Wubb to the Z! Wubbzy, the star of Nick Jr’s Flash-animated series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, has a new rap video which you can see below. Wubbzy is officially the crunkest preschool series of all time. In other Wubbzy news, music mega-star Beyonce Knowles makes a guest appearance on the show on May 1st on Nick Jr, in an episode titled Wubb Idol. You can see a behind-the-scenes video over on the Wubbzy YouTube channel.
Did you know: Carlos Alazraqui from Reno 911 (Deputy James Garcia) plays Walden on Wow Wow Wubbzy.
Back in June, Playhouse Disney began airing a new original animated short-form series called Can You Teach My Alligator Manners? The Flash-animated series focuses on teaching preschool aged viewers to behave properly.
The show is animated by Los Angeles-based animation studio Oddbot Inc, who have also teamed up with Playhouse Disney in the past on shows like Shanna’s Show and Shane’s Kindergarten Countdown. Here’s a clip from the episode titled Movie Manners, and below that we interview Christopher Hamilton from Oddbot.
AARON SIMPSON: Christopher, how did Oddbot wind up working on this project?
CHRISTOPHER HAMILTON: I’ve produced a number of short series for Playhouse Disney since 2003. I directed the Shanna’s Show series, Shane’s Kindergarten Countdown, and was supervising director on Lou and Lou: Safety Patrol during my time at the studio One Red Room, where I also served as the company’s Creative Director. When that company closed its doors in 2006, I formed OddBot Inc. Based on the successful collaborations of our previous projects, Playhouse took a chance on our new studio and asked us to produce another batch of Lou and Lou: Safety Patrol, which later led to an order of the new series Can You Teach My Alligator Manners?
GS Animation, based in Northern Poland, has produced a new Flash-animated series titled Harry and Toto, which is based on an original idea by Paul Shuttleworth. Working with Handle and Spout, the GS team produced 26 ten-minute episodes of this new preschool series, which is now airing on CBeebies in the UK.
The Massachusetts-based National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), has partnered with Scott Nash’s SNAP Studios to create a series of educational safety shorts.
According to the NFPA, The Uh-Ohs are “block-shaped critters that are cute, curious and careless,” and Nash explains that each episode will feature Rounders, friendly, hard working animals, who try to prevent the Uh-Ohs from hurting themselves. The property will be rolling out coloring books, key chains, t-shirts and plans for an animated series are in the works. Below we learn three safety messages: always enter the water feet first, stay 3 feet away from a hot stove and always wear a helmet when you ride a bike. Nash brought in Dave Schlafman to co-write and direct and Casey Leonard helped out on the animation front.
What British book series that has sold over 100 million books has been turned into an animated TV series? For all I know Harry Potter may be headed to TV, but today we’re talking about Mr. Men and Little Miss. This children’s book series was created by Charles Roger Hargreaves, and had already spawned 3 animated series efforts – in 1975, 1983 and again in 1995. Now Cartoon Network and Chorion Ltd. have co-produced 52 11-minute episodes that begin airing in the US on February 4th at 9am ET.
This Flash-animated series is being physically produced by Renegade Animation, based in Glendale, California. Below you can see a clip from the series that is formated as “the first animated program to bring sketch comedy to young children.” More videos are available at the official website.