UG WUG 3D CONCEPT ART (IMAGE: SUBMITTED)
A local Saint John sea monster rumoured to live in the Reversing Falls is the inspiration for a new children’s series Ug Wug, which is currently in production for Bell.
Produced by Drawn To It Studios, Ug Wug follows a girl named Ariel during her annual summer vacation with her mom.
One morning while beachcombing she accidentally discovers the Ug Wug and they form a deep bond. Unfortunately, their friendship is threatened by an ambitious businessman who wants to capture and exploit the creature. Ariel must rely on her mother and a family friend to help save the Ug Wug.
Owner and animator Brian Finlay says the idea for the show came to him when he was brainstorming and came across a news feature about the Ug Wug.
“I was born and raised in Saint John. I’ve never heard about this, so I read through it and it got my imagination going like crazy,” he said. “Growing up as a kid, movies like Pete’s Dragon and Neverending Story always made me feel like it’d be so cool to go into this otherworldly story that seems unbelievable, but to kids, it’s real.”
The series is Drawn To It Studios’ second project, having launched eighteen months ago with docu-reality show Drawn To It: Behind The Screens. After Finlay pitched the story of Ug Wug Bell picked it up as a seven-episode series, which will air in November.
“My hope is the children in the Saint John and surrounding area will adopt the Ug Wug gewog as their personal local mascot,” explained Finlay. “At first sight, it looks like a big, huge sea monster but it behaves like a Golden Retriever puppy dog–it is just a creature of love.”
A team of animators around the world are working on Ug Wug, which will be a mixture of CGI animation and live action, similar to Disney’s remake of Pete’s Dragon from 2015.
It is an especially important series to Finlay, not only because it is set in Saint John but because his family is a part of it. His wife, Kris Ann Finlay, who is also a voice actor, will play the mother. Their daughter, Ariel Finlay, will play Ug Wug’s protagonist. Finlay’s sixteen-year-old son, a budding filmmaker, is also Ug Wug’s director of photography.
“We’re going to be filming up and down the New Brunswick coast for a lot of different B-roll shots and drone footage, but our primary location will be in the Chamcook area,” he said, adding they will be using a family cottage as their primary shooting location.
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- Ug Wug concept art (Image: Submitted)
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- Ug Wug 3D concept art (Image: Submitted)
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- Ug Wug concept art (Image: Submitted)
The cast also includes Maliseet First Nations member Al Saulis, who will play Kwimu, a friend who will help Ariel and Ug Wug. Local stage actor John Frank will join the cast in his first scripted television role as family friend Mr. Vander Zee and James Mullinger will play the antagonist, Mr. Green.
Ug Wug is currently in pre-production and open for further corporate sponsorship. Finlay says he doesn’t think this type of visual-effects-heavy production has ever been shot in Saint John or New Brunswick.
“This really is a first for the province and to have it be that type of production on a subject that’s so regional, I think it makes it a very special production,” he said. He added that local and provincial sponsors, such as Moncton’s Ivan’s Camera, were integral to helping produce Ug Wug. “I hope that the local audience will really adopt it when it comes out – if we do our job right, we should be able to make them laugh, cry, feel afraid and feel really attached to these characters.”
This story was originally published on Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
