PBS Children has given a third-season renewal to Donkey Hodie, a puppetry sequence that hails from Fred Rogers Productions and Spiffy Photos.
New episodes of the sequence will debut in 2025.
The sequence, which is alleged to be impressed “by the humorous, quirky facet of Fred Rogers,” launched in 2021 and options reimagined characters from Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Season three will characteristic 15 new episodes, together with two half-hour specials plus extra digital content material, that can proceed to comply with the adventures of Donkey Hodie and her buddies Purple Panda, Duck Duck and Bob Canine within the whimsical land of Someplace Else.
The information follows of the heels of the season seven premiere of Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, which additionally was impressed Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and in addition hails from Fred Rogers Productions. In season three of Donkie Hodie, the 2 sequence will come collectively for the primary time with a particular half-hour crossover episode. Daniel Tiger and Dad Tiger shall be reimagined as puppets — bringing them from animation to live-action — as they climb aboard Trolley from the Neighborhood of Make-Imagine to go to Donkey Hodie and her buddies in Someplace Else.
“Each Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Donkey Hodie are impressed by the creativity and creativeness of Fred Rogers and the world of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the place the characters of Daniel Striped Tiger and Donkey Hodie have been first launched,” mentioned Ellen Doherty, chief inventive officer at Fred Rogers Productions. “There’s a pure connection between the sequence by means of each the training targets that drive them and the legacy that led to them, and we’re thrilled to proceed to inform tales of empathy, resilience and friendship.”
Added David Rudman, co-creator and govt producer of Donkey Hodie and co-founder of Spiffy Photos: “We’re keen for youths and households to see what we now have developing for Season 3, together with our crossover episode. It’s been a enjoyable and thrilling course of to design these beloved characters as puppets who stylistically match into the world of Donkey Hodie whereas staying true to the animated variations everyone knows and love from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.”
The present, aimed toward children ages 3-5, explores themes of resilience, perseverance and drawback fixing whereas additionally specializing in emotional well-being, constructing confidence in ladies and belonging. It’s designed to empower children to dream massive and overcome obstacles in their very own lives, work laborious and persevere within the face of failure, be resourceful and uncover they’ll remedy issues on their very own.
“Fred Rogers’ timeless classes are core to what we do at PBS Children,” mentioned Sara DeWitt, senior vp and normal supervisor of PBS Children. “We’re excited for a brand new season of Donkey Hodie, and for the particular deal with of seeing Daniel Tiger and Donkey Hodie collectively.”
Donkey Hodie was created by Adam Rudman and David Rudman of Spiffy Photos and developed by Doherty. All three are govt producers, with Kristin DiQuollo of Fred Rogers Productions as co-executive producer and Caroline Bandolik of Spiffy Photos as supervising producer.