| TUGS | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's television |
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Robert D. Cardona David Mitton |
| Written by | Chris Tulloch Tarquin Cardona Gloria Tors Roy Russel |
| Directed by | David Mitton Chris Tulloch |
| Voices of | Patrick Allen Simon Nash Chris Tulloch Timothy Bateson Shaun Prendergast Mike Mulloy Sean Barrett Lee Cornes John Baddeley Nigel Anthony |
| Narrated by | Patrick Allen |
| Theme music composer | Junior Campbell Mike O'Donnell |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | J. Nigel Pickard |
| Producer(s) | Robert D. Cardona David Mitton |
| Editor(s) | Pete Best Phil Sanderson |
| Location(s) | Shepperton Studios, Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
| Cinematography | Clearwater periscope lens system |
| Camera setup | multi-camera |
| Running time | approx. 15–20 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Tugs Limited |
| Distributor | Clearwater Features |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV Network (CITV) |
| Picture format | PAL (576i) |
| Audio format | Stereophonic |
| Original run | 26 November 1988 – 20 June 1989 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | 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.
Contents |
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.
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.
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, Frank |
| John Baddeley | Top Hat, Zip, Puffa, Burke, The Quarry Master, The Shrimpers |
| Sean Barrett | Warrior, Mighty Moe, Scuttle Butt Pete, Blair, Bluenose, Johnny Cuba, Jack the Grappler, Nantucket |
| Timothy Bateson | O.J., Lord Stinker, Little Ditcher, Big Mickey, Eddie, Municipal Garbage Corporation |
| Lee Cornes | Grampus, The Coast Guard, Billy Shoepack, Boomer, The Fuel Depot |
| Mike Mulloy | Captain Zero, Zug, Izzy Gomez |
| Simon Nash | Ten Cents |
| Shaun Prendergast | Sunshine, Zak |
| Chris Tulloch | Zorran |
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 |
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]
In an interview in April 2008, David Mitton revealed that a second series had been planned well in advance of the shooting/filming 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 have been set 'up river' instead of the Bigg City harbour setting, which Mitton considered restrictive and difficult to film in. As well as the same regular main cast, some new tugs would have been introduced. TVS going bankrupt ultimately halted the second series from being produced.[15]
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]
A number of items of TUGS merchandise was produced surrounding the series' release in the early 1990s. Some of the merchandise includes:
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.
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:
A four episode, 65 minute version was released in 1993:
| Book: TUGS | |
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