PBS Kids has lined up a slate of new series, movies and shorts for audiences across the United States and later around the world.
The slate includes the premiere of Tiny Time Travel, a series of live-action shorts, along with new Wild Kratts and Nature Cat movies. In addition, PBS Kids will debut season four of Molly of Denali, along with new series Milo, new shorts series Donkey Hodie Bedtime Stories and new episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.
PBS Kids, which targets children ages 2-8, aims to help children “to see themselves uniquely reflected and celebrated in lovable, diverse characters who serve as positive role models and to explore their feelings and discover new adventures along the way.”
“This spring, PBS Kids provides an opportunity for families to embark on exciting adventures with kids’ favorite characters, and a chance to meet some new ones, too,” said Sara DeWitt, senior vp and general manager of PBS Kids. “Our content this season aims to nurture an appreciation of the natural world among our young audiences while also sharing important life lessons and reinforcing some of the key social skills kids need for success in school and beyond.”
Kicking off the spring lineup on March 15 is Tiny Time Travel, a new series of “funny and fast-paced” live-action shorts. The series follows an 11-year-old inventor, Tyler, and his outgoing best friend, Tony, as they use their time machine to go back in time a tiny bit (sometimes just a few minutes or hours) to solve problems in their neighborhood, like stopping a friend from spoiling a movie or giving a customer a re-do after an ordering mistake at a restaurant.
The show, aimed at kids ages 5-8, teaches social language skills, like understanding nonverbal communication; taking others’ perspectives into account; and resolving miscommunication. The series is created by Tim McKeon (Odd Squad, Gravity Falls) and produced by Marobru Productions and Easy as Pie Productions.
Molly of Denali, which will return March 25, follows the adventures of 10-year-old Molly Mabray, an Alaska Native girl who lives in the fictional village of Qyah, Alaska. The new episodes follow Molly as she continues exploring with friends and family, from tracking down a fallen meteorite with Tooey, to connecting with her heritage by building a kiidhah zhee (a traditional steam bath) to help cure her mom’s cold, to helping a rival basketball team find an authentic mascot to represent their team. The show, produced by GBH Boston, also incorporates media literacy learning.
Meanwhile, the Wild Kratts and Nature Cat movies, derived from the two series, premiere April 1 and April 22, respectively. A new Wild Kratts game, “World Rescue,” will be available on the PBS Kids Games app and pbskids.org, with new episodes of the show premiering April 2. Meanwhile, the Nature Cat movie features three original songs written by Tony, Grammy and Emmy winner Bill Sherman and performed by the cast: Taran Killam, Kate McKinnon, Bobby Moynihan and Kate Micucci. Chris Parnell is also in the voice cast. In addition, a new short-form series, Nature Chat With Nature Cat, will debut digitally on April 22.
Another new series, Milo, will premiere across PBS Kids streaming platforms on May 13. The show, co-produced by Fourth Wall and DeAPlaneta Entertainment, follows an adventurous cat who loves to use role-play to explore the amazing world of jobs and vocations with his best friends, Lofty and Lark. Milo, who loves meeting all of the different people who come into his parents’ dry-cleaning shop, is curious about what it would be like to be a fireman, detective, astronaut and many other kinds of jobs when he grows up.
Meanwhile, new episodes of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood premiere May 6, exploring concepts like putting things away and finding surprises wherever we are.
New short form series Donkey Hodie Bedtime Stories, which premieres May 27 across streaming platforms, derive from the puppet series Donkey Hodie. The shorts are designed to fit into kids’ bedtime routines and feature characters reading bedtime stories and showing their strategy for calming down before bed.
