Most people remember the phone booth. They remember Keanu Reeves looking perpetually confused and Alex Winter’s crop top. But if you were hovering in front of a television set on Saturday mornings in the fall of 1990, you probably remember something a little weirder. You remember the animated version. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures 1990 TV series was this strange, neon-soaked relic that attempted to bottle lightning twice. It didn't just try to replicate the movie; for the first season, it actually used the original cast.
That's the kicker.
Usually, when a hit movie gets turned into a Saturday morning cartoon, the studio hires some sound-alikes and calls it a day. Not here. Orion Pictures and Hanna-Barbera actually got Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and George Carlin to sit in a recording booth. It’s wild to think about now. One of the biggest movie stars on the planet and a legendary stand-up philosopher were doing voice work for a show sandwiched between The Tom and Jerry Kids Show and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. It was a moment in time that shouldn't have happened, yet it lasted for two seasons across two different networks with two completely different casts.
Why the First Season of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures 1990 TV Series Was Different
The first season aired on CBS. It was pure Hanna-Barbera energy, but filtered through a late-80s "excellent" lens. Because they had the original actors, the chemistry was actually there. You can hear Keanu’s specific, airy cadence as Ted "Theodore" Logan. It wasn't a parody of him; it was him.
The plot followed the basic logic of the 1989 film Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. The duo travels through time in a phone booth to solve various problems, usually related to their high school lives or the future of San Dimas. However, the cartoon loosened the rules of reality. They weren't just visiting historical figures for a history report anymore. They were going inside the human body. They were going into literature. They were basically doing The Magic School Bus before that was a thing, but with more air guitar and a lot more "Whoa."
Honestly, the animation was typical for the era. It had those bright, slightly flat colors and recycled background loops. But the writing had a specific charm. It managed to keep the "non-heinous" spirit of the films without feeling like a cynical cash grab, at least initially.
The Shift to Fox and the Great Recasting
Everything changed in 1991. The show moved from CBS to Fox. And when it moved, it lost the magic. Or at least, it lost the voices.
Keanu Reeves was becoming a massive star. George Carlin had better things to do than voice a cartoon mentor. So, Fox did what networks do. They brought in a new cast. This is where the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures 1990 TV series (specifically the second season) starts to feel like a fever dream. The new voices were Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedy. If those names sound familiar to hardcore fans, it’s because they were the same actors cast in the short-lived live-action sitcom version.
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It was a total branding mess.
The animation style shifted slightly too. DIC Entertainment took over production from Hanna-Barbera. The vibe went from "classic Saturday morning" to "early 90s experimental." It felt cheaper. The jokes landed with a thud. Fans of the first season felt the disconnect immediately. It’s one of the most jarring transitions in animation history, right up there with when Ren & Stimpy switched creators.
Historical Deep Dives and Educational Loop-Holes
Believe it or not, the show actually tried to teach kids things. Sorta.
In one episode, "One Sweet and Sour Chinese Adventure," the dudes end up in ancient China. They meet Marco Polo. They deal with Kublai Khan. While the historical accuracy was basically non-existent—this is a show about a time-traveling phone booth, after all—it introduced a generation of kids to names they’d eventually hear in social studies class.
The show thrived on this "Bill & Ted-ify" version of history:
- They went to the 1700s to deal with Benjamin Franklin.
- They hung out with Elvis Presley (because of course they did).
- They traveled to the Moon.
- They even explored the inner workings of the human brain, which was a bizarre departure from the "time travel" mandate.
What’s interesting is how the show handled Rufus. In the movies, George Carlin’s Rufus is a cool, detached observer. In the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures 1990 TV series, he became more of a traditional "cartoon mentor." He was constantly bailing them out of trouble. He had a bit more of a comedic edge, likely to suit Carlin’s voice, but once Carlin left in season two, the character felt hollow. Rick Overton took over the role, and while he’s a talented comedian, he wasn't Rufus.
The Weird Legacy of the Phone Booth
Most people don't realize how much this show influenced the wider Bill & Ted "extended universe." It wasn't just a spin-off; it was a bridge.
