Work It Out Wombats! | |
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Genre | Preschool |
Created by | Kathy Waugh Marcy Gunther Robby Hoffman Marisa Wolsky |
Voices of | Ian Ho Mia Swami-Nathan Rain Janjua Yanna McIntosh |
Theme music composer |
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Opening theme | "Work It Out Wombats!" |
Ending theme | "Work It Out Wombats!" (instrumental) |
Composers |
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Country of origin | United States Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 29 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Marcy Gunther Marisa Wolsky |
Production companies | GBH Kids Pipeline Studios |
Original release | |
Network | PBS Kids |
Release | February 6, 2023 – present |
Work It Out Wombats! is a children's animated television series that premiered on February 6, 2023, on PBS Kids. The series is produced by GBH Kids and Pipeline Studios. [1] The podcast premiered on January 4, 2024. [2] [3]
The series follows Malik, Zadie, and Zeke, creative marsupial siblings who live with their grandmother (Super) in her treehouse apartment complex, known as the Treeborhood. [4] Every episode features them encountering a problem of some kind and using computational thinking to solve it. [5] In-between each of the episodes is a 90-second music video.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code [14] |
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1 | "Snout and About" "Zadie's Shell Shuffle" | Jeff Barker | Kathy Waugh Jiro C. Okada | February 6, 2023 | 103 |
"Snout and About": Zeke loses his beloved stuffed animal, Snout, so the wombats retrace their steps to find it. | |||||
2 | "Junior Supers" "Measure for Measure" | Jeff Barker | Monique D. Hall Deanna Oliver | February 6, 2023 | 101 |
"Junior Supers": Zadie and Malik are tasked to clean the Starlight Room while Super is attending to other things. | |||||
3 | "Special Delivery" "Campout Confusion" | Jeff Barker | Sherri Stoner Kathy Waugh | February 7, 2023 | 104 |
"Special Delivery": Sammy is sick, and Malik wants to deliver ice cream to him. He needs to find a way to stop the ice cream from melting. | |||||
4 | "Snout Wash Day" "A Super Recipe" | Jeff Barker | Cusi Cram & Peter K. Hirsch Nida Chowdhry | February 8, 2023 | 102 |
"Snout Wash Day": Snout is very dirty and needs to be washed, but Malik accidentally spills soap on the instructions. | |||||
5 | "Summerweenie Halloweenie" "Make It Snow" | Jeff Barker | Deanna Oliver Michael Olmo | February 9, 2023 | 110 |
"Summerweenie Halloweenie": The wombats go trick-or-treating in summer, and learn how to organize their treats by size and color. Mr. E doesn't like Halloween at first, but he grows to love it when he joins the wombats. | |||||
6 | "Crab Quakes" "Hopping Helpers" | Jeff Barker | Deanna Oliver Crescent Imani Novell | February 13, 2023 | 106 |
"Crab Quakes": The crabs are scared by something scary they heard, so they run away to the wombats' house to seek refuge. The wombats take it upon themselves to solve the mystery of what made the noise. They figure out that the noise came from a wind-up dragon toy. | |||||
7 | "Brother Day" "Cafe Chaos" | Jeff Barker | Darnell Lamont Walker Cooper Sweeney | February 14, 2023 | 107 |
"Brother Day": Malik learns the key to a successful brother day; ask the brother in question, Zeke, what he wants to do. | |||||
8 | "The Sleepover" "Secret Tunnels" | Jeff Barker | Glen Berger & Peter Ferland Chuck Tately | February 15, 2023 | 109 |
"The Sleepover": Zeke attends a sleepover at the Creation Station with Louisa and the crab kids, but the activities at the sleepover are nothing like his usual bedtime routine. | |||||
9 | "The Mighty Zeke" "Gift For a Fish" | Jeff Barker | Michael Olmo Kathy Waugh | February 16, 2023 | 105 |
"The Mighty Zeke": Malik and Zadie help Zeke overcome his fear of riding a two-wheeler. | |||||
10 | "Me Time" "Zadie and the Really Big, Really Loud Noisy Thing" | Jeff Barker | Cusi Cram & Peter Hirsch Sherri Stoner | February 20, 2023 | 108 |
"Me Time": After they find out that Super takes time off for herself every day, Malik and Zadie set out to create the perfect "Me Time." | |||||
