Little Einsteins

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Little Einsteins
Genre
Developed byDouglas Wood[a]
Written byJeff Borkin (head writer)[a]
Directed byAndy Thom (supervising, season 2)[a]
Creative directorOlexa Hewryk (season 1)
Voices of
  • Jesse Schwartz
  • Natalia Wójcik
  • Aiden Pompey
  • Erica Huang
  • Harrison Chad
Theme music composerBilly Straus
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes67 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
ProducerKris Greengrove[a]
Running time24 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkPlayhouse Disney
ReleaseOctober 9, 2005 (2005-10-09) –
December 22, 2009 (2009-12-22)

Little Einsteins is an American animated children's television series based on the Baby Einstein line of videos. Produced by The Baby Einstein Company (at the time owned by Disney) and animated by Curious Pictures, it marked the Baby Einstein Company's first project for preschoolers.[1] The series follows the adventures of a group of four young children: Leo, June, Quincy, and Annie, who travel around the world in their friend Rocket and go on missions. The group must work together to achieve their goal by solving a problem, helping someone, or finding something.

Little Einsteins was announced in November 2001, when Disney purchased The Baby Einstein Company. Press releases stated "there are already plans to extend the Baby Einstein brand into a Little Einstein product line aimed at preschoolers."[2] The show's concept and characters were developed by Douglas Wood, with further development led by Emmy Award-winning director Olexa Hewryk and Dora the Explorer co-creator Eric Weiner. Like the original Baby Einstein series, Little Einsteins makes heavy use of classical music. According to Common Sense Media, both series share the same "philosophy of artistic visuals and stimulating classical music to enhance brain development and learning."[3]

Little Einsteins started out with a direct-to-video film, Our Huge Adventure, that was released on August 23, 2005. The series proper premiered on Playhouse Disney on October 9, 2005, and ended on December 22, 2009, after two seasons and 67 episodes.

Overview[edit]

Little Einsteins was designed to teach the target demographic art and music appreciation by integrating famous or culturally significant art works (usually, but not exclusively, paintings) and classical music (most typically from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras) into the scenery, story and soundtrack of each episode. The show is also designed to encourage viewer interaction (such as encouraging the audience to pat their knees, gesture or sing along to help the characters succeed on their "mission").

Episodes[edit]

Main article: List of Little Einsteins episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
1291August 23, 2005Direct-to-video
28October 9, 2005November 20, 2006Playhouse Disney
24039January 13, 2007December 22, 2009Playhouse Disney
1August 21, 2007Direct-to-video

Characters[edit]

  • Leo (voiced by Jesse Schwartz) is a 6-year-old boy who is Annie's older brother and the oldest member of the team. Leo is the leader of the Little Einsteins and pilots Rocket. His main talent is conducting, and his most prized possession is his conductor's baton, which he uses to initiate and conclude missions.
  • June (voiced by Erica Huang) is a 6-year-old Asian-American girl and a ballerina who loves to dance. She's depicted as the most elegant and mature of her friends, possessing an expansive vocabulary and coming up with ideas to get the team out of certain problems, usually those involving physical activity.
  • Quincy (voiced by Aiden Pompey) is a 5-year-old African-American boy and a musician who plays a variety of instruments, though he's usually seen with a trumpet. He has a knack for cracking jokes and making his friends laugh. At some point in most episodes, Quincy exclaims, "I cannot believe it!" when surprised or amazed.
  • Annie (voiced by Natalia Wójcik) is a 4-year-old girl, Leo's younger sister and the youngest member of the team. She is a singer who loves to make up songs and expresses a passion for animals. As of the second season, Annie owns a silver microphone she uses whenever she sings. When she wants to urgently point something out to the team, her usual catchphrase is "Look, look, look!"
  • Rocket is the Little Einsteins' friend and main mode of transportation. He has an array of tools and accessories that help the team complete their missions, and also has the ability to transform into any other form of transportation, like a submarine or a train. He communicates by making marimba noises and is capable of going to outer space.

