Manimal stars Simon MacCorkindale as Jonathan
Chase, the man who is able to transform himself into animals and uses that
ability to fight crime. He is particularly fond of changing into a panther and
a hawk, and those transformations were designed and created by Stan Winston. Of
course I can’t help but wonder, when turning into an animal, what happens to
Jonathan’s clothes and his wallet and the other things in his pockets? And when
he turns into a hawk, how is it his bones and organs are able to shrink so
much? And if his brain shrinks to that extent, how is he still able to retain
his human cognitive abilities? Anyway, the series also stars Melody Anderson as
Brooke McKenzie, Michael D. Roberts as Ty, and Reni Santoni as Lt. Rivera.
There are some interesting guest stars as well, including Ursula Andress, David
Hess and Gloria Stuart. This series is goofy and cheesy, but definitely fun.
The new three-disc set contains the eight episodes, as well as bonus material.
“Manimal”
The series opens with a feature-length episode (75
minutes), in which Jonathan Chase uses his powers against arms dealers. Early
in the episode we see Jonathan change into a panther in the back seat of a
taxi, while telling the driver to keep his eyes on the road. There’s a bit of a
creepy 1980s horror feel to it, and at this point we don’t know who this guy
is. The nice, long opening sequence includes special effects and stunts. It’s
interesting that when he changes back to human, he’s fully dressed. How does
that work? This episode stars Ursula Andress as Karen Jade, one of the bad
guys, and in one scene she wears a gorgeous full-length red fox coat, and in
another a full-length lynx. In another scene, Jonathan turns himself into a
house cat and sticks his head into Ursula’s robe. Manimal is no fool. I’d use
my powers to do that too, given the chance. He not only can change into
animals, but can communicate with them as well. Lions and tigers and… well, no
bears, but still… oh my.
This episode stars Glynn Turman as Ty, the only man who
is close enough to Jonathan to know his secret. There is actually a flashback
to Vietnam, where Jonathan uses his powers to help the two of them escape from
a prison camp. During the course of the episode, McKenzie also becomes privy to
his secret. There is a cute nod to Jaws at the end of this episode.
“Illusion”
In the second episode, Michael D. Roberts takes over in
the role of Ty. Also, a narrated segment is added to the beginning, explaining
the basic set-up of the show. This narrated segment would be kept for the
remaining episodes. (The narrated sequence includes brief scenes with Jonathan’s
father, who also had this ability, and in this footage, his father’s clothes
remain on the ground when he turns into a bird. So why doesn’t that happen to
Jonathan when he changes?) This episode deals with a magic show gone awry and
the problems of diplomatic immunity. It seems to have more humor than the first
episode – in the dialogue, and in a squirrel’s reaction shots to Jonathan’s
transformation into a hawk. The role of Ty has changed somewhat in that
direction as well, feeling much more like a goofy sidekick character. There is
also some physical humor. This episode features David Hess in a small role, and
also has a Jaws reference.
“Night Of The Scorpion”
On a cruise ship, a man is being interrogated by some
criminals who demand to see a special list. The man’s death leads our heroes to
believe his daughter might be in trouble. Series creator Glen A. Larson wrote
this episode. At one point a sealed envelope reads, “To Be open only in case
of my death.” It should read, “To be opened,” of course. Whoops,
props people!
“Female Of The Species”
Wolf Girl, a woman raised by wolves, has been captured by
humans, and her capture understandably upsets Manimal. Could she be the right
gal for him? Well, someone is trying to kill her to keep her identity secret.
There’s a cute bit where she scares away two cats to get at their food; for a
moment, it seems she’s going to eat the cats, which would have been even better.
There is some silliness with Ty dressed as a knight, and at one point Wolf Girl
plays with a Skeletor action figure. This episode has a shark, which I always
appreciate. But it looks like several different types of sharks are used, all
pretending to be the same shark. Well, it’s good the wolves taught Wolf Girl
how to swim. Gloria Stuart plays a bag lady in this episode.
“High Stakes”
This episode opens with Jonathan and Ty are the race
track, which got me to wondering if Manimal would enjoy having men ride him if
he changed into a horse. Anyway, there is some mischief at the horse races.
Who’d have thought there’d be anything underhanded happening in the gambling
world? By the way, in this episode Jonathan does mention that people are
animals too. There are a lot of humorous scenes in this one, like the shot of
him as a panther looking through some files. Also, there is a really cute scene
where Jonathan and McKenzie discuss the various cover stories they could use.
McKenzie says, “I’ll be a blind woman and you can be my seeing-eye dog,”
to which Jonathan responds, “No, I’d rather be a lion and you can be my
lunch.” There is some fun sexual tension and innuendo between the two of
them. Later, Jonathan does turn into a horse, and a woman rides him. When she
hits him with her riding crop, it seems like he’s enjoying it.
“Scrimshaw”
Jonathan, McKenzie and a twelve-year-old boy (who is
oddly their traveling companion) rescue a seal and find a skeleton grasping a
piece of scrimshaw. This leads to Manimal employing some kind of accent, so
we’re all in trouble. At one point, Jonathan is pushed out of a plane, but
falls slowly enough that he’s able to change into a bird. He also turns into a
snake, but the close-up shot of it shows the snake in a very different terrain
than where Jonathan had been standing. Anne Ramsey (The Goonies, Throw
Momma From The Train) has a small role in this episode.
“Breath Of The Dragon”
It’s Ty’s birthday, and they have his surprise party at a
Chinese restaurant, where the mark of the dragon is left on the door. The
owner’s son has joined the gang responsible for the mark. The leader of the
gang tells his followers, “There are only two classes in this society –
those who dominate, and those who submit.” Hey, what about those of us who
like to switch? Later, his gang beats up an old station wagon, and Jonathan
displays his martial arts skills.
One note: Ten minutes into this episode, the narrated
segment replayed and the episode started over. The disc didn’t skip back to the
beginning, but rather had an extra ten minutes, the first ten minutes twice. A
strange defect. It might just be my copy, but I thought I should mention it.
“Night Of The Beast”
This is kind of a ridiculous episode, even for this
series, but it features Robert Englund (though listed as “Robert England” in
the opening credits) as a villain, a year before he’d play a much more famous
villain in A Nightmare On Elm Street. Ty is caught following a suspect,
but says, “You know, a lot of people mistake me for Billy Dee Williams.”
And at one point the heroes say, “At least it’s not raining,” which is
sadly followed by a downpour. I like the moment where McKenzie picks up a rat
and asks it questions, assuming it is Jonathan transformed.
Special Features
The DVD contains some bonus material, including Man To
Animal: An Interview With Glen A. Larson, in which he talks about the
series – about the concept, about how the first episode went up against Dallas,
about the cast (including the change to Michael D. Roberts after the pilot),
the special effects, the animals used, and so on. This is approximately
eighteen minutes.
The DVD also contains concept and production notes (in
the concept notes, it says, “‘Manimal’ asks the audience to somewhat suspend
belief” – whoops!), cast biographies, photo galleries and a trailer for the
Automan series.
Manimal: The Complete Series was released on DVD
on November 10, 2015 through Shout! Factory.
