Many adults cherish revisiting childhood television shows, but few receive the chance to recreate the heroes.

NIU communication professor Matt Swan’s screenplay “Davey and Goliath’s Snowboard Christmas” aired on the Hallmark Channel during the holiday season and garnered acclaim from critics, including Philip Rosenthal of the Chicago Sun-Times, who said the screenplay “is sweet as ever in its old-fashioned simplicity.”

The show “Davey and Goliath” originally aired from 1960 to 1975 in the form of animated shorts and television specials. During its years in syndication, the show was translated for various audiences overseas.

Though Swan’s screenplay was the first addition to the series in almost 30 years, pop culture has been laced with in-jokes to the television show. Mountain Dew ran a commercial using the characters in 2004, and both “Friends” and “Mystery Science Theater 3000” have also referenced the show.

“I found it to really be energizing to write in an animated world where the laws of reality didn’t apply as they did in most of my plays,” Swan said. “I also liked being part of a project that was as important to me as a child as it is for kids today.”

The project began in January 2003 and took five weeks to complete.

“The special isn’t about Christmas; it’s about snowboarding and other winter activities,” said Swan. “It wrote itself.”

Swan modernized the characters and concepts in tune with today’s audience, using lessons on racial and religious tolerance as well as other contemporary themes.

“I wanted to make the female characters stronger than they have been in the past,” Swan said.

Fellow NIU professor and Swan’s wife, Judy Santacaterina, aided in the launch of the special.

Santacaterina put her husband in contact with her sister, who works for UCLA and offered Swan the chance to work on “Davey and Goliath.”

While Santacaterina acknowledged Swan does his best work alone, she still supported her husband emotionally throughout the project.

“I’m proud of all of Matt’s work,” Santacaterina said. “I was very pleased with what he did with the females of the show, and how they come together and save the day at the end. I was also impressed with Matt’s ability to write for other audiences.”

Swan acknowledged his ability to write for various demographics, stating that only writing about what you know is not always as sound of advice as writing about what excites you.

Swan specializes in teaching media-related classes, but creative writing remains one of his major professional interests. Swan first gained experience in screenwriting while working on several commercials in Rockford. He is also a playwright and his play, “Guguin/Van Gough,” is being produced in Chicago.