"Well laddies, I've been around the world a few times
       and I've seen the chaos those ducks can cause..."
                                                                 - Samson Snail spells out the bad news
 

    There's nothing as mad as a duck, it seems. Just ask the Toucan 'Tecs.
    Zippi and Zac are toucan detectives for hire, operating out of their forest tree
    house they fly, cycle, balloon, set sail and float by magic carpet to solve
    crimes around the world. Behind nearly all of these heinous cases are the
    Mad Ducks, a cooky gang of birds led by the madder-than-most Red Leader.
    The Mad Ducks make it their duty to alight where and when they please,
    usurping New York penthouses, Far East palaces, Scottish castles, even
    Swiss cuckoo clocks!

        

    Assisting Zippi and Zac with their detective agency is Samson the Scottish
    snail and Fifi duck the mad Germanic quack who operates Free Flights Intl Inc.
    from the toucans' tree house abode.  Zippi is the ideas man, and Zac the one who
    - um - puts them into action for him. Zac wears the glasses, whilst Zippi dons
    differing head gear as befits their regional adventures - a turban for the Orient,
    a tartan beret for Scotalnd, a sombrero for Mexico, etc...

    Samson is truly a canny-shelled fellow, ready and waiting with a pre-packed
    detective kit for the toucans before they even know they'll be needing it. Whatever
    they need, an Alpine Kit, an Eastern Promise Kit, a Canadian Wilderness kit,
    or South Sea Island Kit, Samson's your man (or is that snail?).

    In the episode The Snail's Tale we get to discover how the toucans first
    met up with Samson and set up their agency. Many adventures earlier,
    the two bored Toucans decided to build themselves a tree house but those
    Mad Ducks moved in before they could set foot in the door. Cue the arrival
    of Samson the travelling snailsman who helps Zippi and Zac rid themselves
    of the ducks with the aid of his DIY Private Detective kit, consisting of brushes,
    paint and a roll of canvas. Their success spurs them into forming an agency,
    with Samson as part of the team.

    Zippi and Zac's multi-national clients include Billions the tycoon pigeon,
    a Mexican gopher, Shammy the mountain goat, Willy the bat from Invergargle
    Castle, royal peacocks Prince Peanut & Princess Peashooter, the Beaver
    Family, and even a distressed South Seas Turtle.

    The full series name is actually Toucan 'Tecs: The Adventures Of Zippi And Zac.
    The characters were adapted by the Welsh animation company Cartwn Cymru
    from the Young Heinemann books by Peter Lawson and Elizabeth Laird.
    Listen out for Peter Hawkins on the soundtrack, voicing Samson in a Scots
    brogue that's remarkably similiar to the one he employed on The Family-Ness
    You'll also hear Tony Robinson as the voice of Zac, he of Blackadder and
    Time-Team fame of course...

    Cartwn Cmyru have since moved into more ambitious animated realms,
    via collaborations with Christmas Films including 'The Miracle-Maker' and,
    most recently, 'Otherworld'...

 

    Toucan 'Tecs episodes

       Gopher Gold         The Peacock Palace Scoop
       Swiss Roll            The Big Drip
       Highland Fling       Desert Island Ducks
       High Flyers          The Snail's Tale
       Pandamonium       Arabian Knights
      The Ostrich Ball     Down-Under The Weather

 

       a Cartwn Cymru production for Yorkshire TV
       in association with S4C

       developed from Zippi And Zac a series of books
       by Heinemann Young Books

     original stories by Peter Lawson and Elizabeth Laird

     director:          Gary Hurst
     producer:         Naomi Jones
     exec prod:       Christopher Grace, John Marsden
     script:              Roger Stennett
     music:             Ernie Wood
     stoyboard
      & layout:          Wayne Thomas
     backgrounds:   Jocelyn Smith
     animation:       Paul Bannister, Steve Hayne,
                            Roger Phillips, Lloyd Sutton
     for the ink
      & paint co:        Elizabeth Butler, Nic Howell, Andrew Peters,
                            Lisa Ann Pike, Marie Sheard, Inez Stoodley,
                            Jenny Thomissen, Rosemary Thorburn,
                            Pauline Webster
     line tester:       Duncan Harris
     camera:           Cardiff Cartoon Camera Co.
     sound:             ECO Ltd
     materials:        Film Sales
     editor:             Robert Francis
     prod co-ord:     Ceri Griffin
     voices:             Phil Whitchurch (Zippi)  
                            Tony Robinson (Zac)  
                            Peter Hawkins (Samson)
                            Kate Lee (Fifi)

 

      On the web


        No links so far, unless you know better...?


 
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