"Wildfire" is perhaps the best of all animated programs produced during the 1980s. It only lasted 13 episodes, but displayed a level of sophistication rarely seen in animation, and especially rare among Saturday Morning toons. This is undoubtedly due to the the influence of the brilliant fantasy-fiction writer Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn). The show centered around the adventures of a young girl living in Monatana named Sara who is in fact a royal refugee from the distant planet Dar-Shan which is ruled by a clan of supernatural horses. Their rule is threatened by the evil witch Diabolyn who seeks (what else?) global domination. The most heroic of Dar-Shan's horses is Wildfire, a wise stallion who was a loyal companion of Sara's mother (the Queen of Dar-Shan and Diabolyn's sister, who died during childbirth). Sara returns periodically to help Dar-Shan when it is in trouble with Wildfire usually being the ultimate weapon of 'Good'.
The dialogue of the show was extremely well-written, making the show not only adventurous and suspenseful, but moral and even existential. It's a shame that no studio has stepped forward to put the show back in circulation or to release it on DVD (it was produced by Hana-Barbera). It is probably the supreme example of a cult cartoon which has survived primarily because its quality was unmatched by any other 80s toon.
