Thursday, November 23, 2017

On The Air: Wild Kratts (2011)

I had this next entry up before, but the episodes I was using were getting deleted, so I took it down, figuring to bring it back again another day. Today being Thanksgiving, this is the perfect time.

Chris & Martin Kratt have been a part of PBS' children's programming for several years now, starting with Kratts' Creatures. Their current series, the 1/2-live action, 1/2-animated Wild Kratts, has just begun its 5th season, spread out over a 6 year period.

The brothers voice their own animated selves, and also write and/or direct episodes. If they're thinking of being a pair of modern day Marlin Perkins clones, they're fooling themselves.

Anyway, the gimmick here is that the brothers use some special suits to mimic the abilities of certain animals. Kind of like DC Comics' Vixen, but nowhere near close to her level. There is a recurring villain, too, a gourmet chef who serves as a parody of real life celebrity chefs (i.e. Justin Wilson).

Fittingly, for Thanksgiving, we present "Happy Turkey Day":

Edit, 11/3/2020: Had to change the video. Complete episodes are no longer available, so we'll settle for this excerpt. 



Parents, you might want to give your kids some Wild Kingdom DVD's, if they want to learn more in depth about the animal kingdom, rather than buy into these clowns' lessons as gospel.

Rating: B-.

6 comments:

Silverstar said...

Recently a Whole Foods store opened up in Columbia MD, Ellicott City, the county adjacent to where I live. We visited there, and I noticed the shelves were stacked with Wild Kratts themed foods and snacks. I remember thinking, "That's still on?".

hobbyfan said...

Yep. Six years and counting.

Chris Sobieniak said...

A policy with Mutual of Omaha Insurance isn't bad either!

hobbyfan said...

Sponsorship, y'mean?

Chris Sobieniak said...

Oh I'm sure, but I'm also sure the intentions were subtle.

Chris Sobieniak said...

Though it should also be pointed the show was owned by them too (and I'm sure it still is).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkQiokBNajw