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Little Airplane Productions is an American
television production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and vi ...
co-founded by Josh Selig and Lori Shaer (née Sherman) in 1999. The company produced '' Oobi'' for
Noggin Noggin may refer to: General * Noggin or gill (volume), a unit of volume * Noggin (cup), a small cup * Noggin, slang for head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, an ...
, ''
Wonder Pets! ''Wonder Pets!'' is an American educational animated children's television series created by Josh Selig for Nickelodeon. The series follows a trio of classroom pets—Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck and Ming-Ming Duckling—who use teamwork to ...
'' for
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
, and ''
3rd & Bird ''3rd & Bird'' is a children's animated television series created by Josh Selig. Selig's company, Little Airplane Productions, animated the series and opened a new studio in London to produce it. The show revolves around a community of birds and ...
'' for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. It has also released independent short films. Since 2017, the company has been owned by Studio 100, which entered a co-production agreement to create the comedy series ''Doctor Space'' with Little Airplane. The company's main studio is located in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
's
South Street Seaport The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District, in Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district ...
. Filming, animation, design, and storyboarding work are completed in a building. The studio also has a recording facility for
voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...
and music. In mid-2007, the company opened new studios in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and Abu Dhabi, following the announcement of ''3rd & Bird''. Lori Shaer left Little Airplane in 2002, but she continued to be given a "special thanks" credit on the second and third seasons of ''Oobi''. Josh Selig left the company in 2020.


History

Both Josh Selig and Lori Shaer (named Lori Sherman until her marriage) worked for Sesame Workshop in the mid-1990s. After being laid off, Selig partnered with Shaer to open a studio in New York City. For the first year, they both worked out of a "one-room office in Tribeca" and did not make much money. Selig explained that they called their payment formula "a third, a third and a third, meaning every time we finished a small production job, we would split whatever profit was left in the budget three ways. Lori got a third. I got a third. And Little Airplane got a third. That first year we both earned less than the guy washing our windows." The name "Little Airplane" was derived from a 1994 short film that Selig had produced for ''Sesame Street'' called "I'm a Little Airplane." At first, Little Airplane only produced similar
live-action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...
content, including '' Oobi'' and a film called '' The Time-Out Chair''. The studio did not create its own animation until creative director
Jennifer Oxley Jennifer Oxley is an American author, illustrator, television writer/director, and songwriter. She is the co-creator of the PBS children's program ''Peg + Cat''. She was the creative director of '' Wonder Pets!'' and ''3rd & Bird'', as well as the ...
joined the staff. She developed a style of animation called "photo-puppetry" that was used in many of the studio's later works, including ''
Wonder Pets! ''Wonder Pets!'' is an American educational animated children's television series created by Josh Selig for Nickelodeon. The series follows a trio of classroom pets—Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck and Ming-Ming Duckling—who use teamwork to ...
'' and ''
3rd & Bird ''3rd & Bird'' is a children's animated television series created by Josh Selig. Selig's company, Little Airplane Productions, animated the series and opened a new studio in London to produce it. The show revolves around a community of birds and ...
''.


Productions


Television

*'' Oobi'' was the studio's first show. It starred a cast of bare-hand puppets, led by a boy named Oobi. It premiered on
Noggin Noggin may refer to: General * Noggin or gill (volume), a unit of volume * Noggin (cup), a small cup * Noggin, slang for head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, an ...
in 2000. The first season was made up of two-minute shorts, while the second and third seasons were made up of longer episodes spanning 10-13 minutes each. *''
Wonder Pets! ''Wonder Pets!'' is an American educational animated children's television series created by Josh Selig for Nickelodeon. The series follows a trio of classroom pets—Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck and Ming-Ming Duckling—who use teamwork to ...
'' was the studio's second series, focusing on the adventures of three classroom pets. It ran for three seasons. It was originally shown on
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
, with premieres moved to the separate Nick Jr. Channel during the third season. *''
3rd & Bird ''3rd & Bird'' is a children's animated television series created by Josh Selig. Selig's company, Little Airplane Productions, animated the series and opened a new studio in London to produce it. The show revolves around a community of birds and ...
'' is an animated series co-produced by Little Airplane Productions and CBeebies. The series premiered on CBeebies in July 2008 and aired in 18 territories abroad. *'' Tobi!'' is a series of four-minute visual poems that aired on
Treehouse TV Treehouse TV is a Canadian English-language specialty channel for preschoolers aged 2 to 5 that was launched in 1997. Its name comes from YTV's former preschool block, " The Treehouse". The channel is owned by YTV Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of ...
in Canada. It was distributed by the Paris-based company AWOL Animation. *'' Small Potatoes'' debuted at the 12th annual BAMKids International Film Festival. It is currently airing on CBeebies. *''
The Adventures of Napkin Man! ''The Adventures of Napkin Man!'' is a children's television series created by Tone Thyne and Josh Selig. It premiered in 2013 on CBC Television, as part of the '' Kids' CBC'' block. Mixing live action with animation, the series stars Yannick Bis ...
'' is a series that combines live action and animation. It was created by Selig and Tone Thyne, and it premiered in 2013. *Little Airplane provided English voices and scripts for the first three seasons of ''
Super Wings ''Super Wings'' ( ko, 출동! 슈퍼윙스, Chuldong! Syupeo Wingseu, zh, s=超级飞侠, p=Chāojí fēi xiá) is an animated television series created by Gil Hoon Jung and produced by the company made by himself, FunnyFlux Entertainment, i ...
'', an animated series about airplanes co-produced with FunnyFlux Entertainment in South Korea and Alpha Group in China. *''The Olive Branch'' is a series of one-minute stories about two characters who achieve
conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of conflict and retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information abo ...
, told without words. *'' P. King Duckling'' is a co-production with Uyoung Animation, a Chinese company. The series premiered on
Disney Junior Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven y ...
on November 7, 2016. *''The Dog & Pony Show'' is an animated series created by Josh Selig and co-produced with RedKnot (a joint venture between Nelvana and
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discover ...
). * ''Doctor Space'' is an upcoming animated comedy series, created and written by Selig and Billy Lopez. It is being co-developed by Little Airplane, Studio 100, and Fantawild. ''Doctor Space'' is currently in the development process along with other projects like ''Fun Town Wheels'', ''Build it Dinos'', ''Mike's Amazing Movers'', ''Butterfly Fairy Friends'', and ''Orion's Belt''.


