Dinky-Di's, formally known as The Dinky-Di's: Friends on Freedom's Frontier, is an Australian animated television series that aired on the Nine Network Australia from 6 December 1997 to 29 May 1998. It was created by Melvyn Edward Bradford, produced by Roo Films Brisbane and animated by Pacific Rim Animation. The show taught children about the dangers of having carelessness for the planet and also for animals and plants that live on the earth. A common phrase from the theme song used by fans and the creator of the show was "We show no fear, we show no pain!"
The Dinky Di's: Friends on Freedom's Frontier follows a group of anthropomorphic animals who go around the world saving rare and endangered animals and plants, while educating the audience on the importance of environmental preservation. Led by Aussie Roo (a Kangaroo) and Cass Koala (a Koala), this group consists of animals from all over the world who have many different specialties that serve to the Dinky-Di team, and are well organized with a command centre, computer network, and high-tech amphibious vehicles.
The group of rescuers fight against Mephisto, a shadowy eco-terrorist with glowing red eyes who uses a gang of maligned beasts to do his dirty work: Rancid Rodent (a Rat), Hugo Hyena (a Hyena), Ganny Goanna (an Iguana), Serpent Sam (a Dragon), and others. Mephisto's true identity, however, is a true mystery to the Dinky-Di's, and one which, when solved, will be a major step towards slowing damage to the planet.
Out of the 26-episode series, only two full episodes in English have survived, "Baron of Babel" and "Funga Wunda", while the other only full episodes that are known, "Lost, One Dinky-Di", "The Compututor", "Duke of Deceit", "Sea Beneath the Sea, Beneath the Sea", "Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow", "Journey to Pedra Blanca", "Java Lava", "Tapir Caper" and "Mirage Master", are in Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish and Russian, respectively. However, half of the first episode and about seven minutes of "The Bilby Tale" also exist in English, and "Good Wood" partially exists in Russian. At some point on the Kooltube1 website (the website that Mel Bradford had), the episodes "The Bilby Tale", "Straits of Sorrow", "The Howling Crystal" and "Mirage Master" were available to watch. Though the Kooltube1 website is no longer around, there are a few archives still without any new content except images and copyright information.
The following episode list has mostly been translated from Polish, however, so it is known that these following episodes are the names for the English version of the show.
There is uncertainty of where the episodes "Straits of Sorrow" and "The Howling Crystal" go on the list of episodes.
When it aired in Poland, the series' title was Grupa specjalna Eko. In Italy, the show was known as Parola d'ordine: arriviamo! The show is also known to have aired in the Arab world, Brazil, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Portugal and Russia.
The series was created by Melvyn Edward Bradford, produced by Roo Films Brisbane from December 1989 to 1993, and distributed by Motion Picture Management Studios Australia. Originally scheduled to be completed by 1992, it experienced a series of lawsuits and legal battles during production, causing it to be delayed. The series would eventually air in New Zealand in 1992, Malaysia in 1994-1998, Italy in 1995, and Australia in 1997-1998. The series was animated by Pacific Rim Animation. The theme song, "Friends on Freedom's Frontier", and the episodes' songs, such as "Cross The Line (Start, Don't Stop)" and "Don't Look Back", were composed and produced by Matthew Sloggett, with lyrics by Bradford and Bob LaCastra, while the soundtrack was composed by Garry McDonald and Laurie Stone and mixed at Grevillea Studios. The voices were recorded at Sunshine Studios, provided by Gennie Nevinson, Ric Melbourne, Lee Perry, Grahame Matters, and Tony Bellette.
A 93-minute direct-to-video compilation film titled Mephisto's Web was commissioned in the first half of 1993 and completed in February-March 1994, but was never released, with the accounting firm, Krampel Newman & Partners Pty Ltd, cheating Bradford out of his money.
In the late 2000s, four revivals of the series were attempted; a series of animated shorts named The Dinky-Di's 2, a graphic novel, a stop motion pilot and an animated sequel. The Dinky-Di's 2 was a continuation of the original series, where the Dinky-Di's were to face a new villain, Maraudo, and his holographic alien henchmen. The series would have also had a robot named DDRobo, who would work in the Dinky-Dis' High-Tech Control Room.
Bradford was planning on giving the series a DVD release, but died at his computer desk of a cerebral aneurysm caused by coronary artery disease.
This link has the list of credits on the episode at the end.