The Legend of Calamity Jane

In the United States, three episodes were aired on The WB in 1997.^[4] The network gave the series heavy promotion, but they quietly pulled it from their line-up after only three weeks. It was stated on Warner Bros.' website that the show would return later in the year,^[5] and that Superman: The Animated Series would be filling in for its timeslot,^[6] but this proved to be untrue.^[4] The series did run complete in Latin America and several European countries, and was dubbed into languages like French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish and Serbian.^[7]

Jennifer Jason Leigh was originally cast as the voice of Calamity Jane. However, two weeks before the show was to premiere, the producers decided to re-cast the role. Barbara Scaff got the part.^[8] None of the dialogue recorded by Leigh was used in the final show. However, due to the short notice, the promotional ads aired on the WB used the lines by Leigh.

• Calamity Jane (voiced by Barbara Scaff) – Although based on the historical frontierswoman, her appearance and background are fictionalized. For example, in the series, she is literate and claims to have grown up in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and Atlanta, Georgia while the real Martha Jane Canary was illiterate and raised in Missouri. She also claims to be a member of the Comanche tribe. Depicted as 24 years old, with green eyes, pale skin and red hair, she fights on the side of "law and order". Jane prefers to use a whip and drink milk. She rides a black horse named Dakota.
• Joe Presto (voiced by Frank Welker) – He serves as a helpful sidekick to Jane and shows great care and concern for her throughout the series. He prefers not to kill, as evidenced by his shotgun only being loaded with rock salt. He rides a mule named Tessy.
• Wild Bill Hickok (voiced by Clancy Brown) – Based on the real Wild Bill Hickok, he is depicted as an old friend of Jane's who helps her on several occasions despite his reservations toward the law.
• Quanna Parker (voiced by Michael Horse) – Jane's "blood brother" and Chief of the Comanche tribe with a fondness for existential philosophy. In "Troubled Waters", his tribe become millionaires after discovering oil on their land.
• Captain John O'Rourke (voiced by Tim Matheson) – A polite, law-abiding cavalry officer who assists Jane throughout the series and is hinted to have romantic feelings for her. In "The Final Curtain", it is revealed he witnessed the assassination of Abraham Lincoln as a child and felt responsible because his older brother, a Secret Service agent, chose to sit by him instead.