11 | "Talent Turmoil" "Zeke's Collection Selection" | Jeff Barker | Cooper Sweeney Darnell Lamont Walker | February 21, 2023 | 114 |
"Talent Turmoil": The Treeborhood holds a talent show, and Zeke is in charge of everyone's props. Trouble arises when the props are put in the wrong order. | |||||
12 | "Helper For the Day" "Racecar Wombats" | Jeff Barker | Deanna Oliver Jessica Tsou | February 22, 2023 | 113 |
"Helper For the Day": Zeke helps Mr. E sort things at the Everything Emporium. | |||||
13 | "Sparklepants" "Game Changer" | Jeff Barker | Glen Berger & Peter Ferland Sherri Stoner | February 27, 2023 | 111 |
"Sparklepants": While preparing for Ellie's welcome home party, Mr. E accidentally orders 200 pairs of Sparklepants. It's up to JunJun and Zadie to figure out what to do with the pants before Ellie gets home from her vacation. | |||||
14 | "Bake It Til You Make It" "Zoom In Zadie" | Jeff Barker | Rachel Reuben Atul N. Rao | February 28, 2023 | 112 |
"Bake It Til You Make It": Zeke and Louisa sell mud pies in exchange for stickers, but they need to figure out how to bake the perfect pie. | |||||
15 | "Moo Moo Choo Choo" "Lake Bellyflop" | Jeff Barker | Sherri Stoner Crystal Villarreal | July 24, 2023 | 119 [15] |
"Moo Moo Choo Choo": The wombats unstick a stuck train. | |||||
16 | "3,2,1 Lift Off!" "Moon Magic" | Jeff Barker | Natalie Vazquez Kathy Waugh | July 25, 2023 | 118 [16] |
"3, 2, 1 Lift Off!": The wombats look for unicorns on the moon. | |||||
17 | "Color Fun" "A Super Invention" | Jeff Barker | Darnell Lamont Walker Deanna Oliver | July 26, 2023 | 122 [17] |
"Color Fun": The wombats invent a color game. | |||||
18 | "A Sleep Story for Ellie" "Super's Super Mug" | Jeff Barker | Sherri Stone Mercedes Brazier-Thurman | July 27, 2023 | 121 [18] |
"A Sleep Story for Ellie": Zadie soothes Ellie to sleep with a story. | |||||
19 | "JunJun's Wake Up Call" "Stack 'em Up" | Jeff Barker | Cheyenne "Casper" Lynn Rachel Reuben | July 31, 2023 | 120 [19] |
"JunJun's Wake Up Call": Zadie comes up with a plan to make sure sleepy-head, JunJun makes it to Ice Cream for breakfast. | |||||
20 | "A Boxful of Snout" "Postcard from Snout" | Jeff Barker | Chuck Tately Deanna Oliver | August 1, 2023 | 117 [20] |
"A Boxful of Snout": The wombats lose Snout while helping Mr. E wrap boxes. | |||||
21 | "Amazing Adventure" "Kayatastic Split" | Jeff Barker | Crescent Imani Novell Jehan Madhani & Sherri Stoner | August 2, 2023 | 116 [21] |
"Amazing Adventure": The wombats go on a treasure hunt. | |||||
22 | "The Treeborhood Photo Album" "Runway Recycling" | Jeff Barker | Sherri Stoner Tavashia Berry | August 3, 2023 | 115 [22] |
"The Treeborhood Photo Album": The wombats learn the history of their beloved tree. | |||||
23 | "The Treeborhood Harvest Day" "The Treeborhood Thankfulness Stew" | Jeff Barker & Andrea Gerstmann | Kathy Waugh Sherri Stoner | November 13, 2023 | 130 [23] |
"The Treeborhood Harvest Day": Harvest Day might be canceled due to fog, so Zadie and Malik help Mr. E find some fog googles. | |||||
24 | "The Treeborhood Parranda" "Happy New Acorn Year!" | Jeff Barker & Andrea Gerstmann | Natalie Vazquez Michael Olmo | December 4, 2023 | 133 [24] |
"The Treeborhood Parranda": The Treeborhood celebrates a parranda. | |||||
25 | "A Room of Our Own" "Zeke's Fairy Village" | Jeff Barker | Kathy Waugh Jessica Tsou | March 11, 2024 [25] | 123 [25] |
"A Room of Our Own": When Malik and Zadie can't agree on how tidy to keep their bedroom, the solution seems easy. Divide one room between three Wombats! | |||||
26 | "A House for Snout" "JunJun's Brain Freeze" | Jeff Barker | Cooper Sweeney Sofia Geck | March 12, 2024 [26] | 124 [26] |
"A House for Snout": Zeke and Louisa plan a house for Snout. (They might even get around to building it, if they can manage to stop arguing!) | |||||
27 | "Treeborhood Carnaval" "Magic Tricky" | Jeff Barker | Michael Olmo Glen Berger & Peter Ferland | March 13, 2024 [27] | 125 [27] |
"Treeborhood Carnaval": While Sammy works to plan a surprise Carnaval for his dad, Quique plans a surprise treat for his son. | |||||
28 | "Malik Gets Muddy" "Balloonasaur Delivery" | Jeff Barker | Shemeka Foster Chuck Tately | March 14, 2024 [28] | 126 [28] |
