Silverwing (TV series)

Silverwing is a 2003 Canadian animated television series based on Kenneth Oppel's 1997 novel of the same name.[4]

Silverwing
Silverwing DVD cover[1]
Genre
Based onSilverwing
by Kenneth Oppel
Written by
  • Gary Jones
  • Richard Side
Directed byKeith Ingham
Voices of
Composer(s)
  • Brian Carson
  • Ari Wise
Country of originCanada
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)Cathy Schoch
Editor(s)Don Briggs
Running time22 minutes
Production company(s)Bardel Entertainment
Distributor
  • Bardel Entertainment
  • B Wooding Media[3]
Release
Original networkTeletoon
Original releaseSeptember 6 (2003-09-06) –
December 14, 2003 (2003-12-14)
External links
Distribution website

The show uses a hybrid of 2D and 3D animation.[2]

Synopsis

Long ago before the first migration, the animals initiated the Great Battle to establish the balance of nature and the territory limits of every species. The birds and beasts banished all bats into the darkness for not choosing sides. Shade sets out on a journey to reason with them.

Characters

Bats
  • Shade: (Bill Switzer) A young heroic Silverwing bat whom Zephyr taught how to use echo projection.
  • Marina: (Sharon Alexander) A young Brightwing bat living alone on an island. The humans banded Marina and the colony banished her, thinking that the band was a bad omen. In the series, Shade and Marina remain friends.
  • Goth: (Michael Dobson) A villainous cannibal bat brought from South America to the city for laboratory studies. After escaping from there, he tricks Shade into leading him to the colony. However, Shade and Marina foil the plan.
  • Throbb: (Richard Newman) Goth's brother in-law.
  • Frieda: (Pam Hyatt) The banded chief elder and main leader of the Silverwing colony.
  • Bathsheba: (Shirley Millner) A selfish member of the Silverwing elders who dislikes Frieda and Shade. Bathsheba later abandons the colony.
  • Ariel: (Randall Carpenter) Shade's mother whose mate, Cassiel leaves the colony.
  • Mercury: (Ian James Corlett) Frieda's male loyal guardian and leader of the female bats.
  • Chinook: (Matt Hill) Shade's best friend.
  • Zephyr: (Richard Newman) A wise and blind albino bat living in the cathedral spire, serving as "traffic controller" and wishing the colony to be safe. He teaches Shade and Marina star navigation, herbal remedies and echo projection.
  • Scirocco: (Ian James Corlett) The charismatic shapeshifting leader of the colony of banded bats dwelling in the mountain's cabin.
  • Penelope: (Randall Carpenter) One of the banded bats, whom Shade rescues.
  • Hector: (Lee Tockar) Chinook's father and one of the Silverwing elders. He later reunites with the colony at Hibernaculum.
  • Breeze: (Stevie Vallance) Shade and Chinook's friend.

Others
  • Brutus: (Richard Newman) The main leader of the owls who destroyed Tree Haven. He later declines the war and forgives the group of bats.
  • Orestes: (Richard Ian Cox) Brutus' son. He, Shade and Marina save Brutus from Goth and Throbb.
  • Atlas: (Michael Dobson) Brutus' assistant and the supporting leader of the owls.
  • Ursa: (Candus Churchill) The Kermode bear who later serves as the leader of the beasts and protects the animals from wolves.
  • Luger: (Lee Tockar) The evil leader of the wolves whom Goth recruited.
  • Remus: (Richard Ian Cox) The selfish king of the rats and Romulus' brother.
  • Romulus: (Lee Tockar) Remus' brother who trusts Shade and Marina, banishes Remus and becomes the new king of the rats.

Differences from the novel
  • In the novel, Orestes is King Boreal's son, but changes into Brutus' for the series.
  • In the novel, Throbb is killed by a thunderstorm. However, he survives in the series and is pursued by the owls.
  • In Sunwing, King Boreal forgives the colony of bats. However, in the Silverwing television series, Brutus does the same thing.
  • In the novel, Throbb is merely Goth's traveling companion, in the series, they're brothers-in-law.
  • In the novel, the beasts do not become embroiled in the owl-bat conflict, but they do in the series.
  • Shade cannot echo project in the novel, but he does develop a similar ability in Sunwing.
  • Marina keeps her band throughout the series, whereas it is removed near the end of the novel.

Episodes

Note: The episodes were also released in miniseries format as three television films, with new endings created for the first two parts.[5] Episodes 1–5 were released as A Glimpse of the Sun, episodes 6–9 as Towers of Fire and episodes 10–13 as Redemption.[6]

