Vancouver animation studio Slap Happy Cartoons (The Hollow, Nerds & Monsters) has teamed up with producers Blair Peters and Nick Orchard to produce a 2D-animated reboot of classic Canadian series The Beachcombers.  

Slap Happy will work on financing and producing The Beachcombers Animated (pictured, 13 x 30 minutes), which is aimed at kids eight and up and families. Featuring a cast of original and new characters, the toon has a focus on the environment, Indigenous stories and the kooky experience of living in a small town. Stories in the pipeline include a new golf course threatening an old tree, a sacred totem pole washing up on shore, and getting lost in the woods, says Slap Happy partner and head of development Josh Mepham. 

Internal development on the project is finished, and the team has a bible and pilot script ready to take to market. Slap Happy is looking for broadcasters, distributors and additional financing partners (Canada’s Bell Slate Development Fund is providing some funding), and the goal is to deliver the show 18 months after getting a greenlight. 

Canadian public broadcaster CBC premiered the original live-action series back in 1972. It ran for 18 seasons (387 episodes) until 1990, and tackled a lot of themes that remain topical today, including the Indigenous experience and preserving the land. The Beachcombers, which revolved around log salvagers in a small coastal community, sold into more than 35 countries around the world, including the UK (ITV), the US (PBS) and Indonesia (SCTV). 

The two producers behind the animated series have a lot of TV experience between them. Peters has produced kids shows such as What About Mimi? and Kid vs Kat, while Orchard was a producer on the original Beachcombers series, as well as long-running BBC soap opera Eastenders.