October 9, 2005 (2005-10-09) – December 22, 2009 (2009-12-22)
Little Einsteins is an American animatedchildren's television series developed by Douglas Wood and based on the Baby Einstein line of videos. Produced by The Baby Einstein Company (at the time owned by Disney) and animated by Curious Pictures, it marked the Baby Einstein Company's first project for preschoolers.[1] The show centers around of a team of four adventurous young children: Leo, June, Quincy, and Annie. Together, the children travel around the world in Rocket, a red anthropomorphic rocket ship, and undertake various missions, with the goal of solving a problem, helping someone, or finding something.[2] Every episode features a specific art piece and composition of classical music.
Little Einsteins was announced in November 2001, when Disney purchased The Baby Einstein Company. Press releases stated "there are already plans to extend the Baby Einstein brand into a Little Einstein product line aimed at preschoolers."[3] The show's concept and characters were developed by Wood, with further development led by Emmy Award-winning director Olexa Hewryk and Dora the Explorer co-creator Eric Weiner. Like the original Baby Einstein series, Little Einsteins makes heavy use of classical music. According to Common Sense Media, both series share the same "philosophy of artistic visuals and stimulating classical music to enhance brain development and learning."[4]
Little Einsteins started out with a direct-to-video film, Our Huge Adventure, that was released on August 23, 2005. The series proper then premiered on Playhouse Disney later that year on October 9, 2005, and ended on December 22, 2009, after two seasons and 67 episodes.
Overview
Little Einsteins was designed to teach viewers art and music appreciation, done by integrating famous or culturally significant art pieces (usually, but not exclusively, paintings) and classical music (most often from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras) into the plot, scenery, and soundtrack of each episode. The show is also designed to encourage viewer interaction, prompting the audience to pat their laps, gesture, or sing along to help the characters achieve success on their mission.
The first regular episode of Little Einsteins premiered in the United States on October 9, 2005 on Disney Channel, through the Playhouse Disney block. The final regular episode aired on December 22, 2009, and a standalone special titled "Rocket's Firebird Rescue" was released direct-to-DVD on August 21, 2007. The series continued to air in reruns afterward, including after Playhouse Disney was rebranded as Disney Junior on February 14, 2011, through March 25, 2019. The show is currently available on Disney+, and was available on DisneyNow until 2023.
Internationally, the show aired on Family Channel in Canada. A UK dub for the series was also produced for the United Kingdom, where certain American terms are changed to fit within British English.
Game
A video game based on the series was released on the Game Boy Advance on September 12, 2006.[5]
Reception
Little Einsteins has received positive reviews from critics. Pam Gelman of Common Sense Media rated the series five stars, writing: "An artistic adventure packed into each episode."[4]
Notes
^ abcdeInformation about the cast and crew is taken from the closing credits of each episode.
