Wild Kratts

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Wild Kratts (stylized as WILD KRATTS) is an American-Canadian educational children's animated series created by Chris and Martin Kratt. The Kratt Brothers Company and 9 Story Media Group produce the show, which is presented by PBS in the United States. The show's aim is to educate children about biology, zoology, and ecology, and teach kids small ways to make big impacts.

The show is broadcast in the US, Canada, Latin America, Brazil, Australia, Spain, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, The Netherlands (Dutch dubbed versions as Kratts in het Wild), Middle East, India and Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, FYR Macedonia in Serbian language.

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Plot

The basic plot of an episode is usually to save the animals or an animal from a situation, be it villains, general human influence, or confusion on a baby animal's part. Most episodes focus on villains, but those that do not usually focus on some real world problem, either directly (as seen in "Stuck On Sharks" where Gourmand captured a shark for making shark fin soup) or indirectly through allegory ("Build It Beaver" had the beaver's dam destroyed repeatedly through various means; an allegory for deforestation). Additionally, some episodes aim to change the way a creature is seen--creatures that are usually considered frightening, such as bats and crocodiles.

The Kratt brothers are helped by Aviva, a programmer who invents "creature power suits" to help the brothers achieve their goals. Power suits are created to mimic the special abilities of animals to defeat the villains. Koki is the mechanic and computer expert who deals with the running of the "Tortuga".

Along the way, viewers learn about the animals and their lives as the Kratt brothers and the Wild Kratts gang figure out ways to either right wrongs or to get out of the situations they are in. It was stated in an interview that the villains do not learn about the animals and this is why they are always unsuccessful.

Some of their adventures have put them in grave danger or even brought them seconds away from death. In these episodes, it can be just the nature of the mission, or it can be the cause of a villain. Although in only one case ("Platypus Café") did the villain (Gaston Gourmand) actually intend to cause harm to one of the brothers. In the other episodes, the villain had not thought it through (Zach in "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus"), or was not aware of the medical risks involved. They also occasionally enlist the help of the Wild Kratts Kids, children who help the Wild Kratts from their home however they can, whether it is moving animals or helping rebuild habitats (some of which are voiced by the children of the Kratt Brothers).

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Background and production

Wild Kratts is the latest of the Kratt Brothers' hit television series, preceded by Kratts' Creatures, Zoboomafoo and Be the Creature. Chris is listed as the Executive Producer, and Martin is listed as the Executive Director. It is written by either the Kratts themselves, Eva Almos (who also plays Donita Donata), or Chris Roy. It is filmed in Canada, the United States, and countries around the world. PBS dedicated nearly $500,000 to developing the series.

The show makes use of comedic devices such as slapstick comedy as per their previous kids' shows (Kratt's Creatures and Zoboomafoo). Wild Kratts debuted on January 3, 2011 on most PBS stations and has currently been signed for a fifth season with both PBS and TVOntario. The series currently has 128 episodes, of which not all have been shown.

The show is both animated and live action, featuring a donut sequence that asks "What If?", that sets up the cartoon segment and introduces the focus animal (or focus trait/behaviour if more than one animal is the focus); the principal cartoon show; and a concluding live action segment that sums up the cartoon. The last segment is then followed by additional clips about other animals that somehow relate to the focus animal. International rights were signed by 9 Story in September 2010, with North American rights being held by Kratt Brothers Company.

PBS shows the episodes out of order. The episode "Polar Bears Don't Dance", being the pilot episode, features an animation style different from the rest of the episodes, and was omitted from the first DVD release. It is also directed by Luc Chamberland, who did not direct any subsequent episodes. Foreign countries seem to get future episodes before US and Canadian watchers. The episode "Caracal Minton" was shown in South America before being aired in English. On October 15, 2012 in the United States and Canada, Season 2 began with 4 episodes but ran out of order. This is the first season to begin with a view of the Earth before the Kratt brothers are shown introducing the audience. This season focused on the Western Hemisphere, including the rainforest, coral reef, temperate woodlands, and the Sonoran Desert.

