Salty's Lighthouse
Encyclopedia
Salty's Lighthouse was a series for young children, produced by Sunbow Entertainment in 1997 in association with the Bank Street College of Education in New York. The show centred around a young boy named Salty, as he plays and learns with his friends in a magical lighthouse. As well as the animated adventures of Salty and his friends, the series also used live-action footage for various segments. The series aired on the TLC
network, with 39 episodes produced.
Voice Talents Of:
, a series produced in 1988 by Robert D. Cardona
and David Mitton
(who, along with Britt Allcroft
, produced the popular series Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends). Whilst Allcroft drove the Thomas series to popularity among American audiences (through the PBS series Shining Time Station
), TUGS
did not spread far beyond its country of origin, lasting one season of 13 episodes (although it was aired and merchandised in the Japanese market).
As a result of this, Sunbow saw fit to use the series' animation as a part of Salty's Lighthouse, licensing the use of the footage from Cardona: however, they repurposed the footage drastically to suit the needs of Salty's Lighthouse - a programme intended for the preschool American market. (Cardona was not involved in the show's production; however, he was credited as creator of the model footage.)
The original episodes of TUGS centered around two rival fleets of tugboats, working in 'Bigg City Port' during the 1920s, with its plotlines involving action and drama intended for an older audience of children. Due to the difference in intended demographic, the original plotlines (as well as the premise of rival tug fleets) were not used. Instead, the producers of Salty's Lighthouse wrote entirely new stories of the boats in 'Snugboat Harbour', relating to the theme of the main animated segment, with footage from the series edited and redubbed to tell these stories.
(This creates an interesting comparison to the Thomas segments of Shining Time Station; as Britt Allcroft intended to introduce Thomas to America through that series, its stories were redubbed and slightly rewritten, but still faithful to their source. In the case of Salty's Lighthouse, the show was completely repurposed for a new market, instead of attempting to create a faithful 'equivalent' of TUGS.)
Along with the newly-created stories, various changes were made to the characters featured in them. The characters of Sunshine, Captain Star (the narrator), and Little Ditcher were made female, presumably to appeal to a wider audience of children. (Sunshine was referred to in some episodes as fellow switcher Ten Cents' sister.)
The American accents of the new voiceover replaced a range of British accents from the original characters (for example, the Glaswegian Scottish of Big Mac, or the Cockney
accents of Ten Cents and Zorran.
Some character names were also changed: Of the main characters, Big Mac became 'Big Stack' (possibly to avoid legal trouble from McDonald's
over the name of their famous product, but also possibly the meaning of the 'Mac' name being lost along with the original accent); O.J. became 'Otis'; while Zebedee became 'Zeebee'.
Many supporting and incidental characters were also repurposed, to fit particular Salty's Lighthouse stories:
TLC (TV channel)
TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
network, with 39 episodes produced.
Overview
Salty is a young boy who loves using his imagination. Every day, he goes to the lighthouse near his home to play with his seaside friends: Ocho, the octopus; Claude, the hermit crab; Sophie and Sadie, the seagull twins; a group of tiny Clams; Aurora, the light that shines over the ocean; and lighthouse owner Aunt Chovie. Through their adventures in each episode, they learn moral lessons that help them overcome their problems. Tied in to each story are other segments, told through live-action footage:- Through the eyes of Seymour (a walking pair of binoculars), the characters look out beyond the lighthouse to see what the tugboats in the harbour are doing. Their stories relate to the situations of the main characters. The tugboat footage is composed of live model animation, taken from the British television series TUGS (see below for more information).
- Some episodes include a segment called 'Salty's Song Time' introduced by the lighthouse clock. These consist of original songs, which relate the moral of the episode. The songs are set to an arrangement of footage, mainly from stock libraries and silent films.
Cast
Casting/Voice Direction: Terry KlassenTerry Klassen
Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor and voice director in Vancouver, British Columbia. He co-created Yvon of the Yukon. He is the voice director for shows including Martha Speaks, "Johnny Test", "George of the Jungle", "Ed, Edd n Eddy", several "Barbie" movies, "Transformers", "CardCaptors",...
Voice Talents Of:
- Kathleen BarrKathleen BarrKathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is also the sister of Professor Mark Lyle Barr at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.-Filmography:...
- Ocho, Aunt Chovie - Rhys HuberRhys HuberRhys Huber is a Canadian Voice actor. He has done English voice work for animation & anime, most notably, Li Showron in the Cardcaptors dub.-Animation/Anime Roles:...
