Do They Really Have the Right Stuff?
A few minutes into The Wonder Pets, you can hear them singing a catchy little tune that always gets stuck in my head:
Wonder Pets! Wonder Pets! We’re on our way,
To help a baby [featured animal], and save the day.
We’re not too big,
And we’re not too tough,
But when we work together we’ve got the right stuff!
Goooooooo Wonder Pets! Yaaaaaaayyyyyyy!
Every preschooler out there knows who The Wonder Pets are, but something about them just leaves me skeptical. Each episode of The Wonder Pets features three superhero friends: Linny the Guinea Pig, Turtle Tuck, and Ming-Ming Duckling. The three classroom pets work together to solve problems and help another animal in trouble. Almost all of the dialogue is in song and it is uniquely animated using photo-puppetry, which allows animators to manipulate photos of real animals to create the characters.
I applaud the teamwork theme because I think it’s a great life lesson, but this show still just rubs me the wrong way. I think my biggest gripe is the fact that Ming-Ming, the duck character, talks with a bit of a speech impairment. “R” sounds are pronounced as “W” sounds. Even though this is very common in toddlers, I don’t see why the creators of a show targeted to children who are learning speech would purposely give this as an example. The last thing I want to do is encourage my child to pronounce words incorrectly.
While I have not yet completely banned the show from my TV, The Wonder Pets are certainly not in the regular rotation. I can appreciate it for what it is, but there is definitely room for improvement.
Wonder Pets, Noggin, Nick Jr., preschool, toddler
December 30th, 2006 at 4:45 pm
I always have that song in my head!
March 24th, 2007 at 10:51 am
[...] Show Some Wonder Pets Love March 24th, 2007 by Deanna Nick Jr. is holding asking for photos of kids that love the Wonder Pets. Your child’s picture may be showcased either online or on TV. The picture must be of your child dressed as one of the Wonder Pets, showing off a Wonder Pets craft, or holding an original drawing of the Wonder Pets. [...]
April 12th, 2007 at 9:34 am
[...] find themselves calling on their underwater friends to rescue them. The new musical special, “Save The Wonder Pets,” premieres Monday, April 23rd at 11:00 a.m. (ET/PT). A two-minute sneak peek can be seen onNick Jr. Video (on nickjr.com) beginning April 16th. [...]
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:06 am
[...] episode called “Save the Beetles,” which is a Beatles inspired episode involving the Wonder Pets saving a band of Beetles stuck in a yellow submarine. The DVD also has three additional episodes. [...]
April 27th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
[...] on Nickelodeon - Wonder Pets!: This new episode is called “Save the Gecko/Save the [...]
May 4th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
[...] on Nickelodeon - Wonder Pets!: This new episode is called “Save the Griffin/Save the [...]
May 10th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
[...] Eastern - Wonder Pets!: This episode is called “Save the Beetles/Three Wonder Pets and a [...]
May 18th, 2008 at 8:42 am
[...] on Nickelodeon - Wonder Pets!: This new episode is called “Save the Goldfish/Save the Baby [...]
July 11th, 2008 at 7:17 am
[...] edition’s cover features the Duck from Wonder Pets, Austin from The Backyardigans, and Dora from Dora the Explorer all dressed like pirates. Diego [...]
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:48 pm
[...] Jr set of Valentines has Valentines with characters from Nick Jr shows including Go, Diego, Go!, The Wonder Pets, The Backyardigans, Dora the Explorer, and Blue’s [...]
February 24th, 2009 at 9:10 am
[...] Pets!: Join the Circus - This is the latest Wonder Pets! DVD release. This release includes the “Join the Circus” episode, which is premiering [...]