Super 4 is an animated television series that premiered in 2014, marking the 40th anniversary of the Playmobil toy line that inspired it. The series follows a team of heroes who protect the inhabitants of the distinct worlds of Kingsland, the Enchanted Island, and the City of Technopolis from various calamities and adversaries.
The series was co-produced by Method Animation and Morgen Studios, with participation from France TélévisionsPGS Secures Raft of Global Sales for Playmobil Series 'SUPER 4' published 15 July 2014 by Jennifer Wolfe of Animation World Network and Cartoon Network Italy during the first season. It was produced in association with Turner Broadcasting System Italy for the first season and SOFITVCINE 3 for the second season. Animation services were provided by Vision Globale for the first season and DQ Entertainment for the second season.
The series began airing in August 2014 in the French language. An English-language dub was produced at a later stage. The series has been broadcast by several television channels worldwide, including CITV in the United Kingdom and Minimax TV in Central Europe. In the United States, the series was aired through the terrestrial KidsClick programming block in syndication by stations associated with the Sinclair Broadcast Group.
Synopsis Super 4 is a crossover story which combines the disparate Playmobil toy worlds of fairies, pirates, medieval knights, scientists, robots, dinosaurs and aliens, by depicting them as inhabiting neighbouring islands in an amorphous ocean. The titular "Super 4" are Alex, a medieval prince, Ruby, a pirate, Twinkle, a fairy, and Gene, a scientist, who along with Alien, a cute bunny rabbit, are united in being exiled from their respective worlds. They band together to have adventures, fight villains, and save their worlds from calamities.
The series starts with the heroes already established as a team of adventurers who travel about in Gene's shape-shifting vehicle, the Chameleon, with their exploits related in an episodic story style. Later their back-stories are revealed via a series of 4-part origins stories. The first of these story arcs, Ruby, Queen of the Seas, relates how Ruby ran away from the pirate world of Gunpowder Island after being told that as a girl she couldn't be a pirate. The second origins story arc, Gene, Techno Explorer, shows how Gene escaped from the authoritarian city of Technopolis, populated by scientists and robots, to explore the outside world in defiance of claims that it was toxic and uninhabitable. Finally the Origins arc tells of how Alex ran away from Kingsland because he felt stifled by his schooling, and went on to meet the diminutive Alien, a refugee from a lost world, and later the fairy Twinkle who was fleeing the Enchanted Island of fairies, witches and trolls after accidentally turning the Fairy Queen into a frog.
Characters Heroes English name World English voice German voice French name French Voice PersonalityAlex (Prince Alexander)KingslandBilly Bob ThompsonFrom on-screen credits Jannik Endemann Alex (prince Alexandre) Damien FerretteA chivalrous knight and heir to the throne. Gene (Agent Gene 120452)TechnopolisJordan Carlos (season 1) Kevin T. Collins (season 2) Rasmus Borowski Gene Franck LorrainA very skeptical scientist.RubyGunpowder Island Veronica TaylorCredited under pseudonym "Kathleen McInnerney" in on-screen credits - Ruby Laetitia Lefebvre A very impulsive pirate girl.Twinkle StarglitterEnchanted Island Sarah Natochenny Tanja Dohse Étincelle Annouck HautboisA cute and joyous fairy who can also be very dizzy and dangerous. Alien Lost World uncredited - - - A Scooby-Doo-like mascot who is also a team member. Note: Kingsland is called "Médiévalia'" in the original French version and occasionally in the English version too.
Other characters English name World Role English voice French name French voiceKing Kendrick Kingsland Ruler of Kingsland Mike Pollock Roi Kendric -Princess Leonora Kingsland The King's daughter Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld Princesse Léonore -Wizard Fourchesac Kingsland Evil wizard allied with the Black Baron Tyler Bunch --Black BaronKingsland The King's evil rival Tom Wayland Baron Noir Sébastien DesjoursQueen FairyEnchanted Island Ruler of Enchanted Island who has been turned into a frog Veronica Taylor --Grand FairyEnchanted Island Wise old matriarch of the fairies Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld -- Baba Cara Enchanted Island Evil witch Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld -- Sharkbeard Gunpowder Island Pirate leader Marc Thompson Barbe de Requin Bernard Métreaux Doctor X Technopolis Mad scientist and ruler of Technopolis Jason Griffith Docteur X Vincent VioletteLennyTechnopolisGene's robot assistantJake Paque - - Sycronior Extraterrestrial Leader of alien invaders, the Sycronians (season 2) Toby Fielding - - Rock Brock Adventurer with a 4x4 car (season 2) Jake Paque - - Agent Franz 6464TechnopolisScientist (season 2)Kevin T. Collins - - Note: Doctor X is referred to as "Professor X" in some episodes, whilst the Black Baron is frequently called "the Dark Baron" or simply "the Baron".
Episodes The first 13 episodes have an instrumental theme tune, whilst episodes 14–104 have a theme song with English lyrics.
