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Tugs (TV series)

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This article is about children's television series. For the boat, see tugboat.
Tugs
GenreChildren's television
Created byRobert D. Cardona, David Mitton
Written byChris Tulloch, Tarquin Cardona, Gloria Tors, Roy Russel
Directed byDavid Mitton, Chris Tulloch
Voices ofPatrick Allen, Simon Nash, Chris Tulloch, Timothy Bateson, Shaun Prendergast, Mike Mulloy, Sean Barrett, Lee Cornes, John Baddeley and Nigel Anthony
Narrated byPatrick Allen
Theme music composerJunior Campbell, Mike O'Donnell
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerJ. Nigel Pickard
ProducersRobert D. Cardona, David Mitton
Production locationsShepperton Studios, Surrey, United Kingdom
CinematographyClearwater periscope lens system
EditorsPete Best, Phil Sanderson
Camera setupmulti-camera
Running timeapprox. 15-20 minutes
Production companyTugs Limited
Original release
NetworkITV
Release1988 (1988) –
1989 (1989)
Related
Thomas and Friends, Salty's Lighthouse, Theodore Tugboat

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.[1] The series dealt with the adventures of two anthropomorphized tugboat fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z-Stacks, who compete against each other in the fictional Bigg City Port. It is set in the 1920s, during the booming business era of the Roaring Twenties. It was produced by Tugs Ltd., for TVS and Clearwater Features Ltd.[2] Music was composed by Junior Campbell and Mike O'Donnell,[1] who also wrote the music for Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends.[3]

Following the initial airing of the series throughout 1988, television rights were sold to an unknown party, with all models and sets from the series being sold to Britt Allcroft. Modified set props and tugboat models were used in Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends from 1991 onwards, with footage from the original program being heavily dubbed and edited for use in American children's series Salty's Lighthouse. Mitton returned to working with Thomas and Friends in 1991, while Cardona would go on to direct Theodore Tugboat, a similarly natured animated series set in Canada.[4] All thirteen episodes of the show were released on VHS between 1988 and 1993.

Synopsis

The series begins with the introduction of the Star Fleet, a small group of tugboats working the Roaring Twenties era of the early twentieth century. The Star Fleet compete for work in Bigg City Port, alongside the fleet's biggest rivals, the Z-Stacks.

Throughout the series, the two fleets primarily contest contracts to dock and tow larger sailing vessels and objects, including ocean liners,[1] tramp steamers[5] and schooners.[6] Various other contractual obligations were also completed by the two fleets, including transportation of stone,[5] munitions[7] and logging fell.[6] The series was considerably darker in tone than many other children's television programmes, with further plots involving crime, violence, and sabotagery. The characters' dialogue, too, was somewhat mature for a children's series, featuring slang and terminology not normally directed at children. Characters would often insult each other, as well as use historical and maritime terms.

Cast and characters

Main articles: List of recurring TUGS characters and List of minor TUGS characters

Star Fleet

Main article: List of recurring TUGS characters § Star Fleet
File:Tugs-2.jpg
Star Fleet's Big Mac and Sunshine

The Star Fleet are considered the show's protagonists, who aim to work together to achieve contracts in the port. The models were styled upon the Crowley Maritime Corporation, founded in San Francisco in 1892.[8] They are led by Captain Star, who narrates the series. The fleet consists of Ten Cents, Big Mac, O.J., Top Hat, Warrior, Hercules and Sunshine.

Another tugboat, Boomer, is briefly a member of the Star Fleet after being found floating at sea. Boomer believes himself to be jinxed, and he certainly seems to bring trouble with him wherever he went. After numerous nasty accidents, Captain Star sells Boomer, who is later made into a houseboat. It is unknown whether he remains part of the fleet after this. The adventures of Boomer are centric to the episode "Jinxed". Grampus, a naval submarine who appears throughout the series, is purchased from the navy by Captain Star to work for the Star Fleet. It is also unknown whether this remains after the conclusion of the series.

Z-Stacks

Main article: List of recurring TUGS characters § Z-Stacks

The Z-Stacks are the show's antagonists, who can be seen frequently trying to sabotage the good work of the Star Fleet. They take on the more risky contracts in the port, at the attraction of a higher pay. The models' design was taken from the Moran Tugs of New York.[8] They are led by Captain Zero. The fleet consists of Zorran, Zebedee, Zak, Zug and Zip. As with the Star Fleet, Boomer also briefly works for the Z-Stacks, following being sold by the former. Despite this, Boomer is cast out the Z-Stacks also.

Voice actor Character(s)
Patrick Allen Captain Star (as narrator and character)
Nigel Anthony Big Mac, Hercules, Zebedee, Fire Tug, Sea Rogue, The Pirates
John Baddeley Top Hat, Zip, Burke, The Quarry Master
Sean Barrett Warrior, Mighty Moe, Scuttle Butt Pete, Blair
Timothy Bateson O.J., Lord Stinker, Little Ditcher, Nantucket
Lee Cornes Grampus, The Coast Guard, Billy Shoepack, Boomer, The Shrimpers
Mike Mulloy Captain Zero, Zug, Izzy Gomez
Simon Nash Ten Cents
Shaun Prendergast Sunshine, Zak, Sea Rogue's Uncle
Chris Tulloch Zorran

[9][10]

In the Japanese version of the show, dubbed voices were used. Those credited were:

