Deer Squad (Chinese: 无敌鹿战队; pinyin: Wúdí Lù Zhànduì) is a Chinese animated children's television series produced by iQIYI in Beijing. The show started out as a series of shorts on China Central Television.[1] The first episode of the full series premiered on iQIYI's video platform on July 15, 2020. The series is about four deer characters (Kai, Lola, Rammy, and Bobbi). The show made its premiere in the US on January 25, 2021.[2]
The show was first announced under the title Deer Run.[3]Nickelodeon has overseas broadcasting rights to the show.[4] The second season was released on January 14, 2022.[5]
On September 20, 2022, iQIYI has announced that a third season will be released on the second quarter of 2023.[6] On July 29, 2023, the third season released on August 4, 2023.[7]
On July 5, 2024, Dave McRae revealed on his X (Twitter) and Facebook accounts confirmed that a fourth season is on production.[8]
According to Xiaoxuan Yang, vice president of iQIYI, Deer Squad ranked in the top five children's shows launched on the iQIYI service in 2020.[9]
Premise
Kai, Lola, Rammy, and Bobbi are anthropomorphic four deer friends who reside in a boat-shaped home in the forest. The forest where their home is also has a park where people from a nearby city hang out. Whenever there is trouble in the forest or city, the deer friends, when within proximity of each other, can go into superhero mode, and use their powers to save the day.
Characters
The character designs from the earlier short series (left two images) vs. the full show (right).
Deer Squad members
Kai (voiced by Brody Allen (season 1) and Sascha Yurchak (season 2–present) in English) is a yellow deer who is the leader of the Deer Squad and the group's tech wizard. He has water powers and a hovercraft.
Lola (voiced by Juliet Rusche (season 1–2) and Raeleigh Jett (season 3–present) in English) is a pink deer who can grow plants on anything, and a car that can fly.
Rammy (voiced by Holden Thomas (season 1–2) and Lincoln Kipp (season 3–present) in English) is a big red deer who has heat powers and a race car that is able to convert into a robotic horse which is able to leap high.
Bobbi (voiced by Connor Elias Andrade in English) is a small green deer who has earth powers. He also has the ability to understand babbling animals and likes making desserts.
Jade (voiced by Azury-Hardy Jones in English) is a blue deer who was first introduced in season 2 as the newest member of the team. She has crystal powers and a drill cart with a crystal driller and three boosters. She is also a crystal expert and knows all about gemstones.
Wufu is a purple and yellow butterfly who is Jade's companion, and was also introduced in season 2. He doesn't talk but can whisper to Jade's ear so she can understand what he is saying.
Recurring
Sir Steel (voiced by Doug Erholtz in English) is a conceited wealthy entrepreneur who comes up with various plans either for profit or to simply provide himself with convenience even if it means causing problems in the city or wilderness which he does not seem to mind or realize. Though not entirely bald (he has a small hook of hair at the very top), Sir Steel wears a wig which is seen coming off sometimes. He is also the main antagonist of the series.
Professor Scratch (voiced by Julie Maddalena Kliewer in English) is Sir Steel's personal scientist.
Muffin is Sir Steel's pet poodle. Sir Steel is quite protective of her.
Ian (voiced by Mr. Lawrence (season 1–3) and Dave McRae (season 4–present) in English) is a white duck who is a friend of the Deer Squad. He likes keeping the park in order, and sometimes dispatches the Deer Squad with his tuba when he notices trouble. He also has ducklings to care for.
Daniel (voiced by Jayden Epifanio in English) is Ian's son. In season 2 he started to speak and is now a member of the Forest Squad.
Tina (voiced by Samantha Hahn in English) is a green turtle who is also a friend of the Deer Squad. She has three children.
Binky (voiced by Lincoln Bodin in English) is Tina's son. In season 2 he began to talk and is the leader of the Forest Squad which was formed in the episode, "Tiny Heroes".
Mimi (voiced by Araceli Prasarttongosoth in English) is a grey kitten who was introduced in season 2. She is a member of the Forest Squad.
Laura (voiced by Riley King in English) is a brown bunny who was introduced in season 2. She is a member of the Forest Squad.
Fifi and Sasha La Plume (both voiced by Andie Mechanic in English) are two swans.
Ricardo (voiced by Jaiden Cannatelli in English) is a squirrel with a high-pitched voice who likes to play pranks. He has an affinity for his tail which he named Ramona.
Catherine (voiced by Gabby Clarke in English) is a young and heartfelt-looking female crocodile who resides in a place called The Sewer.
Stu and Safia (voiced by Oliver Brown and Morgan Young in English) are Sir Steel's niece and nephew who were introduced in the second season. Whenever they're around, they sometimes like to have fun or cause trouble.
Lady Fluffpot (voiced by Elizabeth Simmons in English) is a wealthy aristocrat who was introduced in season 2. She loves jewelry and is sometimes critical of nature, and is accompanied by Sir Steel in his activities or schemes.
Bot-Ler (voiced by Frank Todaro in English) is Lady Fluffpot's robotic butler.
