PROMOTIONAL ITEMS

When the Wheeled Warriors series first began to air, photos and other items were used to promote the show. Unfortunately, almost none of this promotional material still survives. But as you well know, The Root seems to have unbelievable luck...

Michael Cruz of Philadelphia was kind enough to mail us some black and white promotional photos that he had in his possession. According to Michael, the photos were rescued by his mother, who works for a Philadelphia newspaper. When the newspaper cleaned out its files recently, these 14 year old prints were scheduled for a date with a paper shredder. Michael's mother scooped up all the prints she could find -- unfortunately, she may not have managed to rescue them all -- and turned them over to Michael for safekeeping. Michael then passed them on to us to scan and examine. Michael, we owe you our most heartfelt gratitude, not only for being willing to share your discovery with us, but for having enough trust to mail these rare items to people you didn't even know. (Lizzard's Note: Yes, folks, he got them back when we were done scanning them. My god, The Root isn't in this business to steal and pillage -- we just want the scans!)

The first color image below is an animation cel. The Root's own Jayce came across this beauty on eBay about a year ago. To this day it remains the only Wheeled Warriors cel we have ever seen, or of which we've even heard, for that matter. Why, though, is it considered a promotional item? Well, look closely. Then take a look at the Video Gallery's scan of Volume 10. Yes -- it's the same cel. One of two things must have happened here. Either the cel was a real animation cel that was pulled from the files to use as the video cover and then never put back (hence its release "into the wild" for sale), or it was specifically created for said video cover. As the cel is of an unusual size -- it is perfectly square -- and is of a scene that we cannot seem to find in any episode, The Root guesses that the latter explanation is correct. This cel may have been based on one or more real production cels, but we don't think it was one itself. If you find evidence to the contrary -- such as a scene in which this actually appears, please let us know! (Lizzard's Note: The cel was scanned with a sheet of yellow paper behind it to make the painted image show up better. The cel itself, like all animation cels, is clear.) On November 2, 1999, the cel was given to Darrin Baker, the voice actor for Jayce, who adores it thoroughly and plans to hang it in his New York apartment.

The second color image below is a scan of the French magazine advertisement for the re-release of Jayce et les Conquérants de la Lumière on video. A translation of the French text is provided here.

And last but not least, the final color image is the cover to the record of the theme song to Jayce et les Conquérants de la Lumière. Pretty damn cool, if you ask me.