Wonder Pets on Nick Jr. : it's the next big thing

by Sarah Gilbert (Subscribe to Sarah Gilbert's posts) Apr 2nd 2006 7:14PM

Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Media, That's Entertainment

linny, tuck and ming-ming too - the wonderpets

When I saw the first advertisement for Nick Jr.'s latest animated television show targeted at preschoolers, I thought it must be a joke. Wonderpets? With a photo-realistic guinea pig, Linny, who likes to wear a cape and a baseball cap when he saves the day with his friends, Ming-ming the duck and Tuck the turtle, it seems more like the stuff of late-night drunken brainstorming than actual television. Linny, Tuck, and Ming-ming, too sing everything they do (evidently, "operetta is an art form particularly suited to children," according to the New York Times' article about the show).

But, then, in a world of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Booh-bah, well, anything's possible and it's probably targeted at your three-year-old.

The thing is, Everett and Truman, ages 3.5 and 11 months, respectively, love Wonder Pets. So does Jack, three-year-old son of Weblogs, Inc. lifers Niki and Brian Alvey. The music - each show's score is an original, and played by a real orchestra - is catchy and non-annoying. I love that the show manages to combine the furry-and-feathery cuteness of household pets with the noble, good vs. bad nature of superheroes. It's like Superman without the violence and evil.

The New York Times has some great detail about the creator, Josh Selig (credits include Piper O'Possum, Oobi, and Little Bill); the style of the show (it's "photo-puppetry animation"); and its message ("through teamwork, you can achieve amazing things"). As always, my question: are your kids watching it? And more importantly, do you like it?

Comments (86)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Christine Wells 1-31-2008 @ 6:45PM

im 11 and my sisters 13 and we both love the wonderpets! i dont have a problem w/ them i think theyre just fine + i am a hit of my school cause they think its awesome i can be myself & love what i wanna love wonderpets are adorable and it works out on noggin cause blues clues is on right after!im just a big little kid and since i have a lot of depressing days they make me feel good i love u guys dont change!!

Mark Smooth 2-06-2008 @ 12:37PM

My three daughters (7, 5, and 2 years old) are not allowed to watch shows which "Dumb it down" with baby talk. So Wonder Pets is out, and so is Sesame Street's Baby Bear. Come on, these kids are learning a new language everyday. Dumbing it down to be cute is irresponsible.

My 2 year old has learned every letter and many words from Super Why. I wish other bilingual programs were available. My father came here LEGALLY from Germany. How nice would it be to have some balance and have other cultures represented.

One thumb down for Wonder Pets. If not for the baby talk we would watch. Time for the show to realize they are teaching poor speech patterns. I bet they would argue, they are making these kids feel like the are not different.... too bad, they need to learn. I would NOT hire an adult who talked like this. I'm not being hard, I am being honest to the affect a poor example can have on children.

Jennifer 7-07-2008 @ 9:26AM

In the few episodes of Wonder Pets that i have seen I have noticed a high degree of prejudism. For instance: "The Wonder Pets Save the Ladybug" they emplied that North Carolinians are country style rednecks. I, for one, am not going to allow my child to witness this kind of show.

marnie 4-02-2006 @ 7:38PM

Both my kids (3 1/2 year old boy and 14 month girl) love Wonder Pets. My son actually cries when the episodes are over (yeah, we're working on that). And it's really watchable--my husband and I are constantly quoting the funny little things the furry guys sing. "He's stuck on some driftwood." "What is driftwood?" "It's wood that drifts." I was skeptical at first, but seriously, it's a huge hit in our house.

Kat 4-02-2006 @ 7:43PM

My daughter loves wonderpets, and it's not as annoying as some of the other shows on NickJR. like lazytown, dora and blues clues(joe drives me crazy)

Meredith 4-02-2006 @ 7:48PM

My 3 yr old lurves the Wonder Pets. So much so that last time it came on, she stood in the same spot, motionless, for the 22 minutes it was on.

She is constantly walking around singing the "Team work!" song. She asks for it often.

However, I am still a little miffed that the duck has to have a toddler speech impediment. Wouldn't it be better if our kids were able to hear the correct way to pronounce words?

Anna V. 4-02-2006 @ 8:09PM

I hate the Wonderpets; my daughter practically worships them. She sings the theme and the teamwork part ad nauseum. I too do not like the duck's speech impediment... it sounds too cutsie, among other things. I don't like the concept - the pets save baby animals, and then only afterwards do the parents come into the picture. My daughter did wonder where the animals' mommies were at first, but now it doesn't even phase her.

Of course, her heart still beats only for Diego.

Erika 4-02-2006 @ 8:23PM

I don't entirely hate the show but I get annoyed listening to the duck's speech problem too. It's fake anyway and sounds fake, and I think that's why it grates so much. (I watched the little "Making of Wonder Pets" thing where they were talking to the girls who do the voices for the pets, the duck girl said her R's just fine). Plus all the weird inconsistencies bother me - how DOES Tuck get up the sink drain when his tank is freestanding...?

