Little Airplane Productions
Company type | Division |
---|---|
Industry | Television production Animation |
Founded | 1999 |
Founders |
|
Defunct | June 2023 |
Fate | Folded into Studio 100 |
Headquarters | New York City, New York |
Key people | Josh Selig (former CEO) Lori Shaer Jennifer Oxley Jeffrey Lesser Sharon Gomes (former COO) |
Products | Oobi Wonder Pets! 3rd & Bird Small Potatoes Doctor Space Super Wings |
Parent | Studio 100 (2017–2023) |
Little Airplane Productions was an American television production company co-founded by Josh Selig and Lori Shaer (née Sherman)[1] in 1999. The company produced Oobi for Noggin, Wonder Pets! for Nickelodeon, and 3rd & Bird for the BBC. It also released independent short films. In 2017, the company was bought by the European-based Studio 100, which entered a co-production agreement to create the comedy series Doctor Space with Little Airplane.[2][3]
The company's main studio was located in New York City's South Street Seaport.[4] Filming, animation, design, and storyboarding work were completed in a 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) building. The studio also had a recording facility for voice-over and music. In mid-2007, the company opened new studios in London 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.[5]
In June 2023, Studio 100 announced that Little Airplane would be "closing shop" and that its studio space would be replaced by a new company called Terribly Terrific Productions.[6]
History
[edit]Both Josh Selig and Lori Shaer (named Lori Sherman until her marriage) worked for Sesame Workshop in the mid-1990s.[7] 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."[8]
The name "Little Airplane" was derived from a 1994 short film that Selig had produced for Sesame Street called "I'm a Little Airplane."[9] At first, Little Airplane only produced similar live-action content, including Oobi and a film called The Time-Out Chair. The studio did not create its own animation until creative director Jennifer Oxley 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! and 3rd & Bird.[10]
Productions
[edit]Television series
[edit]- 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 in 2000.[11] 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.[12]
- Go, Baby
- Wonder Pets! was the studio's second series,[13] focusing on the adventures of three classroom pets.[14] It ran for three seasons. It started out on Nickelodeon, but premieres moved to the separate Nick Jr. Channel during the third season.
- 3rd & Bird 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.
- Small Potatoes is an animated series about potatoes who sing songs. A feature-length film based on the series, Meet the Small Potatoes, aired in 2013.[15]
- The Adventures of Napkin Man! 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, an animated series about airplanes co-produced with FunnyFlux Entertainment in South Korea and Alpha Group in China.
- P. King Duckling is a co-production with Uyoung Animation, a Chinese company. The series premiered on Disney Junior on November 7, 2016.[16]
- The Dog & Pony Show is an animated series created by Josh Selig and co-produced with RedKnot (a joint venture between Nelvana and Discovery).[17]
- Doctor Space is an animated comedy pilot created and written by Selig and Billy Lopez. It was co-produced by Little Airplane, Studio 100, and Fantawild Animation. The pilot was being developed into a full series,[3] but Little Airplane closed before the project could be completed, meaning that Terribly Terrific! Productions would produce it instead.
Other
[edit]- The Time-Out Chair is a short film produced by the studio in 2002. The short was filmed in East Village, Manhattan and shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival.[18]
- Linny the Guinea Pig is a collection of two short films about a guinea pig who embarks on adventures. The shorts, which inspired the Wonder Pets! show, were aired on Nickelodeon in 2003.[19]
- Little Airplane produced the animation for the song "Son of Man" in the 2006 Broadway production of Tarzan.[11]
- Little Airplane produced a series of PSA commercials for the YMCA of Greater New York in 2010.[20]
- Tobi! is a series of four-minute visual poems that aired on Treehouse TV in Canada.[21]
- The Olive Branch was a multimedia project (both a book and a series of one-minute animations) about two characters who achieve conflict resolution, told without words.[22]
- A Laurie Berkner Christmas, an album by Laurie Berkner, was recorded and mixed by Little Airplane Productions in 2012.[23]
Other work
[edit]Cancelled projects
[edit]The Wonder Pets! episode "Kalamazoo!" was intended to be a backdoor pilot 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.[24]
In 2008, Sesame Workshop hired Little Airplane to "produce a bible for a series in development," but the project did not materialize.[24]
The Little Light Foundation
[edit]In 2009, Little Airplane Productions created a non-profit initiative called "The Little Light Foundation". The Foundation's first project was The Olive Branch, a multimedia project about conflict resolution, tolerance and mutual respect.[25]
The Little Airplane Café
[edit]In the summer of 2009, Little Airplane Productions launched the Little Airplane Café. Laurie Berkner opened the restaurant in July 2009. Her performance was broadcast live on SiriusXM.[26] Guests included Jon Scieszka, Milkshake, and Suzi Shelton.
