The Jim Henson Company has appointed Hasbro as the master toy and game licensee for its SID THE SCIENCE KID property. SID THE SCIENCE KID is an educational animated television series airing daily on PBS KIDS that uses comedy to promote exploration, discovery, and science readiness among preschoolers.
The four-year license grants Hasbro the rights to introduce an array of SID THE SCIENCE KID products starting January 1, 2009. Hasbro's line of SID THE SCIENCE KID toys and games is slated to debut at retail Fall 2009.
Starting Monday, February 9, 10 new episodes will premiere over a two-week period, with each week introducing a new scientific theme, on the popular PBS KIDS preschool destination, an educational, hosted two-hour morning television block. (Check local listings.) An interactive site at www.pbskids.org/sid extends the series' fun and learning.
The week of February 9 will premiere five episodes that provide a basic introduction to physical science and engineering featuring simple machines, like levers, wheels and pulleys. The five episodes debuting the week of February 16 will explore backyard science, giving kids a chance to take a closer look at the nature all around them, including dogs, birds, bugs, leaves and nests. This week will also introduce Sid's newest friend, Philbert, a dog Sid's Grandma adopts who will help Sid investigate animal communication.
Like all of the characters in SID THE SCIENCE KID, Philbert was brought to life using the groundbreaking Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, which allows performers to puppeteer and voice digital characters in real-time, creating an unprecedented level of spontaneity and warmth. For Philbert, an actual dog performed on a motion capture stage to record the body movements while Philbert's face and barking was puppeteered in real time by a Henson performer. The two images were then simultaneously composited together to create a single integrated character.