Other

*'' The Time-Out Chair'' is a short film produced by the studio in 2002. The short was filmed in
East Village, Manhattan The East Village is a neighborhood on the East Side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is roughly defined as the area east of the Bowery and Third Avenue, between 14th Street on the north and Houston Street on the south. The East Village ...
and shown at the 2003
Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was f ...
. *''Linny the Guinea Pig'' is a collection of two short films about a
guinea pig The guinea pig or domestic guinea pig (''Cavia porcellus''), also known as the cavy or domestic cavy (), is a species of rodent belonging to the genus '' Cavia'' in the family Caviidae. Breeders tend to use the word ''cavy'' to describe the ...
who embarks on adventures. The shorts, which inspired the ''Wonder Pets!'' show, were aired on
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
in 2003. *Little Airplane produced the animation for a segment called "Son of Man" for the 2006 Broadway production of ''Tarzan''. *Little Airplane produced a series of PSA commercials for the
YMCA of Greater New York YMCA of Greater New York is a community service organization, the largest YMCA in North America and also New York City's largest private youth-serving organization serving more than five hundred thousand each year. The New York chapter formed in ...
in 2010. *''A Laurie Berkner Christmas'', an album by
Laurie Berkner Laurissa Ann "Laurie" Berkner (born March 15, 1969) is a French-born American musician and singer best known for her work as a children's musical artist. She plays guitar and sings lead vocals in The Laurie Berkner Band, along with pianist Susi ...
, was recorded and mixed by Little Airplane Productions in 2012. *''The Jo B. & G. Raff Show!'' was a
television pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distr ...
for
Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...
that Little Airplane produced in 2014.


Other work


Cancelled projects

The ''Wonder Pets!'' episode "Kalamazoo!" was intended to be a
backdoor pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...
for a spin-off series, centering on the character Ming-Ming and her brother Marvin. Selig pitched the spin-off to Nickelodeon after the final season of ''Wonder Pets!'' wrapped, but Nickelodeon did not pick up the spin-off or any additional episodes of the series. In 2008, Sesame Workshop hired Little Airplane to "produce a bible for a series in development," but the project did not materialize.


The Little Light Foundation

In 2009, Little Airplane Productions created a non-profit initiative called "The Little Light Foundation". The Foundation's first project was the animated series ''The Olive Branch'' for the Nick Jr. Channel.


The Little Airplane Café

In the summer of 2009, Little Airplane Productions launched the Little Airplane Café.
Laurie Berkner Laurissa Ann "Laurie" Berkner (born March 15, 1969) is a French-born American musician and singer best known for her work as a children's musical artist. She plays guitar and sings lead vocals in The Laurie Berkner Band, along with pianist Susi ...
opened the restaurant in July 2009. Her performance was broadcast live on
SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sa ...
. Guests have included
Jon Scieszka Jon Scieszka ( :) (born September 8, 1954) is an American children's writer, best known for picture books created with the illustrator Lane Smith. He is also a nationally recognized reading advocate, and the founder of Guys Read – a web-based li ...
, Milkshake, and Suzi Shelton.


The Little Airplane Academy

Little Airplane Academy offers a three-day workshop twice a year at the company's South Street Seaport studios. Participants learn the fundamentals of creating a preschool series including pitching, writing, character design, directing and producing live action and animated shows. In 2009, the Academy ran a one-day writing workshop with Susan Kim. Little Airplane has also hosted workshops in Qatar, England, and Norway.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Mass media companies established in 1999 American animation studios 1999 establishments in New York (state)