Wonder Pets

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wonder Pets is an American animated children's television series. It debuted on March 3, 2006, on the Nick Jr. block of the Nickelodeon cable television network and Noggin on August 31, 2006 and the NBC Universal September 14, 2005

The show's main characters are three elementary school classroom pets — Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck, and Ming-Ming Duckling. They are presented as a trio of heroes who rescue baby animals as they demonstrate the benefits of teamwork.

The show was created by Josh Selig for Little Airplane Productions, which also created Piper O'Possum for Nick Jr. as well as other shows and shorts for kids. The show began as a short Brøderbund's film series called "The New Adventures of Linny the Guinea Pig," in which Linny traveled into space and under the ocean by himself. Ming-Ming Duckling and Tuck the Turtle were created later, making a longer show that was called The Super Singing Power Pets!, later shortened to just Wonder Pets.

The animation style used to create Wonder Pets is called "photo-puppetry", and was created for the series to allow animators to manipulate photographs of real animals. It also uses drawn objects (not characters), so the total presentation could be considered animated mixed-media.

A good deal of the dialog is sung, so the show has been likened to operetta or singspiel. A 10-member live orchestra performs each episode, sometimes including other instrumentalists skilled in music from the region to which the pets are traveling during the episode.[1] Completing each episode takes 33 weeks from script to final delivery.[2]

Contents

[edit] Episode list

Main article: List of Wonder Pets episodes

[edit] Broadcast history

Flag of the United States

  • Nick Jr. (March 2006-present)
  • Noggin (March 2006, August 2006-present)

Flag of the United Kingdom

  • Nick Jr. UK (2007-present)

Flag of Canada

  • Treehouse TV (2007-present)
  • TVO Kids (2007-present)

[edit] Age range

Preceding each show is a disclaimer indicating the show develops vocabulary and the concept of teamwork in pre-schoolers. Unlike most shows on Nick Jr., Wonder Pets is made for younger audiences, similar to shows on Noggin.

[edit] Characters and voice cast

[edit] Linny the Guinea Pig

Linny the Guinea Pig
First appearance Save the Dolphin!
Last appearance Save the Bat!
Created by Little Airplane Productions
Information
Species Guinea Pig
Gender Female
Age 5
Occupation Wonder Pet
Family Guinea Pig

Linny the Guinea Pig, age 5,[3] is the leader of The Wonder Pets. As a superhero, she wears a yellow cap and a blue cape.

Linny is voiced by Sofie Zamchick (Meisha Kelly (Alphabet Kidz Agency - UK Version)). Before Wonder Pets, Linny starred in a few 3-minute shorts on Nick, Jr. entitled " Linny the Guinea Pig", where Linny would explore different environments such as the ocean or travel to outer space, Linny is the leader.

Linny appears to be the most educated of the group, often providing different zoological and geographical information to the others. She is usually the one to remind the group about teamwork or other values and offer praise such as "Good eye, Tuck". He leads Ming-Ming and Tuck in most of the show's primary songs and usually has the responsibility of starting the "Flyboat" by pressing the rear flashing light after assembly.

Linny's catch phrase is "This calls for some celery!" at the conclusion of each adventure.

[edit] Turtle Tuck

Turtle Tuck
First appearance Save the Dolphin!
Last appearance Save the Bat!
Created by Little Airplane Productions
Information
Species Turtle
Gender Male
Age 4
Occupation Wonder Pet
Family Turtle

Turtle Tuck (who is actually a terrapin and more specifically a Red Eared Slider) age 4, is a down-to-earth turtle who sometimes disagrees with Ming-Ming. As a superhero, he wears a white French sailor's cap, blue swimming shoes, and a red cape.

Tuck is voiced by Teala Dunn (Catherine Holden (Alphabet Kidz Agency )- UK Version).

Tuck is arguably the most empathetic of the trio, often desiring to give the rescued animals a hug or keeping them company while Linny and Ming-Ming put their rescue plan into action. He also has keen observational skills, spotting things from a distance, which often garners him the compliment, "Good eye, Tuck!" He has a crush on Thunder Pets team member Rock.

[edit] Ming-Ming Duckling

Ming-Ming Duckling
First appearance Save the Dolphin!
Last appearance Save the Bat!
Created by Little Airplane Productions
Information
Species Duckling
Gender Female
Age 3
Occupation Wonder Pet
Family Duck

Ming-Ming Duckling, age 3,[3] is an overconfident young duckling. As a superhero, she wears a leather pilot's helmet, goggles, and a green cape.

Unlike the other Wonder Pets, she has the ability to fly. She can also speak "bird", allowing her to talk to other birds that the Wonder pets encounter. Ming-Ming also believes that her great grandfather was an eagle.

Ming-Ming is voiced by Danica Lee (Kaya Alexander (Alphabet Kidz Agency) - UK Version). When Danica first auditioned for the part, she pronounced "R" sounds as "W" sounds, a common speech problem in young children. One user on the Internet Movie Database criticized this, claiming this is not a show for children starting to speak, stating this may worsen the problem.[citation needed] On the contrary, the producers found it endearing; so, even though by the time Danica was hired she had lost that problem, they asked her to continue speaking that way for the character. Many have also complained to the seemingly stereotypical portrayal of a Chinese duck, partially because of the duck's stereotypical name and also because of Ming-Ming's stereotypical Chinese voice.[4]

Ming-Ming sometimes tries to take on big problems by herself and in one episode ("Save the Duckling") became the animal that needed rescuing. The phone doesn't ring, but Ming-Ming is "cravin' for some savin'." She then sees a baby squirrel dangling from a branch and thinks she can save it herself since Linny and Tuck are sleeping. She gets into her costume (thinks "Teamwork, shmeamwork"), but when she gets outside, the baby squirrel saves itself. Ming-Ming asks some robin babies if anyone needs saving, but the robins say no. Ming-MIng then gets stuck in tree sap, getting her wings stuck together and it's about to rain. So Linny and Tuck save her themselves.

Ming-Ming often provides comic relief in the show. In the episode, "Save the Mouse!", Tuck and Ming-Ming bump into a cuckoo clock, resulting in the cuckoo popping out. Ming-Ming then asks the cuckoo, "No, excuse me. Do you have a cousin named Pablo?", referring to the penguin in The Backyardigans, but Tuck told Ming-Ming it was just a cuckoo clock. She mistook a pine cone for an owl in "Save the Owl!". Though this was pointed out by her team-mates, she seemed to not react to this.

[edit] Episode structure

Each episode follows a similar structure, with some variation, in terms of the storyline and the musical form.

As each episode begins, viewers hear the school children, off-screen, leaving school at the end of the day. They say goodbye to the classroom pets. Once the classroom is vacant, a pencil holder rattles to create the ringing of a tin can telephone. Often, the classroom will be decorated with student artwork or other items related to the storyline, particular animal or geographic location of that episode. One by one, the classroom pets wordlessly notice the ringing phone. Up to this point in the episode, they have acted like normal animals and not said a single word. But as the phone rings, the Wonder Pets get dressed (Linny in a yellow cap, Ming-Ming in a leather pilot's helmet, Tuck in a white French sailor's cap and swimming shoes on his back feet) and make their way towards the phone (Linny dropping through a hole hidden under her food bowl and landing on a toy horse, Ming-Ming opening a hidden door in the wiring of her cage and then flying out, Tuck diving into the water in his tank and emerging in the classroom sink) while singing their opening verses:

Linny: "The phone, the phone is ringing!"
Ming-Ming: "The phone, we'll be wight theowe!"
Tuck: "The phone, the phone is ringing!"
Linny: "There's an animal in trouble..."
Ming-Ming: "There's an animal in twouble..."
Tuck: "There's an animal in trouble somewhere!"

The Wonder Pets answer the phone and find that an animal is in trouble somewhere. Linny explains the situation to the other two. When the situation is clear, they sing:

Tuck: "A baby [animal]
[In the specific peril.]"
Ming-Ming: "This is se-wious!"
Tuck: "We have to help him/her"
Linny: "Let's save the [animal]!"
Tuck and Ming-Ming or All then All: "Let's save the [animal]!"

They all jump into a box filled with fabric scraps and jump back out, wearing various different outfits, often alluding to the area of the world they will be visiting. They make a quick joke then jump back into the box and emerge in their Wonder Pets capes.

Linny: "Linny,"
Tuck: "Tuck,"
Ming-Ming: "And Ming-Ming, too!"
All: "We're Wonder Pets and we'll help you!"

They assemble a flying toy sailboat called "The Flyboat" from classroom objects: a frisbee for a body, magic marker caps as rocket exhausts, a marble, wheels, the mast, and a sheet of paper for the sail. As they work, they sing:

Linny: "What's gonna work?"
Tuck and Ming-Ming or All: "Teamwork!"
Linny: "What's gonna work?"
Tuck and Ming-Ming or All: "Teamwork!"

Usually, the Wonder Pets encounter some sort of obstacle before leaving the classroom. The solution is invariably similar to the action they will need to take to save the animal in trouble. Then they rush off to the rescue, singing:

All: "Wonder Pets! Wonder Pets! We're on our way
To help a baby [animal] and save the day!"
Ming-Ming: "We're not too big,"
Tuck: "And we're not too tough,"
All: "But when we work together we've got the right stuff!
Go, Wonder Pets! Yay!"

