It's a Big Big World


It's a Big Big World is an American children's television show on PBS Kids, that debuted January 2, 2006, created by Mitchell Kriegman, the creator of the Muppet television series, Bear in the Big Blue House. It was originally part of Miss Lori and Hooper's schedule block, but was cancelled and replaced on January 8, 2010, though it still aired in reruns on most PBS stations until September 2010 and was released on DVD. The show revolves around a group of animals living in "The World Tree" in the rainforest along the Amazon River with the Pico da Neblina mountain background. The main character and host is Snook the sloth.
The series was taped at Wainscott Studios at the East Hampton Airport industrial complex in Wainscott, New York. The only studio to use Shadowmation, a technique created by Mitchell Kriegman, to bring the puppets to life by combining live action animatronic characters with computer generated animation in real time, high definition virtual environments powered by video game engines.

Character guide

Additional puppetry was provided by Carol Binion, Eric Engelhardt, Jim Kroupa, Paul McGinnis, John Kennedy, Jodi Eichelberger, Heather Asch, Amanda Maddock, David Jordan, and Lara MacLean.
Many of the puppeteers come from similar shows, primarily Bear in the Big Blue House, Jellybean Jungle, and The Book of Pooh, another show involving Shadowmation, a technique that combines live-action, bunraku-style puppetry, and computer-generated animation.

Episodes

Typical episode format

Each episode begins with the opening theme song, "It's a Big Big World" that's followed by a short 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. 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

The show debuted on PBS Kids on January 2, 2006 and aired as part of the Miss Lori and Hooper block, until 2010, when it was replaced by Super Why!. It also aired on Nick Jr. in Australia.
It premiered in Latin America on May 28, 2007 on Discovery Kids, but the series was shortly cancelled afterwards, due to low ratings.

DVDs

Six DVDs were released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. They're:
Other DVDs: