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Robert D. Cardona | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Daniel Cardona March 7, 1930 |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1967–1998 |
| Notable work | Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends , Tugs |
| Spouse | Gloria Tors |
| Children | 1 |
Robert Daniel Cardona (born March 7, 1930) is a British-American television writer, producer, director and animator. He co-founded Clearwater Features with David Mitton, in 1979. [1]
Cardona has been based in the United Kingdom for much of his career. His best-known work is with his working partner David Mitton; their productions include Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends , which Cardona produced until 1986 (the second series), and Tugs , which ran for 13 episodes. [2]
Cardona has also worked on other British TV series such as The Flaxton Boys , The Four Feathers , Thriller , Fraud Squad, Crime of Passion , Emmerdale Farm and Virgin of the Secret Service . In the early 1990s, he moved to Canada, where he worked on the children's series Theodore Tugboat , as a director, which served as a continuation of Tugs. He also provided footage from Tugs for the American children's animated series Salty's Lighthouse . After Theodore Tugboat ended, Cardona returned to the UK, where he has lived ever since.
Cardona was married to English filmmaker, former actress and television writer Gloria Tors with whom he worked on The Flaxton Boys and Emmerdale Farm . They have one son, Tarquin. Tors wrote the very first episode of Tugs, whilst their son also wrote two episodes: "Pirate" and "Quarantine".
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such as in crowded harbors or narrow canals, or cannot move at all, such as barges, disabled ships, log rafts, or oil platforms. Some are ocean-going, and some are icebreakers or salvage tugs. Early models were powered by steam engines, which were later superseded by diesel engines. Many have deluge gun water jets, which help in firefighting, especially in harbours.
Thomas & Friends is a British children's television series that aired for 24 series and 584 episodes from 9 October 1984 to 20 January 2021. Based on The Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, the series was developed for television by Britt Allcroft. The series follows the adventures of Thomas, an anthropomorphic blue steam locomotive on the fictional North Western Railway on the Island of Sodor with his friends Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby and others who are engines of The Fat Controller.
Tugs is a British television series produced by Tugs Ltd., for Television South (TVS) and Clearwater Features Ltd. and first broadcast on ITV from 4 April to 27 June 1989. It was created by Robert D. Cardona and David Mitton, who had previously produced the first two series of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. Set in the Roaring Twenties, the series focuses on the adventures of two anthropomorphized tugboat fleets, the Star Fleet and the Z-Stacks, who compete against each other in the fictional Bigg City Port: "the biggest harbour in the world".
David Nelson Godfrey Mitton was a British director, producer, writer, model maker and special effects technician. He was best known for producing and directing the children's television programmes Thomas & Friends and TUGS. During the 1960s, he worked with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson as a special effects technician on series such as Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90, The Secret Service and UFO.
Theodore Tugboat is a Canadian children's television series about an anthropomorphic tugboat named Theodore who lives in the Big Harbour with all of his friends. The show, which aired from 1993-2001, originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as a co-production between the CBC, and the now defunct Cochran Entertainment. It was filmed on a model set using radio controlled tugboats, ships, and machinery. Production of the show ended in 2001, and its distribution rights were later sold to Classic Media. The show premiered in Canada on CBC Television, then went to PBS, was on Qubo in the United States, and has appeared in eighty different countries.
David Wise was an American television and animation writer, tutored by writers such as Ursula K. Le Guin, Frank Herbert, Harlan Ellison and Theodore Sturgeon whilst attending the Clarion Workshop.
Salty's Lighthouse is an animated television series for preschoolers, produced by Sunbow Entertainment in association with the Bank Street College of Education in New York. Debuting in syndication in late 1997, and picked up by Discovery Communications for U.S. broadcast that December, it aired from March 30 to June 26, 1998 on TLC's Ready Set Learn! block.
Annie Sugden is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale. She was played by Sheila Mercier as a regular character between 1972 and 1994, with occasional guest appearances in the show after her original departure. Mercier cut back on location filming during the late 1980s and eventually left the serial in 1994 due to the gruelling schedule. Annie was one of Emmerdale's original characters, appearing in its first episode on 16 October 1972 and became the longest serving female character in the series' history. She was the soap's "first matriarch", the maternal force behind the Sugden family, who were collectively one of Emmerdale's main focal points.
Patricia Ruth "Pat" Sugden is a fictional character from the British soap opera Emmerdale, played by actresses Lynn Dalby in 1972 and 1974. Helen Weir took over the role when Pat was reintroduced as a regular character in 1980. Pat's main stories are her marriages to violent drunk, Tom Merrick and later Jack Sugden. One of Pat's most prominent storylines involved the reveal of her son, Jackie Merrick being Jack's biological son. Weir and Hornby began a relationship off-screen and later married. Weir became pregnant and writers decided to also make Pat pregnant and she gives birth to Robert Sugden. Producers offered Weir an additional two year contract to remain in Emmerdale but she declined their offer. Weir later revealed that her decision came from a dispute with producers over the inclusion of her and Hornby's son playing the role of Robert. Producers decided to kill Pat off in a car accident story and she made her final appearance during the episode broadcast on 26 August 1986.
Clearwater Features Ltd. was a British film production company that produced the first two series of the children's television series Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends from 1984 to 1986. Clearwater is also known for creating the short lived children's TV series TUGS.
Dolly Skilbeck is a fictional character from the British television soap opera Emmerdale. Dolly made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 22 February 1977. The character was initially played by Katharine Barker, before Jean Rogers took over the role in 1980. She remained in the role until her departure from Emmerdale in 1991. Dolly is characterised as kind, generous and a homemaker. She is a "townie" from Darlington who arrives in Beckindale to work at the local pub, The Woolpack. Writers quickly developed a romance with Matt Skilbeck. He was a widower and had previously has two children that had died.
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Trevor Ray (?–2019) was a British actor, writer and script editor. As a writer and script editor he worked on series such as Doctor Who, Paul Temple and Children of the Stones. He died in December 2019.
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Kenneth Turner is a British television and film director who worked extensively on series created by Gerry Anderson. After serving as assistant director on the film Thunderbirds Are Go (1966), he directed various episodes of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–68), Joe 90 (1968–69) and UFO (1970–71). He made his film directorial debut with The Love Pill (1971), a sex comedy featuring Henry Woolf.
Gerald Potterton was a Canadian director, animator, producer and writer. He is best known for directing the cult classic Heavy Metal and for his animation work on Yellow Submarine.
The Flaxton Boys is a British historical children's television series set in the West Riding of Yorkshire and covering a timespan of almost a century. The series was made by Yorkshire Television and was broadcast on ITV between 1969 and 1973, running for 4 series and 52 episodes, each of 30 minutes duration.
The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 1990.
Allan Charles Neuwirth is an American screenwriter, producer, author, designer, and cartoonist known for his work in film, television, print, and as co-creator of the syndicated comic strip Chelsea Boys.
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