Some episodes feature a crime boss named Kingpin. His keen intelligence, girth, and stature are very similar to the Marvel Comicscharacter of the same name. Other new characters were added to the show as well. Among them were a group of talking police dogs called the Canine Corps. They were made up of Samson (the bulldog leader), Lobo (the noble yet clumsy husky), Bonehead (the dimwitted giant St. Bernard), Chilipepper (the excitable chihuahua), and Schitzy (the only female golden retriever with an identity crisis). The theme song is performed by the Fat Boys, who also make an appearance in two episodes as House's Friends: Big Boss, Cool and Mark. Robert Folk's theme for the movies is used, uncredited, over the closing credits.
The animated series was more popular in Europe, especially in Italy. It was especially popular in the Arab world, where it was broadcast on Spacetoon and Al Aoula. In Japan, the animated series was shown on TV Tokyo and then TV Asahi.[citation needed]
Synopsis
The animated series takes place chronologically between the fourth and fifth films.
Thirteen characters are re-created for this animated version, including a team of Academy graduates led by Carey Mahoney, a likeable rogue bachelor boy, who unconsciously—and consistently—does his best to make life miserable for Captain Harris and his knucklehead assistant Sgt. Proctor.
Mahoney's friends include the aptly named Moses Hightower, sound effects master Larvell Jones, trigger-happy Eugene Tackleberry, sweet and timid Laverne Hooks, hardened Debbie Callahan, colossal House, and the duo of reformed gang member Zed McGlunk and his best buddy, Carl Sweetchuck.
Eric Lassard is the highly respected (albeit dreamy) Commandant, and Academy newcomer The Professor is also on hand, and also the cadets new friends, the K-9 Corps, a group of police dogs, and stocking the crime-fighting heroes with an endless supply of wacky gadgets as they combat a motley crew of Kingpin and other recurring villains such as Numbskull, The Claw, Mr. Sleaze, Lockjaw, and Amazona.
Characters
Cadet Carey Mahoney – The most clever among the officers. Mahoney is always ready to lend a hand to his companions. He is also the patrol partner of Larvell Jones.
Cadet Larvell Jones – Mahoney's usual sidekick. He is a master of the martial arts and his main talent, beatboxing. He is also able to imitate all manner of noises, including sirens, gunfire, helicopters, and so forth.
Cadet Carl Sweetchuck – The shortest member with a cowardlike personality. He is very accident prone and oblivious to the harm caused by his clumsiness.
Cadet Zed McGlunk – The messy and unkempt hillbilly. He usually drags his patrol partner, Sweetchuck along in his wily, but erratic pursuits.
Cadet Moses Hightower – The group's strongman who is well known for his great size and strength. His stature often comes into play when the characters find themselves in situations in which bars must be bent or walls need to smashed through.
Cadet Laverne Hooks – A small, soft-spoken, and passive woman. However, Hooks has shown herself capable of being extremely forceful and loud in situations in which whatever she gets provoked. She is Hightower's patrol partner.
Cadet Thomas "House" Conklin – A very obese man who is well known for his large frame, big appetite, and congenial nature. He patrols with Sweetchuck and Zed to often accompanies them in their escapades.
Cadet Eugene Tackleberry – A weapons fanatic with a pronounced jawline who almost always wears sunglasses and a helmet. Tackleberry often uses the police's armored car, which he usually wrecks. He is fond of using a bazooka.
Sergeant Debbie Callahan – The statuesque beauty of the group who is extremely resilient and has a beautiful singing voice. She has a weakness for her fellow patrol partner, Tackleberry.
Captain Thaddeus Harris – The Police Academy's captain. Harris sometimes carries a walking stick around with him and is often tries to humiliate the officers in order to gain a promotion, but fails miserably.
Sergeant Carl Proctor – Harris' dimwitted sergeant and sidekick who is almost always in the company of his captain.
Sergeant Ernie Mauser - A sergeant and head of the K-9 corps. He became good friends with Mahoney and his gang. He acts similar to Hurst when facing up to Harris' shenanigans. He speaks in dog-like sounds.
Commandant Eric Lassard – The easygoing and idealistic commandant.
Finnegan - Commandant Lassard's loyal pet goldfish.
The Professor – He is the inventor of numerous devices.
K-9 Corps – A team of trained dogs. They can talk, but only to themselves and other animals.
Other characters
Villains (criminals)
The Clown Gang - A trio of clown-themed criminals. Their plan is to sneak into the Police Academy and disguise themselves as new recruits for their looting schemes. They sometimes talk about their boss, Freddie The Fence.
Wiz - The trio's leader.
The Claw - A wanted cat burglar who uses his gadgets to break into buildings and rob people of their jewelry. He speaks in cat-like sounds. He is a male parody of DC Comic's Catwoman.
Mouser - The Claw's loyal pet cat.
Kingpin – The world's largest overlord in various episodes of the series. Together, him and the four escapees formed a supervillain teamup known as The Council of Crime. He is a parody of Marvel Comic's Kingpin. He is also drawn as overweight, bald, and always wearing a white suit.
Weasel & Wooley – Kingpin's low-level henchmen.
The London Bridge Gang - A group of British crooks from London.
Hack London - The group's boss. His scheme is to use the Professor's new Supercar that they swiped so he could break into The Tower of London and steal the Royal Chalice.
Reggie McDuff & Leroy "Lugnut" Lonningan - London's henchmen. They stole the Supercar to get their boss out of jail.
LeStarla - An obsessed fan who disguises himself as The Phantom of The Opera to kidnap an opera singer for his own selfish desires.
Phoenix Amazona - An intelligent, but beautiful strongwoman who loves to take gold objects for money. She is Sweetchuck's former crush. She is also a parody of Marvel Comic's Titania.