On October 25, 2012, the Season 1 finale of the show was shown on PBS, along with all other unaired episodes in the following week.

On January 21, 2013, a special in which two Season 2 episodes called "Speaking Dolphinese" and "Blowfish Blowout" was aired. These episodes later aired separately, with "Speaking Dolphinese" airing on February 5, 2013 and "Blowfish Blowout" airing on February 7, 2013 on most stations.

During the second half of May 2013 and the first 4 days of June 2013, some channels like OPB aired episodes differently until the airdate of "Attack of the Tree Eating Aliens". The Season 2 finale, "Groundhog Wake-Up Call", was aired on January 31, 2014.

On April 7, 2014 in the United States and Canada, Season 3 began with 5 episodes, but ran them out of order. This is the second season to begin with a view of the Earth before the Kratt brothers are shown introducing the audience. This will focus on habitats of the Western Hemisphere, such as the jungle and forest habitats of Madagascar, beach and coastal habitats of the Caribbean, prairie or Great Plains habitat of the central United States, ocean habitats of the Caribbean, and the cypress swamp habitat of Florida. On July 7, 2014, "Back in Creature Time" aired. On April 20, 2015 a "Spring Special" aired with episodes such as "Chameleons on Target" and "Lemur Stink Fight". The "Summer Safari" started July 1, 2015 with a "Back in Creature Time" repeat, as well as some Madagascar episodes like "Aye, Aye" "Lemur legs" and other Madagascar episodes that marked the end of Season 3.

Season 4 premiered on July 29, 2015 with "The Last Largest Lobster" and "Stars of the Tides". Season 4 habitats were Chinese bamboo forests, the Amazon rainforest, the Arctic, and the rocky intertidal zone of the Atlantic Ocean. On November 25, 2015, a holiday special known as "A Creature Christmas" aired on television.

In late April 2016, new season 4 episodes started airing on PBS Kids such as "Box Turtled in" "The other Martins" and "Sea Otter Swim".

Season 5 is due to start on November 7th, 2017

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Cast

The cast is listed in alphabetical order by the character's last name (when applicable).

Main characters

• Chris Kratt (voiced by himself) - Chris (wearing green) is the exact opposite of his brother and the more methodical brother of the two. Unlike Martin, he likes to take his time testing animals' DNA to understand the animals better and save them from the villains. Chris is organized, intellectual, and calm. He is an experienced climber, although in one episode, he falls from a tree and develops acrophobia that later subsides. After this episode, there is a running gag that he falls from a tree unharmed.

• Martin Kratt (voiced by himself) - Martin (wearing blue) likes to give names to animals he finds, allowing the audience to bond with the animal. Martin is more the jokester of the two Kratt brothers. He is also often rushing and impulsive, unlike his younger brother, Chris. Martin is a little disorganized, emotional, and excited but knows when to be serious. In contrast to his brother Chris' climbing skills, Martin is a more experienced swimmer. He also likes to get into the mind of the animal at various times, saying such things as "Be the walrus!" He has a childish heart, due to his fun and humorous nature. He enjoys playing tricks on his brother.

• Aviva Corcovado (voiced by Athena Karkanis) - Aviva is the leader of the Tortuga gang, second in command to Chris and Martin. She designs all of the inventions the Kratts use, usually inspired by nature. She is an engineer and inventor. Once she has made up her mind, it takes appealing to her emotions and overwhelming evidence to change it. She is also competitive, rivaling Zach in invention contests, the Kratts, and even nature itself, most notably in "Cheetah Racer", where she bet that she could invent a land vehicle that was faster than a cheetah, although she was proved wrong. Her Creature Power Suit color is purple. For instance, she used this to become a Lawes's parotia in "Birds of a Feather", a groundhog girl in "Groundhog Wake Up Call", a Thompson's gazelle in "The Amazing Creature Race", and a giant female praying mantis to humiliate Zach in "Praying Mantis."

