Skateboarding champion and pop culture icon Tony Hawk is taking his own toon concept for a spin, teaming up with Laughing Dragon Studios in Montreal to develop a new 2D-animated kids’ series titled Skatebirds. Named in honor of his “Birdman” sobriquet, the show celebrates the skateboarding community and the sport’s adventurous nature.
“I’m excited to partner up with Laughing Dragon Studios for this unique series,” Hawk told Deadline. “Skateboarding unites communities, gets kids active and builds a sense of self-confidence while providing opportunities that can be limitless. Keep an eye out for our show, which will be entertaining for a global audience… regardless of whether they skate or not.”
According to the projects producers, Skatebirds centers on a group of young skateboarding birds who “flock together to support their hometown and show the world that when they put their feathers together, they can do anything they set their minds to.” Aimed at kids 6-11, the 11-minute episodic will be designed to break into shorter form videos for YouTube, TikTok and other platforms to spread its message of teamwork, friendship and community.
Hawk rose to fame as a pro skateboarder from 1982 to 2003. He starred in his own line of video games with Activision, kicking off with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater in 1999. A household name, he has appeared in many movies and TV shows over the years, from skate classics Gleaming the Cube and Lords of Dogtown to xXx, CSI: Miami, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, The Aquabats! Super Show!, Ballers and Sharknado 5. A feature documentary on his life and career, Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off, was picked up by HBO in 2021.
The chairman of the ‘board is also a popular animation guest star, voicing toon versions of himself and other characters in Max Steel, Rocket Power, The Simpsons, Cyberchase, The Cleveland Show, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange, The Casagrandes and Middlemost Post. Hawk is due to drop in for an episode in the second season of Nickelodeon’s The Tiny Chef Show.
Outside of his entertainment endeavors, Hawk is the founder of The Skatepark Project, which helps fund public skateparks across the U.S. and around the world.
[Source: Deadline]
