''Donkey Hodie'' is an American Puppet live action musical

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

television series created by

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

and Adam Rudman for

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Instead, ...

, and was aimed for preschoolers ages 3 to 5. Inspired by characters created by

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

, the series premiered May 3, 2021 and is the second spinoff of Rogers' television series ''

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' (sometimes shortened to ''Mister Rogers'') is an American half-hour educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001, and was created and hosted by Fred Rogers. The series ''Misterogers'' debut ...

'' after ''

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood ''Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood'' (known as ''Daniel Tiger's Neighbourhood'' in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and often abbreviated to ''Daniel Tiger'') is a Flash-animated (photographs-influenced) musical television ser ...

''. The first full episode was initially set to premiere in winter 2021 on PBS Kids in the United States, but it was pushed back to May 3 of the same year. On April 7, 2022, it was announced that ''Donkey Hodie'' was renewed for a second season which will premiere in spring 2023.

Plot

In the land of Someplace Else, just north of the

Neighborhood of Make-Believe The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is the fictional kingdom inhabited by hand puppet characters on the children's television series ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', which originally aired on PBS (and its predecessor NET) from 1968 to 2001, and its ...

, Donkey Hodie and her friends go throughout their day while solving different problems along the way.

Cast

* Haley Jenkins as Donkey Hodie, the granddaughter of Grampy Hodie (the original Donkey Hodie). Like her grandfather, her name is a pun on the novel ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

''. *

Stephanie D'Abruzzo Stephanie Ann D'Abruzzo (; born December 7, 1971) is an American actress, puppeteer and singer. She has performed various Muppets in the TV program ''Sesame Street''. She held starring roles on '' Oobi'' and ''The Book of Pooh''. She was one of ...

as Duck Duck, Harriet Elizabeth Cow and Mama Panda. *

David Rudman David Rudman (born June 1, 1963) is an American puppeteer, puppet builder, writer, director, and producer known for his involvement with the Muppets and ''Sesame Street''. Career David Rudman has been a ''Sesame Street'' Muppet performer sinc ...

Bob Dog The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is the fictional kingdom inhabited by hand puppet characters on the children's television series ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', which originally aired on PBS (and its predecessor NET) from 1968 to 2001, and its ...

, Grampy Hodie, and Stanley the Dragon. * Frankie Cordero as Purple Panda. *

Peter Linz Peter Linz (born June 28, 1967) is an American puppeteer. His most prominent role is being the performer for the character Walter who was introduced in the 2011 feature film ''The Muppets''. Since 1991, Linz has performed on ''Sesame Street'', ...

as Clyde the Cloud. * Matt Vogel as

King Friday The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is the fictional kingdom inhabited by hand puppet characters on the children's television series ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'', which originally aired on PBS (and its predecessor NET) from 1968 to 2001, and its ...

, the ruler of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. *

Joey Mazzarino Joseph Mazzarino (; born June 4, 1968) is an American actor, puppeteer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles on ''Sesame Street'' as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on ' ...

as Game Show Gator and Super Porcupine. *

Leslie Carrara-Rudolph Leslie Carrara, sometimes credited as Leslie Carrara-Rudolph or the misspelling Leslie Carrera-Rudolph, is an American actress, performer, puppeteer, speaker, singer and artist. She is probably best known as a Muppet performer on ''Sesame Street' ...

as Dodie Hodie, Donkey Hodie's cousin. The characters of Duck Duck, Clyde the Cloud, Game Show Gator, Stanley the Dragon, Super Porcupine and Dodie Hodie are new characters created for the ''Donkey Hodie'' series.

Episodes

Season 1 (2021-22)

Production

The series was announced in January 2020. The title character is the granddaughter of the original Donkey Hodie, a character from the ''Neighborhood of Make Believe'' on ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood''.

Music

Like ''

'', the series includes both new songs as well as songs written by Rogers. The music for the show was composed by Bill Sherman, Zack Zeyde, and Noah Deblasis.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
''Donkey Hodie''
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

{{PBSKids shows 2020s American children's comedy television series 2021 American television series debuts 2020s preschool education television series American children's adventure television series American television spin-offs American preschool education television series American television shows featuring puppetry Mister Rogers' Neighborhood English-language television shows PBS original programming PBS Kids shows Television series about mammals Fictional donkeys Television series about children Anthropomorphic animals Works about friendship Farms in fiction Forests in fiction Television productions postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Television series impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic Television series by 9 Story Media Group