• Koki (voiced by Heather Bambrick) - A a mechanic and computers expert, Koki works on the computer database of the Tortuga HQ, researching animals for the brothers, and often uses the computer to track the villains via satellite. She manages the communications system of the Tortuga, keeping in touch with Chris and Martin throughout their missions. She sometimes receives signals from other people who want to communicate with the Wild Kratts, and intercepts signals sent by the villains to one another. She is not afraid to speak her mind and tell the truth as she sees it. She is easily grossed out, however, and had trouble researching the Tasmanian devils in the "Tazzy Chris" episode. Her Creature Power Suit color is yellow, as shown in the episodes "When Fish Fly", "A Creature Christmas", and "The Amazing Creature Race."

• Jimmy Z (voiced by Jonathan Malen) - Jimmy Z is the Shaggy Rogers-inspired pilot of the Tortuga HQ and operates the ship's teleporter. Jimmy is not as knowledgeable about animals as the rest of the Wild Kratts crew are and is shown to be quite nervous. He cannot live without his game controller, which he uses to teleport items and Creature Power Disks to the Kratts when they are on their adventures. He sometimes helps Aviva with inventions by handing her the items she needs as she works, and usually has hilarious results when he helps her test the prototype, such as when they were trying to figure out the formula for bioluminesce and his hair turned green in the episode "Fireflies." He does not have a Creature Power Suit, but his Creature Pod and scuba gear are both orange. He is easily frightened. It is also revealed that he's allergic to mushrooms.

Antagonists

To foil the villains, one brother usually acts as a distraction while the other saves the animals. Other episodes have them outsmart the villains in some way. Sometimes the plot deals with one brother being captured by the villain (usually with the element of surprise on the villain's part, but sometimes due to poorly thought-out plans by the brothers themselves), and the other has to rescue him. Until "Birds of a Feather", when Aviva was kidnapped, none of the other crew members were captured by a villain without one of the Kratts present.

There are only six villains in the show, the most prominent being Zachary Varmitech. Donita Donata and her henchman Dabio are the second most recurring villain, with Gaston Gourmand being featured in some episodes. Paisley Paver and her intern Rex are the newest villains in the series. Some episodes feature none of the villains, however, and the primary focus is on the wildlife, its habitat, or its behavior. It is presumed that the Wild Kratts sometimes hand them into the government offscreen so they do not cause any more mayhem to the animal kingdom, but they always escape either in panic, revenge plans, or defeat.

• Zachary "Zach" Varmitech (voiced by Zachary Bennett) - Zach is a robotics inventor with a vocal impression of Gilbert Gottfried, who has a rivalry with both Aviva and the Kratt brothers. He grew up alongside the Kratts and met Aviva at summer camp. He claims to be the world's greatest mind. He tries to develop hotels and vacation spots all over the world by controlling creatures' minds and using them as workers. His plans are always foiled by the Kratt Brothers. He almost always screams when he sees an animal, hinting that he has a fear of all animals. He does not know much about the animals he captures, often mispronouncing their names. Zach usually calls Martin "Blue Boy" and Chris "Green Guy," especially when they are in their Creature Power Suits. As a running gag, he calls the Kratts "Wild Rats", with the Kratts usually correcting him. Chris and Martin's rivalry with Zach is surprisingly friendly and comedic, due to the Kratt brothers' forgiving nature, even though Zach has tried to kill them several times throughout the series. He is always designing robots, usually around animals. His most frequently seen invention is the Zachbot. Although he has a house in a neighborhood, he also has a skyscraper located in - at least, what is assumed to be - New York City (as seen in "Falcon City"). This skyscraper is where the Zachbots are produced. When traveling long distances, he uses his jet. Otherwise, he usually rides on the shoulders of a Zachbot. He is scared of the dark (as seen in "Platypus Cafe"). He gains fear of animals such as moon rats in "The Gecko Effect" and a Gila monster in "Gila Monster Under My House." His favorite soup is tomato soup, as shown in "Skunked," when he smelled it and ordered a Zachbot to retrieve it, even though it chases him when he was sprayed. In most episodes, Zach attempts to commit acts of crime, including piracy, in "The Gecko Effect", "Race for the Hippo Disc", and "Skunked"; portable hacking in "Creature Power Challenge"; attempted breaking and entering in "Bandito: The Black-Footed Ferret"; and skyjacking in "Osprey", and he acts like a hacker in "Mosquito Dragon." He has also attempted to kill the Kratts, as seen in "Polar Bears Don't Dance", "Let the Rhinos Roll", and "Creature Power Challenge". Sometimes Zach calls animals various names just because he doesn't know what they are. For instance, he calls a polar bear "Sasquatch" in "Polar Bears Don't Dance", the walruses "Seal Thingies" in "The Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus", the hippopotamuses "Pig Thingies", and the tadpoles "Fish Thingies" in "Aqua Frog."

