PBS Kids Series SPLASH AND BUBBLES Celebrates "Ocean Friends Forever" For World Oceans Day

LOS ANGELES, June 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Jim Henson Company, Herschend Studios and PBS KIDS are kicking off "Ocean Friends Forever," a social media and community engagement initiative with multiple PBS station events across the country the week of June 1-8, to coincide with the internationally celebrated World Oceans Day on June 8. The effort is themed around the new PBS KIDS series SPLASH AND BUBBLES, which encourages children to explore ocean science and marine biology. SPLASH AND BUBBLES airs daily on PBS stations nationwide and is available for free on PBS KIDS digital platforms.

Awareness of the ocean and its diverse inhabitants continues to be an important necessity for us all. Few people realize how much we have left to discover about the animals, plants and unique habitats under the sea. In fact, a recent online omnibus study* of 1,000 adults provided some surprising results. Over thirty-seven percent of respondents believed that more than half of the world's ocean has been explored, but scientists and researchers estimate that only 5% of the ocean has been explored! When asked if they know where most of the white sand on the world's beaches comes from, only 6% of respondents knew the surprising fact - parrotfish poop. Parrotfish ingest dead coral and break it down into sand, which they then excrete. (Nearly two-thirds of respondents thought that white sand beaches are mostly comprised of rocks. Thirty percent answered glass.)

PBS stations across the country are gearing up to educate their community about the vast underwater world, with "Ocean Friends Forever" activities and materials for their summer events including screenings, activity pages, hands-on investigations, Splash and Bubble character appearances and more! Activity pages and hands on investigations are also available on PBS Parents/SplashandBubbles.

Additionally, "Help Our Kelp," a new digital game at pbskids.org/SplashandBubbles, will encourage kids to help a kelp forest stay healthy by cleaning invasive species, like sea urchins and clams, from the environment. The game will be available online and on the free PBS KIDS Games app later this week.

PBS KIDS series Splash and Bubbles, encourages children to explore the natural undersea world and features endearing and humorous characters on fun-filled adventures. Utilizing the dynamic CG animation technology of the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, each episode introduces kids ages 4–7 to the adventures of its title characters - Splash, a yellowback fusilier fish, and his friend Bubbles, a Mandarin dragonet.  Splash migrated all over the ocean before settling down with his family in Reeftown.  Now, he and Bubbles explore the world's ocean, meet wildly diverse marine animals and discover otherworldly undersea habitats with their friends Dunk (a pufferfish) and Ripple (a seahorse). Together, they bring back what they've learned to share with their neighbors. 

Splash and Bubbles is a production of The Jim Henson Company and Herschend Studios. The series is executive produced by Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford of The Jim Henson Company, Julie Phillips and Merrill Puckett-Miller of Herschend Enterprises, as well as John Tartaglia, Michael Shawn Lewis and Jill Shinderman. The series is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

About The Jim Henson Company

The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 60 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world-famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include Julie's Greenroom (Netflix), Dot. (Sprout/Hulu), Splash and Bubbles (PBS), Word Party (Netflix), Doozers (Hulu/ Sprout), and the Emmy®-nominated Sid the Science Kid (PBS), Dinosaur Train (PBS), and Pajanimals (Sprout). Television productions include Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller and the sci-fi cult series Farscape. Features include Disney's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, as well as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, MirrorMask, and Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow.

With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and postproduction facilities. The Company is home to Jim Henson's Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television, theme park and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry's top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of- the-art and vintage equipment. The Company's Henson Alternative brand is currently touring Puppet-Up! – Uncensored, a live puppet improvisational show.
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About Herschend Enterprises and Herschend Studios

Committed for more than half-a-century to Creating Memories Worth Repeating®, Herschend Enterprises is the largest family-owned attractions corporation in the U.S.  Our team of more than 10,000 employees works daily to create wholesome, immersive entertainment experiences with soul and depth for every generation. With a focus on bringing families closer together, we create, develop and operate entertainment, tourism and hospitality properties spanning 24 locations in seven states, attracting over 14 million people annually.  Herschend Studios is the media arm of Herschend Enterprises, committed to developing and producing family entertainment for television, film, and publishing.

Today, Herschend Enterprises' properties include the world famous HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS, award-winning theme parks like SILVER DOLLAR CITY in Branson, MO, and DOLLYWOOD, our partnership with Dolly Parton in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, including DOLLYWOOD'S DREAMMORE RESORT, top tier aquariums – NEWPORT AQUARIUM and ADVENTURE AQUARIUM, water parks, hotels, and other highly entertaining standalone attractions. For more information, visit www.hfecorp.com

About PBS KIDS

PBS KIDS, the number one educational media brand for kids, offers all children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, digital platforms and community-based programs. Kidscreen- and Webby Award-winning pbskids.org provides engaging interactive content, including digital games and streaming video. PBS KIDS also offers mobile apps to help support young children's learning. The PBS KIDS Video app is available on a variety of mobile devices and on platforms such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Xbox One and Chromecast. For more information on specific PBS KIDS content supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit pbs.org/pressroom, or follow PBS KIDS on Twitter and Facebook.

About Corporation for Public Broadcasting

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967, is the steward of the federal government's investment in public broadcasting. It helps support the operations of nearly 1,500 locally owned and operated public television and radio stations nationwide. CPB is also the largest single source of funding for research, technology, and program development for public radio, television, and related online services. For more information, visit www.cpb.org and follow on Twitter @CPBmedia, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

About The National Science Foundation (NSF)

NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress to promote the progress of science. Its goals are to advance the frontiers of knowledge, cultivate a world-class, broadly inclusive science and engineering workforce, and expand the scientific literacy of all citizens. The Advancing Informal STEM Learning Program seeks to advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning in informal environments; provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; and advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments.

CONTACT:
The Jim Henson Company
Yannina Diaz
323.802-1667
[email protected]

* CARAVAN® ORC International, Splash and Bubbles survey, March 16-19, 2017.

SOURCE The Jim Henson Company

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