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Wapos Bay is a Canadian stop motion animated television program produced in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is a family oriented program set on a fictional Reserve in Northern Saskatchewan. The series follows the lives of three children, T-Bear, Talon, Raven, as well their family, friends, and community members. It has had an excellent reception from the Cree communities in Canada for its positive portrayal of life on a reserve.

Wapos Bay
Created by	Dennis Jackson
Voices of	Taylor Cook Eric Jackson Raven Brass Lorne Cardinal Andrea Menard Gordon Tootoosis
Composer	Ross Nykiforuk
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	26 (List of Episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Wapos Bay Productions, NFB
Original release
Network	APTN
Release	2005 – present

Origins

Wapos Bay was first conceived as a short story by creator Dennis Jackson when he was attending high school. Dennis then made the story into a 6-minute 16mm stop-motion film named Journey through Fear in his final year of film studies at the University of Regina. This film went on to win the Telefilm Canada/Television Northern Canada Award for Best Aboriginal Production at the 1998 Banff Television Festival. Wanting to expand on the world and characters of Wapos Bay, Dennis wrote, directed, and produced a 1-hour Christmas special entitled Christmas at Wapos Bay, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Still wanting to show more of the community and characters of Wapos Bay, Dennis wrote and produced Wapos Bay: The Series, in co-production with the NFB.

Characters

The show centers around three children: T-Bear (Taylor Cook), his best friend and cousin Talon (Eric Jackson), and Talon's little sister Raven (Raven Brass). T-Bear is the oldest of the group at ten years old. He is fluent in Cree and quite proud of his heritage. Talon is a year younger than T-Bear, and is the more cautious and scholarly of the two. Raven is seven years old, and at an age where she is very curious and learning a lot about the world around her. She gets frustrated when she can't keep up with the older kids, but still enjoys spending time with them.
The primary adult characters in Wapos Bay are Jacob Moren (Lorne Cardinal), Sarah Moren (Andrea Menard), Mushom (Gordon Tootoosis), and Kokhum (Andrea Menard). Jacob is band councillor and single father of T-Bear. He is less inclined towards the ways of tradition, preferring the business and political side of life in the small community. Sarah is Jacob's sister and the mother of Talon and Raven. She is often the voice of reason to the kids, and sometimes to Jacob. Mushom and Kukhom are Jacob and Sarah's parents, and close with the whole family and community. They are often found passing down the traditional practices of their people to the children.

Setting

From the Karma Films website:

Ten-year-old T-Bear, 9-year-old Talon and 6-year-old Raven star in Wapos Bay, a lighthearted stop-motion animation series about growing up in a remote Cree community. In Wapos Bay, modern life and ancient traditions meet. Hunting and gathering, dog sledding and shimmering northern lights are part of every day but so are video games, TV and cell phones. Guided by elders, extended family and their own insatiable curiosity, the three children learn how to balance traditional ways with newer ones. Their discoveries unfold against the backdrop of northern Saskatchewan’s varied seasons - winter, spring thaw, spring, summer, fall and freeze-up. As they explore the world around them, T-Bear, Talon and Raven acquire some valuable lessons about respect, cooperation, honesty and tolerance. And of course, they also teach the adults a few things.

Themes

Wapos Bay deals with family and community issues as well as general life values. Many episodes deal with the roles of the children and adults in a small community, and how to be a helpful and functional member of society. The series also deals with the life lessons learned growing up, such as respect, honesty, and traditional values.

Awards

Wapos Bay has won 3 Geminis as well as been nominated for two others. The show won the Canada Award in 2006, Best Children's or Youth Fiction Program or Series in 2007, and the award for Best Individual or Ensemble Performance in an Animated Program or Series in 2008. The series also won the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for the Arts in 2009. Wapos Bay was also nominated for the Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series Gemini in both 2007 and 2008.
The pilot Episode, There's No "I" in Hockey, also won several awards on its own. In 2005, it received three awards: The Best of Saskatchewan Award and the Best Writing for Drama award from the Saskatchewan Showcase Awards, and the Best Short Drama award from the Imagine Native Media Arts Festival in Toronto, Ontario. In 2006, 'Wapos Bay received the Outstanding Animation award from the ImageNation Festival and the Golden Sheaf Award for Best Children's Production from the Yorkton Film Festival in Yorkton, Saskatchewan.