Mummies Alive! Is One 90s Animated Series That Deserves a Resurrection

While many animated TV shows are typically made to sell toys, these tie-in media have made these otherwise glorified advertisements into worthwhile entertainment. Some notable examples are Transformers, He-Man, and My Little Pony.

What also makes these animated properties stand out is how a product refresh also necessitates a complete revamp or reboot every other year. This is why the likes of Voltron and She-Ra have enjoyed newfound popularity in recent years.

But as with any trend, there are the winners and there are the losers. For every major Transformers entry, there will be those who get thrown onto the sidelines and doomed into obscurity. One of these casualties is Mummies Alive!

Perpetually on rerun for us here in Southeast Asia, on the Disney Channel particularly, this memorable cartoon brought Egyptian mythology and anime-influenced action, making for a particularly unique blend of elements.

New Rapses

Mummies Alive! Was created by DIC Entertainment, the children’s entertainment company known for making Inspector Gadget and the animated adaptations of Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Running for only a single season in 1997 before going into syndication around the world, Mummies Alive! was the company’s attempt at creating the next action cartoon phenomenon, following in the footsteps of Disney’s Gargoyles and Batman The Animated Series.

Compared to the more squeaky-clean cartoons of the 1980s, which typically ended with a wholesome lesson for all ages, the 1990s brought about a trend of action cartoons that were more character-driven and less episodic in nature.

With Power Rangers mania also at an all-time high, Mummies Alive! also owed its transformation sequences to the likes of Super Sentai and anime like Sailor Moon, which is apt considering DIC also adapted Sailor Moon for American audiences, besides making their own Power Rangers competitor, Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad.

Pharaoh Teen

Taking place in San Francisco, Mummies Alive! sees four ancient mummies coming back to life to protect the reincarnation of their ancient prince, Rapses XII a.k.a the modern-day teenager Presley Carnovan.

Opposing the royal retainers is the evil Scarab, an immortal adviser to the ancient pharaoh, who comes off as a more sinister version of Jaafar from Aladdin. Looking to complete his immortality spell, Scarab wants Presley’s youth for himself.

He does so by unleashing his horde of Egyptian mythology-based monsters, which are all defeated by the heroes Ja-Kal, Rath, Armon, and Nefer-Tina. They each have the powers of the falcon, snake, cat, and ram respectively, which gives them access to golden armour.

This is where the Power Rangers' influence comes in, as each mummy will morph into their altered forms when battling Scarab’s monsters. Scarab himself can also morph into a heavily armoured beetle form, which is similar to Mumm-Ra’s transformation from Thundercats.

Strength of Ra

Each mummy, along with Presley, had their time to shine; the leader Ja-Kal had to fight off his resurrected brother in one episode, Rath’s brilliance saved the day, Nefer-Tina’s love of all things modern shone through, and Armon’s comic relief was always entertaining.

The show was also ahead of its time in terms of representation in a number of ways — Presley himself is not the usual white and blond hero of a typical American cartoon, and Armon is an amputee, which was a rare sight in the 1990s.

In a world where Marvel and DC reboots dominate the big and small screens, it would be refreshing to see Mummies Alive! resurrected once more. It is a concept that has reached its fullest potential and has all the ingredients for a worthy reboot.

Action cartoons have since died down in the modern age, with the genre seemingly catering to adults with ultraviolent visuals, instead of being shows that a general audience can watch. The core premise of Mummies Alive! and its aesthetic is something that can still be done in this day and age, more so if Egyptian artists would work on a hypothetical reboot.