Wheel Squad

Wheel Squad is a French animated television series produced by France Animation, Praxinos Animation, Rai Fiction and Energee Entertainment. The show was broadcast on M6 in France between 2000 and 2002. 39 episodes were produced.[1]

Wheel Squad
The main characters: Akim, Bob, Jessica and Johnny
Genre	Adventure Comedy-drama Action
Created by	Olivier Dehors
Directed by	Jean-François Galataud
Composer	Terra Sonica
Country of origin	France
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	39
Production
Executive producers	Marie-Pierre Journet Andy Evans
Producer	Giovanna Milano
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	M6 Rai Fiction France Animation
Distributor	Paramount Pictures (Japan)
Release
Original network	M6
Original release	September 6, 2000 – 2002

Plot

Set in a large, dark metropolis, the protagonists Akim, Jessica, Bob and Johnny are four young geniuses who love extreme sports and together form the staff of the Wheel Squad. The four live in a neighborhood situated on a hill and are constantly in conflict with various villains trying to cause mayhem in the streets as the trio of bandit bikers Snakes, or the greedy Enzo, assistant Mr. Rotter who is the owner of rich company World Mart. There are still Emilie, the daughter of Mr. Rotter and Bob's girlfriend who is a girl who is an ally of Wheels and tries to make the team.

Characters

Wheel Squad

• Akim Souab – The leader of the Wheel Squad. Akim also excels in roller skates. He has more siblings than any other member of the Wheel Squad and is the eldest child of his parents. His father owns the local grocery shop and he usually helps with the work there.
• Jessica – She's the second-in command and the only female (if not counting Emilie) of the Wheel Squad. She dreams about becoming an actress and works up that dream by acting and even directing school plays. Her father works in England and only made one appearance in the series. When her mother threatened to leave town for not having resources to fix her beauty parlour she pretended to date Akim (who is oblivious to the fact Jessica really loves him) so she would stay. She once entered an ice skating contest where she was taunted by girls who said she couldn't win for not being feminine. When the Wheel Squad boys couldn't say she was feminine and her mother scolded her saying she was in no condition to complain about that since she acts and dresses like a boy she reluctantly asks for Emilie's help. Her wheel specialty is roller skates.
• Bob Gueye – The black member of the group. He's the only member of the Wheel Squad (if you don't count Emilie) who is not good at roller skates, which was noted mainly when they agreed to catch a burglar at World-Mart (they only agreed when the burglar robbed Jessica's Mom's beauty parlour which is located at World-Mart) and when they created a team of rollerball (each team needed four members) and they tried to encourage him saying they needed someone to miss the basket. He's an expert in mountain bikes.
• Johnny Pilleu – The skateboard expert of the group. He's an excellent artist, having once painted the school front wall to increase his grades so his parents would not send him to summer school.
• Emilie – A rich girl who is friends with the Wheel Squad. She's a blonde who usually wears blue and can afford the fanciest things available since her stepfather is the wealthy owner of the World-Mart. She's spoiled and isn't good at any wheels, which consists the main reason she's usually not considered a member of the Wheel Squad despite her many attempts to join the gang. Jessica is the one who most despises the idea of Emilie joining the Wheel Squad and is the most reluctant whenever they need her help.

The Snakes

The Snakes are the local vandals of the show and are willing to do anything for money, even forcing little kids into their dirty schemes. They are Willy, Cactus and Alex.

• Willy – The leader of the group. He's the one who comes up with the plans.
• Cactus – A short and skinny boy who is allergic to several things through the series. He once tried to counter this by covering his face with his shirt but it backfired when his friends couldn't understand a thing he said from inside the shirt.
• Alex – The seemingly dumbest member of the Snakes, Alex wears a red jumpsuit with a matching cap.

In one episode Jessica had a crush on a boy who was later revealed to be a fourth Snake, who after that only returned to the series when the Snakes created a rollerball team and needed a fourth member.

Supporting

• Mr. Rotter – The owner of the World-Mart. He's a respected businessman and the stepfather of Emilie. He treats Emilie like they really were father and daughter. And while she knows he isn't her biological father (who is never seen or heard of), as evidenced by the fact she describes him as her stepfather whenever she mentions him in conversations with her friends, she calls him Dad. Mr. Rotter has a collection of ties he likes to the point of ironing them by himself rather than having anybody else touch them.
• Enzo – The manager of the World-Mart. He usually tries to take advantage of this position to score some dirty money, however the Wheel Squad foils his plans. Some of these plans include purchasing low-quality paint and secretly re-selling it when Mr. Rotter tells him to throw it away, thinking nobody wants to buy it. However the plan meets an obstacle when Emilie, knowing Johnny needs some paint for a school display, suggest Mr. Rotter donates it in order to improve his public image.
• Hool and Igan – These are the followers of Enzo. They often have harmful plans of his boss and often Wheel persecute without success. They are not smart.
• Mr. Grunt – The grumpy neighbor of Wheels. He is very rude and is always accompanied by his pet dog Brutus, but in the end is not so bad and loves animals. His name is George.
• Rosalie – Jessica's elder aunt who lives alone in an apartment with the cat Marilyn. She works as an actress in an old movie.
• Sheeba – The owner of the laundry in the neighbourhood. It is a friend of the Wheel and is of Chinese heritage.
• Mr. and Mrs. Pukowiski – The Pukowiskis dealing with a neighbourhood elderly couple who are always in a rough fight and sometimes they are more grumpy than Mr. Grunt.
• Mr. Frank – The mathematics teacher of the Wheel. Used to help them from time to time in some situations. His wife is Nadia and he has a daughter named Angela.
• Tom – The younger brother of Bob. He is very ingenuous and always tries to follow his brother in his adventures. He lives with his friends to make promises in exchange for bicycles.
• Samir – One of the younger brothers of Akim. How Akim is a great skater, but has embarrassed his father to be simple. Has an age of 10 years.
• Malik – Akim's another brother of Akim. Her hair like him and has since entered into a confusion with the Cobra. It is a skater.
• Lukya – Akim's sister. She is known about her beyond the fact also be a skater like her brother.
• Arthur – Is the one-year-old and Akim's younger brother.
• Mr. Souab – The father of Akim. He works as the neighbourhood in which they live. Samir is ashamed not to have a great job as the parents of his friend, but deep down she loves him.
• Noria – Mother of Akim. She worked as a housewife and helps her husband in his grocery store. She always worries about their children when they are in danger.
• Tony – Bob and Tom's big brother. He works away from the hill not to be able to see his family except at Christmas. He has also been arrested once.
• Sarah – was a skater girl who came to the team and was temporarily a robber at the World Mart because her mother too poor to support her. Eventually Bob ends up unmasking and she ends up regretting what she did, but ends up getting a job at the World Mart to cover their losses.
• Matt – was a very studious boy, but never like sport until he meets Samir and makes friends with him, and together they faced the Cobras.
• Alexandra – A girl with a wheelchair, who at first did not understand well with Akim and always arguing with him, to help her escape from the Cobras to participate in a contest.

Broadcasting

The series aired on M6 in France starting in 2000. In Italy the series aired on Rai Tre and Rai Gulp, while in Germany it aired on kabel eins & ProSieben.[1] In Spain the series aired on Fox Kids, Antena 3 and Clan. In the English speaking world, Wheel Squad aired on CITV (United Kingdom) and Network Ten (Australia).

References

1. Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 289–290. ISBN 9781476672939.

External links

• Wheel Squad at Toonarific
• Wheel Squad at IMDB