American Ninja Warrior Junior facts for kids
Quick facts for kids American Ninja Warrior Junior |
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| Genre | Sports entertainment Sports competition |
| Presented by |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
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| Camera setup | Multiple-camera |
| Production company(s) | A. Smith & Co. Productions |
| Distributor | NBCUniversal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | Universal Kids |
| Picture format | HDTV (1080i) |
| Original release | October 13, 2018 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | American Ninja Warrior American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja |
American Ninja Warrior Junior is an exciting American TV show for kids! It's a sports competition where young athletes test their strength and agility. The show started in 2018 on Universal Kids. It's like a special version of the popular American Ninja Warrior show, but made just for younger competitors. Both shows are inspired by a famous Japanese game show called SASUKE. The show is produced by A. Smith & Co.
Contents
How the Show Works
American Ninja Warrior Junior is a thrilling competition where kids go head-to-head on challenging obstacle courses. Each episode features 12 young contestants. They are split into three age groups:
- Ages 9-10
- Ages 11-12
- Ages 13-14
In each age group, four contestants compete. Boys and girls compete together. There are no teams; each child competes for themselves.
Competition Rounds
Each age group plays five rounds to find their winner for the episode.
- The first two races are "seeding races." These help decide who races against whom next. There's no elimination in these first two runs.
- After the seeding races, the winner of one race faces the loser of the other.
- Then, the two winners from those races compete against each other. This final race decides the winner for that age group in the episode.
- In total, three winners are crowned per episode, one for each age group.
Obstacles
The obstacles on American Ninja Warrior Junior are similar to those on the adult show. However, they are changed to fit the smaller size and strength of the young athletes.
Season 1 Obstacles
For the first season, here are some of the obstacles the kids faced:
- Ages 9-10: Sonic Swing, Tic Toc, I-Beam, Floating Tiles, Spin Cycle, and the famous Warped Wall.
- Ages 11-12: These ninjas faced the Ring Toss and the Fly Wheels, plus others.
- Ages 13-14: Older competitors tackled the Archer Steps, Devil Steps, and Flying Shelf Grab, among others.
Season 2 Obstacles
Season 2 brought new challenges for the young ninjas:
- Ages 9-10: Shrinking Steps, Little Dipper, Spider Walls, Block Run, Flying Squirrel, and the Warped Wall.
- Ages 11-12: New obstacles included the Double Tilt-Ladders and the Wingnuts.
- Ages 13-14: The oldest group faced Floating Steps, Crazy Cliffhanger, and the Sky Hooks.
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 20 | October 13, 2018 | April 27, 2019 | |
| 2 | 17 | February 22, 2020 | June 12, 2020 | |
Seasons
Season 1
The first season of American Ninja Warrior Junior began on October 13, 2018. It was shown on the Universal Kids TV channel. The show was filmed in Los Angeles, California.
The main hosts of the adult American Ninja Warrior show, Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila, were the commentators. Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez was the reporter on the course.
Famous ninja athletes from the adult show helped mentor the young competitors. These mentors included Kevin Bull, Drew Drechsel, Natalie Duran, Meagan Martin, Najee Richardson, and Barclay Stockett.
The winners of Season 1 were:
- Collin Cella (Ages 9-10)
- Kai Beckstrand (Ages 11-12)
- Vance Walker (Ages 13-14)
In Canada, Season 1 was also shown on the Family Channel.
Season 2
Season 2 premiered on February 22, 2020, also on Universal Kids. It was filmed in 2019.
Paralympian Victoria Arlen joined the show as the new on-course reporter. Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila returned as commentators. More than 140 children competed in this season!
One of the competitors in Season 2 was Vincent Canales, whose mother is the U.S. Olympic gold medalist gymnast Dominique Moceanu.
Like Season 1, this season was also shown in Canada on the Family Channel.
The winners of Season 2 were:
- Nathanael Honvou (Ages 9-10)
- Jack David (Ages 11-12)
- Vance Walker (Ages 13-14)
Vance Walker made history by becoming the first person to win American Ninja Warrior Junior twice! He won the 13-14 age group in both Season 1 and Season 2.
