SPARTAKUS AND THE SUN BENEATH THE SEA: THE CITY OF ARKADIA {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot of this animated series about a pair of children who set out on a quest to save a subterranean civilization from destruction, accompanied by the mysterious warrior Spartakus. Rebecca, a little girl, is spelunking in the hopes of discovering a legendary race of subterranean people. Her exasperated older brother Matt chases after her. Rebecca is attacked by submersible pirates but saved by a mysterious man who leaves her on a slab. Rebecca is found by a pair of strange talking animals named Bic and Bac and a woman named Arkana, who revives her. Matt catches up as Rebecca gains consciousness. Arkana introduces herself and claims to be a messenger of the civilization of Arkadia at the center of the earth. She describes a great cataclysm that occurred long ago on the surface of the earth, swallowing up the Arkadian civilization and depositing them at the center of the earth around a large sun-like object they called “Tehra.” The Arkadians lived in peace for centuries, forgetting their past. The children of Arkadia were watched over by an intelligent robotic hovercraft called Tehrig. It was discovered that Tehra was losing power and would soon extinguish entirely. The children of Arkadia decided to infiltrate the archives, where they were forbidden to go, in order to come up with a solution. In the archives’ computer banks they discovered their origin story. Using information from the archives, the children constructed an artificial life-form in the likeness of their ancestors: Arkana. The elders soon agreed to send Arkana to the surface world in order to find someone to help Arkadia fix Tehra, and she absorbs all the information she can from the archives. She, Bic, Bac, and Tehrig journey to the surface, concluding Arkana’s story. Rebecca insists on going to Arkadia to help them fix Tehra. The submerged pirates overhear the story and decide to try to capture Arkana and her companions. Before they can reach Arkadia, Arkana and the others are caught in a great vacuum; the mysterious man from before reappears to save Matt and Rebecca, but Arkana and Tehrig are captured. The man introduces himself as Spartakus, a warrior who has spent his entire life underground. He leads Matt and Rebecca to rescue Arkana, who is to be sold by the pirates into slavery. Arkana manages to free herself and her fellow prisoners and escape with Spartakus and the others, eluding the pirates. The episode ends as the crew sets out on an adventure through the vast subterranean world. Commercials deleted. (Opening and closing credits sequences have been deleted.)
Details
- NETWORK: Nickelodeon
- DATE: November 30, 1984
- RUNNING TIME: 0:30:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:15086
- GENRE: Animation; Children's
- SUBJECT HEADING: Animation; Children's
- SERIES RUN: Nickelodeon - TV series - 1985-1987
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Nina Wolmark … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Gilbert Wolmark … Executive Producer
- Michael Gauthier … Director
- Vladimir Cosma … Music by