WordWorld

WTTW/Chicago

Animation Family Kids
English     7.4     2007     US

Overview

WordWorld is an Emmy Award-winning children's television series partially funded by the United States Department of Education as part of the Ready to Learn literacy initiative targeted to 3- to 7-year olds. The show airs in 10 languages and 90 countries, including in the United States. The television series, created by Don Moody and Jacqueline Moody, stars Dog and his WordFriends. In each episode, Dog and/or one of his friends embarks on a series of adventures where the only way to save the day is to build or un-build words. The show's novelty is that when a word is built correctly, it morphs into the thing it represents, which gives instant meaning to the word. WordWorld has been translated into popular mobile applications, Internet-based games, magnetic plush and other toys. WordWorld currently airs in 90 countries and 10 languages. It premiered September 3, 2007 on PBS Kids and is currently in its third season, with 84 11-minute episodes. WordWorld currently broadcasts on PBS Kids it is produced for WTTW Chicago.

Similar

Peep and the Big Wide World is an animated cartoon that teaches nature and basic science concepts to preschoolers. The main characters include a yellow baby chick named Peep and his friends Quack, a teenaged blue drake, and Chirp, a baby red robin with pink eyelids. The current show, narrated by Joan Cusack is based on a National Film Board of Canada cartoon short of the same name, created in 1988 by Kaj Pindal and narrated by Peter Ustinov, and another short, "The Peep Show", from 1962. The original short comprised three 10-minute films featuring Peep, Quack, and Chirp as they meet a cat, a ladybug, a turtle and a frog who speaks from both sides of his mouth. The show is produced by WGBH in Boston and 9 Story Entertainment in Toronto, Canada. In the US, this show formerly aired on Discovery Kids as part of its commercial-free and sponsor-free "Ready, Set, Learn!" programming block. It now airs nationally in the United States on public television, distributed by American Public Television. In Canada, it airs on TVOntario. DVDs and books are also available for purchase. Peep and the Big Wide World is currently sponsored by the National Science Foundation in conjunction with WGBH-TV as part of an education and outreach program. The principal investigator is Kate Taylor, also of the ZOOM block. The National Science Foundation is the only permanent sponsor of the show. Northrop Grumman, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Toyota funded the show for only season two. The Discovery Kids Foundation funded the show for only season one. In 1999, the show was produced by Clumsy PriStar Television. The VHS copies are produced from Clumsy Pristar's home viewings.

More info
Peep and the Big Wide World
2004