Salty's Lighthouse

"Salty's Lighthouse" was a children's series created by Nina I. Hahn and produced by Sunbow Entertainment, seen on the TLC network (and PBS Kids).

The show centred around a young boy named Salty, and his friends in a lighthouse.

The segments featuring Salty were produced in 2D animation. Other segments were composed of footage from the British series TUGS (a 1988 series from the producers of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends), re-edited into new stories.

Music for the series was composed by Chase Rucker Productions.The series was produced in association with the Bank Street College of Education, New York.

Characters

* Salty - A young boy who loves using his imagination, and interacting with human and animal friends alike, learning all sorts of lessons.
* Ocho - Salty's octopus friend.
* Claude - Salty's crab friend.
* Sophie and Sadie - The two girl seagulls.
* Aunt Chovie - Salty's aunt, and owner of the lighthouse.
* Aroura - A talking lightbulb at the top of the lighthouse.
* The Clock - A yellow-faced clock that announces the "Salty's Song Time" segments.

Cast

* Rhys Huber as Salty
* Kathleen Barr as Ocho and Aunt Chovie
* Janyse Jaud as Sophie and Sadie
* Ian James Corlett as Ten Cents, Zebedee, Otis, Zip and Lord Stinker
* Scott McNeil as Zorran and Zug
* Paul Dobson as Big Stack, Sea Rogue and Red Fin
* Venus Terzo as Lillie and Sally
* Long John Baldry as Top Hat, Hercules and Stanley/Chooch
* Terry Klassen as Claude and Zak
* Andrea Libman as Sunshine
* Gary Chalk as Bluenose
* Michael Donovan as Warrior, Steamer, Scuttlebutt Pete and Mighty Moe
* Lenore Zann as Aroura, Little Ditcher and Captain Star
* French Tickner as Captain Zero, Izzy Gomez, Bigg Basil and the Garbage Depot Manager
* Richard Newman as Mr. Bocco and Mr. Socco
* Brad Swaile as Boomer, Billy Shoepack, Grampus and Cappy
* Kirby Morrow as Zorran and Zug

Theme song lyrics

The theme song for the show was written by Barry Harman, one of the series' writers.

Where are we gonna play today? (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Come on along, we're on our way (Salty's Lighthouse!)

All of our friends are there, hooray! (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Shining a light to guide the way (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Salty is a lively lad who loves to run and play

He waves hello to every tug that chugs across the bay

He has a crew of friendly mates he visits every day

And what's the song they sing as they go on their merry way?

Where are we gonna play today? (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Come on along, we're on our way (Salty's Lighthouse!)

All of our friends are there, hooray! (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Shining a light to guide the way (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Oh, Where are we gonna play today? (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Come on along, we're on our way (Salty's Lighthouse!)

All of our friends are there, hooray! (Salty's Lighthouse!)

Episode List

* 1.Mixed Signals / Too Young to Be Included
* 2.Who Took My Crayons / High Spirits
* 3.Taking My Turn / Backward Day
* 4.Banana Splits / Clear the Decks
* 5.Claude in Charge / The Favourite
* 6.Strike Up the Band / Blankety Blank
* 7.Last of the Red Hot C Gulls / Farley Frog
* 8.Some Guys Have all the Luck / Dream On
* 9.Treasure Hunt / Big Birthday Bash
* 10.Boss Man / Sophie Come Home
* 11.Salty Come Lately / It's Magic
* 12.No Strings Attached / Sound Off
* 13.If the Clue Fits, Wear It / Let's Wing It
* 14.Bivalve Music / Taking Off
* 15.Blackout / Eight is Too Much
* 16.One Bad Day / Hands Off!
* 17.Colossal Crab / Who Turned Off the Lights?
* 18.Let's Party / Guilty Gull
* 19.Count on Me / Desperately Seeking Sadie

Comparisons with "TUGS"

* The original plotlines of TUGS, aimed at an older audience than Salty's Lighthouse, were not used in this series. Instead, the existing footage was re-dubbed and edited to fit newly-written stories, relating to the moral lesson of the episode it featured in.

* The original setting of TUGS, Bigg City Port, became Snugboat Harbour. The Star Fleet and Z-Stacks, originally two rival fleets in TUGS, were not rivals in this series.

* Sunshine, Captain Star, and Little Ditcher were written as female characters, presumably to appeal to a wider audience of children. Sunshine was referred to as Ten Cents's sister.

* While many characters in TUGS had different British accents (such as Glaswegian, Cockney, and Liverpudlian), in this series the characters have American accents.

*Various character names were also changed. Big Mac became Big Stack and O.J. became Otis. The Coast Guard and his messenger were merged into one character, Cappy. Zebedee was referred to as Zeebee. Puffa was called Stanley in one episode and Chooch in another. Big Mickey the crane became Bigg Basil, while Jack the Grappler became Scoop. Finally, the Fire Tug was known as Red Fin.

* Character's personalities were also rewritten. Burke and Blair were written as movie producers, known as Mr. Bocco and Mr. Socco. Boomer had two episodes, one in which he remains a tug and successfully guides a schooner to sea, and one in a flashback told by Ten Cents to Zug, in which Boomer becomes a 'vacation boat'. Sea Rogue, originally a good tug forced into stealing barges in the TUGS episode "Pirate", became a villain. Johnny Cuba, a smuggler, became Steamer; a shy character.

Notes

*There seems to be little regard for continuity in the TUGS Segments; there are numerous scenes where the tugs' bargeloads or the settings around them change from shot to shot, and in one episode the locomotive pulling the train also changes (the original episode featured two trains, the locomotives at the head of which looked nothing like each other).