Imagination And Storytelling Come to Life on Pinky Dinky Doo

Imagination And Storytelling Come to Life on Pinky Dinky Doo

Noggin Furthers Commitment to Early Literacy With The Premiere of New Animated Series Created by Book Author Jim Jinkins

NOGGIN And Nick Jr. to Simulcast Premiere of Pinky Dinky Doo on Monday, April 10

Multiplatform Rollout of NOGGIN's Pinky Dinky Doo to Include 'Sneak Peek' on Comcast, Charter, Cablevision, Verizon FiOS And Cox VOD Services

NEW YORK, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- NOGGIN, the commercial-free, educational network for preschoolers, will premiere Pinky Dinky Doo, the network's first original series dedicated to enhancing early literacy. The 26-episode animated preschool series based on the popular book series by Jim Jinkins (Doug and PB&J Otter), will debut with a simulcast on both NOGGIN and sister network Nick Jr. on Monday, April 10 from 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. (ET/PT). Pinky Dinky Doo will air regularly on NOGGIN weekdays at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. (ET).

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060320/NYM161)

On Monday, April 3 beginning at 10:00 a.m. (ET), NOGGIN and its award- winning website Noggin.com, and Nick Jr. Video, NickJr.com's broadband video platform for preschoolers, will 'sneak peek' an exclusive clip from the premiere episode of Pinky Dinky Doo ("Polka Dot Pox"/"Come Home, Little Guinea Pig"). Additionally, the 'sneak peek' will premiere on April 3 on the following Video On Demand services: Comcast, Charter, Cablevision, Verizon FiOS and Cox. All five systems will commence windowing of the full half-hour premiere episode of Pinky Dinky Doo on Monday, April 17, and the second episode of the series ("Where Are My Shoes"/"Pinky Dinky Doo and the Outer Space Fluffy Buns") will commence windowing on Monday, April 24.

In addition to Pinky Dinky Doo, NOGGIN supports early literacy through "Story Time," the network's on-air/online interstitial series which uses storytelling formats to help preschoolers develop language and critical thinking skills. Beginning April 10, NOGGIN will debut a brand-new "Story Time" featuring Chris Meloni (Law and Order: SVU) who will read a short story to the viewers at home. Meloni will also appear in an adult-directed PSA which stresses the importance of reading to children and using each day as an opportunity to tell a story.

Pinky Dinky Doo is a co-production with Sesame Workshop (the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street and Dragon Tales) and Cartoon Pizza's Jim Jinkins and David Campbell (Stanley and JoJo's Circus). It's about a pink-haired, seven-year-old girl whose brain expands to enormous proportions when she has a great big idea-but only in her imagination, of course! Pinky Dinky Doo grew out of a collection of playful bedtime stories made up by creator/author Jinkins. Pinky solves everyday problems by thinking big and uncovering an idea that saves the day. She loves her family, her pet guinea pig and loves to make up stories and solve problems. Pinky Dinky Doo features an ensemble cast including Pinky's brother Tyler Doo, her pet guinea pig Mr. Guinea Pig, her best friends Nicholas Biscuit, Bobby Boom and Daffinne Toilette, and her parents Mommy Dinky Doo and Daddy Dinky Doo. Pinky Dinky Doo has a visually unique style, blending flash animation over photo collage backgrounds.

"We are excited to introduce Pinky, an adventurous, imaginative pink- haired girl to our preschool audience as part of our larger commitment to early literacy," said Sarah Tomassi Lindman, Vice President Programming and Production, NOGGIN. "Kids everywhere will enjoy Pinky's tall tales and interactive games, while they laugh and learn the art and structure of storytelling."

Pinky Dinky Doo harnesses the power of television to promote reading and imaginative storytelling by inviting children to participate in funny and fantastic stories, games, and songs that support critical early literacy skills. The series has four key educational goals: to celebrate the power of inventing stories; to introduce basic elements of narrative; to provide opportunities to use effective listening comprehension strategies; and to expand vocabulary through stories.

Each episode of Pinky Dinky Doo features two, eight-minute stories each followed by an interactive, play-along game. Through Pinky's adventures, kids will be inspired to create their own stories and games and sharpen their listening skills. Participation is triggered by Pinky's direct-to-camera asides and the call-and-response nature of the games.

