Big and Small

Big and Small work to coexist and understand each other in the preschool series Big and Small.

Big and Small is a new Canadian/U.K. co-production for preschoolers featuring puppets by the Grogs (of Mr. Meaty and Nanalan' fame) that debuted this week here in Canada. It's a brilliantly simple concept built around two best friends who are, well, big and small. Small has to learn to cope with big stuff, and Big has to learn to be tolerant of a small creature who can't sit still in one place very long. It's a wonderfully simple metaphor and really charming series.

Big and Small airs on Treehouse TV in Canada and Cbeebies in the UK. Clips from the show are available to watch online here and here.

Weekend Puppet Catch-Up

Sorry for the lack of updates this past week; I'm moving at the end of the month and having been busy looking for a new house/apartment. To make it up to you, here's a bunch of puppet stuff to take a glance at:

Hawk Attacks Puppetry Centre Employees - A red-tailed hawk was confused by a bird-shaped puppet that two people at the Centre for Puppetry Arts were photographing and swooped down to attack. Thankfully, no humans, hawks or puppets were harmed.

More Stars for Letters to Santa - Uma Thurman and Jesse L. Martin have joined the cast of the upcoming Muppet Christmas movie Letters to Santa.

Who's The Dummy Now? - Ventriloquism's $100 million man Terry Fator (see previous post) has a new book coming out. It's available to preorder from Amazon.

Imagination Movers - This kids' band has a new series on Disney Playhouse featuring a puppet called "The Warehouse Mouse" designed by Tim Lagasse and performed by Kevin Carlson.

Roll Play Rolls in to Season Two

The Canadian series Roll Play aims to get kids up off their couches.

Roll Play (see previous post) is rolling in to its second season on Treehouse TV in Canada. The preschool series features a cast of irrepressible kids and black light puppet characters acting out movement from a mixture of stories and songs. The puppetry on the show is provided by Famous PEOPLE Players with character voices by Canadian puppeteer Marty Stelnick. You can see a music video from the show here.

Roll Plays airs in Canada on Treehouse TV weekdays at 8:25 a.m. and 3:25 p.m., and Sundays at 10:25 a.m.

New Henson TV Shows

Sid The Science Kid is just one of several new shows coming to TV from the Jim Henson Company.

The Jim Henson Company must be a busy place to be these days; they've got a bunch of new projects in the works, including the previously-blogged Fraggle Rock movie and three new TV shows for kids! Jim Henson's Pajanimals is a live-action musical series that will debut on the Sprout cable channel in U.S. in November. The show features four soft, cuddly puppets that entertain and comfort viewers with bedtime-themed songs and stories.

Henson's long-in-development digital puppetry series Frances is based on a popular series of books from Russell Hoban, debuts on Sprout this summer as part of a new "Summer Fun Fridays" programming block that runs from June 20 until the end of August. Look for the first episode June 20, 2008 at 12:00pm (noon) in most markets (via The Muppet Newsflash).

Finally, Sid The Science Kid - another animated series made using the Henson Digital Performance System - debuts on PBS on Monday, September 1, 2008 as part of the PBS Kids programing block. "Sid" is a curriculum-based show designed to teach basic science basics to 3-6 year-olds using comedy.

Bunnytown

Puppeteer/producer David Rudman poses with the adorable bunnies of Bunnytown.

If you haven't seen Bunnytown, it's just about the cutest thing with puppets on TV right now. Bunnytown is set in an adorable little world populated by 8 inch tall bunny puppets controlled by rods, strings and animatronics. was created by Spiffy Pictures, the folks behind Jack's Big Music Show and Curious Buddies. There don't seem to be any episodes available to watch online, but you can check out an interview with the Bunnies on TV.com as well as MSN Video.

National Public Radio in the U.S. has a short video interview with David Rudman (link via Puppeteers Unite), one of Bunnytown's creators and the puppeteer who performs Baby Bear and Cookie Monster on Sesame Street. In addition to David, the cast is made up of a mixture of outstanding British and American puppeteers that includes Alice Dinnean Vernon, Eric Jacobson, Mark Jefferis, Nigel Plaskitt, Victoria Willing and Mak Wilson.

Johnny and the Sprites on Broadway

John Tartaglia and the puppet stars of Johnny and the Sprites are raising money for Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS with a special live performance.

The Johnny and the Sprites (see previous post) is coming to Broadway! John Tartaglia and the puppet characters (and their puppeteers) from the hit Playhouse Disney kids' show are taking the stage Sunday February 3rd for a special live performance to benefit Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. A meet and greet with John is planned for after the show so fans can take pictures and get autographs too. If you're in or near New York and have children (or know someone who does) this sounds like a great way to spend an afternoon on Broadway and help raise money for a good cause. For tickets and more information visit www.broadwaycares.org or call (212) 840-0770 ext. 268.

Thanks to Jamie for sending this in!

Nice Nanalan' Moment

Two puppets from the Canadian series Nanalan' share a special moment with the "Nana" who inspired the series.

This is a really sweet song from the Canadian series Nanalan' (see previous post), featuring puppeteers Jamie Shannon and Todd Doldersum (nice guys and talented puppeteers both) and their puppets singing to Jamie's real-life Nana, who inspired the series.

If you haven't seen Nanalan', it's probably one of the sweetest, most creative preschool puppet shows out there and I highly recommend it if you haven't already seen it. The series airs on CBC in Canada, PBS in the United States and on Fox Kids in the UK.

Video link via Puppet Buzz.

Harry The Bunny

The preschool series Harry The Bunny is seen in Canada, the U.S. and England.

Harry the Bunny looks like a cute show for preschoolers. The series is built around Harry, "a curious 3 year old bunny who loves exploring fun new things," was broadcast in England, Canada and the U.S. and was shot in Isreal. Ilan Savir (see previous post) was the bunny's lead puppeteer, assisted by Ornan Brier. There's a clip of Harry the Bunny available on YouTube.

Thanks to Ilan for sending this in!

Jon Stewart on Jack's Big Music Show

Jon Stewart is a guest star on an upcoming episode of Jack's Big Music Show.

The new year brings new episodes of the adorable preschool series Jack's Big Music Show (see previous post) and a special guest appearance by Jon Stewart on the show's February 2nd episode. Jack's Big Music Show airs daily at 1 p.m. in the United States on Noggin. For other air times in other countries check your local listings.