On April 10th Noggin will premiere it’s newest show,
Each half-hour episode contains two stories, with two short games and quizzes after each story. The episodes feature Pinky Dinky Doo, a seven year old girl, creating a story to help solve everyday problems. In the story Pinky has a great big idea that saves the day. Other characters include her younger brother Tyler, Mr. Guinea Pig, as well as friends with charmingly nonsensical names such as Abby McTabby and Ross Applesauce.
The educational goals of the show are
- To celebrate the power of inventing stories
- To introduce basic elements of narrative
- To provide opportunities to use effective listening comprehension strategies
- To expand vocabulary through stories
Pinky Dinky Doo is a joint production between Jinkins’ Cartoon Pizza and Sesame Workshop.
The family and I took in the premiere episode Polka Dot Pox/Come Home Little Guinea Pig.
What the kids thought
Both of my kids loved the show from the first time they saw it. The problem in the episode is set-up very quickly, so that the bulk of the episode is Pinky’s story. There is a clear transition with marked by a catchy tune that my kids latched onto right away.
Yesserooni, Positooney
We’re going to the story box
Pinky’s really good at making up stories
and every story rocks
Story Box!
The stories are structured to keep the kids engaged by having asides, and Pinky being interrupted by Tyler’s questions. In addition to the specific tactics employed, the stories are just plain cute.
The kids are also big fans of the games at the end of each story that are quite simple but provide a nice recap, particularly Eat it or Wear It.
What the parents thought
I was very impressed with the show. I found nothing objectionable whatsoever, and was impressed with the educational components. My favorite element is that each episode strongly enforced a particular theme. For example, in Polka Dot Pox Tyler is frustrated that he woke up sick on the day his class was supposed to take a field trip. Each time a character mentions the word frustrated it was preceded by Mr. Guinea Pig playing the trumpet. The point was driven home without the constant repetition that you might find in Dora the Explorer. The same held true in the second story where the theme was responsiblity.
I was a little concerned that Pinky’s imaginary stories might be a little too long and off topic to retain the kids attention. However, there are plenty of elements to keep the kids engaged. Also, as I mentioned there are quizzes at the end to make sure the message got across, much in the same vein as JoJo’s Circus (Hey, JoJo what do you say, we all want to know what you learned today…)
The animation technique isn’t especially elegant, but the crayon colored characters are appropriate for the show given its emphasis on imagination.
Noggin has ordered 26 episodes of the show. It will premiere April 10th on both
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Didn’t Jim Jinkins also create Doug – one of the great Nickelodeon cartoons of the middle 90s? I loved that show.
PINKY DINKY DOO has been on the CBC for month. Why does canadian Television have such great Kids Shows?
I don’t mean to knock it or be mean, but there’s something deeply inane and meh about this show. It wants to pull off surreal humor but it never really gets there. The yuxtaposition of realistic backgrounds and crayoned characters is a huge mistake: the result is that the characters are overshadowed by the backgrounds, and it’s plain distracting with the realistic, detailed textures and inconsistent lighting. The constant horn-blowing of that blue small animal is cute the first time and more annoying every time it repeats. And the conclusions the characters arrive to are completely out of the blue, this show doesn’t encourage logical or coherent thinking at all.
But what does my kid think? She actually doesn’t like it very much. Although she loves TV, she starts squirming in her seat impatiently as the show goes on.
I liked Doug, and I don’t know if the premise of the show actually works in books, but as a show… um.
A great show my 3 yaer old daughter loves it