Wild Kratts

Wild Kratts is an educational children's television series that uses a hybrid of live action and animation. The series was created by the Kratt brothers, zoologists Chris and Martin, and produced by The Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Media Group, with it being presented by TVOKids in Canada, and PBS Kids in the United States. The show's aim is to educate children about species, biology, zoology, and ecology, and how small actions can have a big impact. It has ties to the Kratts' previous shows, Kratts' Creatures and Zoboomafoo, and features several characters from the latter.
Starting in 2011 (2011), and having aired for over 10 years, Wild Kratts is the longest-running program made by the Kratt Brothers. It was also the last show to premiere on the PBS Kids Go! block before the block was discontinued in 2013 (2013) in favor of PBS Kids targeting a broader audience. The show was a finalist for a Peabody Award and a Television Critics Association Award.
Each episode begins with a cold open live-action segment in which the Kratt brothers describe the characteristics and abilities of a particular species of animal, which they refer to as their "creature powers", that is featured in the episode. They segue into the episode by asking "Imagine we had the powers" of the animal and then posing while saying "What if?" together, transforming them into animated versions of themselves. The episode then transitions to the animated segment, where the brothers go on expeditions to study animals "living free and in the wild." They usually end up rescuing animals from threats caused by a baby animal's confusion, human influence, or villains such as Zach Varmitech, Gaston Gourmand, Donita Donata and Dabio, and Paisley Paver and Rex. Some episodes aim to change how animals, such as bats and crocodiles, are perceived by showing how they are an important part of their habitat.
The Kratt brothers are supported by Aviva Corcovado, a biomechanical engineer who invented "creature power suits", which allow humans to mimic the abilities of animals, and other equipment to aid the brothers in studying animals and defeating villains; Koki, a mechanical engineer and computer expert who maintains their flying turtle ship, the Tortuga; and Jimmy Z, the Tortuga's pilot, who operates the teleporter to send equipment to the brothers and helps Aviva test inventions. Along the way, the team and viewers learn about animals as the team uses creature powers to right wrongs or get out of the situations they find themselves in. They also occasionally enlist the help of the Wild Kratts Kids, children who help the Wild Kratts from their homes in any way they can, whether it be moving animals, helping to rebuild habitats, or providing local knowledge about the animal in question.
At the end of each episode, the animated segment transitions back to the live-action segment, with the Kratt brothers reiterating the animal's powers and, before the end credits, signing off by saying "Keep on creature adventuring! We'll see you on the creature trail!"
Wild Kratts is the newest of the Kratt Brothers' television series, preceded by Kratts' Creatures (1996 (1996)), Zoboomafoo (1999 (1999)–2001 (2001)), and Be the Creature (2003 (2003)–2007 (2007)). The series combines animation and live action, featuring a live-action intro that sets up the animated segment and introduces the focus animal or focus trait/behavior if more than one animal is the focus, the main animated segment, and a concluding live-action segment.
Episodes are written by either Chris or Martin Kratt, who also serve as executive producers, Eva Almos, who also voices Donita Donata, or Chris Roy. It is filmed in Canada, the United States, and several other countries. The character designs were done by Ben Balistreri, who also worked on The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, and Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. PBS dedicated nearly $500,000 to developing the series.
The series debuted on January 3, 2011 (2011-01-03) on most PBS stations, and currently has 170 episodes across 7 seasons. International rights were signed by 9 Story in September 2010 (2010-09), with North American rights being held by the Kratt Brothers Company.
PBS Kids often releases episodes out of order. For instance, the episode "Polar Bears Don't Dance", which is the pilot episode but airs as the seventh episode on PBS stations, features an art style different from the rest of the series and was also omitted from the first DVD release. Additionally, it is directed by Luc Chamberland, who did not direct any other episodes. Foreign countries seem to get future episodes before the United States and Canada does, as the episode "Caracal-Minton" aired in South America before it did in English.
After the premiere of "The Great Creature Tail Fail", on October 7, 2020 (2020-10-07), the series went into hiatus for nine months due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Kratt Brothers focusing more on live appearances. However, it was later announced that a new episode called "Cats and Dogs" would air on July 12, 2021 (2021-07-12) as part of the sixth season. Heather Bambrick did not reprise her role as Koki due to controversy over her voicing an African American character, and her role was replaced by Canadian black actress Sabryn Rock. "Cats and Dogs" was the only episode to air in 2021 (2021) and served as the Season 6 finale, after which the series went into another hiatus, with no new episodes airing in 2022 (2022).
On July 5, 2021 (2021-07-05), it was announced that the series had begun production on season 7, which later premiered on May 22, 2023 (2023-05-22). Additionally, a feature film and autobiography have been confirmed to be in development, with the film being the first theatrical adaptation of the Kratt Brothers' series.
