Who is Sid the Science Kid?
For the past year The Jim Henson Company has been hard at work producing "Sid the Science Kid," a brand-new television series set to debut on PBS in September 2008. The Jim Henson Company has partnered with KCET to produce this new educational series. The animated series will showcase the Henson Digital Performance Studio, a revolutionary tool that allows puppeteers to perform digital characters in real time.
"Sid the Science Kid" is a unique sketch-comedy show designed for 3-6 year olds and aims to promote science-readiness and critical thinking skills. The series stars Sid, an inquisitive young boy attempting to demystify his quirky observations of the world around him (such as why people sneeze, how a drinking straw works, why bananas turn brown, and how birds fly).
Longtime Henson performer and Muppeteer, Drew Massey is bringing the titular character of Sid to life. In addition to simply supplying the character's voice, Massey performs the digital puppet in real time. The ditial puppeteering provide the show with its fresh performances and spontaneous connections among characters. Joining Sid in this scientific adventures is an ensemble of friends -- including May (Julianne Buescher), Gabriela (Alice Dinnean Vernon) and Gerald (Victor Yerrid). The series also features an extended cast of characters including Sid's parents, grandparents, teachers and neighbors.
Bradley Zweig is serving as head writer for the show, and episodes are being directed by Brian Henson. The half-hour series is already lined-up to debut on PBS in September with an initial order of 40 episodes along with a two-year on-air commitment.
You can take a look at the stars of "Sid the Science Kid" (Sid, May, Gabriela, and Gerald) in the four exclusive pictures posted below. I will be sure to keep you updated as information regarding the production and premiere of this exciting new show is released.
3 comments:
Why is the Henson company doing CGI flicks now?
I don't care that a puppeteer controls the pixels now.
This sucks.
I doubt Jim Henson would abandon
puppets and move on to computers.
Is anyone else bothered by this?
I love the Muppets because they are
cleverly crafted, and lovingly performed pieces of art.
Now it's all stored on a hard drive.
"Exciting new show"
So you like watching a computer program?
Give me cloth and real live acting.
The technology used for this project was one of the last things Jim Henson worked on. This is the same sort of rig used for the Henson Hour's CG "Waldo" character. So yes, Jim Henson would have likely blessed this concept - especially for a children's science show.
It is basically a CG/virtual puppet. Yeah, the traditional puppetry with the Muppets is still my favorite way to go (by far) and that still seems to be going on at Disney with the Muppet gang, Sesame workshop and at the Henson Company with Puppet Up, the Fraggle Rock film and various other projects.
I am for real puppets firts, but kudos for trying to create something more endearing out of today's technology.
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