Recurring[edit]

  • Big Jet is a blue fighter plane who appears to resemble a Soviet MiG-29. Big Jet is the show's main antagonist, usually by causing trouble for the Einsteins and their friends.
  • Little Mouse is a small gray mouse. He appeared in the episodes "The Mouse and the Moon" and "Rocket Soup".
  • The Good Knight is a knight with silver armor. He appeared in the episodes "The Good Knight and the Bad Knight" and "Rocket Soup".
  • Joey is a kangaroo who appeared in the episodes "Jump For Joey" and "Rocket Soup".
  • The Three Little Pigs are a trio of pink pigs appeared in three episodes: "Farmer Annie", "Super Fast", and "Build It Rocket".
  • Melody is a purple Music Pet that Leo helped find her ticket for the pet train in "Melody the Music Pet". After boarding the train, Melody is brought to live with Leo. She reappeared in "Melody and Me", where Leo must save her after her hot air balloon flies away.
  • The Little Red Train is a good friend of Annie, and despite his small size, he is very determined and very strong. He appeared in the episodes "Go West, Young Train" and "Annie, Get Your Microphone!"

Broadcast[edit]

The first regular episode of Little Einsteins premiered in the United States on October 9, 2005 on Disney Channel, through the Playhouse Disney block. The final regular episode aired on December 22, 2009, and a standalone special titled "Rocket's Firebird Rescue" was released direct-to-DVD on August 21, 2007. The series continued to air in reruns afterward, including after Playhouse Disney was rebranded as Disney Junior on February 14, 2011, through March 25, 2019. The show is currently available on Disney+ and DisneyNow.[4] In Canada, the show aired on Family Channel.

In the UK dub, the Little Einsteins are voiced by Piers Stubbs (Leo), Poppy Lee Friar (June), Mitchell Zhangazha (Quincy), and Kirsty Hickey (Annie), and certain American terms are changed to fit within British English, such as changing mentions of candy canes to those of "sweetie sticks".

Additional home and streaming media[edit]

DVD Releases Included episodes Release date
Team Up for Adventure "How We Became the Little Einsteins: The True Story", "I Love to Conduct" and "Rocket Safari" April 25, 2006
Mission Celebration! "The Birthday Machine", "Go West, Young Train" and "The Birthday Balloons" August 22, 2006
The Legend of the Golden Pyramid "The Legend of the Golden Pyramid", "Dragon Kite" and "Annie and the Little Toy Plane" February 27, 2007
Rocket's Firebird Rescue "Rocket's Firebird Rescue" and "Rocket Soup" August 21, 2007
Race for Space "The Great Sky Race Rematch", "Super Fast!!!", and "The Treasure Behind the Little Red Door" February 19, 2008
Flight of the Instrument Fairies "The Glass Slipper Ball", "The Puppet Princess", "Little Red Rockethood", and "Flight of the Instrument Fairies" August 5, 2008
The Christmas Wish "The Christmas Wish", "The Wind-Up Toy Prince", "Show and Tell", and "The Northern Night Light" October 14, 2008
Go to Europe (US release) "Hello, Cello", "Silly Sock Saves the Circus", and "Go Team!" August 31, 2009
O Yes, it's Springtime (UK release with US voices) "Farmer Annie", "O Yes, O Yes, It's Springtime!", and "Annie and the Beanstalk" September 1, 2009
Fire Truck Rocket's Blastoff "Fire Truck Rocket", "Melody the Music Pet", "Carmine's Big Race", and "Mr. Penguin's Ice Cream Adventure" September 8, 2009
Animal Expedition "Whale Tale", "Duck, Duck, June", "Jump for Joey", and "Little Elephant's Big Parade" February 9, 2010

The series also had two VHS releases, one being a VHS version of Our Huge Adventure and the second being Climb Aboard and Get Ready to Explore.

Reception[edit]

The series was given a 5-star rating by Common Sense Media.[3]

In other media[edit]

A video game based on the show was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2006.

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Information about the cast and crew is taken from the closing credits of each episode.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Baby Einstein Company Grows Beyond Video Aisle and into Preschool Television" (Press release).
  2. ^ Maughan, Shannon. "Disney Buys Baby Einstein". Publishers Weekly.
  3. ^ a b "Little Einsteins TV Review". Common Sense Media. 27 November 2007. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  4. ^ Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 169–170. ISBN 9781476672939.

External links[edit]

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