Elinor Wonders Why

**Elinor Wonders Why** is an American-Canadian children's animated television series created by **Jorge Cham, Daniel Whiteson,** and produced by **Pipeline Studios** and **Shoe Ink**. The series premiered on **PBS Kids** on September 7, 2020.

A television film titled "**Wonderful Journeys**" was released on April 18, 2022.

## Premise

The exploration-themed series encourages children to follow their curiosity, ask questions they don't understand and find answers using science inquiry skills. It features the main character, **Elinor**, a bunny rabbit who is most observant and curious in a place called **Animal Town**, which is just north of **Natural Forest**, **California**. She introduces young children to science, nature, and communities through adventures with her friends **Olive** and **Ari**. Each episode includes two 11-minute animated stories, plus interstitial content, where Elinor and her classmates enjoy either **Señor Tapir** singing about famous nature explorers or **Ms. Mole** reading stories.

## Characters

**Main**

* **Elinor -** A young white bunny girl who has an inquisitive nature and a sweet personality. She is curious and observant of the world around her and will never of let go of something she can't understand until it is figured out. Elinor often learns something about nature’s ingenious inventions and how they can connect to ideas in our designed world, and what it takes to live in a community. Her favorite foods are carrots, raisins, cheese and backyard soup.
* **Ari -** A funny, imaginative and energetic light brown bat boy who lives in a hollow boulder, and is one of Elinor's friends. He enjoys getting dirty to a certain extent where it is exciting for him. His favorite foods are pickles with peanut butter, raisins and bagels and loves his favorite toy, **Robin**.
* **Olive -** A warm and perceptive elephant calf girl who is one of Elinor's best friends. She often makes charts for whatever questions are being asked. Olive is by far the smartest of the trio, and enjoys reading books and sharing facts that she finds. Her favorite foods are bananas and pretzels.
* **Ranger Rabbit -** Elinor's mother, who works as a park ranger.

**Recurring**

* **Olive's Mom -** Olive's mother.
* **Señor Tapir -** A tapir who sings about famous explorers and inventors during interstitials. He is very courteous to those around him. He enjoys playing the acoustic guitar, and is primarily seen playing for the children, and even for a small concert in the episode "**Make Music Naturally"**.
* **Mr. Raccoon -** A raccoon who runs a bakery. He is jovial and friendly, as he's very willing to give the children free samples of his products.
* **Rollie -** An armadillo who is one of Elinor, Ari, and Olive's classmates.
* **Ms. Llama -** A chef/lunchlady who prepares food, such as pancakes and coconut water. She also owns a fruit cart.
* **Mr. Dog -** A dog who loves to bury his things into the ground.
* **Tito Mouse -** A mouse who is one of Elinor, Ari, and Olive's classmates. He is excitable and energetic. Fitting of an explorer, he's curious and brave.
* **Mr. Bat -** Ari's father.
* **Mr. Lion -** An art teacher who loves to paint pictures.
* **Koa -** A brown quokka who is one of Elinor, Ari, and Olive's classmates. He is very laid-back, often referring to things as "**chill**." When questioned regarding the unusual growth of a plant by Elinor and her friends in the episode "**Zig Zag Plant**", he replies several times with simply "**nope**," before finally answering with "**yup**" when asked if he ever says anything other than "**nope**."
* **Camilla -** A camel who is a friend of Elinor, Ari, and Olive. She seems to be outgoing, cocky and a bit smug but can be a great friend to anyone. She loves that things are unique and special, as she usually calls them "**Flair**" and everything that has to do with royalty, which is why her room is decorated like a castle. In addition, she has a collection of bracelets, crowns and jewelry to look like a queen. She also doesn't bother to show off her things like the car they gave her on her birthday. Since the episode" **Leaf Charms**", she began to have a great fascination for leaves.
* **Sally Beaver -** A beaver who is one of Elinor, Ari, and Olive's classmates. Likely due to her teeth, Sally speaks with a lisp.
* **Mary & Lizzie Goat -** Twin goat girls who are Elinor, Ari, and Olive's classmates. Mary and Lizzie seem to share personalities, being girly and acting above their peers. Mary, unlike her sister, likes to dance.
* **Alejandro Possum -** A young possum boy who is one of Elinor's classmates. He is introduced in the episode "**The Town Picnic**", where he is very hungry and struggles to get ketchup out of a bottle. Alejandro is shown to be proficient at skating, as displayed in his minor appearance in "**Baby Steps**".
* **Silas -** A cheetah who is one of Elinor, Ari, and Olive's classmates. With what little is shown of him, Silas appears to be kind and friendly like his fellow classmates.
* **Baba & Bibi -** Elinor's paternal grandparents who live in **Desert Town**.
* **Deputy Mouse -** A mouse who works as a park ranger.
* **Ms. Beaver -** The mother of Sally Beaver.
* **Farmer Bear -** A female grizzly bear who works as a farmer in Animal Town.
* **Mrs. Tiger -** A tiger who is the mayor of Animal Town.
* **Ms. Bat -** Ari's mother.
* **Mr. Hamster -** A hamster who is a substitute teacher.
* **Siggy -** A young squirrel. He is very energetic and enthusiastic, who was willing to cheer on Elinor, Ari and Olive while they were having difficulties practicing their circus acts.
* **Lola -** Koa's big sister. She is a friendly, sporty girl who is an accomplished roller skater.
* **Mr. Beaver -** The father of Sally Beaver.
* **Mr. Hippo -** A hippo who is a wood worker.
* **Mr. Antelope -** A librarian who works at the **Animal Town Library**. He is amiable and smart, and somewhat humorous as well, encouraging others to visit and use the library. He seems to have trouble remembering Ari's name in particular, as he calls him "**Arnold**" even after a while of thinking and Ari telling Mr. Antelope his name multiple times.
* **Hazel -** Mr. Lion's daughter. Hazel is bright and cheery. She has a penchant for sweet things, whether they be smells or tastes. Because of this, she uses the word '**sweet**' often. This affinity is strong enough to distract her from doing things, as she went off to smell strawberries in Elinor's garden while she was playing catch with her and her friends.
* **Beatriz -** An inventor who appeared in "**A Wonderful Journey**". She is a long-time friend of **Ranger Rabbit**, who was once her babysitter, and had only seen Elinor when she was just a baby. Beatriz shares many personality traits with Elinor, as she enjoys exploring, making observations, and she invents things using Nature as inspiration. She is also friendly and enthusiastic like Ari, eager to make observations, and like Olive, draws her findings in a notebook. Beatriz is possibly of Spanish descent, as she sometimes uses Spanish language words in her sentences.