• Donita Donata (voiced by Eva Almos) - Donita Donata is a fashionista and is always setting trends. She travels in a pink jumbo jet and a pink boat with a pool and a lounge chair, and is never without the best comforts life can afford. Her main purpose is her clothing line, Donita Donata's Live Jewelry of Nature. She uses a paralyzing beam to freeze animals alive and sell them as jewelry or clothing. Some viewers have raised the point that the animals are still fully conscious while paralyzed. She calls Chris "Chrisangelo" and Martin "Martino." However, Aviva and Jimmy also call Martin "Martino" sometimes. She is also a bit of a flirt as seen in "Flight of the Draco".

• Dabio (voiced by Cory Doran) Dabio is treated as a servant and fails in the simplest of tasks. He is portrayed as unintelligent to the point that he cannot function alone. He does whatever Donita tells him to do. He hardly ever speaks except to say, "Yes, Donita", and when he does, he comes across as childlike. He tries to help Donita design her fashions, but she is unsatisfied with his suggestions. Due to his perceived low intelligence, he is extremely patient and cheerful, even under Donita's dictating ways. Their relationship is loosely based on that of Yzma and Kronk in Disney's animated feature film The Emperor's New Groove.

• Gaston Gourmand (voiced by Zachary Bennett) - Gourmand is a specialty chef with a heavy Southern accent. He cooks and serves only endangered animals (except in the episode "Honey Seekers" he says that he once served an endangered mushroom salad), which has caused him to lose his chef's license and to be fired from his gourmet cooking job (as revealed in "Platypus Café"). He can pair up foods with the perfect spices by smell alone. In "Honey Seekers", he says he never cooks the same dish twice. He travels in a camper that features a fold-out restaurant, accessed by pulling a wire (although in "Stuck on Sharks", "Hermit Crab Shell Exchange", and "The Last Largest Lobster" he was depicted to be in possession of a boat featuring a built-in kitchen). When it folds out, it reveals an outdoor restaurant on a deck complete with full kitchen, at least one table, and chairs. He prefers to cook his patron's meals in front of them, and charges a heavy price for it. He also has a jet, seen in the episodes "Raptor Roundup" and "To Touch a Hummingbird." In "Platypus Cafe", he hinted at cannibalism. He calls the Kratt brothers names based on their favorite colors: Chris has been called "Green Grape", "Green Bean", and "Green Pea", while Martin suffers with "Blueberry."

• Paisley Paver (voiced by Julie Lemieux) Paisley Paver is a businesswoman and the CEO of Paver Industries, she believes that turning natural landscapes into factories and parking lots (influenced by the real-world issue of urbanization) will create a better world for future generations. Paver is depicted as determined, impatient, and bossy (but still respects her intern, Rex).

• Rex (voiced by Cory Doran) Rex is the intern of Paisley Paver and assists her in her follies against the Wild Kratts. Although he's usually enthusiastic, Rex is still evil as he loves to operate Paisley's technology ("pavers" and construction equipment) and flatten land for her greedy need to take over land for her building sites.

