Work It Out Wombats!

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]

Work It Out Wombats!
GenrePreschool
Created byKathy Waugh
Marcy Gunther
Robby Hoffman
Marisa Wolsky
Voices ofIan Ho
Mia Swami-Nathan
Rain Janjua
Yanna McIntosh
Theme music composer
  • Bill Sherman
  • Nina Woodford-Wells
Opening theme"Work It Out Wombats!"
Ending theme"Work It Out Wombats!" (instrumental)
Composers
  • Asher Lenz
  • Fabiola Mendez
  • Stephen Skratt
Country of originUnited States
Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes7
Production
Executive producersMarcy Gunther
Marisa Wolsky
Production companiesGBH Kids
Pipeline Studios
Release
Original networkPBS Kids
Original releaseFebruary 6, 2023 (2023-02-06) –
present

Plot

The series follows a playful trio, Malik, Zadie, and Zeke, creative marsupial siblings who live with their grandmother (Super) in her treehouse apartment complex, known as the Treeborhood.[2] Each episode features them encountering a problem of some kind and using computational thinking to solve it.[3]

Characters
  • Malik (voiced by Ian Ho) – The older brother of the wombats. He is meticulous and organized, but still likes having fun with his siblings.[4]
  • Zadie (voiced by Mia Swami-Nathan) – The middle-aged sister of the wombats. She likes to create fantastical ideas that are shown in a cardboard/puffball/popsicle stick art style.[5]
  • Zeke (voiced by Rain Janjua) – The younger brother of the wombats. He always carries a stuffed animal named Snout with him. He likes asking lots of questions and talking nonstop.[6]
  • Super (voiced by Yanna McIntosh) – The grandmother of the wombats. She is the superintendent of the Treeborhood. She is open minded and encourages her grandchildren to make mistakes.[7]
  • Mr. E (voiced by Joseph Motiki) – an iguana who owns the Everything Emporium. He is very organized and seems grumpy most of the time, but he ultimately does care for the wombats. He has a crush on Ellie, as she is the only person that he is openly affectionate towards.[8]
  • Ellie (voiced by Tymika Tafari) – a moose of Jamaican descent who is the Treeborhood's EMT. She is reliable and likes jumping on a trampoline.[9][10]
  • Louisa (voiced by Claire Mackness) – a 4-year-old adopted tarsier who wants to know everything. She is best friends with Zeke.
  • Leiko (voiced by Ana Sani) and Duffy (voiced by Shoshana Sperling) – The kangaroo mothers of Louisa. They used to be in a rock music duo together. Duffy works at the Eat 'N Greet, while Leiko is the COO of the Creation Station.
  • Sammy (voiced by Baeyen Hoffman) – a young, laid back emerald tree boa snake. He is best friends with Malik.
  • Quique, real name Enrique (voiced by B'atz' Recinos) – the single father of Sammy. He is a teacher at the Starlight Room.[11]
  • JunJun (voiced by Roman Pesino) – a Philippine Eagle who likes singing and playing guitar. He is best friends with Zadie.
  • Amado (voiced by Mark Andrada) – JunJun's father. He's the arborist of the Treeborhood and frequently cuts topiary trees.
  • Gabriela (voiced by Carolyn Fe) – JunJun's grandmother. She's the local mail carrier.
  • The crab family: Kat, Kit, Carly, CeCe, and Clyde are farmers at the Sow 'N Grow. They are rather timid. Carly, CeCe, and Clyde are triplets who function as a single character. Carly wears red, CeCe wears green, and Clyde wears blue. Kit and Kat are their father and mother. The triplets are all voiced by Julie Lemieux, Kat is voiced by Athena Karkanis, and Kit is voiced by Dan Chameroy.

