Fantastic Max is a cartoon about a young boy who travels through space having adventures with his friends FX the alien and A. B. Sitter the robot. Unlike most cartoons that use children as the main characters, Max is still a baby. He is called upon to aid the woes of the galaxy while keeping his exploits a secret, especially from his family.
Fantastic Max was a Hanna-Barbera Production, in association with Kalato Ltd., initially shown on early Saturday morning NBC. Its first episode aired on September 11, 1988, while the last episode was on February 1, 1990. When the cartoon SuperTed became phased out, it was Fantastic Max that took over. It was later moved to Sunday as part of Hanna-Barbera's The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera feature.
Maxwell Arnold "Max" Fifelton is a 16-month-old boy that uses his imagination to create adventures in his life through his home and the objects around him. He is the title character and leader of the group. He often yells "dirty diapers" as a battle cry.
FX is a green alien pull-string doll from the planet Twinkle Twinkle. When his string is pulled, FX comes to life and is able to perform magic such as transforming Max's bottle into the rocket that transports the crew to space. His catch phrase is "Rocket and roll", which he says when he comes to life.
In a play on babysitter, A. B. Sitter the robot is the caregiver and friend of Max. He was created by Max using building blocks along with the magic of FX.
Max's older sister, Zoe, has no idea of her brother's alter ego, but manages to get caught up in his adventures nonetheless.
One of the series' earlier villains, Bronx, is a ringmaster who appears in the episode Monkey See, Monkey Zoo and was removed for the second season.
Another villain, Goldie the space gypsy's only appearance was All in a Babe's Work. His catchphrase was "Goldie the (laughs) space gypsy". Like Bronx, Goldie only appeared in the first season.
In a play on Jumping Jack Flash, Dumping Jack Trash was a garbage man who always spoke in rhyme. He had only two appearances in season one: Attack of the Cubic Rubes and Beach Blanket Baby. His character was used to replace that of Texas Pete from SuperTed. In season two, he became the show's main villain.
XS (a play on "excess", which describes his personality) appeared in the episodes Cooking Mother's Goose and Boo Who? as FX's trouble-making cousin. Although not ill-meaning, he gets into trouble by distracting the group from their goals.
Several voice-over actors involved in Fantastic Max attained great success in the years after the show. Nancy Cartwright (FX) would go on to be the voice of Bart Simpson of The Simpsons. Hank Azaria (Goldie) and Phil Hartman (additional voices) also had various roles on The Simpsons, as well as acting in several mainstream movies. Lorenzo Music (additional voices) would later be the voice of Garfield in the character's cartoon series and subsequent movies (save the most recent which were voiced by Bill Murray).
Themes similar to Fantastic Max were used with success in future cartoons such as Captain Flamingo, Bobby's World, Rugrats, and Mona the Vampire. Each of these is about children using their imagination to create amazing worlds and adventures in otherwise mundane surroundings.