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The Birth of Albert's Ark
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The original story of Albert’s Ark (AA) begins with the creation of the extraordinary character, Albert Tross, the tale’s protagonist and literally the vehicle for all amazing adventures. Albert is an enchanted, one-of-a-kind, half-bird/half-boat designed with a comical crew to entertain, engage, inspire & educate children. Exploring creative vision to generate new and original ideas highlights how one’s imagination can be a source of motivation. The AA story is one of many layers & pivots, produced to enchant and captivate family audiences. Albert’s Ark and a myriad of countless, colourful characters was created by storyteller, Drew van Gelder with support from his lifelong colleagues, Geoffrey and John.
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How did this larger-than-life character named Albert Tross even start to be developed in one’s imagination? This unique idea and evolution can be attributed directly by Drew’s father, John. Commander John van Gelder had a unique and distinguished Naval career, not only in The Royal Australian Navy as Commander onboard HMAS Queensborough but also as a Naval Flight Commander. Commander van Gelder’s Naval duties were vast including taking off and landing aircraft at the Australian Naval Airfield, HMAS Albatross, the Navy’s only air station. So, Albert Tross the character was born.
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Drew’s inspiration during his time of international advertising and marketing career progressed as a creative influencer in several corporate positions. It was forged by his innate understanding of the power of imagery exhibited in the media by another family member. His mother, Sally was Fashion Editor of the Australian Women’s Weekly, a monthly publication of over 90 years, still one of the most read. Drew recognises the power of a story with imagery.
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Storytelling is the core of everything created in AA with a mixture of adventure, humour & spellbinding tales. During & after the release of the published novel, “The Enchantment of Albert”, other partnerships developed. The book release of Albert's beginning of adventurous, cultural and environmental stories, sparked interest in the industry. A partnership with Disney-Australia was established with the creation & commissioning of a monthly series with published episodes for a number of years. "Around the World with Albert Tross" featuring Albert, crew and fascinating, fun facts around the globe for children's entertainment & education with amusing twists.
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Today, Albert Tross and the crew have set sail into the digital world of entertainment by way of the recently released Steam Idle game, "Albert's Ark, the Game". The AA game demonstrates how the original story can pivot & flow into another world of enjoyment for international families. Stimulating adventures where fact and fiction are cleverly intertwined have started to progress into other game genres. Embellishing the established & remarkable story of Albert's Amazing Adventures is "Albert's Ark, the Show". The narrative for YouTube Shorts plus 5min & 22min animated episodes for series has been instigated and currently in development.
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Albert, the Admiral and Crew welcome you aboard for epic adventures of fun, food, folklore & fantasy!
I began my career in hospitality, managing hotels after completing a four-year hospitality course at Ryde Food School in Sydney, now called Le Cordon Bleu Institute. A career pivot led me into marketing, working with Bryant & May Advertising, (a Wilkinson Sword subsidiary), where I quickly rose to National Corporate Executive, managing clients like Jim Beam, Coca-Cola, and Qantas. Alongside, I founded DVG Promotions, which specialised in branded merchandise and national campaigns for global brands including Heineken, Absolut Vodka, and Cuervo Tequila. Hospitality & marketing background led to Principles of Heineken appointing Drew as Heineken’s Brand Manager in Australia.
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Fatherhood inspired a creative shift. Entertaining friends & children with stories & humour was always an enduring hobby. Original story concepts were influenced by both parents. Father, Commander John van Gelder, a Naval Aviator whose flights from HMAS Albatross, inspired the creation of the extraordinary character, Albert Tross, an enchanted half bird-half boat. Mother, Sally was a national magazine editor, invoking the powers of imagery in stories.
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Incorporating life's experiences with a passion for storytelling, led to the founding of Albert Tross Productions (Pty Ltd) with illustrator, John Kinnear and colleague Geoffrey Dennis. Together we created Albert’s Ark — a kids’ edutainment concept. Kid's Club ideas were published in schools, zoos, and environmental institutions like World Wildlife Fund and Planet Ark. A novel, The Enchantment of Albert, followed, exceeding sales expectations and sparking a Disney collaboration with “Around the World with Albert Tross” featured in Disney Adventures magazine. Today, Albert's World continues to grow with the launch of a video game on Steam. An animated series for TV and YouTube is in development — a global, imaginative platform for family learning and storytelling.
The expression, "a picture says a thousand words" is a perfect proverb to explain the creative talents of John. John's professional training as a cartoon illustrator with Hanna Barbera are obvious. Fascinated with character illustrations from an early age, John was welcomed into the Disney studios in St Leonards, Sydney Australia. His talents were rewarded by spending years working on character drawing and storyboard frames for the Scooby Doo TV series.
Another exceptional talent John possesses is more than a gifted skill to expertly draw. It's merging that expertise with the power of imagination to mystically create distinctive, eye-catching and original characters which is a special gift. Intensifying these combined skills is crucial in the following stages of character and story development. It's here where characters fuse into the story of Albert and his Adventures. These illustrated frames are drawn to further create and visually explain the story and characters involvement for producers of animated shows.
ATP's valuable IP can be demonstrated with the following history of creators, story & character's evolution with a supportive talented team.