Several characters on the series were voiced by members of the production team; Bilge = Mole Hill, one of the creators of the series and designer, Poop and Grog = Joss Cope, the editor for the series, Swab = Shelly Wain, the assistant director, Plunder = Sarah Thornhill, the digital designer and Plank = Mark Slater, second creator and writer for the series.
The series' creation was inspired by several aspects - Mole Hill had been fascinated by pirates ever since he was a child, reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. He was also fascinated by babies, as when the series was conceived he had a two year old daughter. Mark Slater and Mole Hill had worked together on several projects for television in the past, including PB Bear and Friends, and were interested in starting their own children's series, though their ideas failed to gain any momentum. They eventually settled on a series starring baby pirates who could only say "Yoho" and "Ahoy", and got to work defining the foundation of the series.
The choice to keep the dialogue down to a minimum was inspired by the silent era of Buster Keaton performances.