Episodes
No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateProd.
code [12]
1"Snout and About"
"Zadie's Shell Shuffle"		Jeff BarkerKathy Waugh
Jiro C. Okada		February 6, 2023 (2023-02-06)103
Snout and About: Zeke loses his beloved stuffed animal, Snout, so the wombats retrace their steps to find it.
Zadie's Shell Shuffle: While playing hide-and-seek, Zadie messes up Mr. E's shell garden, so she needs to rearrange it in the specific pattern that it was in.
2"Junior Supers"
"Measure for Measure"		Jeff BarkerMonique D. Hall
Deanna Oliver		February 6, 2023 (2023-02-06)101
Junior Supers: Zadie and Malik are tasked to clean the Starlight Room while Super is attending to other things.
Measure for Measure: Ellie's hat flies away, so the wombats help make her a new one. However, they need to measure how big her head is so they can make a hat that fits just right.
3"Special Delivery"
"Campout Confusion"		Jeff BarkerSherri Stoner
Kathy Waugh		February 7, 2023 (2023-02-07)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.
Campout Confusion: Zadie wants to host a fun campout, and invites the crab kids to it. Things don't go the way she wanted because she didn't plan ahead.
4"Snout Wash Day"
"A Super Recipe"		Jeff BarkerCusi Cram & Peter K. Hirsch
Nida Chowdhry		February 8, 2023 (2023-02-08)102
Snout Wash Day: Snout is very dirty and needs to be washed, but Malik accidentally spills soap on the instructions.
A Super Recipe: The wombats want to make cornbread for Grandma Super, but when they lose the cookbook, they need to create the recipe by other means.
5"Summerweenie Halloweenie"
"Make It Snow"		Jeff BarkerDeanna Oliver
Michael Olmo		February 9, 2023 (2023-02-09)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.
Make It Snow: Zeke wants to play in snow, but it's not winter. After Mr. E shows the wombats a snow globe, they decide to make their own giant snow globe, and search for materials that could stand in for snow.
6"Crab Quakes"
"Hopping Helpers"		Jeff BarkerDeanna Oliver
Crescent Imani Novell		February 13, 2023 (2023-02-13)106
Crab Quakes: The crabs are scared by something scary they heard, so they run away to the wombats' house. 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.
Hopping Helpers: Malik, Zadie, and Zeke realize that it feels good to help others, so they become the "Hopping Helpers" and try to help everyone in the Treeborhood. But with all the tasks they have to do, they realize that even helpers need help sometimes.
7"Brother Day"
"Cafe Chaos"		Jeff BarkerDarnell Lamont Walker
Cooper Sweeney		February 14, 2023 (2023-02-14)107
Brother Day: Malik learns the key to a successful brother day; ask the brother in question, Zeke, what he wants to do.
Cafe Chaos: After Duffy sprains her ankle, Zeke and Louisa become waiters at the Eat N' Greet. However, waiting so many tables at once proves to be difficult for them, and they keep screwing up the orders. Quique helps them memorize the steps to being a waiter. With Zeke and Louisa's help and newfound waiter skills, Mr. E's luncheon with Ellie goes great.

Development

The series was greenlit in October 2020, under the working title of Wombats![13] Early-career writers were granted fellowships so they could bring diverse viewpoints and BIPOC representation to the series.[14] 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.[15] The producers deliberately sought out voice actors that match the ethnicity of the characters to ensure authenticity.[16]

See also

References
  1. "Work It Out Wombats! . Work It Out Wombats! . Home | PBS KIDS | PBS KIDS". pbskids.org. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  2. "PBS KIDS Announces New Series, WORK IT OUT WOMBATS! Debuting Winter 2023". About PBS – Main. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  3. "New PBS KIDS Series, WORK IT OUT WOMBATS!, Premieres February 6, 2023". CPB. Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  4. "Malik is the oldest of the Wombats, and he's been known to make a careful list of pros and cons. ⭐ Meet Malik FEBRUARY 6th, 2023 on @PBSKIDS ! #WombatsPBS ⭐". Twitter. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  5. "Zadie doesn't have just one idea, she has eight. Twelve! A hundred! She's looking to get more patience— somewhere and immediately. ⭐ Meet Zadie FEBRUARY 6th, 2023 on @PBSKIDS ! #WombatsPBS ⭐". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  6. "Zeke is the youngest of the Wombats, and he is rarely spotted without his stuffy Snout— who is better than Zeke at keeping secrets. ⭐ Meet Zeke FEBRUARY 6th, 2023 on @PBSKIDS ! #WombatsPBS ⭐". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  7. "Super is the squishiest, huggiest grandma you'll ever find. But, where can you find her? ➡️ She might be under the sink, fixing a skateboard ramp, or even hang-gliding. ⭐ Meet Gramma Super FEBRUARY 6th, 2023 on @PBSKIDS ! #WombatsPBS ⭐". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  8. "While cleaning the Everything Emporium, Mr. E might accidentally knock over boxes, topple displays, and then fire himself for incompetence. ⭐ Meet Mr. E FEBRUARY 6th on @PBSKIDS ! #WombatsPBS ⭐". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  9. "⭐ Meet Ellie on @PBSKIDS starting FEBRUARY 6TH! #WombatsPBS ⭐". Twitter. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  10. "WORK IT OUT WOMBATS! Creators on new PBS Kids animated series – Exclusive Interview – Assignment X". February 6, 2023.
  11. https://twitter.com/WombatsPBS/status/1621754468101505026?s=20&t=8YLeC0vWX72dWpITabz6mg
  12. "Episode of Work It Out Wombats!". tv.azpm.org. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  13. "CPB and PBS Awarded Ready To Learn Grant from the U.S. Department of Education". PBS. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  14. "Work It Out Wombats! Scriptwriting Fellowship Brings Diverse Perspectives to New GBH Kids STEM Series". WGBH. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  15. Morales, Wilson. "Exclusive: Creative Producer Kareem Edouard, Ph.D. talks animated series 'Work It Out Wombats!'". BlackFilmandTV.com. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  16. "Filipino characters featured in 'Work It Out Wombats!' cartoon series on PBS KIDS". TheFilAm.net. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
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