Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers

Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers
Genre	animation
Created by	Peter Viska and Esben Storm
Written by	Ray Boseley Robert Greenberg John Armstrong Kevin Nemeth Pepe Trevor Cameron Clarke
Directed by	Peter Viska Jan Van Rijsselberge Robbert Smit
Starring	Stig Wemyss Kylie Belling Marg Downey Bill Ten Eyck Michael Veitch Lynda Gibson David Cotter
Country of origin	Australia France Germany
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producer(s)	Dr. Patricia Edgar Christian Davin
Producer(s)	Susie Campbell Patricia Edgar
Editor(s)	Ralph Strasser Cliff Hayes Damian Harland
Running time	26 - 24 minutes
Release
Original network	ABC Television
Original release	6 March 1997 – 14 April 1998

Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers is the Australian Children's Television Foundation's (ACTF's) first joint venture under the Distinctly Australian Program introduced by Prime Minister Paul Keating. The Director of the ACTF Dr Patricia Edgar selected Peter Viska's character Li'l Elvis to design and co-produce the ACTF's first long-form 26 episode series animation. As an original concept, not commissioned from overseas or based on an adaption of a classic story, production of the series on this scale was a massive undertaking for the Australian animation industry. With Li'l Elvis, an $11.5 million project the ACTF opened up a new overseas market in partnership with France 2 and France Animation a French production company and Ravensburger a German distributer, with the financial participation of Centre national de la cinématographie. (Patricia Edgar, Bloodbath, A memoir of Australian television, MUP, 2006 , pp.321-324) A team of ninety animators and artists worked for 18 months including thirty- nine trainees were employed on the production in support roles. (ACTF Annual Report 1995/96 p28-29)

The story follows a group of children and their adventures in outback Australia.

The title character of the series, Li'l Elvis, is a ten year old boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Lil Elvis has a gift for music, a talent for trouble and a desire for only one thing - to find out who he really is and be a normal kid again. The opening sequence and music reveal that he was thrown out of a gold Cadillac in a guitar case, hinting that he is the illegitimate child of Elvis Presley. He is raised by foster parents, truck stop proprietors Grace and Len, who are fervent fans of Elvis Presley. As Li'l Elvis is musically talented, singing and playing the guitar, his foster mother is convinced he is the son of Elvis Presley.

Li'l Elvis and his two friends, Lionel and Janet, form the band "The Truckstoppers", and the series follows their adventures in the outback town of Little Memphis (formerly Wanapoo). Lionel is an Indigenous Australian who plays the didgeridoo and has a penchant for exclaiming "deadly", while Janet is a beret wearing Asian Australian girl who plays the drums standing up, similar to The Velvet Underground's drummer Maureen Tucker.

The Truckstoppers' recurring enemy is the businessman W.C. Moore, who wants to become their manager to exploit them commercially, turning Little Memphis into a tourist attraction. He is also obsessed with finding deposits of the mysterious mineral Berkonium. He has a Berkonium marble, which he uses to beat children at the game of marbles, their major recreational activity. He also frequently electrically zaps his hapless limousine driver, Duncan.

Characters

Episodes

See also

• List of Australian television series

External links

• Episode Synopsis
• Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers on IMDb