The
20-episode, animated series from creator/executive producer Josh Selig of Little
Airplane Productions will debut with a simulcast on both Nick Jr. and sister network
Noggin on 3 March with two back-to-back episodes.
Nick
Jr. will also kick off the premiere of The Wonder Pets! across several
Nickelodeon Preschool TV platforms. For parents, from 10 February, Nick Jr. Parents
TV will stream a three-minute behind-the-scenes special and The Wonder Pets!
For Parents site will feature interviews with the series creator, printables,
crafts, ecards and more.
From
17 February, Nick Jr. Video, Nickjr.com's broadband video service, will stream
a 12-minute 'sneak peek' from the second episode Save the Penguin! as well
as character and adventure clips.
From 20 February, Nick Jr. on-air will ask preschoolers to go online to tell the
Wonder Pets that an animal is in trouble and they need to save the day. Nick Jr.com
will then feature The Wonder Pets! Phone Game where kids can "call"
the superheros to the rescue.
From
24 February, character and adventure clips from The Wonder Pets! will be
available on Verizon Wireless' V CAST wireless broadband multimedia services.
Nickelodeon
Preschool Television executive creative director Brown Johnson says, "A singing
guinea pig, turtle and duck, tales of teamwork and far away places, combined with
a fresh photo real animated style make The Wonder Pets! practically irresistible
for kids and parents".
The
Wonder Pets! chronicles the adventures of three funny, singing classroom pets:
Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck, who travel the world
and use teamwork to save baby animals in distress. Every
episode of The
Wonder Pets! is an original mini-operetta filled with world music influences
suited to the locale of the day's adventure.
The
music is written and developed by some of Broadway's top Tony and Grammy Award-winning
talent, including Jeffrey Lesser, a Grammy Award-winning producer and recording
engineer for artists including Barbra Streisand, Sting and Linda Ronstadt. Award-winning
composers and orchestrators from Broadway's Avenue Q, Monty Python's Spamalot,
and Fiddler on the Roof have also worked on the series.
All
of the music on The Wonder Pets! is recorded with a live orchestra; and
in operetta style much of the dialogue is sung. Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming
Duckling and Turtle Tuck live in a preschool classroom.
At
the end of each school day when the teachers and students have all gone home,
the fearless trio become The Wonder Pets! In every story, The Wonder
Pets! receive a call on a tin-can phone in their classroom from a baby animal
who needs their help. The trio quickly assembles their Flyboat, made from a collection
of classroom toys and travel together across oceans, into space, and even back
in time to save animals in distress.
Like
real preschoolers, The Wonder Pets! have no actual super powers, but they
work together as a team to overcome adversity and achieve great success. A new,
original style of animation, called photo-puppetry animation was created exclusively
for The Wonder Pets! The technique allows animators to manipulate photographs
of real animals, creating a comical, realistic look that is unique to Nick Jr.
Nick Jr.'s website will feature convergent interactive games to complement the
premiere of The Wonder Pets!
On
March 3, the site will launch The Wonder Pets! Save the Day musical
game inviting preschoolers to join the Wonder Pets team and go on a personalized
rescue adventure.
The
show's curricular goals are based on developing appreciation and orientation towards
teamwork, vocabulary building, and problem solving.