The premiere episode of NOGGIN's Pinky Dinky Doo will feature the following two stories:

* "Polka Dot Pox" - When Pinky's brother Tyler has a cold and can't go on
his class trip, Pinky tells him a tale to make him feel better ... It's
show-and-tell at school, and Pinky can't wait to show off Mr. Guinea
Pig. But when she wakes up the next day -- she has a case of the Polka
Dot Pox! Mommy Dinky Doo insists Pinky must stay home. After several
ingenious but ill-fated attempts to sneak off to school, Pinky learns
that her entire class has the Polka Dot Pox! Pinky invites her class
over so they can have show-and-tell there, and Mr. Guinea Pig impresses
them all with his amazing popcorn-making exercise wheel.

* "Come Home, Little Guinea Pig" - Tyler is watching his class pet for the
weekend and is sad he can't have a sleepover at Jackson's house, so
Pinky tells her brother a story to cheer him up ... It's Pinky's
responsibility to clean Mr. Guinea Pig's cage, but when Daffinne
invites her over for a play date, Pinky forgets all about her chore.
Mr. Guinea Pig tries to clean the cage himself, but makes a big mess.
Ashamed and sad, he runs away and when Pinky gets home she finds Mr.
Guinea Pig hiding in the pantry. Pinky is stumped coming up with a big
idea so she invents a "room flusher" to clean the mess and resolve the
story!

NOGGIN's website (www.noggin.com) will launch a Pinky Dinky Doo show page, beginning Monday, March 13, which will include original games, musical clips from the series, and printables featuring the Dinky Doo gang. Two of the games titled "Eat It or Wear It" and the "Great Big Fancy Word Game" will launch Monday, April 3. "Eat It or Wear It" invites preschoolers to determine if an item is edible or wearable. In the "Great Big Fancy Word Game" preschoolers are presented with a definition and corresponding video clip from the show and must figure out the correct word that corresponds with that definition. In addition, a new Pinky Dinky Doo teaser game will be featured on the Noggin.com homepage, each week leading up to the series premiere. These are sequencing games whereby Pinky tells a story with pictures and asks preschoolers to help sequence them when they fall out of order.

The Pinky Dinky Doo character found her first home in children's books as part of the highly-acclaimed Step into Reading(R) publishing program at Random House Children's Books. Her debut titles, Pinky Dinky Doo: Where Are My Shoes? (Step into Reading(R)-Step 3) and Pinky Dinky Doo: Polka Dot Pox (Step into Reading(R)-Step 3), launched in May 2004. Recent titles include Pinky Dinky Doo: Back to School is Cool (Step into Reading(R)-Step 3), published in July 2005; Pinky Dinky Doo: Shrinky Pinky! (Step into Reading(R)-Step 3), published in September 2005; and Pinky Stinky Doo published in January 2006.

Sesame Workshop is a nonprofit educational organization making a meaningful difference in children's lives around the world. Founded in 1968, the Workshop changed television forever with the legendary Sesame Street. Today, the Workshop continues to innovate on behalf of children in 120 countries, using its proprietary research methodology to ensure its programs and products are engaging and enriching. Sesame Workshop is behind award- winning programs like Dragon Tales and Sagwa, The Chinese Siamese Cat and ground breaking multimedia productions in South Africa, Egypt and Russia. As a nonprofit, Sesame Workshop puts the proceeds it receives from sales of Sesame Street, Dragon Tales and Sagwa products right back into its educational projects for children around the world. Find the Workshop online at www.sesameworkshop.org.

Cartoon Pizza is a leading developer and producer of entertainment for children and families worldwide. Built around the talents of co-founders Jim Jinkins and David Campbell, Cartoon Pizza's mission is to develop and produce entertainment content with mass-appeal that respects the intelligence, experience and feelings of kids. Cartoon Pizza is the creator of the hugely successful Doug, PB&J Otter, and Jojo's Circus and the executive producers of such hits as the animated series Stanley for Disney Channel, 101 Dalmations for ABC, Allegra's Window for Nick Jr., The Busy World of Richard Scarry for Random House and The Beginner's Bible for Sony Wonder. Find Cartoon Pizza online at www.cartoonpizza.com.

NOGGIN is the commercial-free, educational network for preschoolers owned by Nickelodeon. NOGGIN currently reaches 46 million households via cable, digital cable and satellite tv. NOGGIN, which airs from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (ET), is like preschool on tv, with educational programming both on-air and online at www.noggin.com. NOGGIN and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060320/NYM161
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN8
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: NOGGIN

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

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

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

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