Street Sharks is an animated series about crime-fighting half-man/half-sharks. It was produced by DIC Entertainment and aired from 1994 to 1997, originally as a part of the Amazin' Adventures lineup. Later, in 1996, the Street Sharks teamed up with the Dino Vengers and the show became "Dino Vengers Featuring Street Sharks". It was created to promote an existing Mattel toy line of the same name. The creators were David Siegel and Joe Galliani of Mr. Joe's Really Big Productions.
Plot[]
The premise of the story states that a university professor named Dr. Robert Bolton and his partner Dr. Luther Paradigm created a machine known as the "gene-slammer" which is capable of changing aquatic animals into anthropomorphic hybrids by combining their DNA. In his attempt to prevent Paradigm from using this machine for personal power, Bolton is transformed into an unseen monstrosity, but escapes. Later, Paradigm gives Bolton's four sons John, Bobby, Coop, and Clint the likeness of four different sharks. When Dr. Paradigm captures their friend Bends, the resulting "Street Sharks" rescue him and combine Paradigm with piranha DNA (for which he is often nicknamed "Dr. Piranoid" by other characters). In subsequent episodes, Dr. Paradigm creates a variety of monsters to destroy the Street Sharks while attempting to persuade the inhabitants of their native metropolis of Fission City to imprison them. Of these monsters, a few sided with the Sharks themselves: namely Rox, Moby Lick, Mantaman, and El Swordo.
The final few episodes introduced the Dino Vengers: a group of extraterrestrial dinosaurs allied with the Street Sharks against their own rivals in the Raptor Gang. The Dino Vengers later had their own series called Extreme Dinosaurs.
Characters[]
The Bolton Family[]
- Ripster (voiced by Lee Tockar) - John Bolton is the smartest the leader and oldest of the four brothers who enjoys creating inventions. He has taken up most of his knowledge and skills from his father. He is also an avid pool player. In the first episode of the show, John rides a motorbike. When transformed into Ripster, he becomes a great white shark able to bite through steel.
- Jab (voiced by Matt Hill) - Clint Bolton is the laziest of the Street Sharks, but enjoys boxing and appears to have some talent with mechanics. When transformed into Jab, he becomes a hammerhead shark and uses his head as a battering ram.
- Streex (voiced by Andrew Rannells) - Robert "Bobby" Bolton Jr. is a level-headed, cool and self-proclaimed ladies' man. He is always shown wearing his rollerblades and appears to enjoy parachuting and snowboarding and later plays drums professionally. When transformed into Streex, he becomes a tiger shark, named after the purple streaks on his body. In episodes 1-3, he was originally called "Blades" for his skills as a rollerblader.
- Big Slammu (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) - Coop Bolton is the strongest and youngest of the four. He is also a football player in high school. In the first episode, he uses a skateboard. When transformed into Big Slammu, he becomes a whale shark and his most prominent maneuver is the "Seismic Slam" in which he may shake or crack the ground with his fists.
- Dr. Robert Bolton (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) - A university professor and the father of the Bolton Brothers who invents the gene-manipulation device for peaceful uses. He is only seen on-screen in the first episode where he tries to stop Dr. Paradigm's experiments only to become changed into an unseen inhuman creature. Afterward, he is only ever represented by a shadow cast on the wall. It is suggested through the series that Dr. Bolton secretly assists his sons. The episode "Shark Source" shows him defeating Dr. Piranoid to rescue a kidnapped mutant crocodile. Despite the fact that he helps them, Dr. Bolton is never reunited with his sons.
- Sir Thomas Bolton - An ancestor of the protagonists who is encountered in the episode "Sir Shark-a-Lot". He is the target of Paradigm's time-travel excursion to destroy the Bolton family.
Allies[]
- Lena Mack (voiced by Pam Carter) - A student of Dr. Paradigm's who suspects him of crime, and therefore assists the Street Sharks. She is later reduced to a background role. She has a younger brother named Malik.
- Bends (voiced by Jim Hoggatt) - Fission University's technical genius and a source of comic relief who supplies the Street Sharks with their motorbikes and weapons and conceals them underneath the University's ice skating rink. In episode 16, it is revealed that he cannot be mutated by a gene-slamming airborne virus. This genetic trait was passed down to his great, great, great grandson who is a member of the resistance against Dr. Paradigm in an alternate future as seen in "Shark to the Future".
- Moby Lick - Jets Taylor is a good friend of the Bolton Brothers and Bends. Under Dr. Paradigm's mind-control, Jets is combined with a killer whale by Dr. Paradigm in order to make him his latest Seaviate. Becoming Moby Lick, he later broke free of Paradigm's mind control and became an ally of the Street Sharks. Moby Lick has a long prehensile tongue (the source of his name), great strength, and the ability to inhale water and expel it through his blowhole; and later demonstrated the ability to communicate with other killer whales. In "Shark Hunt", it is revealed that Moby became an eco-conservationist in the Everglades National Park.
