Fans of the ’90s animated series Biker Mice from Mars can rest easy, as the new series appears to be in good hands with Brian Volk-Weiss. The writer/director/producer who first came to fame for producing the documentary series The Toys That Made Us on Netflix caught up with ComicBook at San Diego Comic-Con to discuss the upcoming Biker Mice from Mars reboot, as well as Roboforce: The Animated Series, which debuted earlier this year. Foremost in the discussion was how to craft a story that served the nostalgia of older fans who’ve loved the property for decades, while still capturing a new generation of viewers.
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“On the one hand, it’s a silly, kind of dumb show about mice from Mars on Earth,” Volk-Weiss admits, “But on the other hand, because we take the characters so seriously, and we take the world very seriously, if we do our jobs right, people should be getting goosebumps. They should be tearing up a little bit.”
Created by Rick Ungar and executive produced by Stan Lee, Biker Mice from Mars debuted in 1993. The series follows three Martian motorcyclist mice who fled to Earth to escape an evil alien race, the Plutarkians, after they invaded their home planet of Mars. Crash-landing in Chicago, the trio — Throttle, Modo, and Vinnie — befriend a human mechanic, Charley, and use their otherworldly tech to save Earth from the Plutarkians, who seek to exhaust the planet of all its natural resources, just as they did to Mars. Biker Mice from Mars ran for three seasons until 1996, and produced a video game spinoff. The series was remade in 2006 and similarly had a three-season run.
Given its two previous incarnations, Volk-Weiss and his team at The Nacelle Company seem to have three generations to please with their Biker Mice reboot: the millennials and Gen Z viewers who grew up with the show, as well as the burgeoning Gen Alpha. It’s a daunting task to craft a story that functions on so many levels and can speak to several demographics, but for Volk-Weiss, the secret to making Biker Mice fans of all ages happy lies in prioritizing character.
Comedy for All Ages is a Major Priority for Volk-Weiss
Along with balancing tone and genre, another priority for Volk-Weiss is comedy, a field he’s been in for 27 years. “We try to put a lot of comedy in everything, including the cartoons.”
However, to craft a show that’ll make all viewers laugh, Volk-Weiss draws inspiration from Disney animated movies like Zootopia that sneak in more mature humor for older audiences with action and setpieces that will delight younger viewers too.
“What we try to do is…the big, kind of crazy stuff that might not be appropriate for kids goes over their heads and they even notice,” he explained. “But the older people…they get it and they’re laughing.”
Walking the “four-quadrant” tightrope is no easy feat in today’s media landscape. However, Volk-Weiss’s palpable love for the Biker Mice property is clear, along with his very serious commitment to story and character, no matter how funny a show he’s writing, which sets series like Roboforce apart in the animated space. Biker Mice from Mars seems destined to follow in its footsteps.
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Image Courtesy of DC Comics -
Image Courtesy of DC Comics