- Salty - Janyse JaudJanyse JaudJanyse Aldis Jaud is a Canadian actress, dancer and singer/songwriter. She is of Icelandic-French descent....
- Sophie, Sadie - Andrea LibmanAndrea LibmanAndrea Eva Libman is a Canadian actress, television writer, and singer, whose most popular on-screen appearances are on the Little Women movie, Andre and a guest-role on The X-Files...
- Claude, Sunshine - Lenore ZannLenore ZannLenore Zann is a politician as well as a screen, television, stage, and voice actress who has appeared in numerous television shows and films...
- Captain Star, Little Ditcher - Ian James CorlettIan James CorlettIan James Corlett is a Canadian animation voice artist, writer, and musician. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon....
- Ten Cents, Zeebee, Otis, Zip, Lord Stinker, Frank, Eddie - Paul Dobson - Big Stack, Sea Rogue, Red Fin
- Scott McNeilScott McNeilScott McNeil is a Canadian actor and voice actor. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
- Zorran, Zug, Boomer, The Fultan Ferry - Long John BaldryLong John BaldryJohn William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...
- Top Hat, Hercules, Stanley/Chooch - French Tickner - Captain Zero, Izzy Gomez, Bigg Basil, Municipal Garbage Corrporation
- Michael DonovanMichael DonovanMichael David Donovan is a voice actor for many TV shows and anime. He is most known for his voice on the series ReBoot for his voices of Phong, Mike the TV, Cecil, and Al. He has also provided the voice of Sabretooth for X-Men: Evolution and Carnage for Spider-Man Unlimited. He played the lead...
- Warrior, Steamer, Scoop, Scuttle Butt Pete, Mighty Moe - Brad SwaileBrad SwaileBradley "Brad" Swaile is a Canadian voice actor. He has acted in several animated series, known mostly for his anime roles; particularly that of Amuro Ray in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, Mousse in Ranma 1/2, and Quatre Raberba Winner in Gundam Wing...
- Boomer, Billy Shoepack, Grampus, Cappy - Venus TerzoVenus TerzoVenus Terzo is a Canadian actress best noted for her role as Detective Angela Kosmo in Da Vinci's Inquest and its spinoff, Da Vinci's City Hall. She was nominated in 2002 for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role in that same role...
- Lillie Lightship, Sally Seaplane - Gary ChalkGary Chalk (actor)Gary Chalk is an English-born Canadian actor, tri-national US-Canadian-UK citizen and voice artist. He has lend hit voice in over 30 animated television series and has been in films such as The Fly II and Freddy vs. Jason....
- Bluenose
Episode list
39 11-minute episodes of Salty's Lighthouse were produced:- Mixed Signals
- Too Young to Be Included
- Who Took My Crayons
- High Spirits
- Taking My Turn
- Backwards Day
- Banana Splits
- Clearing the Decks
- Claude in Charge
- The Favorite
- Strike Up the Band
- Blankety Blank
- The Last of the Red Hot C Gulls
- Farley Frog
- Some Guys Have All the Luck
- Dream On
- The Treasure Hunt
- The Big Birthday Bash
- The Boss Man
- Sophie Comes Home
- Salty Comes Lately
- It's Magic
- No Strings Attached
- Sound Off
- If the Clue Fits...Wear It
- Let's Wing It
- The Bivalve Music
- Taking Off
- The Blackout
- Eight is Too Much
- One Bad Day
- Hands Off
- The Colossal Crab
- Who Turned Off the Lights
- Let's Party
- The Guilty Gull
- Count On Me
- Desperately Seeking Sadie
- Bivalve Blues
DVD release
In 2005, Metrodome Distribution (a distributor owned by Sunbow owners TV-Loonland) incuded the episodes 'Taking Off' and 'Let's Party' on a UK release called 'Toddler Time'.Comparisons with TUGS
The segments featuring the tugboats in the harbour used footage from the British television series TUGSTUGS
TUGS is a British children's television series, first broadcast in 1988. It was created by the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton. The series dealt with the adventures of two anthropomorphized tugboat fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z-Stacks, who...
, a series produced in 1988 by Robert D. Cardona
Robert D. Cardona
Robert D. Cardona is an American writer, producer, director and animator. Cardona co-founded Clearwater Features, along with David Mitton, in 1980.-Career:...
and David Mitton
David Mitton
David Nelson Godfrey Mitton was a British television producer and director, and an experienced model maker and author, best known for directing and producing the children's television shows TUGS and Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends...