"Malik Gets Muddy": Malik enters the Undergroundberhood to retrieve JunJun's favorite ball. | |||||
29 | "Sticker Monster Storytime" "Count to 10!" | Jeff Barker | Rachel Reuben Dejen Tesfagiorgis | March 15, 2024 [29] | 127 [29] |
Super hunts for a lost sticker while the wombats collaborate on a new ending for an old Sticker Monster Story. | |||||
30 | "The Wombat Family Road Trip" "A Super Duper Wombat Whirlgig" | TBA | TBA | July 1, 2024 [30] | TBA |
31 | "Zadie to the Rescue" "Cake Mistake" | TBA | TBA | July 2, 2024 [30] | TBA |
32 | "Yo-Ho-Ho: A Sandwich for Mr. E" "Balloonie for Youie" | TBA | TBA | July 3, 2024 [30] | 129 [31] |
"Yo-Ho-Ho: A Sandwich for Mr. E": The wombats battle sea monsters, surfing scoundrels, and pointing rocks on their way to make a sandwich delivery. "Ballonie for Youie": Mr. E buys a robot to hand out balloons. | |||||
33 | "Sammy's Primmo" "Sammy Makes A Day" | TBA | TBA | July 4, 2024 [30] | TBA |
34 | "Backwards Day" "Patternpalooza" | TBA | TBA | July 5, 2024 [30] | TBA |
The themes and ideas of the show were previously covered in Aha Island, a WGBH multimedia project about monkeys who use computational thinking. Some elements from Aha Island were recycled for Work It Out Wombats!, such as the existence of the Everything Emporium. [32] The series was greenlit in October 2020, under the working title of Wombats! [33] Wombats were chosen as the species of the main characters because they are underused in media. [34] Early-career writers were granted fellowships so they could bring diverse viewpoints and BIPOC representation to the series. [35] The production team worked to ensure authentic representations of names, language, and some of the cultural origins found with the animals themselves, while keeping in mind that animals are not a proxy for race and ethnicity. For example, JunJun and his family are Philippine eagles, while Ellie is a moose; an animal not found in Jamaica. [36]
The producers deliberately sought out voice actors that match the ethnicity of the characters to ensure authenticity. [37] Rain Janjua, the voice of Zeke, originally auditioned for the role of Malik for being asked to try out for Zeke. To create the voice, Janjua tried to recall how his voice sounded at five years old. [38]
The series is animated in Toon Boom Harmony. The characters are animated using complicated rigging systems that allow the animators to draw things by hand, thus giving each character their own nuances and walk cycles. The designs of the characters and settings are rounded in order to create a friendly, welcoming feel. Curvilinear perspective and hazing is used for the backgrounds to make the characters stand out. [39]
Work It Out Wombats! achieved 23 million streams on PBS Kids video platforms within its first two weeks, as well as over 1.7 million views on YouTube. [40]
The series was praised for its positive messages, educational value, and high-energy characters. Writing for Common Sense Media, Diondra Brown rated it a 5/5, saying "The show's quality matches -- actually, exceeds, the high expectations viewers have for PBS Kids programming." [41]
The lesbian characters of Leiko and Duffy caused the series to be controversial among anti-LGBT crowds. In May 2023, the Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, vetoed a measure to provide state funding to Oklahoma Educational Television Authority for three years, due to their broadcasting of Work It Out Wombats! (and of Clifford the Big Red Dog (2019 TV series) , which also features same-sex parents) and the claims that it "overly sexualizing" kids. [42]
Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
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2024 | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Children's Programming | Work It Out Wombats! | Nominated | [43] |
To promote the series, a walkaround mascot of Zeke traveled to different places in the Boston area from February 22 to February 24, under the title "Zeke's Big Boston Adventure." Zeke went to the Boston Children's Museum, the Franklin Park Zoo, and the Boston Public Library. The Mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, declared February 21 as "Work It Out Wombats! Day." [44]
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