain in kinetic energy.
Proof that while the light speed barrier can be broken, the law of conservation of energy cannot. It is
this process that allows their ships to use anti-gravity fields (so that they can both
hover and maintain artificial gravity at almost no energy
cost).
- Standard Raider - This red ship of original
design holds an interior able to carry approximately twenty men,
and can be controlled via a Tyrusian's powers over an orb, usually
holding two pilots. It has fast, short-ranged blasters of rapid
firing power, though the shots are far slower than human guns and
missiles. Its capacity and interesting design, however, makes it an
effective medical, rescue, scout, and fighter ship. Raiders also
have the ability to jump in and out of a planet's atmosphere, thus
avoiding the high, destructive temperatures.
- Ooshati Raider – A Raider that is green in
color and very similar to the Standard Raider of multitudes. An
interesting note is that every Ooshati Raider is slightly damaged
in some area. These Raiders do not have the full four protruding
prongs, but two larger ones at the top and two much smaller
"wings." They are much bulkier than the Standard counterpart, but
are much more powerful, accurate, and can travel across galaxies.
Ooshati Raiders also have an interesting stealth mode, able to turn
virtually invisible. These are used in effective guerrilla tactics against the Dragit.
- Rita's Dream - Cale's personal
Raider, possibly customized and upgraded to fight faster and more
quickly than other Raiders with even longer range. Whether or not
this is due to the fact of being directly under the influence of a
powerful Tyrusian (Cale) or upgrades is undetermined.
- Tyrusian Mother Ship - A carrier imitating a long centipede. Its only defense is a powerful
frontal blaster and the long row of some seventy-five short-ranged
Raiders lined along its spine. These Raiders are attached by their
rears to this spine and, when ready, are thrust into movement by
the turning of the rows of ships. A certain weak spot of this
turning device can be destroyed to successfully blow up every
single ship along the spine, a dangerous frontal attack
tactic.
Tyrusian
life-forms
- Manglers - Velociraptor-like creatures of high
intelligence working together in packs to kill prey. Unlike
anything on Earth, they can
stand on their massive hind legs and use their front arms to
temporarily stand and hold back their prey's defensive mechanisms
(i.e., a man's arms). A human scientist determines from the remains
of a Mangler that they have a silicon-based endoskeleton and longer tendon attachments for enhanced strength.
Manglers come in a variance of colors, have long, narrow eyes, and
rows of needle-like teeth.
- Tall Men – Also known as the "Ga'lim" in
Tyrusian, they are genetically enhanced Tyrusians with a loss of a
normal face, have ugly voices, and poor skills, but increased
powers. The Tall Men are more like henchmen doing secret work for
the Dragit. They are merciless, determined, and recognized by
ominous trench coats
and brim hats.
- Metamorphs - Humanoids genetically engineered
by the Tyrusians, these people can take on the appearance of any
other humanoid they've seen in their lifetimes. Their average
lifespan, however, is only about fifty years. Their true form is
about twice the height of an average human being, hairless, with an
extremely flexible skeletal structure. When in its true form, the
metamorph loses the ability to form cohesive speech, and instead
communicates in guttural howls. The head is supported by a long,
flexible neck, and the teeth, like those of a Mangler, are
needle-shaped. They have angular eyes that are fully black and
totally lacking pupils and irises. The nose is almost
nonexistent. Metamorphs also lack external ears. The forearms are powerful and very long, with
a reach of about six feet and are tipped with three clawed digits,
and the fingers are slightly webbed. The legs remain vaguely
humanoid, and the feet only have two toes. To date, only one
metamorph, Lomack, is known to exist in the United States.
Episodes
Invasion America consisted of 13 half-hour episodes,
and was shown as five one-hour segments and one hour-and-a-half
segment for the final episode.
- "The Legend" ("The Legend"/"The Son")
- "Assault" ("Flight"/"Assault")
- "Renewal" ("Renewal"/"Home")
- "Capture" ("Capture"/"The Trip")
- "Friendly Fire" ("Allies"/"Charade")
- "Final Mission" ("Rendezvous"/"Countdown"/"Dark Side")
Availability
DreamWorks never
released Invasion America on VHS or DVD, and
showed two versions, one being edited for younger audiences. Also,
the story of Invasion America was never completed, the
series ending with the words "End of Book One."
Two novels, specifically an adaptation of the series titled
Invasion America and an original prequel novel titled
Invasion America: On the Run, have been written in the
show's setting. Both were written by Christie Golden [1].
External
links
| DreamWorks Animation |
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Films produced with
Aardman
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series |
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| 2D-animated TV series |
Toonsylvania
(1998) · Invasion
America (1998) · Alienators: Evolution Continues
(2001)
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| Television specials |
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| Direct-to-video |
Joseph: King of Dreams
(2000)
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| Direct-to-DVD |
Operation: DVD Premiere
(2010)
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