When it first premiered in 2017, Little J & Big Cuz immediately made a big splash in the Australian children's television landscape.
Brightly-coloured, positive and groundbreaking, the show has become a source of representation for Indigenous kids as well as a tool for teaching and preserving language.
The series follows two young Aboriginal kids, Little J and Big Cuz who live with their Nan.
We join the duo on their adventures as they learn lessons about life, friendship, culture and Country.
Now in it's fourth season, the program will reach a milestone of 50 episodes.
Director and Trawlwoollway man, Tony Thorne said it was "a show that needed to be made decades ago".
"It's a show, now that we've done 50 episodes, I can happily say, reaches that vulnerable audience that we were first trying to reach, but it also entertains children and families," Thorne said.
"I get a lot of notes from parents. [The series] means that Aboriginal kids, in particular, can see themselves on TV, in a cartoon, for the first time... It's a huge change, I think, to have a show like that."
The series has transcended media boundaries, taking homegrown talent and Blak stories abroad to global audiences at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival and on US platform FNX.
The much-loved characters are also portrayed in books and toys so that kids can own their own piece of the Little J & Big Cuz world.
Garnering recognition and acclaim, the program has won numerous awards including a Logie for Most Outstanding Children's Program, multiple Writers Guild awards and two Australian Teachers of Media (ATOM) awards for Best Children's Television.
Director Tony Thorne has been with Little J & Big Cuz since the beginning and is proud of the impact its had for children. Source: Supplied / Daniel Asher Smith
"We had not only made a show for those vulnerable kids but we'd also made a show that had entertained a much broader audience in Australia and we'd cut through it," he said.
"That was just a fantastic feeling."
And it's impact and reach continues to grow.
Pride in language
The series has made significant inroads in bringing Indigenous stories to the mainstream and is a shining example of how genuine representation and inclusion can be the secret ingredient to success.
In the latest season, the show adds another two languages, Kuku Yalanji and Kalaw Kawaw Ya, to the existing 15 Indigenous languages it's translated and recorded in - Arrernte, Pitjantjatjara, Djambarrpuyngu, Walmajarri, Yawuru, Palawa Kani, Warlpiri, Torres Strait Creole, Gija, Noongar, Wiradjuri, Kunwinjku, Ngukurr (Roper) Kriol, Luritja-Pintupi and Dhuwaya.
The latest season of the series will introduce two more languages to its translations. Credit: ABC Publicity
Thorne said the language episodes have 'gone above and beyond' what they expected.
"It's something that preserves language and it's also something that now is teaching language in certain places," said Thorne.
Aunty Daphne Nanden worked on season four to provide translations and said she can see the positive impact promoting and protecting languages has had.
"I can see the difference it has in the children to have them speak their own language," Aunty Daphne said.
Aunty Daphne is a Kuku Yalanji translator, recording dialect coach and the voice of Nanna alongside Antjaun Salam as the voice of George. Source: Supplied
"It was an emotional journey for me because growing up without language and minimal language in our home," she said.
"What we do today will affect generations to follow."
Merindi Schreiber is a translator and voices Big Cuz in Kuku Yalanji. Danny O'Shane is a language speaker and translator. Source: Supplied
For Indigenous kids, Tapsell said, hearing their own languages in a television show they can relate to is integral for their development and pride in culture.
Miranda Tapsell returns as the voice of Little J. Source: Supplied
"Not only does it open up their neural pathways, they also get to learn how to express themselves in different ways and empathise with different people because they're communicating differently."
"[The show] is about learning and retaining language. It's about identity. It's about pride. It shows, in a way that kids understand, that their lives and experiences matter."
Angelina Joshua plays Big Cuz in the Roper Kriol episodes.
Joshua said she was thrilled with the result and said how much the kids in her community enjoyed watching it.
"They thought it was excellent and they were happy because they heard Roper Kriol - how they speak it," Joshua said.
Deborah Mailman, who voices Big Cuz, said the show being translated into 17 languages was 'extraordinary'.
"It's a show that's accessible," she said.
"It's maintaining language. It's supporting the surviving languages that we have here in this country.
"It's giving that spoken word the opportunity to keep being spoken, keeping being listened to. It's not only maintenance of culture, it's celebration of culture."
Source: Supplied
"It's gone beyond a kids show," said Mailman.
"I think there's something that's identifiable for kids, and I think it's identifiable for adults as well. We're all learning something from these stories."
