History

In the fall of 1984, as George Sarson sat musing with some mistletoe and a box of toy frogs, the character Mistle-Toad™ was born.

In one short year, that name led to the highly successful Mistle-Toad™ boxed chocolate line. It was the seed of what would become, nearly a decade and a half later, the Toad Patrol™ television series.

Exploring his idea further, George learned that the first toad tunnel was built in 1969 in Switzerland, and since 1976, several other countries have followed suit. Now the Europeans have company when it comes to protecting amphibious residents: one North American tunnel was recently built under the Pole Line Road overpass across Interstate 80 in Oregon. If an area requires a toad tunnel but no resources can be found to build it, scores of volunteers - usually kids and their families - hit the roads at night with yellow buckets, flashlights, reflective vests and toad crossing signs. These human toad patrols scour the roads during toad migrations, looking for toads, and giving them a lift to the other side.

As George continued to follow the plight of the toads, he went on to create nine other toad characters, which he called Toadlets. With the help of Wisteria Productions, the back story was developed and several villains were created. The journey of Toad Patrol™ eventually led to a partnership between Edward Sarson Productions and Funbag Animation Studios, through the formation of a sole object corporation: Toadbag Productions.

Work quickly commenced to complete development. But the perils that the Toadlets would face on screen would be nothing compared to the trials that Sarson and Funbag would have to overcome in securing the financing for the series. Ironically, after four years of effort, the financing finally came together quickly. Funbag brought in Akom Production Co., Sarson hooked up with Vision Entertainment, RME, and Universal Studios acquired international television and video rights for Series I. The series is now airing or sold in nearly forty countries worldwide. Well, that's how it started, and it's growing every day.