Little Einsteins

Little Einsteins is an American animated children's television series based on the Baby Einstein line of videos. Produced by The Baby Einstein Company (at the time owned by Disney) and animated by Curious Pictures, it marked the Baby Einstein Company's first project for preschoolers.[1] The series follows the adventures of a group of four young children: Leo, June, Quincy, and Annie, who travel around the world in their friend Rocket and go on missions. The group must work together to achieve their goal by solving a problem, helping someone, or finding something.
Little Einsteins was announced in November 2001, when Disney purchased The Baby Einstein Company. Press releases stated "there are already plans to extend the Baby Einstein brand into a Little Einstein product line aimed at preschoolers."[2] The show's concept and characters were developed by Douglas Wood, with further development led by Emmy Award-winning director Olexa Hewryk and Dora the Explorer co-creator Eric Weiner. Like the original Baby Einstein series, Little Einsteins makes heavy use of classical music. According to Common Sense Media, both series share the same "philosophy of artistic visuals and stimulating classical music to enhance brain development and learning."[3]
Little Einsteins started out with a direct-to-video film, Our Huge Adventure, that was released on August 23, 2005. The series proper premiered on Playhouse Disney on October 9, 2005, and ended on December 22, 2009, after two seasons and 67 episodes.
== Overview[edit] ==
Little Einsteins was designed to teach the target demographic art and music appreciation by integrating famous or culturally significant art works (usually, but not exclusively, paintings) and classical music (most typically from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras) into the scenery, story and soundtrack of each episode. The show is also designed to encourage viewer interaction (such as encouraging the audience to pat their knees, gesture or sing along to help the characters succeed on their "mission").
== Episodes[edit] ==
Main article: List of Little Einsteins episodes
Season	Episodes	Episodes	Originally aired	Originally aired 	Originally aired
Season	Episodes	Episodes	First aired 	Last aired 	Network
1 	29 	1 	August 23, 2005 	August 23, 2005 	Direct-to-video
1 	29 	28 	October 9, 2005 	November 20, 2006	Playhouse Disney
2 	40 	39 	January 13, 2007	December 22, 2009	Playhouse Disney
2 	40 	1 	August 21, 2007 	August 21, 2007 	Direct-to-video
== Broadcast[edit] ==
The first regular episode of Little Einsteins premiered in the United States on October 9, 2005 on Disney Channel, through the Playhouse Disney block. The final regular episode aired on December 22, 2009, and a standalone special titled "Rocket's Firebird Rescue" was released direct-to-DVD on August 21, 2007. The series continued to air in reruns afterward, including after Playhouse Disney was rebranded as Disney Junior on February 14, 2011, through March 25, 2019. The show is currently available on Disney+ and DisneyNow.
Category:2005 American television series debuts
Category:2005 animated television series debuts
Category:2009 American television series endings
Category:2000s American animated television series
Category:American preschool education television series
Category:American children's animated adventure television series
Category:American children's animated musical television series
Category:American children's animated fantasy television series
Category:American children's animated comedy television series
Category:American flash animated television series
Category:Animated preschool education television series
Category:2000s preschool education television series
Category:Animated television series about children
Category:Animated television series about siblings
Category:Disney animated television series
Category:Disney Channel original programming
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:Television series by Curious Pictures
Category:Television series by Disney
Category:Disney Junior original programming