Adventure Alex (voiced by Daniel Amerman in English) is Lady Fluffpot's cousin who was introduced in season 3. He is a traveler who explores Sparkle Island, and is also an occasionally member of the Deer Squad.
Captain Chomp (voiced by Caroline Kinley in English) is a female dinosaur who was introduced in season 3. She is a traveler who collects stuff from various planets around space, and occasionally participates in the activities the deer do in some episodes.
Kenny (voiced by Brick Willis in English) is a male mammoth who was introduced in season 3. He is Captain Chomp's co-pilot.
Trickalien (voiced by Vargus Mason (season 3) and Dave McRae (season 4–present) in English) is a sneaky alien who was introduced in season 3. He likes filming videos with his camera antenna to show them to his family.
Sir Steel sends giant sunglasses to block the sun from shining in the city so he can stay in bed for as long as he want. Fed up of being overlooked because of the heroes' popularity, Sir Steel goes into the streets to parade a large balloon of himself.
The Deer Squad rescues a swarm of bees who are being kept in Sir Steel's building to make nectar. Kai builds a robot duck to lead a group of ducklings. But when Lola accidentally showers water on it, the robot duck goes wonky and starts corrupting various devices in the city.
Sir Steel aims to take the huge catfish from the lake in the forest to put in his aquarium. The Deer Squad would not allow the fish to be taken because it is believed that its absence would greatly affect the forest. To clean his dog and even the forest, Sir Steel puts out a bubble machine which scares and later carries away the creatures.
Kai links his vehicle with those of the other Deer Squad members to carry his animal friends across the woods. Sir Steel tries to showcase a high-tech hairdryer, but his operating mistake creates a tornado with ducks that causes mayhem in the city and forest.
Because the woods tourists are more interested in donuts, Sir Steel uses a ray gun to conjure giant rolling donuts which, however, scare them away. Kai builds an ice cream dispenser to compensate for eating Lola's ice cream earlier, and goes on to serve the woods tourists.
Sir Steel disposes gel plastic by dumping it in the lake. The plastic sticks onto various things, including the giant fish. Sir Steel gets his hand covered in Bobbi's toffee, and gets stuck to Lola. Muffin gets into his robot, and causes trouble in the city.
A meteor is heading towards the city. The attention-hungry Sir Steel uses this as an opportunity to be a hero by attempting to stop it. After finishing second in a dance competition last year, Rammy practices and hopes he would win it this time.
Kai saves three young turtles from certain trouble, and they become his admirers. The turtles' cheering leads Kai to believe he can do anything alone. Because of his low stamina for even a short sprint, Sir Steel decides to use high-tech hitops at the city's marathon despite its illegality.
Sir Steel, using a special gadget, attempts to take the Deer Squad's powers and apply them to himself, but, by mistake, switches his personality with that of a frog instead. Professor Scratch hides various chocolate eggs in the park as part of Sir Steel's personal egg hunt, but this results in the entire place being infested with ants.
Sir Steel pushes a button which turns his building into a rocket that ascends to space. Professor Scratch poses as a magician, and wins the audience away from Rammy who is performing a ball and dance act. A very jealous Rammy snoops onto the professor's equipment, and accidentally unleashes multiple mischievous rabbits.
Sir Steel disguises his robots as the Deer Squad, and makes them a nuisance in society to prevent the title characters from winning the Citizen of Year award, and boost his chances of winning it. Sir Steel's packaging device gets out of control, and starts putting anything and anyone in boxes.
Lola makes a multi-colored cloud in the sky as a work of art. But Sir Steel wants to get rid of the cloud because he feels it is overshadowing his hat-giving charity. The Deer Squad decide to race each other in their vehicles through the forest. Sir Steel, in an innovative car, also gets into the race.
Sir Steel has a special microphone that converts generic animal sounds into human language. This catches the attention of some animals, including a crocodile who would not stop following him. To come up with an entry at a plant contest, Sir Steels sows a laboratory-made seed in the forest which grows into a large maze, trapping various animails, including the Deer Squad.
Sir Steel sends some drones to make deliveries, but they get corrupted after being expose to rain, and start pestering the city's bystanders. Professor Scratch unveils a machine to make plastic slime for Sir Steel's personal enjoyment. Steel decides to operate the device on his own, but does so incorrectly, that slime starts raining in the city.
While most of the Deer Squad are sick, Sir Steel tries to be a hero by staging various troubles in the city and park. Sir Steel siphons all the water from the lake to fill his water park.
Ricardo steals Sir Steel's anti-gravity gun, and uses it to make objects, people, and animals float in the air. Professor Scratch comes up with a bouncy ball that does not stop bouncing, but Sir Steel's carelessness causes it to bounce around and be a nuisance in the city.
Lola looks to put up a show at the park in her flying car, but Sir Steel, who is in a high-tech jet, aims to steal the limelight. When Sir Steel's dog's ball goes missing in the sewers, Bobbi must face his fear of the dark.