The Little Airplane Academy
[edit]Little Airplane Academy offered a three-day workshop twice a year at the company's South Street Seaport studios. Participants learned 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
[edit]- ^ a b "Josh Selig: Article about Little Airplane". Kidscreen. August 3, 2010. Archived from the original on September 13, 2019.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (December 1, 2017). "Studio 100 Takes Over Emmy-Winning Little Airplane Productions". Archived from the original on September 3, 2021. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
- ^ a b Milligan, Mercedes (October 2, 2019). "Little Airplane, Fantawild & Studio 100 Blast Off with 'Doctor Space'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- ^ "Recently Opened: Little Airplane". Time Out. Time Out Group. April 15, 2008. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ^ "Josh Selig and Sharon Gomes Exit Studio 100's Little Airplane Productions". Archived from the original on June 27, 2022. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- ^ "Announcement..." www.littleairplane.com. Archived from the original on November 26, 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ "Lori Shaer biography". Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
she moved into children's television working at Sesame Street and then launched a children's production company, Little Airplane Productions.
- ^ "Untitled". Archived from the original on September 13, 2019.
- ^ "From animation to voice-overs, kids see how shows are made". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on July 8, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ "Post Magazine - ANIMATION: 'THE WONDER PETS!'". Archived from the original on August 2, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ^ a b "Our Work". Little Airplane. Archived from the original on February 13, 2016.
- ^ Dobbs, Aaron; Oei, Lily (January 4, 2006). "Josh Selig, Little Airplane Productions". Gothamist. Gothamist LLC. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016.
- ^ Clarke, Eileen (April 22, 2007). "Kids' Corner Q&A: The Wonder Pets's Josh Selig". Entertainment Weekly (Press release). Time Inc.
- ^ Clarke, Eileen (April 22, 2007). "Kids' Corner Q&A: The Wonder Pets's Josh Selig". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc.
- ^ "Kidscreen » Archive » Small Potatoes movie gets air date, DVD distribution". kidscreen.com. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
- ^ Mercedes Milligan (October 25, 2016). "'P. King Duckling' Gets Quacking on Disney Junior US". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
- ^ "The Dog & Pony Show". Archived from the original on December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ Germano Celant (January 2004). Tribeca talks. Progetto Prada Arte. ISBN 978-88-87029-30-7.
- ^ "Linny the Guinea Pig: Space and Ocean". Tribeca Film Festival. Archived from the original on May 13, 2016.
- ^ "Marcia Gay Harden Joins YMCA To Help Parents Build Strong Kids, Healthy Families". PR Newswire. February 10, 2010. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
- ^ Goldman Getzler, Wendy (September 23, 2010). "Little Airplane's Tobi hits Scandinavia". Kidscreen. Brunico Communications. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ^ DeMott, Rick (May 24, 2010). "Little Airplane's Olive Branch Debuts June 1 On Nick Jr". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ^ "A Laurie Berkner Christmas". Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
Recorded at Little Airplane Productions, New York City
- ^ a b Dade Hayes (May 6, 2008). Anytime Playdate: Inside the Preschool Entertainment Boom, or, How Television Became My Baby's Best Friend. Simon & Schuster. pp. 199–. ISBN 978-1-4165-6433-1.
- ^ McLean, Tom (May 26, 2010). "Little Airplane Offers Positive Olive Branch to World". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on December 5, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ^ Neumaier, Joe (July 10, 2009). "Little Airplane Cafe draws big crowd for kid-friendly concerts". New York Daily News. Mortimer Zuckerman. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
External links
[edit]- Official website (archived)