Nick Jr. Greenlights Second Season of The Wonder Pets!

Nick Jr. Greenlights Second Season of The Wonder Pets!

Number-One Kids Network Orders 20 New Episodes of TV's First Mini-Operetta for Preschoolers

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

NEW YORK, June 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Following tremendous ratings success in its premiere season, Nick Jr. has announced they have ordered a second season of the hit animated series, The Wonder Pets! The groundbreaking series which premiered March 3, 2006, has consistently ranked among the top three preschool programs on all of commercial television.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060620/NYTU063-c )

Created and executive produced by Josh Selig of Little Airplane Productions, Inc., The Wonder Pets! stars three courageous classroom pets who sing opera and travel the world while taking preschoolers on musical world adventures. The Wonder Pets! airs regularly on Nick Jr. weekdays at 11:00 a.m. (ET/PT).

"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 series is also enjoying international success and has been sold to 67 countries around the globe including 49 countries in South America and the Caribbean, three countries in Europe and 15 countries in Asia and Asia Pacific.

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.

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.

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

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 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 27th 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 more than 90 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 Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:VIA.B).

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060620/NYTU063-c
Source: Nickelodeon

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/
http://www.littleairplane.com/

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

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