## Development

Development of the show began in 2017, when **Cham** and **Whiteson** were approached by **PBS**. PBS found Cham's comic, **Piled Higher And Deeper**, online and asked if he was interested in pitching to them. "**I reached out to Daniel, and what inspires us beyond science is our children," Cham recalled. "They are curious, and it motivated us to create the show**." Cham cites **Pogo And Calvin And Hobbes** as inspiration for the show's visual design, which he described as "**something that felt natural and calming, as opposed to overloaded or frenetic**."

The character of Elinor was inspired by Cham's own daughter, **Elinor**. Cham said "**She was about 4, which is just at that perfect age where she really does wonder why, all the time. Any answer you give her, she’ll (have) a follow-up question, another why**." **Cham** and **Whiteson** went with animals as the show's characters to make them "**appealing but also relatable at the same time**", and to "**highlight their range of skills and abilities"**.

## Episodes

**Elinor Wonders Why** - **Pipeline Studios** & **Shoe Ink**

**Season 1**

1. **Hiding In Plain Sight** / **Owl Girl**
2. **Backyard Soup** / **Colorful And Tasty**
3. **The Amazing Expandable Clubhouse** / **The Town Picnic**
4. **The Science Of Staying Warm** / **The Seed Of An Idea**
5. **The House That Ants Built** / **Special Places**
6. **The Tomato Drop** / **Look What I Can Do**
7. **The Lizard Lounge** / **Feathers**
8. **Bird Song** / **No Need To Shout**
9. **Ms. Mole's Glasses** / **Elinor Stops The Squish**
10. **Speed Racer** / **One Of These Goats**
11. **Leave It To Ari** / **Snow Friend**
12. **Wind In The Web** / **The Pokey Plant**
13. **Bubble House** / **The Syrup Tree**
14. **The Paper Trail** / **Bath Time**
15. **Make Music Naturally** / **Light The Way**
16. **These Sneezes** / **Ari's Lucky Shirt**
17. **Follow That Roly Poly** / **Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away**
18. **Water You Doing?** / **Thinking About Blinking**
19. **Feed The Birds** / **Señor Tapir Says Adios**
20. **Butterfly Babies** / **Elinor's Circus**
21. **Zig Zag Plant** / **Butterfly Drinks**
22. **Frozen Fish** / **Pirate Treasure**
23. **Burrowing Owl Girl** / **Olive's Tree**
24. **Speedy Swimming** / **Strawberry Jam**
25. **To Bee Or Not To Bee** / **Turtle Crossing**
26. **Big Trees** / **Baby Steps**
27. **Follow Your Nose** / **Leaf Charms**
28. **A Change Of Art** / **Litterbug**
29. **The Unsinkable Lynx** / **Rocky The Rock**
30. **Echo Location** / **Ears To You**
31. **Olive's Library** / **Nature Walk**
32. **Butterfly Library** / **More Than One Right Away**
33. **Underground Soup** / **Dandy Dandelions**
34. **A Moth Mystery** / **Just Peachy**
35. **A Garden For All** / **Band Of Explorers**
36. **The Little Drummer** / **Rest Is Best**
37. **Elinor's Fishy Friend** / **Do The Crane Dance**
38. **A Wonderful Journey: Part 1**
39. **A Wonderful Journey: Part 2**
40. **A Wonderful Journey: Part 3**

