"THE KOALA BROTHERS" TO CO-HEADLINE DISNEY CHANNEL'S PLAYHOUSE DISNEY ANNUAL AUSTRALIA DAY PROGRAMMING EVENT, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2005
-- Celebration To Include Eight Episodes Of One of the Year's Most Buzzed About New Preschool Series, Including The Premiere Of Two All-New Half-Hours --
BURBANK, December 13, 2004 . . . Frank, Buster and all of their Outback friends from the "The Koala Brothers" will help Disney Channel celebrate Australia Day as the network's learning-based programming block, Playhouse Disney, spotlights eight episodes of the breakout new preschool series during its annual January 26 th commemorative event. Back-to-back episodes of "The Koala Brothers" will air four times throughout the day (from 6am - 7am ET/PT, 8am - 9am ET/PT, 10am - 11am ET and Noon - 1pm ET/PT), highlighted by the premiere of two all-new exciting half-hours, each featuring two enchanting stories: "Ned The Knight"/"Archie Goes Camping" (8:00am ET/PT) and "Mitzi's Special Photos"/"George's Big Mistake" (8:30am ET/PT and repeated at Noon ET/PT).
Executive produced by renowned children's creative force Peter Curtis ("Bob The Builder," "Rubbadubbers"), "The Koala Brothers" is a visually stunning, stop-frame animated television series centering on the adventures of Frank and Buster, two good-natured koalas whose credo is "We're Here To Help." In each episode, they make daily patrols in their yellow airplane, departing from their homestead to search the vast Australian Outback for anyone to help - including a wide range of adorable characters such as Mitzi the possum, Ned the little wombat, Alice the platypus, George the turtle, Penny the little penguin, Josie the shy little joey, and Archie the crocodile .
The storylines focus on the big emotions and feelings of the characters involved and portray friends helping each other out of trouble, solving problems and providing shoulders to lean on. They depict Frank and Buster offering general support and are designed to help preschoolers learn that even the smallest among us can accomplish big things when they help one another.
The series' appealing characters and storylines, coupled with its emphasis on respect for others, kindness and emotional support, has struck a chord with audiences across the globe. In addition to its current U.S. success in which it has established itself as one of Playhouse Disney's top performers, the series consistently rates as one of the BBC's strongest preschool series in the UK and is the highest rated pre-school series in Australia on the ABC. A host of other blue chip broadcasters across Europe, North and South America including Super RTL in Germany, Fox Kids Holland, and Discovery Kids Latin America have also committed to carrying the series. Additionally, The Koala Brothers recently won Best Pre-School Series at the 2004 British Animation Awards.
In addition to eight episodes of "The Koala Brothers," Playhouse Disney will celebrate Australia Day with on air interstitials that call out to the country's national holiday, as well as programming blocks showcasing another Down Under sensation: The Wiggles.
"The Koala Brothers" is the debut property of London's Spellbound Entertainment Limited, the production studio of Peter Curtis and Nick Barrington. The series currently airs twice daily - 7am ET/PT and Noon ET/PT -- as part of Disney Channel's weekday Playhouse Disney block. It also airs Saturday and Sunday mornings at 7am ET/PT.
Two All-New Half-Hour Episodes
Ned The Knight
One day, Ned decides that he'd like to be a knight, and to do all the things that knights do: He tries to rescue a damsel in distress, but Mitzi doesn't want to be rescued; he eventually rescues Josie, then comes to the aid of George, who has lost some letters. Most of all, though, Ned wants to fight a dragon, but where do you find a dragon in the outback? The Koalas decide to help. A little later, when Ned has all but given up, he encounters a dragon, who jumps out from behind a tree - this dragon, though, looks and sounds very much like Archie, with some horns glued to his tail. Ned the knight has a mock fight with Archie, and then is joined by the Koalas, who were responsible for helping Ned achieve his goal. They all enjoy afternoon tea, and Ned realizes it's great fun to fight a dragon, and even better fun when the dragon is your friend afterwards.
Archie Goes Camping
Archie the crocodile has so many friends that he sometimes finds it hard to spend some time on his own. George suggests that Archie goes camping, so that he can enjoy being by himself for a while, so Archie heads off into the outback. Later, the Koalas find him downcast, as he doesn't know how to set up camp by himself, and he's not brought along enough supplies. The Koalas help out by getting some supplies from Sammy, and helping Archie to set up camp at the waterhole. Archie enjoys being by himself for a while, but starts to miss his friends. Suddenly, Buster arrives with a surprise! When Archie comes out, he finds all his friends have arrived to have tea with him. Archie realizes that it's nice to be on your own sometimes, but it's also nice to be with your friends, and share the fun of doing things together.
Mitzi's Special Photos
When Sammy suggests that Mitzi has a show of her photos in the store, she sets out to take some really special ones. News travels fast, and soon everyone is hoping that Mitzi might take a special photograph of them - Sammy with his giant, funny shaped carrot; George with his Post Office Certificate, and Ned in his favorite hat . But, to Mitzi, none of these seem special enough. When even a flight in the plane doesn't yield any special photos for the show, Mitzi is downcast. Frank asks her to show him the most special photograph she owns - it's a picture of Mitzi with her friends. Buster suggests that maybe for her, the most special photos of all are those of her friends. Mitzi is galvanized, and sets out to take some new photos. The show goes ahead, and Mitzi realizes that what's special is different for everyone.
George's Big Mistake
When George forgets to screw the lid of his flask on properly, the tea spills inside his satchel and soaks all the mail, making the addresses unreadable. The Koala Brothers set out to help George work out who the letters and parcels belong to: By using various clues, they work out the owners of all the mail items except one. George and the Koalas simply can't work out who it's for. George doesn't want to open someone else's mail, but agrees to open the mystery letter in front of the others. The final letter turns out to be a certificate to George from the Post Office, commending him on being the best postman in the outback. George is thrilled, and says he will always be careful in future, so that everyone gets their letters on time and dry.
David Johnson is the creator and supervising producer. Tobias Fouracre and Martin Pullen are the series directors. "The Koala Brothers" is animated in the United Kingdom by Famous Flying Films for Spellbound. Spellbound Entertainment Limited is the rights holder to "The Koala Brothers" brand internationally and manages TV distribution, home entertainment, publishing and licensing rights for the property.
Playhouse Disney, a daily block of learning-based programming on Disney Channel, airing 6am - 2pm ET/PT, encourages preschoolers to imagine and learn through original series, interstitials and acquired programming that encompass song, movement and entertainment. Guided by an established curriculum, Playhouse Disney supports multiple areas of child development: physical, emotional, social and cognitive; thinking and creative skills as well as moral and ethical development through carefully constructed themes, storylines and characters. Available on basic cable in over 85 million homes, Disney Channel is part of ABC Cable Networks Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company.
For More Information and Digital Artwork, Please Contact :
Jeffrey Klein, Judy Drutz
Dan Klores Communications
212-981-5189/212-981-5204
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