Nick Jr. Premieres The Wonder Pets! - TV's First Mini-Operetta for Preschoolers

Nick Jr. Premieres The Wonder Pets! - TV's First Mini-Operetta for Preschoolers

Nick Jr. and NOGGIN to Simulcast Premiere with Two, Back-To-Back Episodes on Friday, March 3

Music Featured on Nick Jr.'s The Wonder Pets! Written and Developed by Tony(R) and Grammy(R) Award-Winning Composers

Multi-Platform Launch Includes Verizon Wireless' V CAST, Video on Demand, Nick Jr. Video and NOGGIN

NEW YORK, Feb. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Nick Jr. takes preschoolers on musical world adventures with The Wonder Pets! -- a new original series starring three courageous classroom pets who sing opera and travel the world. The 20-episode, animated series from creator/executive producer Josh Selig of Little Airplane Productions, Inc. will debut with a simulcast on both Nick Jr. and sister network NOGGIN on Friday, March 3 with two back-to-back episodes from 11:30 a.m. -- 12:30 p.m. (ET/PT*). The premiere episode will repeat on Nick Jr. on Sunday, March 5 at 8:00 a.m. (ET/PT). The Wonder Pets! will air regularly on Nick Jr. weekdays at 11:30 a.m. (ET/PT).

Nick Jr. will also kick off the premiere of The Wonder Pets! across the following Nickelodeon Preschool TV platforms:

* Beginning February 17, Nick Jr. Video, Nickjr.com's broadband video
service, will stream an exclusive 12-minute 'sneak peek' from the
second episode entitled "Save the Penguin!" as well as character and
adventure clips.

* Beginning Friday, February 24, character and adventure clips from The
Wonder Pets! will be available on Verizon Wireless' V CAST wireless
broadband multimedia services.

* On Friday, March 3, Nick Jr. and NOGGIN will simulcast the premiere of
The Wonder Pets! Nick Jr. Video will also stream the premiere episode.

* Beginning Monday, March 6, Video On Demand windowing will commence on
Comcast, Cox, Cablevision and Charter, featuring behind-the-scenes
clips and the first two episodes of the series.

"A singing guinea pig, turtle and duck, tales of teamwork and far away places, combined with a fresh photo real animated style make The Wonder Pets! practically irresistible for kids and parents," said Brown Johnson, Executive Creative Director, Nickelodeon Preschool Television.

The Wonder Pets! chronicles the adventures of three funny, singing classroom pets: Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck, who travel the world and use teamwork to save baby animals in distress. Every episode of The Wonder Pets! is an original mini-operetta filled with world music influences suited to the locale of the day's adventure. The music is written and developed by some of Broadway's top Tony(R) and Grammy(R) Award-winning talent, including Jeffrey Lesser, a Grammy Award-winning producer and recording engineer for artists including Barbra Streisand, Sting and Linda Ronstadt. Award-winning composers and orchestrators from Broadway's Avenue Q, Monty Python's Spamalot, and Fiddler on the Roof have also worked on the series. All of the music on The Wonder Pets! is recorded with a live orchestra; and in operetta style much of the dialogue is sung. Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck live in a preschool classroom.

At the end of each school day when the teachers and students have all gone home, the fearless trio become The Wonder Pets! In every story, The Wonder Pets! receive a call on a tin-can phone in their classroom from a baby animal who needs their help. The trio quickly assembles their Flyboat, made from a collection of classroom toys and travel together across oceans, into space, and even back in time to save animals in distress. Like real preschoolers, The Wonder Pets! have no actual super powers, but they work together as a team to overcome adversity and achieve great success.

A new, original style of animation, called photo-puppetry animation was created exclusively for The Wonder Pets! The technique allows animators to manipulate photographs of real animals, creating a comical, realistic look that is unique to Nick Jr.

Nick Jr.'s award-winning website (http://www.nickjr.com/) will feature convergent interactive games to complement the premiere of The Wonder Pets! Beginning February 20, Nick Jr. on-air will ask preschoolers to go online to tell the Wonder Pets that an animal is in trouble and they need to save the day. Nick Jr.com will then feature The Wonder Pets! Phone Game where kids can "call" the superheros to the rescue. On March 3, the site will launch the Wonder Pets! Save the Day musical game inviting preschoolers to join the Wonder Pets team and go on a personalized rescue adventure. Additionally, for parents, beginning February 10, Nick Jr. Parents TV will stream a 3-minute behind-the-scenes special and The Wonder Pets! For Parents site will feature interviews with the series creator, printables, crafts, ecards and more.

The show's curricular goals are based on developing appreciation and orientation towards teamwork, vocabulary building, and problem solving.

The first two episodes of The Wonder Pets! will feature the following stories:

(Premiere Episode):

* "Save the Dolphin!" (Part one) -- The Wonder Pets travel to Hawaii to
rescue a young dolphin caught in a fisherman's net. The fearless
trio finds the dolphin in an underwater world, along with a variety
of sea creatures. With the help of a swordfish, the Wonder Pets free
the dolphin, return her to her grateful parents and then enjoy a
Hawaiian luau.

* "Save The Chimp!" (Part two) -- The Wonder Pets get a call from a
baby chimp lost in space! Working together, they adapt their flyboat
for space travel and head for the stars to find the baby chimp's
rocket ship. When a meteor approaches, the Wonder Pets must use
teamwork to pull the Chimp's rocket out of the meteor's path and
return the baby chimp home safely to his family.

(Episode 2):

* "Save The Unicorn!" (Part one) -- The Wonder Pets take a mythical
journey into a storybook to save a baby unicorn whose horn is stuck
in a magical tree trunk.

* "Save The Penguin!" (Part two) -- The Wonder Pets are called to the
South Pole to save a baby penguin who is stranded on a floating
iceberg.

Little Airplane Productions, Inc. specializes in quality Film & Television programming for young children. Founded by Josh Selig in 1999, Little Airplane Productions created and produced Piper O'Possum for Nick Jr. and Oobi for NOGGIN (winner of a 2001 Gold Parents' Choice Award). Little Airplane also created and produced Go, Baby! for Playhouse Disney. Additionally, Josh Selig was the Head Writer for Little Bill on Nick Jr. He has received eleven Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street, and was the Resident Producer of the historic Israeli/Palestinian Sesame Street co-production (winner of the 1998 Japan Prize). For more information about Little Airplane Productions please visit http://www.littleairplane.com/.

Nick Jr. is a specially designed programming block airing on Nickelodeon weekdays from 9 a.m. -- 2 p.m. (ET/PT) and weekends on CBS (check local listings). Completely dedicated to preschoolers ages 2-5, Nick Jr.'s Emmy, Peabody and Parents' Choice Award-winning programs are curriculum based, fun and commercial free. At Nick Jr., kids play to learn with innovative, original shows created just for them.

Nickelodeon, in its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than ten consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

* Broadcast times for the NOGGIN premiere are (ET) only.

Source: Nick Jr.

CONTACT: Jodi Davis, +1-212-846-5981, Jodi.davis@noggin.com, Sharyn
Traub, +1-212-846-6381, Sharyn.traub@noggin.com, both for Nick Jr.

Web site: http://www.nickjr.com/
http://www.nick.com/
http://www.littleairplane.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: DVD's and artwork available upon request.

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