## Broadcast

The series premiered on **PBS Kids** in the **United States** on September 7, 2020, as a sneak peek by showing the first two episodes, before regularly airing new episodes on September 8. Some episodes are available on **Amazon Prime Video** in the United States.

**PBS International** has licensed the series to **Canada**, **Latin America**, **Finland**, **Israel**, **Sweden** and the **United Arab Emirates** via **Knowledge Network**, **Discovery Kids**, **Yle**, **Hop!**, **SVT** and **E-Junior**, respectively. The series also airs on **Australia** on the **PBS Kids** channel, which was started as a venture with **Foxtel** in July 2021.

## Home Media

A single DVD set titled "**Wonderful Journey**" was released in 2022. It is the only DVD of the entire series. PBS Kids also released its episodes onto their compilation DVD sets.

* **Elinor Wonders Why: A Wonderful Journey - DVD**

Elinor and her friends have a curious and fun adventure when they go camping with Ranger Rabbit to Hidden Lake, a place in the forest that they've never been to before. On their wonderful journey, they bump into Beatriz, an inventor and good friend of Ranger Rabbit's who studies frogs. But, on a hike to help Beatriz observe them, the kids discover that the frogs seem to be missing from the lake. Why? It's up to Elinor, Beatriz and her friends to solve the mystery of the missing frogs. Together, they discover the source of the problem: the lake is being dammed by sticks from a nearby road clearing project, causing the frogs to leave. By asking questions and getting inspiration from nature, the team invents a new tool that looks like a frog’s tongue to break loose the dam and save the frogs!

## Graphic Novel Books

**Elinor Wonders Why: Hiding in Plain Sight**, described as one of two launch titles for a graphic novel series based on the show, was announced in February 2022. Two titles, **Hiding in Plain Sight** and **Forest Giants***,* will release on September 6, 2022. Four new titles were announced, **Bugging Out**, **How To Carry A Cupcake**, **The Seed Of An Idea**, and **The Mystery Of The Zigzag Plant**, and are set to be released in 2023.

* **Hiding In Plain Sight**
* **Forest Giants**
* **Bugging Out**
* **How To Carry A Cupcake**
* **The Seed Of An Idea**
* **The Mystery Of The Zigzag Plant**

Elinor Wonders Why: Hiding In Plain Sight: Novel Book (September 2022)Elinor Wonders Why: Forest Giants: Novel Book (September 2022)Elinor Wonders Why: Bugging Out: Novel Book (June 2023)Elinor Wonders Why: How To Carry A Cupcake: Novel Book (June 2023)Elinor Wonders Why: The Seed Of An Idea: Novel Book (September 2023)Elinor Wonders Why: The Mystery Of The Zigzag Plant: Novel Book (September 2023)

## Games

Game releases of **Elinor Wonders Why...**

* **Elinor's Nature Adventure**
* **Ari's Wonderful Ideas**
* **Curious Campout**
* **Nature Sights & Sounds**
* **Backyard Life**
* **Soup's Up!**
* **Watch The Birdy**
* **Pond Life**
* **Hide & Seek**

## Reception

**Starr Rhett Rocque** of **Fast Company** wrote, "**This clever series...encourages curiosity**."

## Gallery

Elinor Wonders Why - TV PosterElinor Wonders Why - Logo