FRANNY'S FEET Travels Back into the Spotlight with Fourth Season, Debuting November 4 on PBS KIDS®

Award-winning preschool series from Decode Entertainment, in association with THIRTEEN and WNET.ORG, returns with 13 brand new episodes. Premiere episode honors National American Indian Heritage Month – Nutcracker ballet holiday episode debuts later this month

• Press Release
• Source: THIRTEEN
• On 11:22 am EST, Wednesday November 4, 2009

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dust off your passports. Franny Fantootsie, globetrotter extraordinare, travels back to PBS KIDS this fall with thirteen brand new episodes that take viewers around the world. Geography, science, math, language arts, and global awareness are woven together with delightful storytelling for a seamless, entertaining and interdisciplinary learning experience in the fourth season of FRANNY’S FEET, premiering November 4 (check local listings).

Franny’s international adventures take her to fascinating places, where she meets new friends and helps them solve problems. In every episode, she slips on a pair of shoes in her grandfather’s repair shop and asks “Where will my feet take me today?” This season, in a pair of slippers, she heads to the mountains of China and learns about baby pandas. She is transported to the Brazilian rainforest in a pair of waterproof boots, where she learns about nocturnal animals. In flip flops, she skips to the sandy beaches of Jamaica and encounters the incoming tide. In clogs, she’s transported to a floating tulip parade in Holland. Space boots take her to the International Space Station, where she learns about gravity. She travels to India in sparkly sandals and takes part in a traditional wedding ceremony. In the premiere episode, scheduled in celebration of National American Indian Heritage Month, Franny travels in moccasins to a Native American potlatch, where she helps make a totem pole. In a special holiday episode, premiering November 25, Franny twirls into a production of the Nutcracker ballet.

Each adventure is followed by “Franny’s Treasures,” an interactive segment in which Franny speaks directly to viewers. She asks for their help as she tries to figure out answers to game-like challenges. Each episode of FRANNY’S FEET also includes a sing-along music video.

A production of DECODE Entertainment in association with THIRTEEN and WNET.ORG, FRANNY’S FEET airs in the U.S. on PBS KIDS, PBS KIDS SPROUT, and V-me (in Spanish), and is an ongoing hit for four- to seven-year-olds, consistently posting strong ratings. During key sweeps periods over the past three seasons in PBS KIDS weekend and/or weekday lineups, Franny's Feet has ranked No. 1, 2, 3, or 4 in key markets such as New York, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, and St. Louis.

“Franny is a terrific role model for children, introducing them to interdisciplinary content and encouraging them to expand their horizons as they follow her to far-away places.” said Sandra Sheppard, Executive Producer and Director of Children’s and Educational Programming for THIRTEEN. “The series is a wonderfully captivating and charming way for preschoolers to discover other worlds and cultures.”

“FRANNY’S FEET has enchanted kids across the world with its magical storytelling,” said Beth Stevenson, Executive Vice President of Production and Development at DECODE Entertainment and executive producer of FRANNY’S FEET. “We are delighted to bring more adventures each season to kids in the U.S. through THIRTEEN and PBS KIDS.”

Online, viewers can have more adventures at pbskids.org/frannysfeet, where they’ll find Web-based games, video clips, and educational activities. A wide range of FRANNY’S FEET storybooks, readers, sticker, novelty, coloring, and activity books and kits are available (published by Penguin Young Readers Group and Sımon & Schuster), with more titles set for release in 2010. Four FRANNY’S FEET DVDs, featuring episodes and activities, are currently on the market. Titles are available in both English and Spanish.

FRANNY’S FEET is a proven international success commissioned by Five in the UK and Canada’s Family Channel. It can be seen around the world on channels that include ABC Australia, France 5, Cartoon Network Japan, Taiwan, India, Korea and Latin America, Disney Channel UK and Germany, Canada’s TeleQuebec, RAI in Italy, TG4 Ireland, TVP Poland, M-Net South Africa, TV2 Denmark, YLE Finland, RUV Iceland, TV2 Norway and TV12 Singapore.

Beth Stevenson, Steven DeNure and Neil Court serve as executive producers for DECODE. Cathy Moss and Susan Nielsen are the series’ creators. Elana Adair is the producer. For THIRTEEN, Sandra Sheppard is executive producer and director of children’s and educational programming; Jill Peters is executive producer and director of creative development; and Suzanne Rose is producer and project manager.

FRANNY’S FEET is sponsored, in part, by a grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

DECODE Entertainment, a subsidiary of DHX Media Ltd., is a leading international producer of television programming and interactive content with an emphasis on children, family and youth markets. DECODE’s roster of innovative shows include dirtgirldworld, Poppetstown, The Latest Buzz and SUPER WHY!, produced in association with Out Of The Blue Enterprises.

THIRTEEN, a member of the WNET.ORG family of companies, is America’s most-watched public television station and a major producer of public media for national and international audiences. Through such acclaimed series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Wide Angle, NOW on PBS, Bill Moyers Journal, and Cyberchase – as well as unique local programming, Web content and educational outreach – THIRTEEN’s mission is to serve New York City, America and the world with media experiences that inform, enlighten and inspire.

PBS KIDS, for preschoolers, and PBS KIDS GO!, for early elementary school kids, offer all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs. With positive role models and content designed to nurture a child’s total well-being, PBS’s children’s media and family and educator resources - including PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! television series, PBSKIDS.org, PBSKIDSGO.org, PBS Parents (PBSPARENTS.org), PBS Teachers (PBSTEACHERS.org), PBS KIDS Raising Readers and literacy events across the country - leverage the full spectrum of media, technology and community to build knowledge, critical thinking, imagination and curiosity. Empowering children for success in school and in life, only PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! have earned the unanimous endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and teachers. In September 2008, PBS KIDS GO! launched its video player (PBSKIDSGO.org/video), featuring hundreds of video clips and dozens of full-length episodes. Since launch, the site is averaging 1.3 million streams per week. PBSKIDS.org averages 9 million unique visitors a month. PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 356 public television stations, serving more than 115 million people on-air and online each month. For more information on specific shows supporting literacy, science, math, and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom.

PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST OR BY VISITING

http://pressroom.pbs.org/programs/franny_s_feet

Press
Jill Corderman, 703-739-5788
jcorderman@pbs.org
or
Gloria Park, 212-560-2063
parkg@wnet.org