Wild Kratts facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wild Kratts |
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| Genre | Edutainment |
| Created by | Kratt brothers Chris and Martin |
| Written by | Eva Almos Chris Kratt Martin Kratt Chris Roy |
| Directed by | Luc Chamberland ("Polar Bears Don't Dance"); Eva Almos Chris Kratt Martin Kratt (all others) |
| Presented by | Chris and Martin Kratt |
| Voices of | Chris Kratt Martin Kratt Athena Karkanis Sabryn Rock Heather Bambrick Jonathan Malen Zachary Bennett Eva Almos Cory Doran Julie Lemieux |
| Theme music composer | Pure West |
| Opening theme | "Gonna Go Wild Kratts" by Sterling Jarvis |
| Ending theme | "Gonna Go Wild Kratts" (instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | Pure West |
| Country of origin | United States Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 151 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Chris Kratt Martin Kratt Vince Commisso Steven Jarosz (seasons 1-5) Blake Tohana (season 6-present) |
| Producer(s) | Cheryl Knapp Chris Kratt Martin Kratt |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Kratt Brothers Company 9 Story Media Group |
| Distributor | 9 Story Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | PBS Kids Go! (2011-2013)
TVOParents (2011–2013) PBS Kids (2013-present) TVOKids (2013–present) |
| Picture format | 720p (HDTV) |
| Original release | January 3, 2011 – Present |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Be the Creature |
| Related shows | Kratts' Creatures Zoboomafoo |
Wild Kratts is an American-Canadian live action/flash-animated television series created by the Kratt brothers, Chris and Martin. The Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Media Group produce the show, which is presented by PBS in the United States and by TVOKids in Canada. The show's aim is to educate children about biology, zoology, and ecology, and teach kids small ways to make big impacts. It has ties to the Kratts' previous shows, Kratts' Creatures and Zoboomafoo, and contains numerous characters from the latter. Spanning over ten years, Wild Kratts is the longest running program made by the Kratt Brothers.
The show is broadcast in the United States and Africa (PBS Kids), Canada (TVO, Knowledge and Tele Quebec), Latin America, Brazil, Australia (9Go!), Spain, the United Kingdom (POP), Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands (Dutch-dubbed versions as Kratts in the Wild), Middle East, Korea, Japan, India and Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, China, Taiwan, New Zealand, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia in Serbian. The show even ended up becoming a Peabody finalist and a Television Critics Association Award.
Premise
Each episode begins and ends with live-action film of the Kratt brothers describing the characteristics and capabilities of a particular species of animal (which they characterize as "creature powers") featured in the story. They seque into the episode by asking, "What if we had the powers" of this animal, and strike a dramatic pose, as the scene changes to their cartoon images. The brothers go on expeditions to study animals "living free and in the wild", but usually end up having to rescue them from threats caused by confusion on a baby animal's part; general human influence; or from villains such as Zach Varmitech, Gaston Gourmand, Donita Donata and Dabio, or Paisley Paver and Rex. Some episodes aim to change the way some creatures (such as bats and crocodiles) are perceived as threatening.
The Kratt brothers are supported by Aviva Corcovado, a biomechanical engineer who invented "creature power suits" which allow humans to mimic the abilities of animals, and other equipment to aid the brothers in their animal studies and defeating the villains. Koki is a mechanical engineer and computer expert who maintains their flying turtle ship, the Tortuga, which is piloted by Jimmy Z. Jimmy also operates the teleporter to send equipment such as new Creature Power discs to the Kratt brothers, and helps Aviva test her inventions. Along the way, viewers learn about the animals as the team figure out ways to either right wrongs or to get out of the situations they are in.
Some of their adventures put them in grave danger. In some episodes, such as "Platypus Café", "Honey Seekers", and "Opossum in my Pocket", the villain (Gaston Gourmand) intended to cause harm to one of the brothers. In other episodes, the villain had not thought it through (Zach in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus"), or was not aware of the medical risks involved. They occasionally enlist the help of the Wild Kratts Kids, children who help the Wild Kratts from their home however they can, whether it is moving animals or helping rebuild habitats, or providing local knowledge about the creature in question.
Episodes
List of Wild Kratts episodes
Cast
Main
- Martin Kratt (voiced by himself) – Martin is a zoologist who likes to give names to animals he finds, allowing the audience to bond with the said animal. His signature clothing color, including his Creature Power suit, is blue. Martin is more the jokester of the two Kratt brothers. He is also often rushing and impulsive, unlike his younger brother Chris. Plus, he is an exceptionally good artist. Martin is slightly disorganized, emotionalized, but is prepared for any situation. In contrast to his brother Chris' climbing skills, Martin is a more experienced swimmer. At times, Martin seems to know more about animals than Chris does, as shown in "Red Panda Rescue" and "Fire Salamander". He also likes to get into the mind of the animal at various times, saying such things as "Be the walrus!" He has a childish heart, due to his fun and humorous nature. He also seemed to have become more technical throughout the show since he created an almost perfect Creature Power disc in "The Erminator".
- Chris Kratt (voiced by himself) – Zoologist Chris is the exact opposite of his brother, and the more methodical of the two. His signature clothing color, including his Creature Power suit, is green. Unlike Martin, he likes to take his time testing animals' DNA to understand the animals better and save them from the villains. Chris is organized, intellectual, and calm, but can be narrow-minded, as seen in "A Huge Orange Problem" when he insists that orangutans are incapable of thinking on human levels. He is an experienced climber, although in one episode, he falls from a tree and temporarily develops acrophobia.
