4 /10 1 Votes
Directed by Theo Baynton First episode date 23 March 2009 Program creator Martin Baynton | 4/10 IMDb Creative director(s) James McKnight Final episode date 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genre Children's television series
Comedy
Live action
Animation
CGI Created by Martin Baynton
Richard Taylor Written by Terri Baynton
Martin Baynton
Theo Baynton
John Carr
Janice Marriott
Peter Salmon Voices of Nathalie Boltt
Martin Baynton
Janet Roddick Networks American Broadcasting Company, TVNZ 2 Narrated by Martin Baynton, Nicholas Parsons (UK) Similar Jane and the Dragon, Sid the Science Kid, Guess with Jess, Space Racers, Wild Kratts Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The WotWots is a New Zealand children's television show which debuted in 2009 and has since aired in several other countries worldwide. Created by Martin Baynton and Richard Taylor, the series uses a mix of live-action and computer animation to follow a pair of inquisitive, creative alien siblings as they learn about life on Earth. It currently consists of two series, produced from 2009-2011, and a total of 78 ten-minute episodes.
Contents
Plot
The show features a pair of tiny, young alien twin siblings who spend their days exploring the environment where their steam-powered spaceship has landed, in an effort both to learn more about Earth fauna and to try to determine what they themselves will grow up to look like. DottyWot, the smart and responsible ship's captain, spends most of her time supervising her more boisterous, fun-loving brother SpottyWot, the ship's engineer and a talented artist. Episodes are set in a zoo, at a farm, or on a beach and most often tie their discovery of an animal characteristic into their own adventures.
Production
The WotWots was created and developed by children's author Martin Baynton in partnership with filmmaker Richard Taylor, who had previously collaborated on the TV series adaptation of Baynton's book Jane and the Dragon. WotWots is produced by Pukeko Pictures, a production company founded by Baynton, Taylor, and Tania Rodger. Baynton's son Theo is the series' director, and his daughter Terri is one of the writers.
The puppet-like WotWots characters are computer-animated over live-action footage by the Weta Workshop, the visual effects company founded by Taylor and Rodger, well known for its work on the The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Episodes are filmed on location at Auckland Zoo, Wellington Zoo and Melbourne Zoo, as well as undisclosed beach and farm regions.
Since the WotWots' language consists almost entirely of the syllables 'wot' and 'wotty', co-creator Martin Baynton also acts as an interactive narrator for the series, serving as translator both for the aliens' efforts to understand Earth and the human viewership trying to understand them. In the UK, the narrator is played by Nicholas Parsons, and in Poland by Vladimir Press. Baynton also provides the voice for SpottyWot, while South African actress Nathalie Boltt voices DottyWot. Janet Roddick voices the WotWots' computer; she is replaced by Fiona Lewis in the UK version.
Broadcast details
In addition, selected episodes from the show's first season are currently available on Netflix in the US.
Merchandise
Playskool, a toy brand of Hasbro, is licensed to produce the WotWots toy range, and the toys were launched on 2 September 2009.
In 2011-06-11, the intellectual property and outbound licensing division of American Greetings Corporation announced it has acquired the licensing and merchandising rights to the WotWots. As part of the agreement with production company Pukeko Pictures, American Greetings Properties has signed on to represent the WotWots brand worldwide.
Partnership with the NZ Ministry of Health
In August 2011, it was announced by New Zealand's Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, that the WotWots would serve as ambassadors for B4 School Checks, an initiative offering a comprehensive assessment of four-year-old children's health and development.
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