For the most part it's catchy and a good show though, I do get the songs stuck in my head a bit and OUCH after a couple of hours of "Linny... Tuck... and Ming-Ming too!" over and over. It's also one of the shows I can't stand to watch reruns of over and over. (Not the chimp one AGAIN!!! Argh!)

Great show for the kids but I predict they'll tire of it sooner than other shows.

Anne 4-02-2006 @ 10:07PM

We love the show. My daughter sings the themes, which is wonderful because she doesn't talk much. My son who is 4 calls them wonderpants.

Anne

Eden 4-02-2006 @ 10:26PM

OMG The Wonderpets. My daughter (age 2.5) sings/chants the Wonderpets theme about every five minutes. She acts it out w/ her Backyardigans plushies. Everything these days is "It's a pan-da, stuck in as tree-ee!" "This is serious!" "We have to help her!" She's suggested to Dora & Boots, to Diego, to Blue, to Uniqua and every other favorite TV character dealing with any kind of animal (and to me & to her father) that they should call Wonderpets. Our phone rings & she says "The phone, the phone is ring-ing!"

At first The Wonderpets creeped me out, reminded me of a Quiznos commercial. Now I kind of dig their operatic delivery and little Ming-Ming in her aviator helmet... too cute. The only Wonderpets complaint I have is that I have to keep correcting "This is sewious" to "this is serious." Otherwise, I've seen much worse than this.

Uly 4-02-2006 @ 11:41PM

"Wouldn't it be better if our kids were able to hear the correct way to pronounce words?"

They *do* hear the correct way to pronounce words - from you, and from the other adults in their lives. I assume they spend more time talking to you than watching tv, right? So why worry? You're the bigger influence.

Apparently, the girl who has the role of the duck had that feature of toddler speech (it's not an impediment when it occurs in young children and they outgrow it) when she got the role. She lost it by the time they started making the show, but the producers had liked the way it sounded, so they asked her to keep it up for the show.

callistawolf 4-03-2006 @ 1:28AM

I only saw it once... and it sorta freaked me out. But I can see the value. Luckily, my son has outgrown that "stage"... however, do have one on the way and if this is as successful as it sounds, it'll probably still be around in 3-4 years. :)

chelle 4-03-2006 @ 2:02AM

I am glad my daughter is not alone in her new addiction to the Wonder Pets. Since we try to restrict her tv watching...we have had to move the time to include Wonder Pets.

bella 4-03-2006 @ 8:43AM

I love this show. My daughter is 5, still in pre school, and she loves it too!

mommy2boys 4-03-2006 @ 8:01PM

wonderpets is a winner in this house. C (my 3 year old) sings the theme all. day. long. it constantly gets stuck in my head. but i like how it's teaching him about teamwork. :)

victoria 4-05-2006 @ 11:53AM

My youngest daughter 5 loves wonderpets he older brother 7.5 has been patient watching it over spring break. He was asking me if the duck had something wrong with her tongue because she was harder to understand. I enjoy Opera so, that doesn't bother me but others have mentioned where are the parents. Now come on, Dora/Diego run all over the place and do dangerous things...where are their parents? I am hispanic and my parents wouldn't let me off the block or out of an adults line of sight when I was growing up. I never got to swing over a river full of snakes :) Some kids have all the luck.

ANNIE 4-06-2006 @ 7:50PM

As a social worker who works primarily with kids with all sorts of delays in their development I feel an need to reassure parents that hearing Ming Ming's speech is unlikely to cause any problems for your children. Some may mimic it-as they might mimic an accent. For kids who struggle with speech difficulties it is very affirming. It also may desensitize all children to this kind of speech problem and reduce teasing of kids who are effected. Most children mimic the speech because they recognize that it's different-only showing that they know correct articulation. Stop worrying and enjoy the show with your kids.

catherine kelley 4-07-2006 @ 9:42PM

Easy on the ducks speech impairement, my son is speech delayed and I think it is good for him to see and hear characters that have a speech problem as well.

Haze 4-08-2006 @ 11:50PM

Our house loves the wonder pets. We don't have a TV but our five year old loves to watch videos and play games on NickJr.com and that's how we discovered wonder pets! My 21 month and five year old love it. I can get them to pick up their toys when I start singing, "What's going to work? Teamwork!!!"

My husband and I think Ming Ming is hilarious and wouldn't change the way she talks for anything it! And really it's not how she talks it's her comments. All three of them are quite lovable. We love how it shows teamwork and "the together thing" And the whole saving other animals and flying to where they live...it's really educational.

We can't get enough of wonder pets. NickJr.com changes episodes frequently so we can see different ones but wish they had them on DVD because some of the older ones were the best ones.

A+++++ to NickJr and the producers of that show! Great kid show!!!

Katie 4-09-2006 @ 4:36PM

Ok I love wonder pets, they're awsome! They give great lessons and fun songs. To those of you who dislike Ming Ming's adorable speech impediment you're losers! Kids actually talk like that and the other animals do often correct her to show the audience how Rs are supposed to sound. To anyone who thinks the duck's speech is fake its not they actually have little children at the studio singing the songs. If you notice your kid sing the songs it's cute the first few times but after a while it gets annoying but let them keep singing no matter how annoying it gets. Music helps build character and so does this show. I wouldn't change a thing.

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