By Jonathan Klotz
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Back in the 90s, you couldn’t turn to a channel on Saturday mornings without coming across a cartoon that, when you describe them today, sounds like you’re describing a bad trip. Biker Mice from Mars, Street Sharks, S.W.A.T. Kats, Samurai Pizza Cats, all of them have concepts that sound insane, but none of them are as bizarre as Wild West COW-Boys of Moo Mesa which hinges entirely on the pun of cowboys who are actual cows. It’s a flimsy premise for a series, though it is filled from snout to tail with puns, but it somehow lasted for two seasons and 26 episodes that you can’t find streaming anywhere today.
The Code Of The West
The Cowboys of Moo Mesa was a trio led by Marshal Moo Montana, the muscle-bound bruiser Dakota Dude (voiced by Jim Cummings, known for Winnie the Pooh), and Cowlorado Kid, the ladies’ man of the group, hitting all three archetypes that every show about “Abnimals” (as coined on the My Brother, My Brother, And Me podcast) was bound by law to include. Adding to the strangeness of the series, the anthropomorphic cows ride horses which could inspire a “why are Pluto and Goofy so different” level of debate if you and your friends are really bored. Opposing the trio are a rotating roster of villains, headlined by the corrupt Sheriff Terrorbull (voiced by Joe Piscopo, in a role that’s oddly kept off his Wikipedia page), and his villainous disguise, The Masked Bull.
Even if you’ve never seen the series, you can already guess almost every episode of COW-Boys of Moo Mesa if you’ve watched even one Saturday morning cartoon. Not every episode, though, as there’s one where the villainous Boot Hill Buzzard goes undercover as a teacher to recruit children to commit crimes, or the amazing episode with Mules Verne, an airship, and a giant robotic cowboy that’s a 22-minute love letter to Wild Wild West. There’s nothing subtle about any of the characters or storylines, and most episodes are standalone, but that’s exactly what a Saturday morning cartoon should be like.
Lost To The Mists Of Time
Today, if you manage to find a way to watch any episodes of Wild West COW-Boys of Moo Mesa, you’ll be able to pick out some recognizable sci-fi stars, including Mark Hamill as the leader of a gang of coyotes, Kate Mulgrew (years before Star Trek: Voyager) as Barb Wire Babs, and Tim Curry as con artist Jacques Le Beef. The animated series is, like so many of its contemporaries, wrapped up in a mess of rights between different companies that makes streaming a nightmare, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. A revival is, amazingly, in the works thanks to The Nacelle Company, the same nostalgia-powered production company working on Biker Mice from Mars, and while nothing has been shown yet, the purchase only happened in 2023, so there’s plenty of time for the return of the Cowlorado Kid.
Wild West COW-Boys of Moo Mesa is one of the oddest examples of the sci-fi and Western mashup, and there are plenty of adults who think the cartoon was a fever dream they experienced as a child, but it’s a fun “Abnimals” series that knows it’s meant for kids. The puns are groan-worthy, and every single episode is stuffed with them; while the plots are simple and formulaic, there’s a reason they always work. It’s a shame that it’s not streaming today for another generation to be both delighted and horrified by the ridiculouss premise.
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