Three years ago there’s no way I would have considered it endearing to be compared to a guinea pig. Yet these days I can often be found donning a silk cape and making like Linny the guinea pig to my pre-preschooler’s Tuck the turtle during our daily “Wonder Pets” adventures. (Ming-Ming the duckling is grandma’s role when she is around.)
To say my daughter is an avid “Wonder Pets” fan would be an understatement. At age two she had memorized the theme song of the popular Nickelodeon series and would happily belt out the words during our trips to the zoo… the aquarium… the children’s museum… in the car… in the grocery store… around the house… you get the idea.
Now she is anxiously counting down the days until her animated friends save some creepy crawly critters to the tune of some of her mom’s favorite people. The new episode “Save the Beetles” has Linny, Tuck and Ming-Ming cleverly introducing young fans to the music of Liverpool’s Fab Four.
Whereas the show typically employs the works of classical musicians (the music on the show is recorded by a full orchestra and much of the dialogue between the characters is sung in operetta style), for this particular episode producers are using the Beatle’s mass appeal to introduce preschoolers to rock ‘n’ roll.
In the show, which airs on April 21 at a special time–7 p.m. EDT—the “Wonder Pets” travel to England to rescue four beetles whose yellow submarine is stuck in kelp. Once the animals work together to free the trapped sub they are rewarded with a concert performed by the grateful beetles.
According to show producers, they “lucked out” to get Lenie Colacino, a star of Broadway’s late-’70s musical “Beatlemania,” to voice the characters of Wingo, Jack and Pete (or Ringo, John and Paul) in the episode. Colacino reportedly offered to do George’s “beetle,” too, but producers say they wanted another voice.
Do you have Wonder Pet fans in your home?