Simeon Daise is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the children’s TV series “Gullah Gullah Island” by launching a brand new series based on the children’s classic.
Gullah Gullah Island premiered in 1994 starring the Daise family. Ron and Natalie Daise created the series to not only show the dynamic of a Gullah family on St. Helena Island, but to showcase the culture as well.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary, their son and one of the stars of the show is following in their footsteps. Simeon Daise (All American) has created a new series “Gullah Gullah Island: The Portal.”
It’s not just a re-do, this reimagining of the show we millennials loved as kids is something a bit different.
“The show was created by way of us just being us and my parents just being them. They were cultural storytellers. To continue the legacy of authentic cultural representation is big,” Simeon said to Lee Bailey, of eurweb.com.
Instead of rebooting the show Daise has decided to take a different approach and create a more dramatic show. “Gullah Gullah Island: The Portal” will focus more on the lives of the adults in the series and how they are managing and surviving adulthood.
“This is a dramatic reimagining that was influenced by the original show. We’re creating a whole new thing, said Daise.
He goes on to add, “What Gullah Gullah Island represented was a safe space for a lot of kids. And now as an adult what does it look like to create a safe space for those adults?”
Daise even says that Binya Binya pollywog will be included in some way, but he did not allude to what that exactly means.
As we think about the current state of television there isn’t a lot of representation for young adults in their 30s. Social media is the most influential right now which is filled with the illusion that everyone has it all figured out when that isn’t the reality. The same way kids needed Gullah Gullah in 1994 is the same way those now adults need the show again in 2024!
You can check out the teaser for “Gullah Gullah Island: The Portal” below.
Follow Simeon on social @Simeondaise for the series release date.
