Saving the Environment, One Kids’ Show at a Time

Climate experts have been sounding the alarm on climate change for years, but as the United Nations’ latest IPCC report indicates, the environmental protections put in place have not been enough to slow the rise of greenhouse gas emissions. The TV industry plays an important role in spreading awareness about the crisis, and those in the children’s sector are doing their part, as evidenced by the boom in environmental and nature-based programming for young ones.

“We have come to terms with the fact that we need to do more than wait for institutions to protect our environment and solve climate change,” says Lionel Marty, managing director of APC Kids, which distributes the live-action family series Go Green with the Grimwades.

Dorian Bühr, head of global distribution at Studio 100 Media, holds the same sentiment and notes, “The kids’ industry has a certain responsibility when it comes to inspiring kids, and it’s important that our industry contributes to making children understand what is going on in the world.” Studio 100 fulfills this responsibility with SeaBelievers, an animated series that takes kids on adventures to save the ocean and environment.

Though some adults may want to shield children from major environmental issues, much of the programming comes about because “we have children of all ages reaching out and asking questions because they are being bombarded on all their various screens with images of natural disasters 24/7,” says Kenn Viselman, producer for North America of MeteoHeroes, an animated series co-produced by Mondo TV and Meteo Operations Italia that centers on kids who have the power to alter the weather.

Children are already feeling anxious without adults actively avoiding the topic. “A recent study conducted by the U.K.’s University of Bath and other schools spoke to 10,000 people in ten countries around the globe and discovered that 45 percent of all kids interviewed were suffering from high to extremely high levels of climate anxiety,” Viselman says.

Rather than alarm children, the shows that address these issues, even in less direct ways, can ease their fears and empower them, demonstrating ways in which they can help change the world right from their own homes.

Among producers and distributors of environmental series, it is widely agreed that one of the most important features of their shows is that they do not put the responsibility on the children. In fact, in many of these shows, the main idea is just to get children in tune with nature. Camille Serceau, producer at Superprod for Me and My Compost, a new series that centers on the adventures of a giant compost man, notes that the show’s “idea is not to tell the children how to consume—because it’s not them who go to the supermarket. It’s just to reconnect with nature to let them see that nature is everywhere.”

Tara Hungerford, co-creator of The Gumboot Kids programs, which are distributed by Little Engine Moving Pictures and show preschoolers and their families mindfully exploring nature, concurs, noting that “it’s not putting it on the children to solve the problem. What our show does is just allow kids to connect and therefore love and care and respect their environment.”

The Gumboots Kids’ co-creator Eric Hogan adds, “There are studies done that show that children who spend time in nature carry these attitudes of appreciation, conserving nature [and] loving the planet throughout their entire lives.”

“I’m not trying to sound overly simplistic about it, but the reality is, if a child feels nature in their body and soul and feels connection, then they will care about the planet more,” Hungerford says. “They will make choices that are mindful and environmentally conscious.”

When the environmental shows do demonstrate ways for children to actively help save the planet, they offer simple solutions. For Me and My Compost’s Serceau, “The concept of the project is, how do you take care of the planet when you’re just a kid and you have your whole life ahead of you?” Her co-producer Aurélie Angebault, who produces on behalf of Vivement Lundi !, notes that composting is one of the few “ways kids can do something for the planet because all other issues are adults’ problems.”

APC Kids’ Marty says Go Green with the Grimwades approaches the topic by offering an inside perspective of a real family, therefore showing viewers and their own families that change can start at home. The series demonstrates “through simple and efficient tools: the language Tim and Ella [Grimwade] adapt to their own children’s level, the catchy song and the key five ‘R’ words articulating their problem-solving: refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.”

No matter which path producers take—just helping kids connect with nature or offering active solutions—“the most important thing is that we treat our audience with respect,” MeteoHeroes’ Viselman says. “We never talk down to them. We use humor and make sure that each episode is factually correct, that we use terms that make them feel hopeful and that we tell a compelling story leaving the audience hopeful.”

Many of the shows offer additional materials to further children’s education and understanding of the planet. The Gumboot Kids has two spin-off series and educational material for North American classrooms, MeteoHeroes offers a variety of educational content and community outreach programs, and Me and My Compost will have an additional short-form web series that includes interviews with children around the world. SeaBelievers, meanwhile, poses a challenge at the end of each episode to encourage children to go out and connect the lessons they learn in the series with real life. Paired with the messages already given during their episodes, the series are setting children—and our planet—up for a better future.

And luckily for producers, these types of programs attract animators, which Me and My Compost’s Serceau and Angebault were surprised to discover. They expected to have trouble securing top animators, what with the vast amount of animation work needed right now given the influx of platforms developing their own original content. When their series was first presented, though, “we received more than 80 submissions,” Serceau notes. “We discovered that everybody wanted to work on the teaser and work on a project” that really means something.

“In the end, everyone just wants to create awareness and provide options to motivate kids and families to be mindful and proactive,” Studio 100’s Bühr says. And with that, hopefully, comes the protection of our planet for generations to come.