The Kratt brothers return to PBS Kids with an all-new feature special that looks at our planet as a living, breathing entity, emphasizing the indispensable nature of both oceans and forests to its wellbeing, debuting April 1 on PBS Kids.
This is not the first feature special the Kratt brothers have produced for their PBS Kids series Wild Kratts – they’ve done one or two films for each of the past seven seasons – but it is the first time they’ve focused on the Earth, as a whole, as a creature.
“The Earth is a living thing and works to create so many environments and climates for all other life on this planet,” says Martin Kratt. “And we’re taking a special look at the forests and the oceans.”
In the special, Wild Kratts: Our Blue and Green World, premiering Monday, April 1 on PBS Kids in time for Earth Day on April 22, Chris and Martin Kratt get into a lively debate during laundry day – while dealing with piles of their iconic blue and green shirts – arguing about whether oceans or forests are more important to the planet. Aviva and the gang take the brothers on an adventure around the world, showing the importance of both climates and how, like the brothers, they are better together. And of course, this all must happen in time to save planet Earth from Zach and Paisley Paver’s villainous plans. A new game, World Rescue, accompanies the movie special in April and will be available on the PBS KIDS Games app and pbskids.org, with new episodes of Wild Kratts premiering April 2.
Martin says that, in many ways, this special feels like a long time coming.
“We first started wearing our blue and green shirts at the end of Kratts’ Creatures when we began filming the Africa episodes,” remembers Martin, referring to his and Chris’ first PBS series, which released in 1996. “Before that, we were just wearing whatever we wanted. But when we started wearing these blue and green shirts, it just kind of stuck. And that’s how we got the outfit idea for our next show, Zoboomafoo.”
The whole water versus forest debate also reflects the real-life preferences of the Kratt brothers, this not being the first time they’ve made their climate comfort zones clear.
“I do love swimming and I can handle cold water longer than Chris, who starts shivering pretty much right away,” shares Martin. “But Chris is the tree guy. At one point, when we were filming orangutans, we lived on a platform with a tent on this big tree about 100 feet off the ground. I just wanted to get down, but Chris wanted to stay there forever.”
Considering his deep love – pun intended – of water, it makes sense that Martin’s favorite portion of the special is the one focused on blue whales. Or, rather, where the Kratt brother gets swallowed by a baby blue whale traveling with its mom. It’s also an example of what Wild Kratts has always tried to achieve with its animation: capturing moments nearly impossible to film live in the wild.
“They're so huge and so rare and they dive deep,” says Martin. “It’s almost impossible to find them and stay with them. So, being able to show blue whales, with animation, we got to explore a lot more of what their lives are like. We also got to use graphics to show how a blue whale is roughly the same size as two Brontosaurus, five T-Rexs, or three Triceratops. Seeing that on a screen you just realize how incredible these animals are. They are the largest animal to ever have lived on planet Earth. And they're still with us.”
The Wild Kratts team also used animation to make the invisible visible, such as visually explaining how rainforests create and distribute oxygen, as well as creating a 2D hologram of Earth’s ozone layer and using it to explain how vital it is to protect every living thing on Earth.
In the three days following the special, three more episodes of Wild Kratts’ Season 7 will air, including, “No Name Dream” airing April 2, “Backpack the Camel,” airing April 3, and “Fish Out of Water” airing April 4. “No Name Dream,” in particular, pays homage to an old animation icon.
“‘No Name Dream’ is a bit of a departure from the traditional Wild Kratts episodes,” explains Martin. “It starts out with Martin having a nightmare of the baby animals that he forgot to name in the series. And the animation is inspired by the old Winnie the Pooh’s Heffalumps and Woozles nightmare.”
The nostalgia keeps flowing this season with “Backpack the Camel.” In the upcoming episode, the Wild Kratts gang goes on an expedition to discover the last remaining wild camels in the world. But in the live-action portion preluding the animated storyline, Martin and Chris demonstrate how to brush a camel, like their time with the dromedary and Bactrian camels on Zoboomafoo.
“Turns out, you’re supposed to brush a camel’s hair with a rake,” shares Martin who, on the episode of Zoboomafoo “The Four F’s”, just gently pulled the shedding fur off the visiting camel with Martin and Zoboo.
But as sentimental as this season’s upcoming episodes will be, the special kicks off a change in pace for the future of Wild Kratts.
“There is a surprise at the end of the special,” shares Martin. “I can't tell you too much. But there's a really interesting twist that happens with one of the show's villains in Our Blue and Green World that will change that villain’s arc for the rest of the series.”
Additional seasons have yet to be confirmed, but Martin confidently shares that, despite being in the wildlife education and kids’ entertainment industry with Chris for roughly 30 years, he sees no end in sight for Wild Kratts.
“We have so many animal subjects still to tackle,” says Martin. “The interesting thing about Wild Kratts is that the easiest part of the show is coming up with new episodes. We've never struggled or had an issue with that. One I really want to do is the California condor. While we were on tour for Wild Kratts Live, we met somebody who works with California condors, and that kind of bumped this idea to the front of my mind.”
While we wait for the official announcement of future Wild Kratts seasons, Our Blue and Green World and the three episodes that follow are the perfect way to kick off the month of celebrating Earth and good ol’ Mother Nature.
“We've done a lot about habitats for individual animals and what animals need to live, but this special is about the common habitat for all life,” says Martin. “We all need the Earth, and it’s our job to make a healthier, happier planet.”
Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime. She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment. Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
