Where Dax Came From…
How Noah Knox Marshall came up with the idea for Dax Zander: Sea Patrol
Growing up in South Florida, a short bike ride to the Atlantic, the ocean has always captivated my imagination. A couple of my uncles were in the Navy, and my much older cousin was the COB (Chief of the Boat) on a Nuclear Submarine, the USS Simon Bolivar. I was maybe eight years old when he called to let us know he was in port (Fort Lauderdale) and would I like a tour of his sub. Would I?! Holy seacows, that was an amazing day. So somewhere between that and riding the magnificent Nautilus in Walt Disney World’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (over and over again), reruns of “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”... I pretty much became an aquanaut. Or Aqua-nut. It’s a funny thing… I was terrified of swimming - until my dad bribed me with five bucks to make the distance of our swimming pool - but swimming UNDER the surface came to me immediately afterward, and very naturally. Secretly imagining I was a porpoise. To this day, I’d rather swim underwater than do a breaststroke.
And then my older brother joined the Navy, later becoming an oceanographer. He was a brilliant guy, loved science, but sadly was killed in a hit and run at age 26. That left a very deep mark.
The Living Seas opened at EPCOT Center January 15, 1986. I couldn’t make it opening day, but I was there three days later, and I think if all those other influences hadn’t already made their impact, this incredible experience would have done it all on its own. A blend of sci-fi and real science, it boasted the largest aquarium in the world at the time (currently sixth or seventh). The difference in this one - you were transported to a futuristic SEABASE at the bottom of the ocean, at the center of the tank. So you were surrounded by this amazing salt water environment. The preshow words still resonate with those who loved the early version of what these days is called Epcot: “Welcome, to Seabase Alpha!”
I also loved JONNY QUEST - which was already in repeats when I was a kid. But even if the animation was pretty cheaply executed, the experience of watching holds up to this day - full of action and danger, some goofy humor, and a downright strange assortment of characters. Working in animation as a writer and story artist in my late 30s, I knew I had a “Jonny Quest” inside me. But I wanted to write a story that would take me (and anyone else willing) under the sea, and well into the future - so we could have cool subs, minisubs, weapons, and yeah - aliens.
So I created “Dax Marshall: Sea Patrol” (but quickly changed his last name), and pitched it around Hollywood, to great response. I was hired to work on other stuff based on that pitch, but ideas for Dax ZANDER kept popping into my head, and I knew something substantive had rooted in my head. It contained pretty much everything I held dear: Family, positive futurism, a relationship between brothers, the ocean depths, science-fiction, and life & death stakes. I kept jotting down notes for years, at a certain point realizing I didn’t want Dax consigned merely to 22 minute cartoons animated overseas - it needed to exist as full-fledged stories, in books. I wasn’t ready to write a book for a while, so the first one didn’t publish until 2018.
I’ve written lots of work for producers across many genres, but my heart, my real ‘getaway’ place, is Delvus-3, where Dax and his family move as part of an earnest mission to do some good. There, many relationships are tested while others are formed, as humanity seeks to “up its game” and do something for a victimized species we barely know.
Ultimately, the “Dax Zander: Sea Patrol” books are about Dax and his older brother, Shaw. How they grow, how their relationship changes, and how their heroic, sacrificial efforts ultimately save several worlds, including Earth. More details later, but I hope to have book 3, “Dax Zander and the Sonic Temblors” out by the end of 2024. It’s a lot of fun. Though far from Hawaii, the Zander brothers actually find a good place to surf on Delvus-3. They also find something else that will change everything going forward.
Wink.
Noah Knox Marshall