- Aviva Corcovado (voiced by Athena Karkanis) – An engineer and inventor, and the leader of the Kratt brothers' support team. She designs and builds all of the fantastic gadgets the Kratts use, including the Creature Power suit which augments a human body to give the wearer the abilities of any animal which she can program into software disks that pop into the suits. She designed the Tortuga, a turtle-shaped jump jet and spacecraft in which the team flies between expeditions and uses as a home base. She also created a matter transporter to pass equipment to the Kratt brothers when they are out on expedition, a miniaturizer, and a time machine. She is kind and she can be confident of her abilities and her opinions. Once she has made up her mind, it takes appealing to her emotions and overwhelming evidence to change it. She is also competitive, rivaling Zach in invention contests, the Kratts, and even nature itself, most notably in "Cheetah Racer", where she bet that she could invent a land vehicle faster than a cheetah. She occasionall wears a purple Creature Power suit, as shown in episodes like "Birds of a Feather", "Groundhog Wake Up Call", "The Amazing Creature Race", and "Praying Mantis".
- Koki (voiced by Sabryn Rock) – An African-American mechanical engineer and computer expert, Koki works on the computer database of the Tortuga HQ, researches animals for the brothers, and often uses the computer to track the villains via satellite. She manages the communications system of the Tortuga, keeping in touch with Chris and Martin throughout their missions. She sometimes receives signals from other people who want to communicate with the Wild Kratts, and intercepts signals sent by the villains. She is not afraid to speak her mind and tell the truth as she sees it. Her Creature Power Suit color is gold, as shown in episodes like "When Fish Fly", "A Creature Christmas", and "The Amazing Creature Race"; the color was mentioned in the season 6 episode "Wolf Hawks", where she was called Gold Hawk.
- Jimmy Z (voiced by Jonathan Malen) – The pilot of the Tortuga, who operates the ship's teleporter, using his game controller to send items and Creature Power Discs to the Kratts. He sometimes helps Aviva with inventions by handing her the items she needs as she works, which often has hilarious results when he helps her test the prototype. His Creature Pod and scuba gear are both orange. His tail attachment is red, as revealed in "The Great Creature Tail Fail"
- Kratt kids — Members of the Kratt brothers' worldwide fan club sometimes communicate with the team via internet, and are occasionally called on to render assistance to the team.
Villains
- Zach Varmitech (voiced by Zachary Bennett) – A robotics inventor who grew up alongside the Kratts and met Aviva at summer camp. He tries to develop robots and inventions by controlling creatures' minds and then use them as workers or by selling the mind-controlled animals as products, and in certain cases, for his own benefit. He is constantly trying to steal the Kratt brothers' technology. He uses a jet while travelling long distances, and usually rides on the shoulders of a Zachbot otherwise. He is scared of the dark, as seen in "Platypus Cafe", and does not like it when other villains tell his Zachbots what to do.
- Donita Donata (voiced by Eva Almos) – A fashion designer who travels using a pink jet or boat, and is never without the best comforts life can afford. Her main purpose is her clothing line, Donita Donata's Live Jewelry of Nature. She uses a "pose beam" to paralyze live animals so she can sell them as jewelry or clothing, and has also created robotic mannequins which go out and catch animals for her. Donita is symbolic of real world fashion designers who use animal products in the manufacture their clothing. She is always foiled by the Kratts and never gets the chance to use the desired animal in her fashion designing plans.
- Dabio (voiced by Cory Doran) – Donita's muscular and childike henchman, who tries to help Donita design her fashions, but usually fails to satisfy her. Though usually shown to be unintelligent, Dabio is able to remember facts about animals more correctly than Donita, but in "Mystery of the Mini Monkey Models", he could not say the animal names correctly.
- Chef Gaston Gourmand (voiced by Zachary Bennett) – A traveling chef with a Louisiana Cajun accent. He prefers to cook and serve rare or endangered animals, which caused him to lose his chef's license. He usually travels in a camper that features a fold-out restaurant, but has also been seen using a jet or boat with a fold-out outdoor restaurant and kitchen. He invites other villains, mostly Donita and Zach, to try his food; this usually ends up with them running away when his captured animals are let loose by the Kratts.
- Paisley Paver (voiced by Julie Lemieux) – A businesswoman and the CEO of Paving Nature Industries, who believes that turning natural landscapes into factories and parking lots will create a better world for future generations. She is depicted as determined, impatient, orderly, and bossy, but still respects her intern, Rex. Paisley is symbolic of the real world problem of construction companies building over natural habitats.
- Rex (voiced by Cory Doran) – Paisley's intern, who assists her in her plots against the Wild Kratts. Though usually enthusiastic, he is still evil, as he loves to operate Paisley's technology and flatten land for her building sites.
Broadcast
Wild Kratts airs on PBS Kids in the United States and Africa. In Canada it is shown on TV Ontario in Ontario, Knowledge Network in British Columbia, and Télé-Québec/Le Skwat in Quebec. In Australia it is shown on GO! (now 9Go!). Season 1 and 2 are available on Netflix Singapore. In the United Kingdom it is shown on POP. Netflix Canada streams Seasons 1-4.
Other media
A Wild Kratts magazine appeared in Wal-Mart in October 2017. It had animals from when this show started in 2011 to about until 2017.
In 2016, Whole Foods Market introduced a line of products including crackers, vitamins, and soap carrying the WILD KRATTS branding.
Two theatrical live shows based on the animated series premiered at an unknown time at a large stage. The first stage show featured the Kratt Brothers leaping out of the animation and interacting with the audience, and later using their Creature Power Suits to rescue the miniaturizer from Zach Varmitech. A theatrical sequel to that live show in 2019 titled Wild Kratts Live 2.0: Activate Creature Power! premiered at a live stage. The live stage performance had featured the live-action Kratt Brothers shrinking down and exploring, only to later rescue their Creature Power discs from Zach.
See also
In Spanish: Wild Kratts para niños