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List of episodes

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Errors

• In the episode "Googly-eye: The Night Guru" a brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis) is claimed to be a python, but the brown tree snake is not considered a python, and is just a colubrid snake.
• In the episode "Tenrec Treasure Hunt", Aviva says that the mouth of a river is where it begins, yet the mouth of a river is actually its terminus.
• In the Season Two episode Happy Turkey Day the Kratt Brothers refer to mule deer as whitetail deer.
• At the beginning of the season 5 episode "Temple of the Tigers" and the episode "Praying Mantis", a Macleay's Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum) is claimed to be a "praying mantis".
• In the episodes "Liturgusa krattorum" (see also: Liturgusa krattorum) and "The Creature Christmans" , Shadow lives in Peru, but in the first episode thats this character appears ("Shadow: The Black Jaguar"), Shadow lives in Costa Rica.

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Broadcast

Wild Kratts airs on PBS Kids in the US. In Canada it is shown on TVO Kids in Ontario, Knowledge Kids in British Columbia, and Tele-Quebec/Le Skwat in Quebec. In Australia it is shown on GO!. It is not available on Netflix(aside from in Australia). In the United Kingdom it is shown on POP.

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DVD releases

Creature Adventures - April 5, 2011

1. "Mom of a Croc"
2. "Whale of a Squid"
3. "Aardvark Town"
4. "Flight of the Draco"
5. "Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy"
6. "Platypus Café"
7. "Build It Beaver"
8. "Voyage of the Butterflier XT"
9. "Honey Seekers"
10. "Bass Class"

Predator Power - March 20, 2012

1. "Stuck on Sharks"
2. "Mimic"
3. "Little Howler"
4. "Raptor Roundup"

Jungle Animals - July 10, 2012

1. "Walk on the Wetside"
2. "A Huge Orange Problem"
3. "Birds of a Feather"
4. "Googly-Eye: The Night Guru"

Lost at Sea - January 22, 2013

1. "Speaking Dolphinese"
2. "Blowfish Blowout"

Rainforest Rescue - April 9, 2013

1. "Rainforest Stew"
2. "Shadow: The Black Jaguar"

Bugging Out - February 25, 2014

1. "Secrets of the Spider's Web"
2. "Attack of the Tree-Eating Aliens"

Tiny Trouble - June 10, 2014

1. "Termites vs. Tongues"
2. "Bugs or Monkeys?"

Shark-Tastic! - April 14, 2015

1. "Octopus Wildkratticus"
2. "Tortuga Tune Up"
3. "Speaking Dolphinese"
4. "Stuck on Sharks"

Super Sprinters - June 23, 2015

1. "Falcon City"
2. "Cheetah Racer"

Australian Adventures - January 6, 2016

1. "Koala Balloon"
2. "Kickin' It With the 'Roos"
3. "Platypus Café"

Wild Animal Babies - May 3, 2016

1. "Elephant in the Room"
2. "Bad Hair Day"
3. "Zig-Zagged"
4. "Let the Rhinos Roll!"

Wild Reptiles - August 23, 2016

1. "The Gecko Effect"
2. "Crocogator Contest"
3. "Rattlesnake Crystal"
4. "Chameleons on Target"

A Creature Christmas - October 4, 2016

Panda-Monium - April 2017

1. "Panda Power-Up"
2. "Red Panda Rescue"
3. "Colors of China"
4. "Snowy Owl Invasion"

Wild Winter Creatures - October 10, 2017

1. "Polar Bears Don't Dance"
2. "Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus"
3. "Journey to the Subnivean Zone"
4. "Musk Ox Mania"

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Wild Kratts Magazine

A Wild Kratts magazine appeared in Wal-Mart in October 2017. It had animals from when this show started in 2011 to about until 2017. It was in display until October 14, 2017.

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References

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External links

• Wild Kratts on IMDb
• Wild Kratts on TVO Kids
• PBS Kids official site
• Discovery Kids Asia
• Wild Kratts on POP
• Wild Kratts at Super3
• Wild Kratts at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• [1]
• [2] on [TVO Parents]

Source of the article : Wikipedia