MEET THE CAST

PROUDFOOT & FRIENDS

Lucas Proudfoot is one of Australia’s most dynamic children’s entertainers. Just ask any of the hundreds-of-thousands of kids around the country who have danced, sung, jumped and giggled along at one of his live school shows. A proud First Nations man and dad, Lucas has been sharing stories and teaching numeracy and literacy through music, dance, books, live performances and TV appearances for over a decade. A former professional surfer and rock musician, Lucas has been a special guest on Australia’s favourite children’s program Play School (ABC TV), has appeared on Juiced TV and is regularly invited to perform and speak at cultural and literary festivals around Australia. Lucas is also an ambassador for the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation.

Ned is a cheeky 5-year old who loves to give everything a go. His family have been living in Pelican Bay for thousands of years. Ned’s parents are school teachers and his mum’s family are part of the local Indigenous saltwater community. His best friend in the world is Sis’. They love to surf, fish and even catch sea worms at their local Pippi -Shells Beach. But sometimes it drives him crazy that Sis’ is always right!
Sis’ is an adventurous 6-year old from the city. She’s just arrived in Pelican Bay. Ned’s her ‘buddy’ at their kindergarten, ‘Little Mangoes’. Like Ned, Sis also loves to give everything a go from playing music, to dancing, singing and sport. Sis’ sometimes gets real wild when Ned doesn’t stop to think. Sis’ is obsessed with numbers and loves to count and add up. Sis’ learns a lot about the local Pelican Bay culture through Ned as they both share the love of caring for country.
Aunty May is a wise respected elder, a strong leader in her saltwater community of Pelican Bay. Aunty May’s house sits on the banks of Mangrove Creek right next-door to Ned and Sis’ kindergarten. Her home is the centre of the universe for Ned, Sis and their wildlife friends.

Pelican Bay was named after Big Gulp’s great grandad’s family. Big Gulp is super-sonic and can take off and land vertically! He’s the eyes and ears in the sky for Aunty May and everyone in Pelican Bay. Big Gulp and his mob love hanging out down at the jetty, always waiting for the fishing trawlers to come in from sea. Big Gulp can carry all sort of things in his big beak including Ruby the Frog!
Ruby the Frog lives underneath the stairs of Aunty May’s. She has a special power - she can turn invisible with her special camouflage. But she needs to get wet to become visible again. Ruby loves singing in the rain, hop-splashing in puddles and really hopes one day Ned & Sis can visit her big froggy family in Swampy Lakes.
Hopa-tee-woo is the jumpiest kangaroo in Pelican Bay. She can jump over anything from big fences to wheelie bins and even footy goal posts. She loves chewing on the grass in Aunty May’s yard and even takes a swim in the sea at Pelican Bay sometimes.

Boompa-tee-mu is the fastest Emu in all of Pelican Bay and can even beat Hopa-tee-woo the Kangaroo in a race. Boompa-tee-mu can thump her feet so loudly you can hear it all over Pelican Bay. She can also dig up yummy yams with her big clawed toes.
Cane Toad Bill is a little bit shady, always trying to convince others to do his dirty work. He hates sunlight because he thinks it will ruin his beautiful complexion. He thinks he’s tough and smart, but the truth is, he’s mostly really scared and when he gets scared, he cries super stinky tears that make everyone run! His number one follower is Fruit Bat Charlie.
Fruit Bat Charlie’s family have lived in Pelican Bay for thousands of years. She is always hungry and loves to eat fruit (she is a fruit bat after all) and can fly in a flapperty kind of way. The yummier the better and the yummiest fruit of all are Aunty May’s Golden Mangoes. She tries to be super scary with her purple wings and little fang teeth, but in reality she’s a big scaredy-cat. Even though she lives in Smelly Mud Swamp, she detests getting wet because that makes her clean which she hates as she loves to be smelly!