- Rox (voiced by Lee Tockar) - Melvin Kresnik is an up-and-coming musician mistakenly combined with a mako shark who exposes Dr. Paradigm's plan to change Kresnik's audience into mutants. Thereafter, Rox continues as a rock star (explaining his altered form as a costume) and remains a friend of the Sharks. He was dropped from the series after Season Two.
- President David Horne (voiced by Tony Wike) - The President of the United States, whom the Street Sharks save from Dr. Paradigm. Following the this incident, President Horne secretly leaks information to the Street Sharks.
- El Swordo (voiced by Garry Chalk) - A circus performer who worked with a large marlin named Spike. The two were eventually "fused" together by Dr. Paradigm resulting in a combination of memories under the man's personality. El Swordo remains active in entertainment as a professional swordsman.
- Mantaman (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) - A flying dinosaur-like alien specimen was found encased in stone by Dr. Terrence "Terry" Morton and reactivated by Dr. Paradigm. Dr. Morton then deliberately gene-slammed himself with a combination of the alien's DNA and manta ray DNA to help the Street Sharks fight the original alien. He has a younger brother named Ryan who appears in "Shark Jacked" when he gets captured by Dr. Paradigm. By the end of the episode, Mantaman's parents learn of what became of their son and accept his appearance. Around the "Ancient Sharkonauts" episode, Mantaman returns under the control of the Raptors when it was revealed that they were behind the flying dinosaur-like alien whose DNA is part of Mantaman. He is later liberated by the Street Sharks.
- Dino Vengers - A military unit from an exoplanet inhabited by anthropomorphic dinosaurs. Allied with the Street Sharks.
- T-Bone (voiced by Ian James Corlett) - A Tyrannosaurus and the leader of the Dino Vengers.
- Stegz (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) - A Stegosaurus.
- Bullzeye (voiced by Ian James Corlett) - A Pteranodon.
- Spike (voiced by Garry Chalk) - A Triceratops.
Antagonists[]
- Dr. Luther Paradigm (voiced by J. Michael Lee) - A university professor and the primary antagonist of the series. He is easily identified by his metal eyepatch and later by a giant yellow robotic exoskeleton, with offensive capabilities including the ability to fire harpoons. In the second episode, Dr. Paradigm is injected with piranha DNA meant for the Street Sharks who nicknamed him Dr. Piranoid. Afterwards, Paradigm's face assumes inhuman attributes at moments of strong emotion. When in public, Dr. Paradigm wears a robe to hide his exoskeleton. When Dr. Bolton defeated Dr. Piranoid to rescue a captive mutant crocodile and damaged his armor, it was shown that parts of his body was fish-like. During episodes featuring the Dino-Vengers, Dr. Paradigm injected himself with iguana DNA which was given to him by the Raptors instead of Velociraptor DNA and was renamed Dr. Iguanoid as a result. He has since helped out the Raptors with their plots.
- SharkBot (voiced by Steve Gibbs) - Dr. Paradigm's experimentation with robotics; used to free the monster Repteel from prison and frame the Street Sharks for the crime. The Sharks ultimately reprogrammed it to destroy Paradigm's laboratory, and itself; but Its shell was rebuilt into SharkBot 2.0, which fought the Street Sharks until the end of the series' second season.
- Tentakill - A biped creature of unknown origins and species, first seen in the episode "Sir Sharkalot" as Paradigm's newest weapon. It is incapable of speech, shows limited intelligence, and was not utilized often.
- Seaviates - A group of mutant sea creatures that serve Dr. Paradigm.
- Slobster (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) - An anthropomorphic monster created by injecting a lobster with the DNA of Genghis Khan and Captain Thomas Blood et al. He was dropped from the series after Season Two.
- Slash (voiced by Terry Berner) - A swordfish injected with the DNA of villains like Genghis Khan and Captain Thomas Blood. Thus, he becomes an anthropomorphic fish with a drill bit on its nose who speaks in a hissing lisp. Slash is usually defeated by immobilization of his nasal drill. He was dropped from the series after Season Two.
- Killamari (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) - An anthropomorphic squid able to project natural "spears" or "harpoons" from his mouth and the many suckers covering his body. In the episode "Lone Shark," he almost kills Jab with his poison. Lena and Bends concoct an anti-venom which has since reduced his threat.
- Repteel (voiced by Tony Wike) - The only one of Dr. Paradigm's Seaviates to have originally been human. Mr. Cunneyworth is the aged owner and hotel manager of a run-down hotel accidentally demolished by the Street Sharks during a fight with Dr. Paradigm's Seaviates. As he had nowhere else to go, Mr. Cunneyworth willingly allowed Dr. Paradigm to merge his genetic codes with those of a moray eel and an electric eel. As Repteel, he feeds on electricity and shoots miniature eels (also charged with electricity) from his hands and wears a special pack to store energy.