When saving the animal, the Wonder Pets often fail on the first few attempts. Then the danger escalates, prompting Ming-Ming to once again sing, "This is se-wious!" Suddenly, the Wonder Pets remember how they solved the problem in the classroom and realize that the rescue has the same solution. Then they have to work together to achieve the rescue. They reprise their earlier song:

Linny: "Linny,"
Tuck: "Tuck,"
Ming-Ming: "And Ming-Ming, too."
All: "We're Wonder Pets and we'll help you!"
Linny: "What's gonna work?"
Tuck and Ming-Ming or All: "Teamwork!"
Linny: "What's gonna work?"
Tuck and Ming-Ming or All: "Teamwork!"

Once the animal is saved, a parent or other relation often comes out of nowhere to give grateful thanks to the Wonder Pets for saving its baby. The Wonder Pets celebrate with a celery snack, which the rescued animal's parent sometimes adds to with a bit of regional food. Then they fly back to the classroom, singing:

All: "Wonder Pets! Wonder Pets! We found a way
To help the baby [animal] and save the day!"
Ming-Ming: "We're not too big,"
Tuck: "And we're not too tough,"
All: "But when we work together we've got the right stuff!
Go, Wonder Pets! Yay!"

They wordlessly return to their cages until the next episode. The Flyboat smoothly disassembles by itself. Linny is always the last one to get back in her cage, and her cape and cap come off. The music style that has to do with the saving that day is played, as Linny takes a bite out of the celery in her cage and blinks, THE END.

[edit] Toys and Merchandising

Fisher Price began distributing a line of official Wonder Pets toys in the U.S. in March 2008.[5] Toys include the Flyboat, figurine playsets and plush animals. Nickelodeon Universe, a theme park inside Minnesota's Mall of America, also has a children's ride dedicated to the Flyboat.[6]

[edit] Media

  • Save the Wonder Pets! DVD, release April 2007
    • Includes: "Save the Wonder Pets!", "Save the Caterpillar!", "Save the Crane!", "Save the Sea Lions!", "Save the Kangaroo!", "Save the Hedgehog!", and "Save the Crocodile!"[citation needed]
  • Save The Unicorn! DVD, release September 2007
    • Includes: "Save the Unicorn!", "Save the Penguin!", "Save the Swan!", "Save the Puppy!", "Save the Three Little Pigs!", "Save the Owl!", "Save the Bullfrog!", and "Save the Poodle!"[citation needed]
  • Save the Reindeer! DVD, release October 2007
    • Includes: "Save the Reindeer!", "Save the Goldfish!", "Save the Baby Birds!", "Save the Camel!", "Save the Ants!", "Save the Egg!", and "Save the Flamingo!"[citation needed]
  • Save the Dinosaur! DVD, release February 2008
    • Includes: "Save the Dinosaur!", "Save the Pigeon!", "Save the Dragon!", "Save the Beaver!", "Save the Bee!", "Save the Squirrel!", and "Save the Dolphin!", and "Save the Chimp!"[citation needed]
  • Save the Beetles! DVD, release April 2008
    • Includes: "Save the Beetles!", "Three Wonder Pets and a Baby!", "Save the Duckling!", "Save the Kitten!", "Save the Chameleon!", "Save the Platypus!", "Save the Sheep!", and "Save the Hermit Crab!"[citation needed]
  • Save the Nursery Rhyme! DVD, release June 2008
    • Includes: "Help the Cow Jump over the moon!", "Save the Itsy Bitsy Spider!", "Save the Griffin!", "Save the Rooster!", "Save Little Red Riding Hood!", "Save the Turtle!", "Save the Panda!", and "Save the Mouse!"[citation needed]
  • Wonder Pets! CD [7]

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Lynne Heffley, "Unchained melodies; In scoring the kids' show 'The Wonder Pets!,' top-notch composers get a warm and fuzzy feeling," Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Mar 3, 2006. pg. E.29.
  2. ^ Jennifer Oxley, "Meet the Creators of Wonder Pets!"
  3. ^ a b Robert Lloyd, "'Wonder Pets!' to the rescue", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Mar 3, 2006. pg. E.29.
  4. ^ Edward Wyatt, "Nickelodeon's 'Wonder Pets' Offers Operetta for Preschoolers", New York Times, March 28, 2006. pg. E.1.
  5. ^ Video, Toys R Us television commercial
  6. ^ "New attraction spotlight: Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America", March 11, 2008
  7. ^ Wonder Pets! CD at Nick Shop, Retrieved 2007-03-28