Little Airplane Productions
 | |
| Television production company | |
| Industry |
Television production Animation |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founders | Josh Selig |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York |
Key people |
Josh Selig (president) Jennifer Oxley Billy Lopez |
| Products |
Oobi Wonder Pets! 3rd & Bird |
| Website | www.littleairplane.com |
Little Airplane Productions is an American television production company, most well-known for producing preschool television programs. Founded by Josh Selig in 1998, the company created and produced Wonder Pets! and Oobi for Nickelodeon, Go, Baby! and Emma's Theatre for Playhouse Disney, and 3rd & Bird for the BBC's children's channel CBeebies.
The production's studios are located in New York City's South Street Seaport. The company's production facilities are in a 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) building, including animation, design, voice-over, storyboard and post-production. The studio houses a recording facility where the music for its productions is recorded under the direction of Jeffrey Lesser.
In mid-2007, the company opened new studios in London and Abu Dhabi, following the announcement of 3rd & Bird.
Productions
Television
- Oobi was the company's first television venture. It premiered as a short-form series on Noggin in 2000, and full-length episodes of the show began airing in 2003.[1]
- Wonder Pets! is a production for Nickelodeon, focusing on the adventures of Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck.[2]
- 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.
- Go, Baby! is a short-form animated series currently airing on Playhouse Disney. Each interstitial has Baby completing a series of simple tasks with the help of the viewer. The narrator is voiced by actor Richard Kind.
- Tobi! was a series of four-minute visual poems that aired on Treehouse TV in Canada and Nickelodeon Australia on March 7.
- Small Potatoes debuted at the 12th annual BAMKids International Film Festival where “Imagination (Give it a Try)” won a BAMmie award for Best Short Film for ages 2–5. It is currently airing on CBeebies in the UK.
- Super Wings, a CGI-animated series about airplanes, premiered on March 14, 2015. It was created by Gil Hoon Jung.
Other work
Short films
The Time Out Chair is a short film written and directed by Selig, about a young girl who leaves her preschool classroom dragging her "Time Out" chair with her. The short was filmed in East Village, Manhattan and shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival.
Linny is a short film about a guinea pig who goes on adventures. This short was aired on Nickelodeon in 2004, and also inspired the later show Wonder Pets!
The Little Light Foundation
In 2009, Little Airplane Productions created a non-profit initiative called “The Little Light Foundation.' The Foundation’s first project was a new animated series called “The Olive Branch” on Nick Jr. Each one-minute episode is a story about two characters who achieve conflict resolution, told without words.
The Little Airplane Café
In the summer of 2009 Little Airplane Productions launched the Little Airplane Café. Laurie Berkner opened the Little Airplane Café in July 2009. Her performance was broadcast live on SiriusXM's “Kids’ Place Live!” Mindy Thomas of “The Absolutely Mindy Show” hosted the performance and talked to the audience on radio. Guests have included Jon Scieszka, Milkshake, and Suzi Shelton.
The Little Airplane Academy
Little Airplane Academy offers a three-day workshop twice a year at the company's South Street Seaport studios. Participants learn 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.