Season 1 (2014–15) 1. Cleaning Day The Super 4 introduce themselves as they arrive at Technopolis to get the Chameleon's cloaking system repaired. Whilst there they learn that Doctor X has created a giant cleaning robot, Clean-O, which is promptly hijacked by Sharkbeard so he can clean the world of his enemies. 2. Dragonraiders Dragons seem to be attacking King Kendrick's castle but on following them back to the volcano on Gunpowder Island, Gene, Ruby and Alex discover they're pirates riding baby pterosaurs armed with flame throwers. Meanwhile, Twinkle tries to galvanize the defenders of the castle, not helped by Alien who keeps fainting with fright. 3. I'm the King Wizard Fourchesac uses a magic potion to switch identities with the King and, after setting a knight on Twinkle and Ruby, realizes that the knights will do anything he commands, so he decides to use them to invade Enchanted Island and destroy the fairy kingdom. He is foiled when Alex releases the real king from the dungeon. 4. Gene's Four When the Chameleon's fuel tank is ruptured, the four need to steal some alphaperonium fuel from Dr X's Alpha Tower in Technopolis. But it is guarded by infra-red laser beams, robot guards, and security cameras, and Gene discovers that his medieval friends don't even know what lasers, robots, or cameras are! 5. MindNet Dr. X's "perfect" Mindnet computer is given control of Technopolis and tasked with eliminating inefficiencies promptly expels all humans from the city. But it's forced to admit it doesn't know everything when, like Gene, it is unable to answer Twinkle's question: Why is sunrise is so beautiful? 6. Princely Wedding Princess Leonora decides to marry the Baron, but it turns out she had been bewitched by a charm made by Baba Cara. 7. The Great Gonk In a homage to King Kong, a monkey kidnapped by Dr. X for a Technopolis zoo uses Twinkle's wand to grow enormous and then carries her off to the top of a tower. 8. Baby Dragon The four prevent the Dark Baron from stealing a dragon egg, but it hatches and the baby dragon imprints on Gene. 9. A Colossal Challenge The Baron tries to win a jousting tournament by turning himself into a giant warrior whilst shrinking Alex to the size of a doll. But Alex proves that skill matters more than size. 10. Go Ruby Gene has entered a vehicle in the Technopolis Bot Run (robot race), but Ruby decides to take the place of his robot pilot. When the race turns out to have been rigged by Dr. X, the others realize her life is in danger. 11. The Song of the Stork Fourchesac is making a love potion to cause Princess Leonora to fall in love with the Baron, but being out of a required ingredient, Stork Song, he uses Crow Song instead. The resultant potion turns the whole castle into lovestruck zombies, leaving Ruby to try and save them by persuading a real stork to sing! 12. Haunted Castle Doctor X visits Kingsland on a dark and stormy night and uses a robotic ghost to try and steal Kingsland's largest diamond from Princess Leonora. 13. Tower Trouble The four attack the Baron's castle in the mistaken belief that Princess Leonora has been kidnapped by him. 14. Fog Over Kingsland The pirates pretend to be ghosts with the help of a fog generator and kidnap some knights during a tournament. But the four turn the tables on them. 15. Ruby, Queen of the Seas - Part 1 In this four-part story about Ruby's childhood, Baby Ruby is washed up on Gunpowder Island in a basket. She aspires to become a pirate herself, but her adoptive father ends up Sharkbeard's prisoner. 16. Ruby, Queen of the Seas - Part 2 To ransom her adoptive father, Ruby tries to solve a maze of puzzles that supposedly protect Kingsland's treasure 17. Ruby, Queen of the Seas - Part 3 Ruby becomes a trainee knight of Kingsland under Sir Ulf. 18. Ruby, Queen of the Seas - Part 4 Ruby flees Kingsland on a dragon to rescue her adoptive father. 19. Saving Prince Alexander Baba Cara kidnaps Alex, and the others must steal the sacred golden teapot to ransom him. 20. Convoy of Honour A mystical Crystal Sword must be brought to the King for a ceremony, but the Baron steals it. 21. Operation Swashbuckler Baron kidnaps the 4 but finds he has captured Sharkbeard instead of Alex. Alex must team up with the pirates to rescue everyone. 22. Sleeping Buddy Twinkle accidentally puts Alex to sleep whilst he's fighting an attacking dragon. The only way to wake him is to carry him to Enchanted Island to be kissed by a frog. 23. Outlaws of Gravity King Kendrick unwittingly creates discord amongst the four when he announces he wants to give their leader a gold medal. Suddenly they all want to be the leader and have a race to settle the dispute, which Twinkle wins. Meanwhile, Dr. X has made an antigravity machine that goes haywire so that Technopolis is at risk of floating away into space. Only "Captain" Twinkle has the power to save everyone, but she has been demoralized after losing first her gold medal (which in fact has been stolen by Ruby) and then her wand. 24. The Siege Everyone in Kingsland castle has been imprisoned in some magical tapestries by Fourchesac so that the Baron can seize the castle. In trying to free them from the tapestry, Twinkle instead manages to get herself, Alien, and Gene trapped too. But once inside she realises that the tapestries are actually a sort of medieval platform game: to escape they need to defeat the big boss and gather a set of keys. Meanwhile, Alex and Ruby are fighting a losing battle as the Baron besieges the castle. 25. Appetite for Destruction Baron ransoms the Super 4 by telling the king they've been imprisoned by a troll, but then a troll catches them for real and decides to cook and eat them. 26. The Metal Age Dr. X has made a robotic medieval theme world, Techvalia, but his programming is so good that the robots really believe themselves to be medieval knights, and their ruler Queen Robotia imprisons the population of Technopolis, believing them to be evil wizards. 27. Your Wish Is My Command A grateful elf, Floppy, who was rescued by the four from Baba Cara, grants their every wish with disastrous results. 28. The Golden Wand Twinkle enters a magic contest and turns the frog queen back into a fairy in hopes of making amends with her, but the queen's response is wholly vindictive. 29. The Final Countdown Sharkbeard causes Gunpowder Island to blow up. Using one of Gene's inventions, Alex travels back in time to prevent the catastrophe, but finds he has to try over and over, Groundhog Day style, as things keep going wrong. 30. Spell Book in Danger Twinkle is awaiting a replacement wand when a dragon eats the Grand Fairy's spellbook, which she was supposed to be guarding