Martin Mystery | |
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Based on | Martin Mystère by Alfredo Castelli |
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Opening theme | "Martin Mystery Theme" |
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No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 66 (list of episodes) |
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Running time | 22 minutes |
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Release | 1 October 2003 27 March 2006 | –
Martin Mystery (French: Martin Mystère) is an animated television series based on the Italian comic book Martin Mystère by Alfredo Castelli.[1] The show was produced by Marathon Animation (French television production company based in Neuilly-sur-Seine), and Image Entertainment Corporation (a Canadian production and animation company based in Montreal).[2] It uses an art style similar to Japanese anime. The series premiered on YTV on 1 October 2003 in its originating country of Canada.
Premise
[edit]The series re-imagines the comic books' main characters Martin Mystery and Diana Lombard as teenage stepsiblings attending Torrington Academy,[1] a boarding school located in the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec.[3] They work for a secret organization known as "The Center," which covertly protects the people of Earth from supernatural threats and investigates the unknown and the paranormal. Their allies at The Center include Billy, a small, green-skinned alien who is one of Martin's best friends; and Java, a caveman from 200,000 years ago, who works as a janitor at Torrington Academy and is the arm of the group.
Martin's vast knowledge of the supernatural and his remarkable intuition make him a valued agent of The Center, and compensate for his huge ego and his clumsy attitude. Diana resents these flaws at times, as Martin often does not seem to understand the seriousness of his missions, but generally respects him, and loves him and his way of being himself without compromises.
Episodes
[edit]Characters
[edit]- Martin Mystery (voiced by Sam Vincent; Alexis Tomassian):
- Martin is a 16-year-old Canadian boy, with a passion for monsters and the paranormal, who works as a paranormal investigator for "The Center". He is immature, hyperactive, and zany, constantly bursting with energy. He is usually an underachiever in school, once getting 106 out of 902 on his pre-college aptitude test. While impulsive and impatient – often leaping into danger on missions without thinking to help those in peril – he consistently proves to be a quick thinker and clever. He has a peculiar love for everything slimy, sloppy, and gooey – things that make Diana gag. His favorite pastime is taunting Diana by playing practical jokes. A running gag in the series is his constant flirting with every beautiful girl he meets, who usually reject him.
- Martin jumps to conclusions very often, coming up with every unlikely theory he can think of, usually from some horror movie or monster movie he saw, or from his subscription to Paranormal Monthly. As the leader of the trio, Martin is also the only one who wears a U-Watch. His first monster was Venoso, a female chameleon monster that has the power to shape-shift into any person it wants.
- Martin appears in a crossover episode of Totally Spies!. During the episode, he is immediately smitten with Clover, even though she is uninterested in him. Towards the end of the same episode, Clover finally showed interests in Martin and even tries to get his attention, but Martin and Alex have hit it off due to a shared love of comics and video games. Throughout the episode, Martin continuously describes Sam as a "really lame buzz-kill", but doesn't lash out at him due to her composed demeanor
- Diana Lombard (voiced by Kelly Sheridan; Dorothée Pousséo):
- Diana is Martin's stepsister, who is his complete opposite. She is also 16 years old and an agent for The Center, while attending Torrington Academy. She is a rigid overachiever, and often has a hard time keeping her cool with Martin. The stepsiblings argue frequently, with such arguments ending in some sort of bet that Diana usually loses. Diana can be timid at times – which leads to Martin calling her a "wimp" – but can show great courage when called upon. Her intelligence often comes in handy on their missions. Never sharing Martin's love of the paranormal, she often tries to reason with logic instead of jumping to conclusions.
- Diana is often used as "bait" for the majority of their missions, which results in her being a victim of the monster. Such examples include: being cocooned by an acid-spewing insect queen, turned into a frog by a warlock Martin unleashed, and being possessed by a vengeful spirit at a mountain lodge. When Martin is incapacitated by other monsters, she uses her own skills to save him, and even wears Martin's U-watch in a few episodes.
