It's a Big Big World
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''It's a Big Big World'' is an American children's
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
that aired on
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, ...
from January 2, 2006, to January 8, 2010. The series was created by
Mitchell Kriegman Mitchell Kriegman (born June 4, 1952) is an American television writer, director, producer, consultant, story editor, author, composer and actor. He is the creator of ''Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991) for Nickelodeon, ''Bear in the Big Blue Ho ...
, the creator of the Muppet television series, ''
Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aire ...
.'' After the series ended, reruns continue to air until April 30, 2010. The show revolves around a group of animals living in "The World Tree" in the
rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...
along the
Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...
with the
Pico da Neblina Pico da Neblina (, literally translatable to ''Mist Peak'') is the highest peak in Brazil, above sea level, in the Serra da Neblina, part of the Serra do Imeri, a section of the Guiana Highlands on the Brazil-Venezuela border. As determine ...
mountain background. The main character and host is Snook the
sloth Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their li ...
. The series was taped at Wainscott Studios (now the LTV (Local TV, Inc.) studios) at the
East Hampton Airport Town of East Hampton Airport (prior to May 19, 2022 its name was East Hampton Airport and its codes were KHTO/HTO) is anairport located in Wainscott, New York, just west of the Village of East Hampton. The airport is owned and operated by the ...
industrial complex in
Wainscott, New York Wainscott is a census-designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the 2010 United States Censu ...
. The only studio to use Shadowmation, a technique created by
Mitchell Kriegman Mitchell Kriegman (born June 4, 1952) is an American television writer, director, producer, consultant, story editor, author, composer and actor. He is the creator of ''Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991) for Nickelodeon, ''Bear in the Big Blue Ho ...
, to bring the puppets to life by combining live action animatronic characters with computer generated animation in real time, high definition
virtual environment A virtual environment is a networked application that allows a user to interact with both the computing environment and the work of other users. Email Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") betwee ...
s powered by
video game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...
s.


Characters

* Snook (performed and voiced by
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'', ...
) is a
pale-throated three-toed sloth The pale-throated sloth (''Bradypus tridactylus''), occasionally known as the ai (), is a species of three-toed sloth that inhabits tropical rainforests in northern South America. It is similar in appearance to, and often confused with, the brow ...
who serves as the host of the show. He lives in the world tree and loves nothing more than to help his friends learn all about the 'Big Big World' around them. He's slow-moving (but smart) and often takes naps, but is always up for a scientific investigation. He also enjoys singing and dancing with all of his friends in the World Tree. In addition to interacting with the other characters, Snook regularly breaks the
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...
, often to explain a fact or ask a question. Like Big Bird from ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'' or Bear from ''
Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aire ...
'', Snook is a full-bodied character, as well as one of the only two not requiring 3 performers, the other being Madge. * Burdette (performed and voiced by Melissa Creighton) is a
crested quetzal The crested quetzal /ketSAHL/ (''Pharomachrus antisianus'') is a species of bird in the family Trogonidae native to South America, where it is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropica ...
bird who sometimes seems like a controlling older sister, who thinks she knows more than everyone around her. However, Burdette is sincere, and while investigating things with her friends in the World Tree, she's sometimes surprised to learn new things about herself too. * Bob (performed and voiced by
James Godwin James Basil "Gib" Godwin III (born February 6, 1951), a retired Rear Admiral (upper half) of the United States Navy, was the Program Executive Officer – Enterprise Information Systems of the Department of the Navy. His responsibilities i ...
) is a
southern tamandua The southern tamandua (''Tamandua tetradactyla''), also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a species of anteater from South America and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. It is a solitary animal found in many habitats, from ...
who loves studying the ants that live all around him in the World Tree, and he's always trying new things out to make them like him more. Bob also worries a lot about things that he thinks might happen. * Smooch (performed and voiced by Aymee Garcia) and Winslow (performed and voiced by
Tyler Bunch Tyler Bunch, also known as H.D. Quinn, is an American puppeteer, puppet designer, director, and actor. Career In addition to his work for the Jim Henson Company, Bunch has created and performed puppets for PBS, Nickelodeon and Disney's The Mu ...
) are two playful sibling monkeys -
common marmoset The common marmoset (''Callithrix jacchus'') also called white-tufted marmoset or white-tufted-ear marmoset is a New World monkey. It originally lived on the northeastern coast of Brazil, in the states of Piaui, Paraiba, Ceará, Rio Grande do No ...
s to be exact - who're always stirring things up. Smooch (the girl monkey) is always trying to figure out the mysteries of the world around her, and Winslow (the boy monkey) is the goofy creative thinker. With such different personalities, these two monkeys don't always see eye to eye, but their little disagreements frequently lead to great adventures. * Madge (performed and voiced by
Julie Westwood Julie Westwood (born 21 October 1952) is an English voice actress and puppeteer, best known for portraying Bessie Busybody in the children's television show '' LazyTown'', as well as a career of other voices. She lives in Bolton, United Kingdom ...
) is an old
yellow-footed tortoise The yellow-footed tortoise (''Chelonoidis denticulatus''), also known as the Brazilian giant tortoise, commonly referred to as the Brazilian giant turtle, or more commonly, the big turtle, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae and ...
. Madge has a map of the world on her shell. She's the oldest and wisest creature in the World Tree, and the one everyone comes to when they have a problem to solve. She traveled all over the world and shares her experiences with everyone. Her library is the place to visit for answers to scientific questions. Like Snook, Madge is a full-bodied character. Madge disappears in Season 2. However, in one Season 2 episode, Snook mentions her name (which is in one of the final two episodes; in ''Big Book of Babies''). * Oko (performed and voiced by Peter Linz) is an old brown howler and a trickster who always shows up when least expected. Oko can be grouchy and mischievous, but he also shares mysterious stories and little bits of wisdom with the others. A
tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an neijia, internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and medita ...
master, he carries an old walking stick that he can twirl from his feet to his hands and back again in the blink of an eye. He has a friend named
Tsetse Tsetse ( , or ) (sometimes spelled tzetze; also known as tik-tik flies), are large, biting flies that inhabit much of tropical Africa. Tsetse flies include all the species in the genus ''Glossina'', which are placed in their own family, Glo ...
, who sometimes gives good advice. Oko disappears in Season 2. * Wartz (performed and voiced by
Tim Lagasse Tim Lagasse (born 1968/1969) is an American director, puppeteer and puppet designer. He has worked on films and television programs for Sesame Workshop, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, and HBO. He is known for playing the title character on Noggin's '' O ...
) is a red-eyed tree frog. Wartz has gone through his
metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
, growing from a tadpole into a frog. Best friends with Smooch and Winslow, Wartz wants to get along with everyone and will agree with anyone, no matter what they're saying. He was written off from the show in Season 2, but he can still be seen in the theme song. He provides all of the comic relief moments in the series until Riona replaces him for that. * Ick (performed and voiced by Tim Lagasse) is a redtail catfish who lives in the pond under the world tree. He has
misanthropic Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...
tendencies, as shown through his love of playing pranks on whoever he comes across. Although Ick disappears in Season 2, his pond still remains in the theme song and in some Season 2 episodes. * Riona (performed by
Tyler Bunch Tyler Bunch, also known as H.D. Quinn, is an American puppeteer, puppet designer, director, and actor. Career In addition to his work for the Jim Henson Company, Bunch has created and performed puppets for PBS, Nickelodeon and Disney's The Mu ...
) is Snook's niece who is a baby sloth that serves as the co-host of Season 2 and provides all of the comic relief moments in that season (replacing Wartz).


