The “Summer of Adventure” has begun on PBS Kids, with three movies spun off from established TV series set to debut. First to premiere is Alma Goes to Puerto Rico, an hour-long movie spun off from Alma’s Way that debuts June 5. Then it’s Wise Raven & Old Crow, a one-hour Molly of Denali movie that premieres July 10, before Space Camp, a feature-length film from Ready Jet Go!, rolls July 20.
Kids of course have different routines in the summer, and PBS Kids is looking to give young viewers, and their parents, something special to watch. “It’s a time where families are looking for events to do with their kids,” Sara DeWitt, senior VP and general manager, PBS Kids, told B+C. “And kids might have longer stretches to sit and watch.”
Sticking with the adventure theme, Alma, a young girl based in the Bronx, ventures to Puerto Rico with her family to celebrate her great-grandmother’s 100th birthday. For Wise Raven, Molly and her family take a river trip to a traditional Gwich-in village to honor their late grandmother. Space Camp, timed to the anniversary of the moon landing 54 years before, sees the characters start in a summertime camp where they learn about space.
Last year’s summertime movies on PBS Kids were Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Daniel Visits a New Neighbor, and a pair of Curious George movies.
The shows that get summer movies are typically well-established with viewers and “have really great, deeper stories that the writers are ready to tell,” DeWitt said. “Something you can’t always do in 11 minutes.”
Alma’s Way, created by Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on Sesame Street, has had two seasons. Molly of Denali, about a Native-American girl in Alaska, has had three. Ready Jet Go!, which touches on astronomy and earth science, debuted in 2016.
For Alma, the Bronx girl encounters things she’s unfamiliar with in Puerto Rico, including the fact that she’s not fluent in Spanish, and her great-grandmother, also named Alma, does not speak English. Alma must figure out solutions to a new set of challenges. “It’s a great opportunity to take the curriculum to another level,” DeWitt said.
Summer isn’t the only time for PBS Kids movies. Halloween means a few, and after that is the holiday season. “Those are moments where kids are looking for special events,” DeWitt said.
Also part of PBS Kids’s Summer of Adventure campaign are new episodes of Rosie’s Rules, starting June 26, and Work It Out Wombats!, starting July 24; games from Alma’s Way and Rosie’s Rules; and the podcast “Keyshawn Solves It,” in which an African-American boy solve the mystery of disappearing bikes in his neighborhood before a Juneteenth celebration. That debuted May 29.
DeWitt said the summer movies strategy “works on a lot of levels.”
“It’s a great way for families and kids to find something fun, and an event in the summer,” she said. “And it’s a great opportunity for us to do deeper storytelling.”
