The Wonder Pets -- Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming -- find themselves on the wrong side of a humpback whale as the sea creatures unite in an unprecedented underwater rescue mission entitled, Save The Wonder Pets!, a new musical special from Nick Jr.s hit preschool series, premiering April 23, 20907 at 11:00 am. Preschoolers may sing along with a chorus of fish, squid, seahorses and turtles on the new half-hour episode of THE WONDER PETS!
THE WONDER PETS!, have plenty to sing about in the month of April. Earlier in the month, April 10, Nick Records released the first-ever WONDER PETS!, CD featuring 16 tracks from the series award-winning Broadway composers. The CD release features full-length versions of songs from the first season, plus a limited-edition celery recipe book and WONDER PETS!, coloring poster. On Tuesday, April 24, Nickelodeon Home Ent. and Paramount Home Ent. will release the SAVE THE WONDER PETS! DVD, which will feature the title episode and three additional episodes from the series. The DVD also includes reusable stickers and a Meet The Wonder Pets! photo gallery loaded with cool character facts.
THE WONDER PETS!, from creator/exec producer Josh Selig of Little Airplane Prods. Inc., is televisions first mini-operetta for preschoolers, and the first preschool series to feature Tony award-winning and nominated Broadway composers, including the series lead composer Larry Hochman (MONTY PYTHONS SPAMALOT), Bobby Lopez (AVENUE Q) and Jason Robert Brown (PARADE). Grammy Award-winning producer and recording engineer Jeffrey Lesser is music producer/music supervisor for the series.
Nick Jr.s award-winning website (www.nickjr.com) features a brand-new interactive SAVE THE SEA CREATURES game where kids play as the Wonder Pets in their underwater fly boat and try to save various baby sea creatures in distress. Nick Jr. Parents TV has been streaming a behind-the-scenes video and selected shorts from THE WONDER PETS! The site also features a slideshow of Wonder Pets! artwork and photos from fans, an interactive poll, printables and crafts.
In Save the Wonder Pets!, Turtle Tuck (Teala Dunn) wonders if the baby animals they save think about the Wonder Pets after they finish helping them. The fearless trio gets a call from a baby blowfish stuck in a sea plant. They hop in their newly constructed Fly Sub and travel to the bottom of the sea where Linny (Sofie Zamchick) puts on her mask and fins so she can explore with born swimmers Ming-Ming Duckling (Danica Lee) and Turtle Tuck. Just as they squeeze the blowfish up out of the plant, a large whale accidentally swallows the Wonder Pets! Blowfish, along with a Seahorse and Squid, hear the Wonder Pets cry for help from inside the whale and embark on a mission to save the courageous trio who are always helping others.
They make a seaweed salad to get the Whale to open his mouth, but he eats it too fast for the Wonder Pets to escape. In a second attempt, the Wonder Pets, blowfish, seahorse and squid sing a lullaby to the whale, who doesnt open his mouth wide enough when he yawns. Finally, the six little friends tickle the big creature until he laughs so hard that the Wonder Pets shoot out of his blowhole into freedom. A chorus of concerned creatures from all over the sea greet the Wonder Pets and explain to them that their good deeds are appreciated far and wide.
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 days adventure. 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 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 superpowers, 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.
New York City-based Little Airplane Prods. (www.littleairplane.com) specializes in film & television programming for young children. Founded by Selig in 1999, Little Airplane created and produced PIPER O'POSSUM for Nick Jr. and OOBI for NOGGIN (winner of a 2001 Gold Parents Choice Award). Little Airplane also created and produced GO, BABY! for Playhouse Disney. Additionally, Selig was the head writer for LITTLE BILL on Nick Jr. He has received 11 Emmy Awards for his writing on SESAME STREET, and was the resident producer of the historic Israeli/Palestinian Sesame Street co-production (winner of the 1998 Japan Prize).
Nick Jr. is a specially designed programming block airing on Nickelodeon weekdays from 9:00 am-2:00 pm. Completely dedicated to preschoolers 2-5, Nick Jr.s award-winning programs are curriculum based, fun and commercial free. At Nick Jr., kids play to learn with innovative, original shows created just for them.
Nickelodeon, in its 28th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the U.S. and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeons U.S. television network is seen in almost 92 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for almost 12 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc.
