Hi. Come on in!

Our first (animated) baby turned 20 this year and it honestly feels like yesterday that a puppy named Blue was introduced to Steve for the very first time! So with Blue’s Clues now 20 and Nick Animation turning 25, how could I not sit down with Nickelodeon Animation Podcast’s Hector Navarro (@Hectorisfunny) to discuss the origins of Blue’s Clues and what made it stand out from the pack for such a period of time?!

While it’s true that our firsts are forever ingrained in our headspace, Blue, Salt, Pepper, Mailbox, Paprika, Tickety and the rest of the Blue’s Clues family will forever take up a little spot in my heart, regardless of their 2-Dimensionality.  And of course my BFF & co-creator, Traci Paige Johnson, joined us for our 40 minute talk below:

While Blue’s Clues changed the way kids interact with television, it changed the way I viewed the power of a medium that many gave little respect to.

Lord knows, my other kids (Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Super Why!, Creative Galaxy, Wishenpoof etc.) would have never been created without their older sibling teaching me, and many others, a lesson or two.

 Special thanks to Hector Navarro at The Nickelodeon Animation Podcast for being such an amazing host on this podcast!

Today I heard from an old friend..Blue’s Clues’ SIDE TABLE DRAWER, also known as Aleisha LaNae’ Allen, M.S.!!

 

Hello Angela,

My name is Aleisha L. Allen; I was the voice of Side Table Drawer for the Blue’s Clues Series! I hope all is well! 

I wanted to reach out to you because I graduated from Teachers College (Columbia University) this past May with an M.S. in Communication Science and Disorders (CSD)- Speech Language Pathology. Shortly after, I found out that you, too, attended TC! Similarly, we both studied subjects regarding Childhood Development!  

It was such a pleasure to be THE Side Table Drawer and always be there for Steve when he needed his “Handy Dandy Notebook”. It was one of my first reccurring roles, and one that is my favorite, as well as the favorite of so many. So, I owe you a HUGE “Thank You!”.    🙂

As a recent graduate, I am aiming to resume my acting, particularly voice overs, as well as culminate what I’ve learned about Childhood Language Development and talents to be innovative! The goal with having my degree is to bridge both of my careers in order to provide effective services for individuals with communication disorders.

Again, thank you so much. Congratulations on your successes and innovations, and I hope to hear from you soon.

Best Always!

Aleisha

“How Do You Make a Hit Children’s Show?” is the question I typically hear from parents, students, artists and writers as I meet them for the first time. While everyone’s got their own system to create educational media for children, I shared mine this week at The 4th Annual International Children’s Media Conference in Istanbul, Turkey, via live stream.

I was excited to journey outside my typical neighborhood with this project because a key to a better tomorrow lies within the education and happiness of children, on a global scale.

During the talk, I mentioned the importance of understanding one’s vision and the necessity of creating aspirational characters. Using Blue’s Clues, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Super Why!, Creative Galaxy & Wishenpoof as tangible examples of how I implemented such features, I explained their characters’ development and how each show’s curriculum helped to enhance their stories. I typically allude to the secret sauce and timing when discussing my projects, which are both imperative to a “Hit Children’s Show”.

 Special thanks to Hatice Şehime ÖZÜTLER (TRT Çocuk) for inviting me to share, amidst an educated panel, for this special project.

 As a result of your incredible feedback, I let you know (over a year ago) that our second show for Amazon Studios, Wishenpoof, had received the green light for series production. After many, many months of notes, scripting, sketches, character designs, storyboarding, scoring, animatics, recording, rendering, editing, research, more research and much, much more, I can finally see the light!!

So on August 14th, our latest, most magical Wishenpoof will premier for Amazon Prime Members in the US, UK and Germany! A fun, magical adventure series that teaches lessons through imaginative play, Wishenpoof inspires children to solve life’s big preschool problems in creative ways.

There’s been a nice amount of press about Wishenpoof‘s release and with a BIG premier party staged in New York City’s Central Park, everyone will start to feel there’s magic in the air!

I can’t thank you all enough for your incredible support and I hope your kids LOVE it!!

xo

Angela

Not a Prime member yet? You can sign up for a free trial at amazon.com/prime.

related stories:

There has been a good amount of feedback and support for our Sara Solves It pilot.  But unfortunately Sara and her pals will not be moving into the Amazon Studios lineup, as they have decided against making the series at this point in time.

