9:30pm – Thursday, June 10 on ABC2
A whale is stranded on a New Zealand beach…and so continues the story of Beached Az, where a helpless beached whale is subjected to often pointless, but always-comical conversations with a variety of passing wildlife.
Along with some of your favourites from series one, there’s a bunch of new characters that cross his path, including some seafaring barnacles desperate to get back in the ocean; a nudity-embracing sea slug; a home-swapping hermit crab; koalas with a sensitivity to being called ‘bears’ a pelican with some artistic insanity; a pair of goats with medical opinions; two blind, break-dancing clams in self-denial; and a walrus with a coconut for a best friend.
Ultimately the whale is presented with an opportunity to return to the sea, but will his newfound friends convince him to stay ashore and live his life ‘Beached Az’.
Written, directed, and animated by The Handsomity Institute (comprising of Nick Boshier, Jarod Green and Anthony MacFarlane), Beached Az is a continuation of the eleven-part series that went to air on ABC TV in September 2009.
With a similar visual style of animation and its trademark ‘sketch-book’ feel, the series plays to a strong theme of simplicity. From the character designs and situations right through to the animation and editing, Beached Az is an expression of the comedy that hides in the most minuscule of moments.