‘Corner Gas’ star lends voice to animated kids series
FRED EWANIUK PART OF ‘DINOTRUX’ CAST
To a five- or six-year-old, could anything be cooler than a dinosaur crossed with a truck?
Fred Ewanuick doesn’t think so. The former “Corner Gas” player lends his voice to “Dinotrux,” a new animated children’s series premiering Friday on Netflix.
The series is based on the award-winning Dinotrux books from American illustrator and children’s author Chris Gall.
He created a world filled with hybrid dinosaur/construction vehicle characters, centring on two best friends: Ty Trux, a gigantic Tyrannosaurus Trux, and tiny Revvit, a savvy Reptool. The Dinotruxes and Reptools team up to battle the massive D-Structs who want to tear everything down.
It’s like one big Jurassic Parking lot.
As cap-wearing goofball Hank Yarbo, Ewanuick used to drive a beat-up old truck on “Corner Gas.” This is , however, his first experience doing voiceover work for an animated series.
Ewanuick speaks for ClickClack, a Reptool.
“He kind of looks like a robotic gecko,” says the Port Moody, B.C., native.
“My guy, he’s got a lot of fear and stuff,” says Ewanuick, “so anything my character goes through is about overcoming fear and putting your brave foot forward every once in a while.”
All the voices were recorded in a studio in Vancouver with the cast together in one room.
“It’s kind of like doing a radio play,” says Ewanuick.
The 44-year-old, who also starred in the CTV comedy “Dan for Mayor,” says voiceover work is the life.
“It’s like a dream to me actually,” he says. “I still get paid to act like an idiot and I don’t have to shave and I don’t have to do any of that early morning stuff - it’s great.”
Ewanuick says he grew up on cartoon shows.
“I would literally race home to watch ‘Scooby Doo,”’ he says, singling out “Transformers” and “Star Blazers” as well.
He and his wife still watch some cartoons and they’re also Netflix subscribers, bingeing on such shows as “House of Cards.”
Binge watching on the video streaming service, says Ewanuick, “is the way I think TV needs to be watched.” The British series “Happy Valley” and “Heroes” - which is being revived this fall - are also on Ewanuick’s binge list.
He keeps in touch with his former “Corner Gas” mates online and sees fellow B.C. resident Lorne Cardinal (Sgt. Davis Quinton) all the time on the golf course.
Netflix and production company Dreamworks have committed to at least three seasons of “Dinotrux,” which suits Ewanuick just fine.
“And I really hope they make toys,” he says, “because I want one.”