Mr. Rogers’ Spin-Off Gets Animated Treatment

LOS ANGLES: The new PBS Kids series Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is a multiplatform animated preschool property inspired by the classic show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.

The new preschool series features an animated version of the original Neighborhood of Make Believe, with 4-year-old Daniel Tiger as the star of the show. The series marks the first production from The Fred Rogers Company since Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Set for a launch in fall 2012 on PBS Kids, the series will also feature a website with games as well as other cross-platform content.

“We’re very excited to be creating a program that builds on Fred’s legacy in such fresh and innovative ways. Fred knew that school readiness skills are the foundation for academic achievement, and a full life, and now a growing body of research confirms this,” said Bill Isler, the president of The Fred Rogers Company.

“Fred Rogers revolutionized children’s media with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood continues on this path of innovation, helping the next generation of young children learn and grow in new ways,” added Lesli Rotenberg, the senior VP of children’s media at PBS. “Joining the PBS Kids family of series that cover important curricular areas like literacy and science, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood fills a critical gap in children’s media today: modeling the behaviors and habits that kids need in order to excel in formal learning settings—essentially, learning how to learn. It’s important for kids to learn pro-social skills like cooperation and listening, so that when they start school they are able to focus on the material at hand.”