No.TitleOriginal air date (Teletoon) [7]
1"A Glimpse of the Sun"September 6, 2003 (2003-09-06)
As Shade looks at the sun and mistakenly breaks the law, the owls destroy Tree Haven.
2"No Bat Is an Island"September 7, 2003 (2003-09-07)
During the early migration, after being separated from his colony, Shade ends up on an island and meets Marina, who explains that her colony banished her after she was banded. Shade suggests that Marina should meet Frieda.
3"Pigeon Court"September 14, 2003 (2003-09-14)
Arriving at the city, Shade and Marina evade the pigeons.
4"Bat in the Belfry"September 21, 2003 (2003-09-21)
Before leaving, Shade and Marina meet Zephyr, who teaches Shade how to use echo projection.
5"Dark Alliance"September 28, 2003 (2003-09-28)
Confronting Goth and Throbb, Shade and Marina learn that the two are killing animals.
6"Friends in Deed"October 5, 2003 (2003-10-05)
Orestes frees the Shade and Marina, and they escape from the group of owls. After Orestes forces the bats to leave the power station, Goth gets electrocuted and falls unconscious.
7"Everything Is Not Black and White"October 12, 2003 (2003-10-12)
Shade and Marina meet Ursa and suggest that she defend the animals from the wolves after a bear cub's mother is murdered. Goth kills a crow, while regaining consciousness.
8"Deception"November 2, 2003 (2003-11-02)
Shade and Marina continue to evade Goth and Throbb, while Bathsheba briefly becomes the leader.
9"I'm With the Band"November 9, 2003 (2003-11-09)
At the mountains, Shade and Marina save a group of banded bats from Goth and Throbb, who steal the rest of the bands. Meanwhile, the colony arrives at the airport.
10"Rats"November 23, 2003 (2003-11-23)
After Romulus banishes Remus at the junkyard, Shade and Marina reunite with Orestes. As the colony and Bathsheba leave, Ariel, Frieda and Mercury escape from the airport.
11"Strange Batfellows"November 30, 2003 (2003-11-30)
When Shade uses echo-projection to distract Goth, he and his allies leave the mine.
12"Hibernaculum"December 7, 2003 (2003-12-07)
As Shade, Marina and Orestes arrive at Hibernaculum, Shade reunites with his colony, Goth and Throbb recruit the wolves, and Bathsheba asks Brutus to remove Shade from the colony.
13"Day of Judgment"December 14, 2003 (2003-12-14)
After the bears defeat the wolves and Goth is killed by collapsing icicles, the animals congratulate the bats and permit them to fly outside.

Production

The series was produced by Bardel Entertainment, with additional work done by Philippine Animation Studio.[2] It was originally distributed by Bardel and B Wooding Media.[5][8][3]

Early plans as of 2001 consisted of a theatrical movie with a budget of US$25–30 million to be co-produced with the UK's Melwood Pictures, followed by a US$5 million TV series developed with participation from an unspecified American broadcaster.[9]

A second season of 13 episodes was announced to be in development in 2003, along with an online video game website with 13 levels to match the episodes.[10] The website had over 20 games available by mid-2004,[3] while the planned season was quietly shelved later that year.[11]

Release

Broadcast

Silverwing was commissioned by and first aired on Teletoon in Canada in fall 2003.[8]

In the United States, the series was shown on Toon Disney's Jetix block in autumn 2005,[12] with Jetix later airing the show internationally.[13]

Home media

The full series has been released on DVD in the US[1] and the UK.[14]

Reception

Silverwing has had mostly positive reception.

Animation Magazine ran a six-part series about the show in 2003,[10][15] viewing it as "a grand miniseries" that "really raises the bar in TV animation".[1] Common Sense Media described Silverwing as a "great kids' series" and gave it 4 out of 5 stars, adding however that its "complex, political story themes" may present difficulties for younger children.[16]

An encyclopedic review considered the series to be relatively accurate to the text, despite minor changes. "The program conducted its affairs well without stumbling and therefore stands as a high point in the often creatively checkered world of Canadian television animation."[6]

In contrast, one reviewer found the show to have poor animation and significant differences from the source material, particularly in terms of darker elements, while only praising the voice acting as "fantastic".[17]

Awards and nominations
Year Association Category Nominee Result Ref.
2004 Gemini AwardsBest Original Music Score for a Dramatic SeriesBrian Carson, Ari WiseNominated[18]
2004 Vancouver International Digital Festival (Vidfest[19])Interactive Design: EntertainmentWebsite: silverwing.tv2nd[20]
gollark: WIP reactor with 800% efficiency and 5.8kRF/t running on LEN-236.
gollark: So how does your central thingy work?
gollark: Oh, RIGHT. That's annoying.
gollark: I'm going to design a stupidly large reactor with one fuel cell and as much as possible filled with moderators.
gollark: Wait, do the active coolers on the diagonals work?

References
  1. "Silverwing: Season 1 Set". Amazon.com. June 5, 2007.
  2. "Silverwing". www.pasi.com.ph.
  3. "B WOODING MEDIA, LTD". 5 June 2004. Archived from the original on 5 June 2004.
  4. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 552. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  5. Ball, Ryan (5 October 2004). "MIPCOM: Silverwing to Fly as Trilogy".
  6. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 552.
  7. "Television Program Logs". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2016-03-02. Alt URL
  8. Ball, Ryan (11 October 2005). "Bardel Features Sold to Toon Disney".
  9. "Bardel Animation LTD. : Portfolio". 23 June 2001. Archived from the original on 23 June 2001.
  10. Ball, Ryan (11 March 2003). "Bardel's Silverwing to Unfold at MIPTV".
  11. "B WOODING MEDIA, LTD". 10 October 2004. Archived from the original on 10 October 2004.
  12. Kenny, Joanne (October 11, 2005). "Bardel toon trio breaks into US". C21 Media.
  13. "Thursday, March 30th, 2006". 30 March 2006.
  14. "Silverwing - The Movie Trilogy". 28 April 2008 – via Amazon.
  15. "Stevie Vallance - Press". stevievallance.com.
  16. "Silverwing - TV Review". www.commonsensemedia.org. 18 August 2006.
  17. "Why Don Bluth is Perfect for Silverwing". 2 January 2017.
  18. "Awards Database". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. November 3, 2016.
  19. "Bardel Entertainment". 14 July 2011. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011.
  20. "Interactive Design Room : VIDFEST, Vancouver International Digital Festival". 17 July 2004. Archived from the original on 17 July 2004.
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