Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 05/06/2026 2:15:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
The billionaire media mogul spent much of his time — and even more of his riches — trying to "take pollution down to zero."
He may not have had the sweet green flattop/mullet combo haircut, but make no mistake about it: Ted Turner was Captain Planet.
This morning, following the maverick mogul’s passing, Turner is being most-remembered for launching CNN, a 24/7 cable news channel that undeniably changed the media landscape forever. But his contributions go much further and are not limited to the stations that bear his name, like the first “Superstation” TBS (Turner Broadcasting System) and later TNT (Turner Network Television).
A decade after founding CNN, Turner created the Turner Foundation, which provides grants to support environmental causes. More specifically, the Turner Foundation was established “to protect and restore the natural systems — air, land and water — on which all life depends,” its mission statement reads. The same year, Turner co-created (with Barbara Pyle) the environmental superhero Captain Planet and the animated TV series Captain Planet and the Planeteers; he repurposed that innate trio of Earthly systems into powers wielded by a group of teenagers who really liked recycling.
ADVERTISEMENT
Captain Planet and the Planeteers was a coproduction between Ted’s Turner Program Services and DiC Enterprises, which ’90s kids will recognize by logo alone (and probably hear the “deek” sound in their heads as they read that sentence). The series, which aired 113 episodes overall from 1990-1996 (if you count The New Adventures of Captain Planet and the Planeteers), sees Gaia (first voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, then Margot Kidder), the spirit of the Earth, totally bail on us because of pollution and overdevelopment and the like. Thanks, Gaia.
Before she leaves us to completely burn, Gaia distributes five powerful rings to four teens (I think) and one child (probably). Kwame (LeVar Burton) from Africa has the power of earth; Wheeler from Brooklyn has the power of fire; Linka from the Soviet Union (later “Eastern Europe”) has the power of wind; Gi from Asia has the power of water; and young Ma-Ti from Brazil has the mostly useless power of heart. He also has a monkey. (With “heart,” Ma-Ti can speak to animals, so that’s fun.)
By their powers combined, Captain Planet (David Coburn) shows up to stop the evildoer of the week mid-deforestation, or something like that. That dastardly group loved pollution. Captain Planet may not have been the greatest cartoon of all time — the theme song was a banger — but it meant well and it did good. And that was Ted Turner.
Captain Planet and The Planeteers, The Planeteers, 1990-96 Hanna-Barbera/Courtesy Everett Collection Turner was known to put his substantial money where his substantial mouth was. “The Mouth of the South” (not pro-wrestling manager Jimmy Hart) was a serious land conservationist and the best friend a bison ever had (until they were slaughtered — responsibly I’m sure — and served at a Ted’s Montana Grill). But seriously he did really like those bison.
In 1991 — peak Captain Planet and the Planeteers — Turner won the Audubon medal from the National Audubon Society, a conservation group that really likes birds. In 1997, Turner (with Mike Phillips) established the Endangered Species Fund and Turner Biodiversity Divisions. Turner won the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism in 2001.
ADVERTISEMENT Through his Turner Foundation, to-date, Turner has awarded more than $400 million in grants to help us mere mortals do Gaia’s work. With Ted having now passed, the board of directors is comprised of his five children and each of his grandchildren (once they reach the age of 25). By their powers combined, maybe we’re not so doomed.
Turner also famously donated $1 billion to the United Nations. You may know the U.N. as the international organization founded to maintain peace and security across the global that President Donald Trump has unilaterally decided is basically useless.
This is not the future that Turner wanted for us — though he did prepare for it. Turner commissioned an infamous “Doomsday Video” for CNN to play when the end of the world comes. In the (very real) footage, a marching band solemnly plays “Nearer, My God, to Thee,” the song that probably doubled as Turner’s Heavenly entrance music on Wednesday.
Hopefully, the rest of us will never have to watch that video for real — things aren’t going great — and not just because of its low definition and aspect ratio. It is times like these that the late Ted Turner would most want to remind us of Captain Planet’s catchphrase and weekly sign off: “The Power Is Yours!”
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Ted Turner Pushes One-Child Policy In PBS Interview
TED TURNER URGES LIMIT OF ONE BABY PER FAMILY
Ted Turner talks of overpopulation
He was the original virtue-signaling green-leftist Karen.
millions of woman followed after him.
Despite his flaws, I’ll remain grateful to TT for creating Turner Classic Movies. That’s his real legacy.
I’d heard that he’d lopped off the top of a mountain to get a better view of his trout pond.
I hated that show when it first came out in the late 80’s, and it was geared towards my age demographic. I found it to be so pandering and just plain annoying.
Captain Planet hated humanity. So.... yeah.
I remember Rush laughing at and criticizing Turner for that silly save-the-erf cartoon.
What show?
He personally cancelled Swat Kats 🤬
The library was crumbling. He bought it all.
Remember when he started colorizing them?
From what I remember a good cartoon called Exo-Squad had to be cancelled for that idiotic Captain Planet.
What is that?
He had blow up his precious Georgia Guidestones just down the road from where he grew up when he realized that everybody was catching on.
Captain Planet and the Planeteers was a coproduction between Ted’s Turner Program Services and DiC Enterprises, sees Gaia (first voiced by Whoopi Goldberg, then Margot Kidder), the spirit of the Earth, totally bail on us because of pollution and over-development and the like.
Yeah.
The Bozeman Chronicle pushes overpopulation 30 years ago.
Now they push mass illegal immigration along with the County Attorney who refuses to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement.
Just like Big Bad Ted, the Mouth of the South.
Much like Robert Redford who bulldozed around Sundance at whim. Then he would put on his phony glasses to testify before Congress to stop other companies from developing competing ski resorts. A complete fraud.
WTBS used to be the call sign for the on-campus Technology Broadcasting system at MIT.
Ted Turner bought them off for the call sign.
He was a hypocritical one-worlder who was married to Jane Fonda. I won’t say that I am glad he’s dead, but I had no respect for him and his Leftist hypocrisy.
Guy wanted population control, but had five kids, himself.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.