{"id":22510,"date":"2022-02-25T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T14:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2022-02-25T10:52:45","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T15:52:45","slug":"fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Rogers Productions Achieves Big Dreams Someplace Else"},"content":{"rendered":"

The magic of Fred Rogers has been brought to life once again, this time through the PBS KIDS puppet show Donkey Hodie<\/em>, with new episodes set to hit screens on Fridays in March.<\/p>\n

Set in the land of Someplace Else, the preschool series from Fred Rogers Productions and Spiffy Pictures centers on big dreams and what it takes to achieve them. The titular character\u2014a donkey with bright yellow fur and a vibrant magenta mane\u2014is an optimist and a go-getter, according to Kristin DiQuollo, supervising producer of the show for Fred Rogers Productions. \u201cWe call her a can-do donkey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bright yellow character is the granddaughter of Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em>\u2019s Donkey Hodie, who was a gray hand puppet. When the producers at Fred Rogers Productions revisited Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em> for inspiration, Chief Creative Officer Ellen Doherty landed on the name \u201cDonkey Hodie,\u201d and, \u201cpulling on the thread of the source material Don Quixote<\/em> and \u2018The Impossible Dream,\u2019 thought, \u2018What about a series based on Donkey Hodie that\u2019s about big dreams and what that means for preschoolers?\u2019\u201d DiQuollo says. And thus, the yellow and pink go-getter was born.<\/p>\n

The setting of Someplace Else is derived directly from a Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em> storyline in which the original Donkey Hodie began building a windmill behind King Friday\u2019s castle in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. \u201cKing Friday did not like it and told Donkey Hodie to go build a windmill someplace else,\u201d DiQuollo explains. \u201cSo, Donkey Hodie left the neighborhood and founded Someplace Else, population one.\u201d Now, his granddaughter Donkey Hodie lives in the windmill that he built.<\/p>\n

The land of Someplace Else is \u201ca place where everybody comes to realize their big dreams,\u201d DiQuollo says. \u201cIt\u2019s where everybody can get a little messy and have fun and make mistakes and be supported along the way.\u201d And there are no dreams too big to achieve\u2014whether it\u2019s Grampy Hodie\u2019s original dream of building a windmill to Game Show Gator\u2019s of being a game-show host or Bob Dog\u2019s of living in a tennis ball.<\/p>\n

With Donkey Hodie<\/em> centering on big dreams, \u201cthe themes of resilience, perseverance and problem-solving that you need to make those big dreams happen\u201d became core tenets of the show, DiQuollo says. The lessons of each episode are developed with Roberta Schomburg, a longtime adviser for Fred Rogers Productions who worked with Rogers, and Brittany Sommer Katzin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe frame all the core messages as \u2018I\u2019 statements,\u201d DiQuollo points out. \u201cDonkey has an \u2018I, Donkey Hodie,\u2019 statement in every story. \u2018I, Donkey Hodie, will make art for the art show,\u2019 for example. She sets her goal, and she restates the goal several times, typically, throughout the story.\u201d And when she inevitably runs into problems trying to achieve her grandiose goals, she tries and tries again.<\/p>\n

Quite crucially: \u201cShe will ask for help if she needs it and when she needs it,\u201d DiQuollo adds. \u201cAn important skill for building resilience is acknowledging that you don\u2019t have to do it all by yourself; you can ask for help if you need it. That\u2019s a really important piece of the learning DNA for our show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overcoming challenges, managing your own emotions, persisting when things get tough and letting yourself be OK with the feelings that you feel are vital pieces of the show. \u201cFrankly, these are all things that we as adults can learn from as well,\u201d DiQuollo says. \u201cAnd I know I\u2019ve learned a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The use of live puppets helps to drive these lessons home, as the physicality and range of emotions are \u201cdifferent than what you\u2019re able to achieve in animation, and it just feels so much more real,\u201d DiQuollo notes. The huggable and touchable nature of live puppets is able to reinforce the show\u2019s takeaways because children don\u2019t have to imagine them; they really exist. \u201cAnd, of course, it was a good way to nod to Mister Rogers\u2019 Neighborhood<\/em> because many of these characters were puppets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from the main concepts taught throughout the series, one of the core purposes of the show hearkens back to a story DiQuollo recalls: \u201cI heard from our advisers that Fred used to say that what\u2019s on the outside of kids might change\u2014meaning their experience in the world or what\u2019s happening around them\u2014but their insides stay the same. And that has really stuck with me. With Donkey Hodie, we\u2019re honoring what\u2019s on the inside for all kids and hopefully helping spark their sense of fun and play and wonder along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kristin DiQuollo, supervising producer of Donkey Hodie for Fred Rogers Productions, discusses bringing the magic of Fred Rogers to life again in the puppet preschool series about big dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":22511,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[5257,3658],"class_list":["post-22510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-donkey-hodie","tag-fred-rogers-productions","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nFred Rogers Productions Achieves Big Dreams Someplace Else - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fred Rogers Productions Achieves Big Dreams Someplace Else - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kristin DiQuollo, supervising producer of Donkey Hodie for Fred Rogers Productions, discusses bringing the magic of Fred Rogers to life again in the puppet preschool series about big dreams.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-25T14:00:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-25T15:52:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/FredRogersProductions-DonkeyHodie-0222-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"338\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/\",\"name\":\"Fred Rogers Productions Achieves Big Dreams Someplace Else - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-25T14:00:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-25T15:52:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/fred-rogers-productions-achieves-big-dreams-someplace-else\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fred Rogers Productions Achieves Big Dreams Someplace Else\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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