(who, along with Britt Allcroft
Britt Allcroft
Britt Allcroft is the multi- award-winning creator of a trio of children's entertainment produced in the 1980s and 1990s: "Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends", , "Shining Time Station" and "Britt Allcroft's Magic Adventures of Mumfie".She was born Hilary Mary Allcroft, in Worthing, England and, at...
, produced the popular series Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends). Whilst Allcroft drove the Thomas series to popularity among American audiences (through the PBS series Shining Time Station
Shining Time Station
Shining Time Station is an American children's television series co-created by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by The Britt Allcroft Company and Quality Family Entertainment in New York for New York City PBS Station WNET, and was filmed first in New York and then in Toronto...
), TUGS
TUGS
TUGS is a British children's television series, first broadcast in 1988. It was created by the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton. The series dealt with the adventures of two anthropomorphized tugboat fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z-Stacks, who...
did not spread far beyond its country of origin, lasting one season of 13 episodes (although it was aired and merchandised in the Japanese market).
As a result of this, Sunbow saw fit to use the series' animation as a part of Salty's Lighthouse, licensing the use of the footage from Cardona: however, they repurposed the footage drastically to suit the needs of Salty's Lighthouse - a programme intended for the preschool American market. (Cardona was not involved in the show's production; however, he was credited as creator of the model footage.)
The original episodes of TUGS centered around two rival fleets of tugboats, working in 'Bigg City Port' during the 1920s, with its plotlines involving action and drama intended for an older audience of children. Due to the difference in intended demographic, the original plotlines (as well as the premise of rival tug fleets) were not used. Instead, the producers of Salty's Lighthouse wrote entirely new stories of the boats in 'Snugboat Harbour', relating to the theme of the main animated segment, with footage from the series edited and redubbed to tell these stories.
(This creates an interesting comparison to the Thomas segments of Shining Time Station; as Britt Allcroft intended to introduce Thomas to America through that series, its stories were redubbed and slightly rewritten, but still faithful to their source. In the case of Salty's Lighthouse, the show was completely repurposed for a new market, instead of attempting to create a faithful 'equivalent' of TUGS.)
Along with the newly-created stories, various changes were made to the characters featured in them. The characters of Sunshine, Captain Star (the narrator), and Little Ditcher were made female, presumably to appeal to a wider audience of children. (Sunshine was referred to in some episodes as fellow switcher Ten Cents' sister.)
The American accents of the new voiceover replaced a range of British accents from the original characters (for example, the Glaswegian Scottish of Big Mac, or the Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
accents of Ten Cents and Zorran.
Some character names were also changed: Of the main characters, Big Mac became 'Big Stack' (possibly to avoid legal trouble from McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
over the name of their famous product, but also possibly the meaning of the 'Mac' name being lost along with the original accent); O.J. became 'Otis'; while Zebedee became 'Zeebee'.
Many supporting and incidental characters were also repurposed, to fit particular Salty's Lighthouse stories:
- Johnny Cuba, a smuggler, was written as 'Steamer', a friendly but shy character.
- Sea Rogue was used as a villain, stealing cargo.
- Two different characters, Coast Guard and the Coast Guard's Messenger, were merged into a single character named 'Cappy'.
- Puffa had different names in different stories: 'Stanley', and later 'Chooch'.
- Big Mickey became 'Bigg Basil'.
- Jack the Grappler became 'Scoop'.
- The Fire Tug was known as 'Red Fin'.
- The scrap dealers Burke and Blair became movie producers named 'Mr. Boffo' and 'Mr. Socko'.
- The tramper Nantucket also went under different names, sometimes in speaking parts, sometime only communicating through a foghorn.
See also
- TUGSTUGSTUGS is a British children's television series, first broadcast in 1988. It was created by the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton. The series dealt with the adventures of two anthropomorphized tugboat fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z-Stacks, who...
- The British series made into a segment of the show. - Thomas The Tank Engine & Friends, and its American counterpart Shining Time StationShining Time StationShining Time Station is an American children's television series co-created by Britt Allcroft and Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by The Britt Allcroft Company and Quality Family Entertainment in New York for New York City PBS Station WNET, and was filmed first in New York and then in Toronto...
. - Theodore TugboatTheodore TugboatTheodore Tugboat is a Canadian children's television series about a tugboat named Theodore who lives in the Big Harbour with all of his friends. The show was produced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada by the CBC , and the now defunct Cochran Entertainment, and was filmed on a model set using radio...
- A Canadian children's series, also starring tugboat characters.