The looks of Captain Planet are inspired by the DC Comics character (previously Charlton character) Captain Atom. Other aspects of the show (five teenagers with powers summoning a super-being of greater force, looks and personality bits of the teenagers) are inspired on the Marvel Comics "Psi-Force" series.
Production of this show began prior to the fall of the Soviet Union. In opening credits to the first several episodes, it is stated that Linka is from the "Soviet Union". Later, the opening sequence was dubbed over to say the "Former Soviet Union" and later "Russia" to stay as politically correct as possible.