Puppeteers

* Peter Linz as Snook/Oko * Melissa Creighton as Burdette * Aymee Garcia as Smooch * Tyler Bunch as Winslow/Riona * James Godwin as Bob * Tim Lagasse as Ick/Wartz * Julie Westwood as Madge Additional puppetry was provided by Patrick Holmes, Carol Binion, Frankie Cordiro, Eric Engelhardt, Jim Kroupa,
Paul McGinnis Paul McGinnis (born 1973) is an American puppeteer for ''Sesame Street'' and The Muppets. He has also performed in various non-Muppet television productions such as ''The Book of Pooh'', ''Julie's Greenroom'', ''The Wiz Live!'', '' Crash & Bernste ...
, John Kennedy, Jodi Eichelberger,
Heather Asch Heather C. Asch (born May 28, 1966) is an American puppeteer. Biography Heather Asch, who hails from Minneapolis, graduated from the University of Connecticut's Puppet Arts Program in 1991. Her first puppet project is ''Bosum Buddies'' which deal ...
, Amanda Maddock, David Jordan, and Lara MacLean. Many of the puppeteers come from similar shows, primarily ''
Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aire ...
'', ''Jellybean Jungle'', and ''
The Book of Pooh ''The Book of Pooh'' is an American children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based on A. A. Milne's works; th ...
'', another show involving Shadowmation, a technique that combines live-action, bunraku-style puppetry, and computer-generated animation.


Episodes


Series overview


Typical episode format

Each episode begins with the opening
theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...
, "It's a Big Big World" that's followed by a short (10-12 minute) story involving some or all of the main characters. In season 1, this first story was followed by another song, called "Curve of the World", sung by all the characters. (In the Miss Lori and Hooper block, this song wasn't shown.) Then comes a second 10-12 minute story, which may be thematically linked to the first story but isn't usually a direct continuation of the plot. In season 2, both stories were followed by Snook singing "Tell Me 'Bout the Best Parts of your Day" to Riona, which led to a discussion about what the characters did and learned that day. At the end of all episodes, Snook sings the closing song, "Try to Touch the Sky", although this is often followed by short segments in which Snook ends an exploring or scientific activity and gives some fun facts about the various species of animals that live in the World Tree.


Season 1 (2006–2007)


Season 2 (2009–2010)


Broadcast

In the United States of America, the show aired on
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, ...
from January 2, 2006 to April 30, 2010, and aired as part of the preschool block from September 4, 2006 to August 31, 2007. The show internationally aired on
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, and
Nick Jr. Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
2 in
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.


Home media


DVD

Six DVDs were released by
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (abbreviated as SPHE) is the home video distribution division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. Background SPHE is responsible for the distribution of the Sony Pictures lib ...
. *The Sky Above (January 30, 2007) *Safe and Sound (May 22, 2007) *Let's Investigate the World () *The Earth Needs You () *You Can Do It () *The Big Big Sleep () Other DVDs: *Be Healthy and Happy () *Everyone's Different ()


Streaming

Episodes of the show are currently available on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
since July 27, 2015. The show was added to
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...
on August 12, 2022 after
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, ...
acquired the streaming rights on July 27, 2022, officially marking the program's return to PBS Kids in any platform after 12 years.


References


External links

*
wainscottstudios.com


*
It's a Big Big World
' on
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{Former PBS Kids shows 2000s American children's television series 2010s American children's television series 2009 American television series debuts 2013 American television series endings American preschool education television series American television series with live action and animation American television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows 2000s preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series PBS Kids shows PBS original programming Television series by Sony Pictures Television Television shows set in Brazil