Though theBack to the Futurefranchise may have concluded its silver-screen tenure withBack to the Future 3in 1990, Marty and Doc Brown’s time-traveling antics continued on television a year later inBack to the Future: The Animated Series. This Saturday morning cartoon was a no-holes-barred action spectacle that saw Doctor Emmett Brown and his family encounter all sorts of mishaps in their adventures across space and time; the show even managedto bring back Christopher Lloyd as Doc Brownin live-action segments at the end of each episode.
However, one fascinating look into the past occurs in episode 2, “A Family Vacation,” when Doc Brown takes his family back to England in the year 1371. Here, we are introduced to several versions of Biff, Marty, and Jennifer500 years before the events ofBack to the Future 3. In addition to continuing the tradition of showing Biff and Marty’s ancestors, the episode also sets up an origin forBack to the Future3’sSeamus McFlyand how his ancestors came to Ireland.
Back To The Future: The Animated Series Introduced Versions Of Marty & Jennifer From The Middle Ages
In Episode 2, The Arrogant Lord Biffingham Spars With Harold McFly
In episode 2, “A Family Vacation,” Doc Brown and his wife Clara are captured by Biff’s medieval ancestor, Lord Biffingham, who holds them captive in his vast hillside castle. Later, Brown’s children Jules and Verne are also captured by Harold McFly, who befriends them and reveals that Jennifer’s ancestor,Lady Jennivere, has also been imprisoned in Biffingham’s fortress.
The trio team up (along with their handy dog Einstein) to free Clara, Jennivere, and Doc Brown before Lord Biffingham duels the scientist in an unevenly-matched jousting match. Though they succeed in upending Biffingham’s unfair game,they are eventually captured and sentenced to beheading. Luckily, Clara and Jennivere team up in the nick of time to sew a hot air balloon that swoops the rag-tag group of allies back to thesafety of Doc Brown’s new and improved DeLorean.
Back To The Future’s Harold McFly Sets Up Part III’s Seamus McFly
Episode 2 Shows How The McFlys Came To Ireland
After the Brown family escape with Harold and Jennivere from Lord Biffingham’s fortress, they touch down at the ancient site of Stonehenge where the young couple muses over where they will travel to next with the hot air balloon. When Doc Brown suggests Ireland, Jennivere jumps at the idea, saying it’sthe perfect place to raise countless generations of McFlys.
Marty first uncovered the history of his family’s ancestry inBack to the Future 3when he met Seamus McFly, who is one of the many characters Michael J. Fox plays in the trilogy.
The little Easter egg near the episode’s end sets up the McFly lineage that eventually emigrated from Ireland to Hill Valley, California. Marty first uncovered the history of his family’s ancestry inBack to the Future 3when he met Seamus McFly, who is one of themany characters Michael J. Fox plays in theBack to the Futuretrilogy. It’s rare for a Saturday morning cartoon likeBack to the Future: The Animated Seriesto value such attention to detail in their programming, and it makes for a fun little reference at the end of an action-packed episode.