Wild Kratts airs on PBS Kids in the United States and Africa. In Canada it is shown on TVOKids in Ontario, Knowledge Network in British Columbia, and Télé-Québec in Quebec. In Latin American, it is shown on Discovery Kids. In Australia, it is shown on ABC Kids and GO!. In Catalonia, Sx3 (previously Super3) airs dubbed episodes from Seasons 1-6. Season 1 and 2 are available on Netflix Singapore. In the United Kingdom, it is shown on POP. Netflix Canada streams Seasons 3-4.
Jacqueline Cutler of The Baltimore Sun wrote, "The best of what PBS kids shows can be."
This is a list of home video DVD releases:
Creature Adventures – April 5, 2011 (2011-04-05)
Predator Power – March 20, 2012 (2012-03-20)
Jungle Animals – July 10, 2012 (2012-07-10)
Lost at Sea – January 22, 2013 (2013-01-22)
Rainforest Rescue – April 9, 2013 (2013-04-09)
Bugging Out – February 25, 2014 (2014-02-25)
Tiny Trouble – June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10)
Shark-Tastic! – April 14, 2015 (2015-04-14)
Super Sprinters – June 23, 2015 (2015-06-23)
Australian Adventures – January 6, 2016 (2016-01-06)
Wild Animal Babies – May 3, 2016 (2016-05-03)
Wild Reptiles – August 23, 2016 (2016-08-23)
A Creature Christmas – October 4, 2016 (2016-10-04)
Panda-Monium – April 2017 (2017-04)
Wild Winter Creatures – October 10, 2017 (2017-10-10)
Triple Feature: Rainforest Rescue, Lost at Sea, and Predator Power –
Around the World Adventure: With 22 episodes –
Madagascar Madness –
Adventures on the African Savanna –
Cats and Dogs –
The Briny Blue Sea –
Creepy Creatures –
PBS Kids: 20 Snowy Tales –
PBS Kids: 20 Sports Stories –
PBS Kids: 20 Furry Tales –
PBS Kids: 15 Sports Tales –
PBS Kids: 15 Frozen Tales –
PBS Kids: Ocean Adventures –
PBS Kids: 15 Pet-Tastic Tails! –
PBS Kids: 20 Music Tales –
PBS Kids: 20 Incredible Tales –
PBS Kids: Happy Birthday! –
PBS Kids: Christmas Collection –
PBS KIDS: Play Date Triple Feature! –
PBS KIDS: Secret Superheroes! –
PBS KIDS: Just A Little Bit Spooky! –
PBS KIDS: We Love Camping! –
PBS KIDS: Get Up and Dance! –
PBS KIDS: 17 Puppy Adventures –
PBS KIDS: 15 Sibling Stories –
PBS KIDS: Barnyard Buddies –
Wildest Animal Adventures –
During the end-credits of each Wild Kratts episode, the animated Kratt Brothers would encourage young audiences watching to go to the Wild Kratts website at PBS Kids.org to play several online games and collect Creature Powers. From January 3, 2011, to February 2, 2019, there was an assortment of games on the website in which the player could create their own “Wild Kratts” character, earn collectibles such as photos and Creature Power Discs, and explore different animals and habitats featured in the series proper, such as the African Savannah, or the Indonesian Rainforest. The collectibles on the site could be saved should the player make a PBS Kids account in order to preserve their progress. On July 26, 2017, Adobe renounced Flash and announced its End-Of-Life as a result of the several security issues in the program's code. This resulted in a massive purge of flash content that had made up 80% of the PBS Kids website, including Wild Kratts. On February 2, 2019, the Wild Kratts flash games were taken down from the website, and eventually preserved onto the Flashpoint Archive (with the exception of ‘’Flower Flier’’, as well as the 5 path levels from ‘’Creature Roundup’’). Despite this, the end-credits of the series were not altered to reflect this change.
A Wild Kratts magazine appeared in Wal-Mart in October 2017 (2017-10). It had animals from when the show’s premiere 2011 (2011) to about until 2017 (2017).
In 2016 (2016), Whole Foods Market introduced a line of products including crackers, vitamins, and soap carrying the WILD KRATTS branding.
Two theatrical live shows based on the animated series premiered at an unknown time at a large stage. The first stage show featured the Kratt Brothers leaping out of the animation and interacting with the audience, and later using their Creature Power Suits to rescue the miniaturizer from Zach Varmitech. A theatrical sequel to that live show in 2019 (2019) titled Wild Kratts Live 2.0: Activate Creature Power! premiered at a live stage. The live stage performance had featured the live-action Kratt Brothers shrinking down and exploring, only to later rescue their Creature Power discs from Zach.