Fleet Character Voice actor
Star Fleet Ten Cents Shigeru Nakahara
Big Mac Keiji Fujiwara
O.J. Masaaki Tsukada
Top Hat Masashi Ebara
Warrior Mitsuaki Madono
Sunshine Yūko Mita
Captain Star Rokurō Naya
Z-Stacks Zorran Hazime Ozeki
Zebedee Kōji Ishii
Zak Hideyuki Umezu
Zug Taro Arakawa
Zip Masashi Ebara
Captain Zero Masaaki Tsukada

[11]

Format and production

The series consists of thirteen fifteen-minute episodes (though four exist as twenty-minute episodes on the TUGS Videos), each told by the show's narrator, Captain Star (voiced by Patrick Allen). Filming and production of the series took place throughout 1987-1988, in west London's Shepperton Studios.[12] The series was animated using live-action models, which were seen as the most realistic method of portraying real tugboats.[13] The set featured the Clearwater Periscope lens system, a type of professional video camera used to film at the models' eye level.[14] Each model was mounted on a wheeled chassis, which were then pulled through the water using transparent string. Remote control devices were initially tested in operating the machines, but the tugboats became too heavy and unable to move through the water. Remote controls were instead used to power other devices, such as the moving eye features of the models and some cranes.[13]

Planned second series

The second series had already been planned well in advance of the shooting of the first series. Already over 96 scripts had been written by Mitton himself and other writers with a regular 13 episodes to be produced. Most of the series would've been set more 'up river' instead of the Bigg City docks area due to difficulty shooting on the sets. As well the regular main cast, some new tugs would've been introduced. However TVS who was in charge of producing the series, went bankrupt which halted the series from being produced.[15]

Airing

Main article: List of TUGS episodes

TUGS first aired on CITV in the United Kingdom, and then on Australia's ABC Network[2]. Talks of a second series were never finalised, and eventually all plans to create a follow-up were dropped. Redubbed and heavily edited footage aired later as part of American children's series Salty's Lighthouse, which aired in 1997.[16] The series also aired in Japan with Japanese voice-overs.[11]

Airing History

Merchandise

File:Tugs000111.jpg
Range of TUGS merchandise available in Japan

A number of items of TUGS merchandise was produced surrounding the series' release in the early 1990s. Some of the merchandise includes:

  • Ertl models - Ten Cents and Sunshine models were produced[17] by toy company Ertl. The full Star Fleet cast were originally to be produced, but only the above two were made. In addition, none of the Z-Stacks were produced.
  • Photo Books
  • 2 hardback annuals
  • 1 hardback dot-to-dot book[18]
  • A jigsaw set
  • A bed cover
  • A TUGS-themed board game
  • Collectors edition thimbles
  • Card Game
  • Publicity Pack

In line with the series being released in Japan, a range of Japanese merchandise was also released, such as models of the set and characters, videos, books and an LCD game.

VHS release

A number of VHS versions of the series were released between 1988 and 1993 in the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan. Three of these videos contained three fifteen minute episodes, while two contained two twenty minute episodes (these episodes were edited to fifteen minutes for television broadcasts, most likely due to time slot issues). In addition, a number of original scenes were extended/deleted for the videos, including an alternate opening title sequence. Those released included:

  • "Sunshine"/"Pirate"
  • "Trapped"/"Ghosts"/"High Winds"
  • "Jinxed"/"Quarantine"/"Up River"
  • "Bigg Freeze"/"Warrior"/"High Tide"
  • "Munitions"/"4th of July"

A four episode, 65 minute version was released in 1993:

  • "Trapped"/"Ghosts"/"High Winds"/"4th of July"[19]

See also

Template:Wikipedia-Books

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Mitton, David (director) (1988). "Sunshine"/"Pirate" (Videotape). Surrey, England: Tugs Ltd. UPC 5016500102026. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  2. ^ a b "TUGS airdates". BFI. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
  3. ^ "Who Drove Thomas To Success?". sodor-island.net. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  4. ^ "Theodore Tugboat - Nighttime Adventures". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  5. ^ a b Mitton, David; Tulloch, Chris (directors) (1990). "High Tide"/"Warrior"/"Bigg Freeze" (Videotape). Surrey, England: Tugs Ltd. UPC 5016500109322. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  6. ^ a b Mitton, David; Tulloch, Chris (directors) (1990). "Jinxed"/"Quarantine"/"Up River" (Videotape). Surrey, England: Tugs Ltd. UPC 5016500109421. Retrieved 2010-06-19. Cite error: The named reference "Jinxed/Quarantine/Up River" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ Mitton, David (director) (1988). "Munitions"/"4th of July" (Videotape). Surrey, England: Tugs Ltd. UPC 5016500102125. Retrieved 2010-06-16.
  8. ^ a b Interview with Robert Cardona for Model Boats Magazine, July 1990.
  9. ^ "TUGS Cast and Crew". TV.com. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  10. ^ "Tugs (1989)". hollywoodupclose.com. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  11. ^ a b "Characters (voice: short title) Introduction". Google Translate, translated from original website (in Japanese). Retrieved 2010-06-17. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ "Toonhound - Tugs". Toonhound.com. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
  13. ^ a b "Behind the Scenes". Bigg City Port website. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
  14. ^ "Behind The Scenes! - Other articles on behind the scenes". sodor-island.net. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  15. ^ "Memories of Thomas and Tugs by the man who led them both... David Mitton". Sodor Island - A Thomas Fan Site. 2007. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  16. ^ "Salty's Lighthouse (1997)". BFI. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  17. ^ "Image of Ten Cents and Sunshine models". Facebook. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  18. ^ "Image of TUGS Dot-to-dot book". Facebook. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
  19. ^ "Tugs - Trapped / Ghosts / High Winds / 4th July [VHS] [1989]". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-11-21.

References

External links

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