- Java the Caveman (voiced by Dale Wilson; Sylvain Lemarié):
- Java is a 200,000-year-old caveman, who assists Martin and Diana in their investigations as the team's tracker. Friends with both, he often works odd jobs at Torrington. While he does not usually contribute much to conversation due to his simplistic English (e.g. "What that?", "Diana bald", and "Java no like this place"), his brute strength and creative thinking often help in the team's investigations.
- Java is a significant source of comedy in the show, due to his reactions to various scenarios and his poor hygiene as a caveman (e.g. his offensive foot odor, putrid armpits, and filthy breath). His technophobia also provides some running gags. His backstory was revealed in the episode "Return of the Beasts". Java was created by an evil ex-paleontologist who sought revenge. Java was apprehended by the Center, quickly befriended Martin and Diana, and helped them stop the paleontologist and his mutant dinosaurs and Java has been a part of the team ever since.
- M.O.M. (voiced by Teryl Rothery; Laurence Dourlens):
- The director of "The Center". M.O.M. oversees the investigation of paranormal activities throughout the world. Serious, uncompromising, and an expert at hand-to-hand combat, she is often seen multitasking. While Martin's capabilities make him one of her favorite agents, she is often annoyed by his childish behavior. A running gag in the series is Martin destroying nearly every piece of gadgetry she is working on whenever he appears for a debriefing in her office.
- As an agent, the first creature she captured was Gastromo, a parasitic, iron-eating, slug-like monster who infects and controls those he touches. Contrary to the dry sense of humor she provides to the series, Billy has said she is "a real party animal when she gets going". In one episode, Martin and Diana discover she turns The Center into a nightclub afterhours for agents, and they see her dancing. And despite her rather serious and stoic nature, she is always in a happy and festive mood at Christmas, to which a disbelieving Martin comments that it looks like "M.O.M. is actually having fun".
- In the crossover episode of Totally Spies!, M.O.M. is shown to have a possibly romantic history with the spies' boss Jerry, much to the spies' and Martin's displeasure, as she and Jerry spy-flirt between holograms. The initials M.O.M. are said to actually stand for "Mystery Organization Manager", as explained by Martin in that episode. While her real name is unknown, she used the alias Ms. Olivia Mandell (derived from the initials M.O.M.) in the episode "Web of the Spider Creature".
- Billy (voiced by Sam Vincent):
- Billy is M.O.M.'s personal secretary; he is a tiny green alien often seen flying on his mini hovercraft. Friendly and upbeat, he usually greets the gang when they are first signed in, and often does his signature high five with Martin (whom he idolizes). His role is generally a supportive one; he often pops in to give the team valuable information, usually startling them in the process. He will also analyses samples or photographs that Martin sends in during a mission. However, he won't help on a mission directly unless he is forced to.
- In the second season, it was revealed Billy was once a great alien warrior Ganthar on another planet who led other aliens to conquer planets and strip them of their resources, but he gave up violence for good after realizing what he did was wrong. On his home planet, he was a supermodel, likely popular since he was fearsome and powerful. Billy arrived on Earth in the Roswell Incident in 1947. In later episodes (season 3 onward), Billy adopted a human disguise — the "B.S. 1000" — to be with Martin and Diana at their school. There are a few later episodes that hint Billy has romantic feelings for Diana, much to Martin's disgust.
Recurring
[edit]- Jenni Anderson (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain):
- Diana's best friend. Jenni is one of the prettiest and most popular girls attending Torrington. She has blue eyes and flared auburn-coloured hair, usually seen wearing a black blouse and skirt with knee-high boots. Martin is in love with her, which she does not return due to his immaturity. She regularly describes him as "immature", a "freak", and a "loser". However, there are times she becomes interested in him, particularly when Martin acts like a gentleman. Unfortunately for Martin, this never lasts due to her memory being erased, or Martin subsequently doing something stupid.
