''Li'l Elvis and the Truckstoppers'' is an animated musical children's television series and the

Australian Children's Television Foundation The Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) is a national non-profit children's media production and policy hub. The ACTF helps develop children's television policy; distributes and pays for Australian children's television series; s ...

's (ACTF's) first joint venture under the Distinctly Australian Program introduced by the Australian Prime Minister

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and trade unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996. He held office as the leader of the Labor Party (ALP), having previously ser ...

. 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 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

and

France Animation MoonScoop S.A. also known as the MoonScoop Group was a French television production company and animation company that created and published animated television series. Its corporate headquarters were located in Paris, France, along with offices ...

, a French production company, and Ravensburger, a German distributor, with the financial participation of

Centre national de la cinématographie Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. A team of 90 animators and artists worked for 18 months including 39 trainees were employed on the production in support roles.

Plot

The story follows a group of children and their adventures in

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...

Australia. The title character of the show, Li'l Elvis, is a ten-year-old boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. He 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 Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

(in real life, Presley only had one daughter named Lisa Marie). He is raised by foster parents, truck-stop proprietors Grace and Len, who are fervent fans of Presley. As Li'l Elvis is musically talented at both singing and playing the guitar, Grace is convinced he is Presley's son. Li'l Elvis and his two friends, Lionel Dexter and Janet Rig, form the band "The Truckstoppers", and the show follows their adventures in the outback town of Li’l Memphis (formerly Wanapoo). Lionel is an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

boy who plays the

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

and has a penchant for exclaiming "deadly", while Janet is a

beret A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...

-wearing

Asian Australian Asian Australians are Australians of Asian ancestry, including Naturalization, naturalised Australians who are Immigration to Australia, immigrants from various regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 Australian census, 2 ...

girl who plays the

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

standing up, similar to

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

's drummer

Maureen Tucker Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944) is an American retired musician, singer, and songwriter who achieved international fame as the drummer of the rock band the Velvet Underground. Tucker occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, ...

. 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 infatuated with finding deposits of the mysterious mineral Berkonium. He has a Berkonium

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

, 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

Main

*Li'l Elvis Jones – voiced by Stig Wemyss (

Wendy Stapleton Wendy Anne-Marie Stapleton (born 8 July 1954) is an Australian pop/rock singer-songwriter, musical theatre performer and television actress and presenter Stapleton has performed as a backing singer, session musician and a solo artist; she front ...

provides his singing voice) *Lionel Dexter – voiced by

Kylie Belling Kylie Belling (born 22 November 1964) is an Australian stage, film and television actress and voice artist, who has also worked in other occupations. she works as Senior Manager, First Peoples, for ''Creative Victoria''. Biography Belling w ...

**Aboriginal actor and musician

Tom E. Lewis Tom E. Lewis (25 August 1958 – 10 May 2018), also known by his traditional name Balang Lewis, and sometimes credited as Tommy Lewis was an Aboriginal Australian actor, musician, and artistic director. His first major role was the title role in ...

provided Lionel's didgeridoo playing as well as the voice of Lionel's grandfather Dex, while Belling also provided the voice of Lionel's single mother Lillian, the schoolteacher for the children in Little Memphis. *Janet Rig – voiced by

Marg Downey Marg Downey (born 5 May 1961) is an Australian comedian and actress, best known for her roles in '' The D Generation'', '' Fast Forward'' and '' Full Frontal'' Early life and education Downey grew up in a middle-class Catholic family in the Me ...

*W.C. Moore – voiced by Bill Ten Eyck *Duncan – voiced by

Michael Veitch Michael Veitch (born 29 November 1962 in Melbourne) is an Australian author, actor and broadcaster, best known for his roles on the sketch comedy television shows '' The D-Generation'', '' Fast Forward'' and '' Full Frontal'', as well as for hi ...

*Grace Jones – voiced by

Lynda Gibson Lynda Jane Wiseman "Gibbo" Gibson (21 March 1956 – 2 January 2004) was an Australian comedian and actress. Early life and education Lynda Jane Wiseman Gibson was born on 21 March 1956.(4 January 2004 ''The Age''. Retrieved 10 November 2018. ...

*Len Jones – voiced by David Cotter

Minor

*Spike − Spike is a juvenile delinquent who picks on Li'l Elvis and mostly sides with Moore. *Old Man Viska − Old Man Viska is an elderly European man who runs the local junkyard and is a retired firefighter and miner; he was present for the events that led to the legend of Old Man Izard. *Old Man Izard − Old Man Izard is a European miner who was never found after a cave-in in the mines beneath the town; his ghost is said to haunt the now-closed mines.

Episodes

Series 1 (1997)

Series 2 (1998)

References

External links

Episode Synopsis
* {{IMDb title, 0143048 Australian children's animated television series French children's animated television series German children's animated television series Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming 1998 Australian television series debuts 1998 French television series debuts 1998 German television series debuts 1998 Australian television series endings 1998 French television series endings 1998 German television series endings 1990s Australian animated television series 1990s French animated television series 1990s German animated television series Television shows set in Australia Australian children's animated musical television series French children's animated musical television series German children's animated musical television series Animated television series about children