Wild Kratts

***Wild Kratts*** is an American-Canadian live action/flash-animated television series created by the Kratt brothers, Chris and Martin. The Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Media Group produce the show, which is presented by PBS in the United States and by TVOKids in Canada. The show's aim is to educate children about biology, zoology, and ecology, and teach kids small ways to make big impacts. It has ties to the Kratts' previous shows, *Kratts' Creatures* and *Zoboomafoo*, and contains numerous characters from the latter. Spanning over ten years, *Wild Kratts* is the longest running program made by the Kratt Brothers.

The show is broadcast in the United States and Africa (PBS Kids) (was on Qubo), Canada (TVOntario, Knowledge and Tele Quebec), Latin America, Brazil, Australia (9Go!), Spain, the United Kingdom (POP), Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands (Dutch-dubbed versions as Kratts in the Wild), Middle East, Korea, Japan, India and Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, China, Taiwan, New Zealand, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia in Serbian.

## Premise

Each episode begins and ends with live-action film of the Kratt brothers describing the characteristics and capabilities of a particular species of animal (which they characterize as "creature powers") featured in the story. They segue into the episode by asking, "*What if* we had the powers" of this animal, and strike a dramatic pose, as the scene changes to their cartoon images. The brothers go on expeditions to study animals "living free and in the wild", but usually end up having to rescue them from threats caused by confusion on a baby animal's part; general human influence; or from villains such as Zach Varmitech, Gaston Gourmand, Donita Donata and Dabio, or Paisley Paver and Rex. Some episodes aim to change the way some creatures (such as bats and crocodiles) are perceived as threatening.

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 their animal studies and defeating the villains. Koki is a mechanical engineer and computer expert who maintains their flying turtle ship, the *Tortuga*, which is piloted by Jimmy Z. Jimmy also operates the teleporter to send equipment such as new Creature Power discs to the Kratt brothers, and helps Aviva test her inventions. Along the way, viewers learn about the animals as the team figure out ways to either right wrongs or to get out of the situations they are in.

Some of their adventures put them in grave danger. In some episodes, such as "Platypus Café", "Honey Seekers", and "Opossum in my Pocket", the villain (Gaston Gourmand) intended to cause harm to one of the brothers. In other episodes, the villain had not thought it through (Zach in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus"), or was not aware of the medical risks involved. They occasionally enlist the help of the Wild Kratts Kids, children who help the Wild Kratts from their home however they can, whether it is moving animals or helping rebuild habitats, or providing local knowledge about the creature in question.