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The show introduced "Phoney," the sentient telephone booth. Yes, they gave the time machine a personality. It could feel emotions. It could get sick. It was a very "90s cartoon" trope to take a tool and turn it into a sidekick. Looking back, it’s pretty cringe-inducing, but at the time, it was just part of the Saturday morning landscape.
The show also leaned heavily into the "Wyld Stallyns" music. Every episode featured some sort of musical cue that sounded vaguely like hair metal but was clearly produced on a MIDI keyboard in a basement. It captured that transition period between the 80s and 90s perfectly. It was the era of neon windbreakers and slap bracelets, and Bill and Ted were the kings of that aesthetic.
Why It Disappeared from the Public Consciousness
If you look for this show today, it’s not exactly easy to find. While the movies are staples of streaming services, the Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures 1990 TV series has mostly slipped through the cracks. Why?
Rights issues are a nightmare. You have Orion Pictures, Hanna-Barbera, DIC, and two different networks involved. Then there’s the music. Then there’s the fact that the two seasons look and sound like completely different shows. It’s a licensing headache that most streamers don't want to touch.
There was a DVD release by TGG Direct years ago, but it’s long out of print. Occasionally, episodes pop up on YouTube in grainy 480p, looking like they were recorded off a VHS tape with the commercials still intact. In a way, that’s the best way to watch it. It’s a time capsule.
Comparisons to Other 90s Movie Spin-offs
The 90s were the golden age of "Turn This PG-13 Movie Into A Kid's Cartoon." We had Beetlejuice, The Mask, Ace Ventura, and Dumb and Dumber.
Compared to Beetlejuice—which was a genuine hit and ran for years—Bill & Ted’s animated outing was a flash in the pan. It lacked the distinct visual style that Tim Burton’s world provided. It relied too heavily on the "dudes" trope, which works great for a 90-minute movie but starts to wear thin over 21 episodes of television.
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However, the first season remains a fascinoma because of that Keanu Reeves connection. It is technically one of the few times Keanu has reprised a character in animation. For a guy who is now an icon of the John Wick and Matrix franchises, hearing him say "Excellent!" in a 1990 cartoon feels like finding a secret level in a video game.
The Real Impact on the Franchise
Despite its short run, the animated series kept the brand alive during the gap between the two movies. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey came out in 1991, right as the cartoon was transitioning to its second season. The show helped cement the "Bill & Ted" lexicon in the minds of younger kids who might have been too small to see the first movie in theaters.
It also paved the way for the Marvel Comics run. Evan Dorkin, the legendary comic creator, worked on the Bill & Ted comics, and you can see a lot of the kinetic, chaotic energy of the cartoon reflected in those pages.
If you’re a completionist, you can’t ignore this show. It’s part of the DNA. It’s the reason why, for a brief window in 1990, every kid in America was trying to learn how to do a "proper" air guitar solo.
How to Experience the Show Today
Since you can't just fire up Netflix and watch it, how do you actually find this thing?
- Check Archive sites: Digital preservationists often host old Saturday morning blocks. Look for the CBS 1990 schedule.
- Used Media Stores: If you find the "Most Excellent Collection" on DVD at a thrift store, grab it. It’s becoming a collector’s item.
- YouTube Deep Dives: Search for "Bill & Ted 1990 Cartoon" and look for the Hanna-Barbera logo. Avoid the season two DIC episodes if you want the "authentic" Keanu experience.
The show is a reminder of a time when TV felt a little more lawless. When you could take a movie about two stoners (let's be real) and turn it into a bright, educational adventure for seven-year-olds. It was a weird experiment that didn't quite work in the long run, but for thirteen episodes in 1990, it was truly outstanding.
If you want to understand the full history of the franchise, start by tracking down the first three episodes of the CBS run. Specifically, look for "The Bo-Sox-Yly Adventure." It’s the perfect distillation of what the show was trying to be. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s undeniably 1990. Once you've seen the contrast between the Keanu-led first season and the Fox recasting, you'll have a much deeper appreciation for why the original movies worked so well. The chemistry between the leads wasn't just physical—it was in the voices, too. Even in a cartoon, you can't just replace that.