Scholastic Media Soup2nuts Series WordGirl on PBS KIDS GO!
Scholastic Media announced that its Soup2Nuts animation studio has begun production on 26 half-hour episodes of the new animated childrens series, WORDGIRL. Building off of the success of the popular WORDGIRL shorts and website at www.pbskidsgo.org/wordgirl, the series will debut in September as part of the late afternoon PBS KIDS GO! programming block.
WORDGIRL is created and produced by Soup2Nuts, a cutting-edge animation production studio and a division of Scholastic Media. The series chronicles the adventures of Becky Botsford, a mild-mannered fifth grader who transforms into WordGirl, a caped crusader and definition dynamo. When there is trouble in the big city, this super heroine-in-disguise uses vocabulary to defeat outlaws bent on WORD domination. With the help of her faithful monkey sidekick, Captain Huggy Face, WordGirl defeats a quirky cast of misfit bad guys and gals with her uncanny vocabulary skills and superhero strength.
The series, which first debuted on PBS KIDS GO! as on-air, and online shorts last November, premieres as a weekly, half-hour program designed to enrich childrens vocabulary, instill a love of language and foster better reading comprehension. WORDGIRL 's cast of veteran actors and comedians includes Dannah Feinglass, Tom Kenny, Chris Parnell, Jeffrey Tambor, Cree Summers, Ryan Raddatz, Maria Bamford and Fred Stoller.
We are delighted to collaborate with PBS KIDS GO! on WORDGIRL to once again bring their viewers a unique new program that is both highly entertaining and educational, said Deborah Forte, president of Scholastic Media. We have a proven track record of success with PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO!, including our recent series MAYA & MIGUEL and CLIFFORDS PUPPY DAYS. WORDGIRL embodies the humor and educational value that has been the hallmark of our success on public television."
We are thrilled to offer a full-length series of the popular WORDGIRL shorts and website on PBS KIDS GO!, said Linda Simensky, senior director, PBS Childrens Programming. Through the new series, early elementary school kids will continue to learn new vocabulary and build literacy skills with WordGirl as she defends the proper use of words in the most hilarious scenarios.
A dedicated companion website at www.pbskidsgo.org/wordgirl features clips of the series in the Adventures of WordGirl section, as well as exciting games and activities that are specially designed to expose children to new words in a fun way, encourage them to use new words in daily conversation, and develop a love of language. A Parents & Teachers section contains educational activities parents can enjoy with their children, as well as lesson plans for teachers and links to additional resources that support vocabulary development and general literacy.
Scholastic Media, the entertainment and media division of Scholastic, is a leading producer of quality, family-oriented content across multiple platforms, including feature films, television programming, videos, interactive products and websites, and is a major developer and marketer of children's brands worldwide. Among SM's award-winning and top-rated productions are the animated series CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG (PBS KIDS); the Emmy award-winning spin-off series CLIFFORD'S PUPPY DAYS (PBS KIDS); I SPY (HBO Family); THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS (TLC); GOOSEBUMPS; ANIMORPHS and MAYA & MIGUEL (PBS KIDS GO!). SM's critically-acclaimed feature films include CLIFFORD'S REALLY BIG MOVIE, THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD, THE BABYSITTERS CLUB MOVIE and THE MIGHTY. SM is also producing the forthcoming film, THE GOLDEN COMPASS, based on the award-winning Philip Pullman trilogy HIS DARK MATERIALS, for New Line Cinema. Scholastic is a co-creator of the new multi-platform qubo network for children, which promotes literacy and positive values through entertainment. Provided by Scholastic, DRAGON is the new pre-school series airing on qubo.
Soup2Nuts (www.soup2nuts.tv), a division of Scholastic Media, is a digital animation studio offering full in-house production services, including the development of original series, writing, recording, music composing, character design, animation and post-production. Founded in 1994, the Boston studio quickly established a reputation for creating award-winning animated comedy series with its first hit, DR. KATZ: PROFESSIONAL THERAPIST, which aired on Comedy Central. Soup2Nuts also created the cult favorite HOME MOVIES for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, the science series SQUIGGLEVISION for ABCs Saturday Morning, HEY MONIE for BET and Oxygen, and the teen comedy O'GRADY for The N.
Scholastic Corp.is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and its Internet site, www.scholastic.com.
PBS KIDS, for preschoolers, and PBS KIDS GO!, for early elementary school kids, are committed to providing quality non-commercial content and learning environment for children across the country. With additional PBS resources to complement its programming, including PBS KIDS online (www.pbskids.org), PBS KIDS GO! online (www.pbskidsgo.org), PBS Parents (www.pbsparents.org), PBS TeacherSource (www.pbsteachersource.org), PBS Ready To Learn services and literacy events across the country, PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation's 354 public television stations, serving nearly 90 million people each week and reaching 99% of American homes.