- Marvin (voiced by Matt Hill):
- Martin's rival. The son of a pilot, Marvin enjoys the extreme, saying that he enjoys the adrenaline rush that comes with such activities. Some of his activities includes rock climbing in the Himalayas, parasailing over the Great Barrier Reef, street-luging on the German Autobahn, jungle kayaking, and snowboarding down the face of K2. His talents and popularity make everyone at the school fawn over him, while making Martin jealous.
- In "The Third Eye", Marvin is recruited to work for The Center, which annoys Martin. At the end of "Body-Swappers", he is relocated to Hawaii as a reward for his work on the mission. However, in "Rage of the Leprechaun", he is relegated to The Center's South Pole facility because of his negligence in a previous mission, and blames his unfortunate circumstances on Martin.
- Gerard Mystery (voiced by Michael Donovan):
- Martin's father, and Diana's stepfather. The complete opposite of his son, Gerard is a very rational, logical person. As a scientist, he spends much of his time doing field work in the forest. He and Martin have a strained relationship, partly due to Gerard considering Martin's interest in the paranormal to be "balderdash". He only appeared in two episodes; in his second appearance, he finds out about "The Center" and that Diana and Martin work for it. Diana's mother, who happens to be Martin's stepmother, is only mentioned once in season three.
Watch
[edit]- U-Watch
The U-Watch is a high-tech watch-like device and the primary prop object used by Martin and M.O.M. (occasionally) from the animated series, Martin Mystery ¹. Here are some key features of the U-Watch:
Legendex: a database of every monster, curse, creature, and event worthy of note known to The Center.
Slime Scan: analyzes slime samples if it is of unknown origin.
Bio Scan: analyzes any item including biological residue and sends information on The Center's database.
X-Rod: fires a net or an energy field to capture a creature.
I-Cutter: creates an energy blade that cuts through walls, locks, and doors.
Virtual Tracer: has a GPS system that can be used to trace down people or objects.
Turbo Bungee: a grappling hook that enables the wearer to escape from confined spaces.
Alpha Goggles: a pair of glasses with internal light beams mounted at the rims, perfect for viewing in enclosed or dark locations.
U-Shield: generates a force field that can cover the area of an entire room.
Phone-Number Search Mode: the U-Watch's A.I. responds with an address and name when the user states a phone-number
Laser Gun: It shoots out lasers with the touch of one button (possibly from the I-Cutter).
The U-Watch also has some unofficial functions, including an internal flashlight, communications device, and even a laser/blaster functions which is really rarely used. On one occasion, it's shown that the U-Watch has a slot for what looks like memory cards, and allows it to run additional programs from them (this is seen in the episode, Curse of the Necklace before Martin heads into the portal for his mission. He gains the ability to detect "dead zones" and uses it shortly after). Interestingly enough, it has never been verified that the U-Watch actually tells the time.
- Ultra U-Watch
M.O.M. wears her own U-Watch, the 'Ultra U-Watch' which is also capable of opening portals. (Martin (possessed by an alien named Gastromo) was once seen using his normal U-Watch to open a portal to the center. Martin has never used this ability) These features have been indicated in the episode, The Lost Tribe, and it is a device that Martin desires.
Center Vehicle: It can make a center SUV appear for transportation.
X-Rod: It was used for slicing through things and melee weapons.
X-Goggles: It is a device used to see in the dark.
Portal: is capable of opening and closing portals.
Ultra Legendex: An encyclopedia of every monster or legend.
Hologram: A device that projects images.