Big Mike & Fuji - Amazona's wrestling henchmen.
Seedy McLeech - An outlaw wanted by the old western town.
Snake, Maggot, & Annie Violey - McLeech's gang of bandits.
Cleveland - A treasure hunter who impersonates a cursed mummy to scare everyone away and find King Fut's artifacts.
Kroak - One of Cleveland's henchmen.
Numbskull - A not-too-bright thug who uses a few trick helmets to puncture through the walls of his robbery targets.
Mr. Sleaze - An infamous crime boss with a weaponized necktie.
Beast - One of Sleaze's henchmen.
Foofoo - Sleaze's ugly, but loyal pet dog.
The Highway Robbers - A gang of robbers and Zed's family.
Big Bertha - The leader of the Highway Robbers and Zed's aunt. She came up with the family recipe for Hokeyfenokee Stew.
Ned and Ed - Zed's long-lost cousins. They always race around the road in their souped-up hot rods.
The Land Pirates - A gang of notorious gypsies.
Madame Zelda - A fake fortune teller and the gang's leader. She jinxes Sweetchuck with bad luck, until this so-called "curse" turns against her.
Lazlo & Grimsky - Two of Zelda's henchmen.
Fredrick Wilhelm - A phony film director who wants to take a gigantic robot gorilla known as Awesome Ape for his heist ideas.
The Magnificent Mystopholes - A crooked hypnotist who cures Hightower of his dentophobia and mesmerizes him to steal three special keys for a massive diamond known as the Cyclops' Eye.
Hunk - Mystopholes' short henchman.
Lockjaw - A cyborg with crushing steel jaws that allows him to gnaw through anything inorganic. He used to have a crush on Callahan. He is a parody of He-Man & The Masters of The Universe's Trap Jaw.
Dr. Vice - A doctor-turned-supervillain who overrode the space shuttle's controls so he could send his stolen paintings to the orbiting satellite. He is a parody of James Bond's Dr. No.
Mr. Bimmelman - The owner of a toystore who is actually a spy plotting to steal top-secret documents with his dangerous and destructive toys. He is a parody of DC Comic's Toyman.
Flung Hi - A martial artist and scientific genius with an arsenal of inventions he uses for his nefarious purposes.
The Hang Ten Gang - A group of surfer-like thieves with hovering surfboards.
Brad - The group's leader.
Bambi - Brad's girlfriend.
Bull - Brad's friend who is as strong as Hightower.
Kane - A high-tech crook who is trying to get specialized transistors hidden inside a rattle.
Mr. Glitch - A suspected burglar who once stole a microchip from a space lab, but he drops it into Finnegan's fish bowl.
Cagey - Glitch's henchman.
Waxen Wayne a.k.a. The Chameleon - The wax museum's curator and chemist who creates a special "wax formula" that allows him to mold his face into anyone he sees. He is a parody of Marvel Comic's The Chameleon.
The Diamond Gang - A group of small-time gangsters. Their boss gave the Professor a Jeckyll-Hyde makeover, as well as altering his personality via Anti-Crime Formula so he can build weapons for them to pull off big jobs.
Sharky Diamond - The group's boss and grandson of Lucky Diamond.
Muggsy Maggoy - A midget-sized mobster who was caught by the young Lassard after hiding one of the Emerald Wingtips which he took from a safe inside the jewelry store. 40 years later, he came out of retirement to finish the job.
Skeets - A prison inmate at the state penitentiary who is the mastermind of the diamond thefts.
Louie - Skeets' henchman.
Lamar - One of Skeets' henchmen with size and strength equal to Hightower.
The Neptune Gang - A group of criminals dressed as fish people to strip their victims of his or her valuables.
Mr. Bard a.k.a. King Neptune - The group's leader who dresses himself as a chef and the legendary king of the seas.
Romeo - Bard's henchman who dresses himself as a waiter and a fish man.
Juliet - Bard's henchwoman who dresses herself as a maid and a fish woman.
The Gamester - A card-based villain who enjoys playing games, robbing everything, and leaving complex clues behind. He is a parody of DC Comic's Riddler.
Queenie - The Gamester's henchwoman and girlfriend.
Kenner produced a line of Police Academyaction figures based on the animated series. Each features multiple points of articulation and comical accessories. Two accessories, included with Claw and Eugene Tackleberry, would be reused for the Joker figures in Kenner's Dark Knight Collection.[5] Five of the vehicles and playsets planned were left unproduced; however, the Copper Corner playset would later be released through the Argentinian company Josca.[6]
Series 1 (1988)
Carey Mahoney and Samson Dog
Claw with Mouser Cat
Eugene Tackleberry with Armed Flak Vest
Larvell Jones and Bullhorn
Moses Hightower and Meter Reader Scooter
Mr. Sleaze with Foofoo Dog
Numbskull with Smashing Helmets
Zed and Police Skateboard
Series 2 (1988)
Captain Harris (mail-away)
S.W.A.T. Eugene Tackleberry with Fistzooka
Flung Hi with Crazy Karate Gear
Kingpin with Thief-Trap Safe
Karate Larvell Jones
Special Assignment Rookies (1989)
Undercover Carey Mahoney
Snack Attack House with Hoagie Blaster
Stakeout Sweetchuck (mail-away)
Sky Glidin' Zed with Hang Glider
Vehicles and playsets (1988)
Crazy Cruiser
Crash Cycle
Precinct Police Station
Copper Corner (released through Josco)
Comic books
Based on the cartoon series, Marvel Comics released six issues of a comic book series that published under the main company's name but also featured a "Star Comics Present' byline on the splash page.
^Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 630–631. ISBN978-1476665993.
^Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 470. ISBN978-1538103739.
