Lift Off (TV series)
| Lift Off | |
|---|---|
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Theme music composer | Chris Neal |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 78 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Patricia Edgar |
| Producer(s) |
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| Release | |
| Original network | ABC TV |
| Original release | 8 May 1992 – 24 March 1995 |
| External links | |
| Web page at ACTF (archived)< |
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Lift Off is an Australian educational television series that was broadcast on ABC Television from 1992 until the series ended in 1995. Each episode featured a live action storyline about a group of young children, and the problems they encountered with growing up, their parents, and various other social issues. Episodes would also feature segments of short animation, puppetry and documentary segments, as well as various songs, stories, and word games. Aimed at 3 to 8 year olds based on the ideas of Harvard University development psychologist Howard Gardner. The series was linked with the school curricula through the Curriculum Corporation of Australia. The different episodes used stories and locations to explore subjects such as jealousy, loneliness and anger. The puppet characters were designed by illustrator Terry Denton and were constructed by the sculptor Ron Mueck.
Assistant puppeteers included Roy McNeill, Heather Monk, Rod Primrose, Jenny Sherlock, Michelle Spooner, Sue Blakey, Jenny Ishmakovich and Liss Gabb.
Lotis (voiced by Julie Forsyth) is a magical lift in the apartment building. She tries to help the younger characters with their personal problems, but cannot understand more complex human behaviour and thinking.
Rocky the Frill-Necked Lizard is the leader of a colony of frilled-necked lizards. Rocky spies on the humans ("two-footers") and reports his findings to the rest of the colony. Rocky was puppeteered by Will Conyers/Peter Wilson in the first season, and John Rogers/Bob Parsons in the second.
Beverley is a one-eyed plant that lives in the apartment foyer. She shows short documentary clips about the episode's subject matter. Beverley was puppeteered by Peter Wilson in the first season, and Bob Parsons in the second.
EC ("Every Child") is an animated rag doll who is intended to be genderless so as to be more widely relatable. EC alternately stands for "Elizabeth and Charlie", which are the names that Poss and Kim give to EC in the first episode ("A Load of Rubbish"). EC was puppeteered by Peter Wilson in the first season, and Bob Parsons in the second.
The Backsacks: the children's backpacks that came to life and spoke though their zipper mouths. There are 7 of them owned by each of the 7 Children. When Max and Turbo moved to the country in Season 2, their backsacks were passed along to Raph and Marco.
Episode 1 and 2: A Load of Old Rubbish (8 May 1992)
Episode 3 and 4: Destroy (15 May 1992)
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