Four young animal friends share an action-packed summer of surf, sand and sun in the new ABC Kids animated series KANGAROO BEACH.
Aussie children and their families can join the fun adventures daily from Monday January 25th. For those wanting an earlier look, a special sneak peek will broadcast on Boxing Day, Saturday 26th December and bonus episodes will be dropping in the ABC Kids app.
In this 26-part series joey Pounce, a wannabe-hero lifeguard, platypus Gemma, a mini-marine biologist, wombat Neville, an expert sandcastle digger, and koala Frizzy, an all-singing, all-dancing, all-fabulous triple threat, train as junior cadets with their lifeguard heroes and keep the water safe at Kangaroo Beach. Under the guidance of grown up lifeguards Bondi, Sandy (voiced by Kitty Flanagan) and Big Trev, they’re gaining imperative water safety skills that will help keep themselves and other beachgoers safe.
Behind the scenes, Bondi Rescue’s chief lifeguard Bruce ‘Hoppo’ Hopkins who has over 30 years of professional lifeguard and water safety experience and Ironman champion Craig ‘Riddo’ Riddington who runs SEA Australia, provided essential water safety advice for the series representing the association of Surf Educators International Inc.
As a partner of Kangaroo Beach, Surf Life Saving Australia are committed in their support of the safety messaging throughout the series and their desire to respond to the needs of the Australian community around water safety.
The cast includes four delightful Aussie kids voicing the cadets, as well as hilarious comedian Kitty Flanagan as Sandy, Tropfest winner Matt Hardie as Bondi and vocal dynamo Rupert Degas (The Amazing World of Gumball) as Big Trev. The show is produced by Cheeky Little Media (Kazoops, Bottersnikes & Gumbles), with a writing team including Charlotte Rose-Hamlyn (Beat Bugs, Figaro Pho), Simon Dodd (Good News Week), Sam Carroll (Seachange) and the series creator Tim Bain (Fireman Sam, PJ Masks).
Cheeky Little’s Executive Producer Patrick Egerton said,
“We’re enormously proud of Kangaroo Beach and hope kids and parents enjoy watching it as much as we’ve loved making it. From our early development of the concept with creator Tim Bain, through all the stages of production, this has been a truly positive experience with everyone sharing the same goal – to make a pre-school show with appealing characters, plenty of action and plenty of heart, that playfully reminds us about water safety.”
ABC Head of Children’s Production Libbie Doherty said,
“Kangaroo Beach celebrates everything Australians love about summer, the beach, friends, and making memories that last a lifetime. Kids will fall in love with Pounce, Neville, Gemma and Frizzy as they learn beach craft skills and most importantly how to be safe in and around water. It has been a great experience working with creator Tim Bain and the Cheeky Little Team who have built a world class heart-warming series, in a gorgeously designed Australian paradise.”
Production Credits: A Cheeky Little production for the ABC, with major production investment from Screen Australia, UYoung and the ABC. Financed with support from Screen NSW and Fulcrum Media Finance. Executive Producers: Patrick Egerton, David Webster, Tim Bain, Andrea Gorfolova, Ashley Rite and Lisa Zong. ABC Executive Producers: Amanda Isdale and Libbie Doherty. International Distributors: Sonar Entertainment, UYoung and Infinite Frameworks.
