28th April: PUNKY is launched

28th April 2011

Upstart writer Lindsay Sedgwick writes about her innovative new animation project for RTE children’s programming:

On the 28th of April, courtesy of the Dublin Lord Mayor, Down Syndrome Ireland and RTE will launch the series I created, PUNKY, in the Mansion House. Produced by Monster Animation, PUNKY will be aired on RTEJr from May 3rd, twice daily on weekdays for four weeks. After four years of hard graft, the idea I conceived is finally ready to be gorgeously birthed!

This has happened thanks to the determination of the producer Gerard O’Rourke who believed as firmly as me that it had to be made.

Why? ‘Cos it’s different. It is the first mainstream cartoon ever – as far as we can ascertain – to be centred around a main character with special needs. Punky is feisty, fun, frustrating and loveable. She lives in the moment and she also happens to have Down syndrome. She is voiced by Aimee Richardson who has brought the character to life. Aimee also has the Down syndrome and is an ambassador for Down Syndrome Ireland, who have been behind the project and excited about it since I first contacted them in early 2008 after getting development funding from the Irish Film Board.

But it all began in early 2007 with a ten minute animated script called Bookcraft where a dog got changed into a rooster and Punky’s brother got changed into a girl…

(Yup, it had a lot going on. Chaos seems to follow me into scripts whether I want it to or not but we’re in serious discussions. Chaos has now promised to stay for inspiration processes only but then slip into a separate file on the desktop and try not to sulk. I’m sure it will sulk though and we’ll probably suffer separation anxiety for a draft or two of each project. We’ll come out stronger!)

But here’s the thing: That short script has since proven to be the germ for an animated feature, a live action feature, this series PUNKY, another short that will go into competition soon and another series idea that will, hopefully, follow Punky’s esteemed footsteps in due course. So the chaos works, it just has to be channelled right!

So, if Bookcraft still hasn’t been made, I can’t complain. Maybe its role was a bit like those magic beans Jack brought home? Meanwhile, I have the bottle of Jameson primed to celebrate Punky’s arrival on the small screen. Though seems a little odd to be celebrating the arrival of a pre-school series with hard liquor, I think I can handle it!

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