Based on the award-winning books by David Ezra Stein, new animated series introduces kids to the joys of creative writing with Piper, a young chicken with a wild imagination - the show hits the streamer this month, with holiday special ‘A Chicken Carol’ coming in December.
Apple TV+ just released a trailer for its newest animated series, Interrupting Chicken, based on the 2011 Caldecott Honor-winning book series written and illustrated by David Ezra Stein. The preschool series introduces children to the joy of creative writing - starting with a little young chicken named Piper, who has a habit of interrupting story time! Every time Piper hears a story, she can’t help but jump in, ask questions, and let her imagination run wild. The new series hits the streamer Friday, November 18.
The show features the voice talents of three-time Emmy Award winner Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul) as “Papa;” Juliet Donenfeld (Pete the Ca”) as “Piper;” Sarah Elizabeth Thompson as “CJ;” Maximus Riegel (Klaus) as “Benjamin;” Luke Lowe (Big City Greens) as “Duckston;” and Jakari Fraser (Spidey and his Amazing Friends) as “Theodore.”
Interrupting Chicken was developed by Emmy Award winner Ron Holsey, who serves as executive producer. In partnership with Mercury Filmworks, the series is also executive produced by Stein, Loris Kramer Lunsford, Clint Eland, and Chantal Ling. In addition, Dr. Lucy Calkins, Founding Director of the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and the Richard Robinson Professor of Children’s Literature at Teachers College, Columbia University, serves as the show’s reading and writing expert through the Apple TV+ changemaker initiative.
Check out the trailer
In addition to the series launch, Apple TV+ will debut globally its complementary holiday special, “A Chicken Carol,” on Friday, December 2, as part of the platform's lineup of festive family fare. In the special, when Ebenezer Wolf decides to cancel the holidays, Piper teams up with the Three Little Pigs and some ghostly friends to change his mind.
The award-winning slate of original series and films for kids and families on Apple TV+ includes offerings such as the critically-acclaimed properties El Deafo; Lovely Little Farm; Duck & Goose; Pinecone & Pony; Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock; and Harriet the Spy from The Jim Henson Company; Peabody Award-winning series Stillwater; Helpsters from Sesame Workshop; Wolfboy and the Everything Factory from Joseph Gordon-Levitt, HITRECORD and Bento Box Entertainment; Sago Mini Friends; Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show from Jack McBrayer and Angela C. Santomero; Snoopy in Space; The Snoopy Show; and Get Rolling with Otis.
Specials from Peanuts and WildBrain are also part of the family viewing slate and include It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown; Lucy’s School; To Mom (and Dad), With Love; and For Auld Lang Syne; and Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, the Daytime Emmy Award-winning television event based on the New York Times best-selling book and TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers.
The kids and family film offerings include the star-studded animated adventure film Luck from Apple Original Films and Skydance Animation, which premiered this year, and the Academy Award-nominated animated film Wolfwalkers.
Source: Apple TV+
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