But fear not! We’ve got plenty of scrumptious and smart kids media being served, as well as quite a few other incredible delicacies that are brewing in the pot!

Should this newfound information cause you and your little ones restless nights or if you simply loved the program as much as I did, feel free to share your feelings with my friends over at Amazon Studios.

A million thanks to my team at Out Of The Blue, my partner on this project, Carol Greenwald, the Amazon Studios team for the opportunity and, of course you, for your support.

Thanks

~Angela

After a successful first season of programming, Amazon Studios has agreed to green light a second season for four of their original children’s series: Creative Galaxy, Annedroids, Gortimer Gibbon’s Life on Normal Street, and  Tumble Leaf. Congratulations to all of the production teams involved with these uniquely smart programs.

In an effort to strengthen and foster a love of the arts among the preschool set, we launched our Season I of Creative Galaxy on June 27th, 2014. Some incredibly talented actors lent their voices to the show, such as Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, Cloris Leachman, Jason Priestley and Brooke Shields.  But I honestly couldn’t have imagined the quick support Creative Galaxy has received in such a short amount of time!

If you haven’t checked out Creative Galaxy, may I ask why? 😉 It follows the adventures of Arty, an alien artist who soars to colorful planets of inspiration to teach children about art & culture and includes iconic artwork by painters such as Jackson Pollock and Georges Seurat.

Thank you to everyone that’s tuned in and left such incredible feedback over at Amazon Studios and here on Angela’s Clues. My team at Out Of The Blue Enterprises (and beyond) works tirelessly to bring quality media to kids. Simply stated..we appreciate your smart media diet.

Related Posts:   

The Parents’ Choice Awards help parents make informed decision. This time around, they’ve given gold medals to PBS Kids’ Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Amazon Studios’ Creative Galaxy!!

The Parents’ Choice Awards provide a service to the millions of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and caregivers all over this country who are time-pressed and simply don’t have even a moment to pre-screen every product they give the kids in their lives. Since 1978, this is where the Parents’ Choice resource has stepped in.

Needless to say, we are proud and honored to be listed among their Spring 2015 award winners!

“The Parents’ Choice Gold Awards are given to those books, toys, games, videos, software, magazines, audio recordings, and television programs that are judged as the highest quality, most appealing products in their genre. Criteria for judgments include the highest production standards, universal human values and a unique, individual quality that pushes the product a notch above others.”

-Parents’ Choice

Here’s a little backstory on our latest pilot for Amazon Studios’ Sara Solves It.

It features the brother and sister duo Sara and Sam on relatable mysteries that spring from the questions young children encounter in their daily lives. Each mystery is an interactive, math-based puzzle.

Feel free to review Sara Solves It on Amazon Studios & be sure to let them know what you think during the 30 day pilot voting period!

xo

Angela

Sincere gratitude to NPR, in particular Erika Beras, behavioral health reporter at WESA-FM, for your NPR Morning Edition piece: Daniel Tiger: Won’t You Be His Neighbor which aired this morning.

I can’t begin to explain how grateful we are for our 36 million video streams per month!

While high ratings and streams aren’t frowned upon around here, it’s truly because they serve as a testament that parents yearn for quality, “good for you” programming for their children.

For many of us, such positive reviews help make the labor and the difficulties of work, take a backseat.

Thank you to my incredible Out of the Blue Enterprises family, as well as our team over at The Fred Rogers Company, PBS Kids, 9 Story Entertainment & Voodoo Highway Music & Post.  The magic that is Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood couldn’t happen without each one of you!

Have a listen to the NPR piece Daniel Tiger: Won’t You Be His Neighbor right here & let us know what you think about the show by commenting below:

And a special shout out for Blue’s Clues as well! #happymamma

I recently talked to Seattle’s GeekWire boys, Todd Bishop & John Cook, about Creative Galaxy (Amazon Prime Video). They had some interesting questions about the unique, non-broadcast process and what makes the world of Creative Galaxy inspire a love of arts and creativity within children.

In an age that unfortunately contains more than our fair share of sub par content and an abuse/overuse of technology, we cut through the clutter during this GeekWire podcast segment and dive right into how we can properly embrace and utilize new media for our kids development and enjoyment. And yes, you’ll find a shout out or two for Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Blue’s Clues

Click below to enjoy the show & let me know if you have any questions please.