- Shrimp Louie (voiced by Andrew Rannells) - A mutated shrimp and one of Paradigm's later Seaviates. He is not very strong, is quite the coward, and his primary weapons are big blaster guns.
- Maximillian Greco - An aged mafioso who blackmails Dr. Paradigm into gene-slamming him with the DNA of a rhinoceros (upon its nosehair samples being obtained) and the DNA of a desert tortoise. This granted Greco the strength of a rhinoceros and the longevity of a desert tortoise which rejuvenated Greco to half his real age. He later resurfaced as the owner of a casino.
- Zeus and Apollo (vocal effects provided by D. Kevin Williams) - Maximillian Greco's pet chihuahuas. Like their owner, they were also genetically enhanced by Dr. Paradigm.
- Malcolm Medusa III (voiced by J. Michael Lee) - A rich, business-owning big game hunter who frequently targets endangered animals. The Street Sharks and Moby Lick expose him. In "Shark Hunt", Malcolm Medusa III traps Moby Lick and the Street Sharks in a hunting enclosure. He is eventually imprisoned in an island prison as he plans his revenge..
- Clammando (voiced by D. Kevin Williams) - A mutant clam who is Malcolm Medusa's right-hand man. He started out as a dock worker for Malcolm Medusa III who fell into a toxic waste part of the water where there were clams. As a result, upon being fished out, he turned into a mutant clam. In "Shark to the Future", Clammando's appearance was first used as a Seaviate that worked for a Dr. Paradigm during the Street Sharks' visit to the future.
- The Raptors - A trio of rogue Velociraptor-like criminals.
- Bad Rap (voiced by Doug Parker) - The leader of the Raptors, who has a metal brace-like device on his mouth and a rocket-launcher on his right hand.
- Haxx (voiced by Doug Parker) - A Raptor with implants on the backs of each wrist that produce green blades, whose tail has been replaced with a blade capable of spinning like a drill.
- Spittor (voiced by Doug Parker) - The scientist and brains of the Raptors. Spittor carries a tank with various liquids released from nozzles on his hands, tail, and mouth.
Recurring characters[]
- Guy in the Sky (voiced by Tony Wike) - Fission City's top air radio reporter and paparazzo. He was never fully seen, but recognized by a yellow helicopter. He was later dropped from the show after Season Two.
- Detective Michael Brock - The police detective who investigates the Sharks' activities. He was later dropped from the show after Season Two.
DVD release[]
On February 19, 2013, Street Sharks – The Complete Series was released on Region 1 DVD by Mill Creek Entertainment.
Movie[]
There was a direct-to-video feature film of the Street Sharks with all of Season 1's episodes, Sharkbait, Sharkbite, and Sharkstorm that were combined into one titled The Gene Slamming Begins. It was then followed by two episode movies using episodes from Season 2. One was Shark Quest with two episodes, Shark Quest and Lone Shark, and the other was Shark 'n' Roll with two episodes, Shark 'n' Roll and Fresh Water Shark.
Principal voice actors[]
- Rob Baker
- Terry Berner – Slash
- Todd Campbell
- Pam Carter – Lena
- Garry Chalk – El Swordo, Spike
- Ian James Corlett – T-Bone, Bullzeye
- Laurier Dubeau
- Matt Hill – Jab
- Jim Hoggatt – Bends, General Bendsini
- Jerry Longe
- Laura Marr
- J. Michael Lee – Dr. Luther Paradigm, Malcolm Medusa III
- Jason Michas - Paxel
- Doug Parker – Bad Rap, Haxx, Spittor
- Andrew Rannells - Streex, Shrimp Louie
- Lee Tockar – Ripster, Rox
- Jerry Wall
- D. Kevin Williams – Big Slammu, Dr. Robert Bolton, Killamari, Slobster, Mantaman, Clammando, Apollo & Zeus, Stegz
- Tony Wike – Repteel, Guy in the Sky, President David Horne
Additional voices[]
- John St. Angelo
- Susan Baer Beck
- Kevin Erhardt
- Ryan Ewing
- Aaron Fili
- Steve Gibbs – SharkBot
- Adam Grant
- Mary Theresa Green
- Nils Holland
- Amy Kunz
- Kevin Lawlor
- Roberta Lawson
- Laura Marr
- Clyde McNeal
- M. Michelle Phillips
- Alvin Sanders
- Casey Sixt
- Ryle Smith
- David Wallace
Crew[]
- Pam Carter – Casting and Voice Director
- Marsha Goodman – Casting and Voice Director
- Paul Quinn – Casting and Voice Director
Tie-in products[]
In 1996, Archie Comics released a short-lived comic book series based on Street Sharks. They published a three-issue mini-series which were based on the first three episodes of the series, and a regular comic series, which lasted three issues.
From 1994 to 1997, Mattel released a line of Street Sharks action figures.
See also[]
- Extreme Dinosaurs – a spin-off series