- X-Watch
There is also an upgraded version of the U-Watch: the 'X-Watch,' given to higher-ranking adult agents who have access to it. These additional features have been indicated are:
Hologram
Ultra-Concentrated Sunbeam
Ultra-Vision Headset
X-Goggles
- Meta Watch
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Meta_watch_diana-_martin_mystery.webp/220px-Meta_watch_diana-_martin_mystery.webp.png)
In the 2-part finale of "It's Alive", when Diana resigns from the center and joins the CIHL because of her inferior evaluation, she gets a version of U-Watch called as the Meta Watch as an agent from the CIHL. Compared to Martin's U-Watch, it has more advanced features and security measures, as shown when its security features prevented Martin from accessing its tracking device. Additional features include:
Laser Turbo Bungee
Night Vision Headgear
Portal: Can open portal to another dimension
Laser Gun
CIHL Version of Legendex
Ultra precision tracking device with inbuilt security
Scanner
Broadcast
[edit]Martin Mystery aired in Canada on YTV and Discovery Kids in English, and on Vrak in French, from 2003 until the series finale in 2006.
In the United States, the first 7 episodes were originally shown on FoxBox in May and June 2004. Nickelodeon later picked up the series, and after a brief run on the main channel, the series aired on Nicktoons Network from 4 July 2005 until 27 April 2008.
In other markets
[edit]Other channels that aired the show included M6 in France, Rai 2 in Italy, and Jetix throughout Europe (excluding Italy and Poland). Additional channels in Europe included SVT1 and SVT Barnkanalen in Sweden, NRK Super in Norway, Yle TV2 in Finland, GMA Network[4] and Q (now known as GTV) in the Philippines, VT4 in Belgium and ZigZap in Poland. In Sri Lanka, the series was aired by Channel Eye of the Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation.
MBC 3, Ajyal TV, and ART 3 broadcast this show in Arabic throughout the Middle East, with the voice talents of Mo'awad Ismail as Martin and Mariam El Khesht as Diana.
Home media
[edit]Home video of Martin Mystery was distributed in France by PolyGram and MK2. In Italy, home video was distributed by 01 Distribution. Home video for the English version of season 1 was also released in Canada and the United States, but has become a rarity in recent years.
Crossovers in other series
[edit]Background characters resembling Martin, Diana, and Marvin have appeared on other series produced by Marathon and Image, such as Team Galaxy, Totally Spies!, and The Amazing Spiez!.
In 2007, a year after the series ended, the characters of Martin and M.O.M appeared on a fifth season episode of Totally Spies!. In the episode "Totally Mystery Much?", Martin helps the team investigate a series of Yeti sightings in Antarctica. None of the other Martin Mystery characters appeared in the episode, although Diana was the only character who was only mentioned.
Future
[edit]The series ended production after its third season, with 66 episodes being aired.[1]
In December 2013, a possible "new season project" was announced on the official Martin Mystery Facebook page.[5] As of 2023, there has been no further announcement or plans for such. However, there have been talks about a potential digital remaster and re-release of the series in 16:9 widescreen.[1]
On October 10, 2023, it was announced a new animated series is currently in the works.[6]
Reception
[edit]Common Sense Media wrote of the series "Scooby-Doo meets X-Files; tweens OK."[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d "Do You Remember Martin Mystery? What About the Original Comics?". Comic Book Resources. 21 September 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
- ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 184. ISBN 9781476672939.
- ^ Green 2019, p. 110.
- ^ Ruiz, Marah (27 March 2015). "Misteryo at katatawanan sa 'Martin Mystery'". GMA Network. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
- ^ "Martin Mystère - Martin Mystery Facebook: Breaking news ! We are now more than 100 000 fans! The show is becoming one of the most popular on Facebook! After three seasons broadcast throughout the world, the producers of the show are now working on a great new season's project! Thanks to you all, there are chances that Martin, Diana, Java and Billy will be reunited! More news coming soon here!". Facebook. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (10 October 2023). "'Martin Mystery' Gets First-Ever 3D Series with Powerkids & Bonneli". www.animationmagazine.net.
- ^ "Martin Mystery - TV Review". 18 April 2006.
Bibliography
[edit]- Green, Paul (2019). Encyclopedia of Weird Detectives: Supernatural and Paranormal Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Film, Television, Games and Other Media. McFarland. ISBN 978-1476678009.