Tag Archives: animated

Nickelodeon’s New Preschool Literacy Series: Wallykazam!

NICKELODEON WALLYKAZAM!
Nickelodeon invites preschoolers to discover the magic of words as the network debuts the brand-new animated literacy series Wallykazam! on Monday, Feb. 3, at 1 p.m. (ET/PT). Wallykazam! follows the adventures of a troll named Wally and his pet dragon, Norville, who live in a forest with giants, goblins, ogres, sprites and other mythical creatures. Wally uses his magic stick to make words come to life on screen that start with a specific letter, sound or rhyme.  Each episode features a new set of magic words that Wally uses to playfully transform the world around him.

Wallykazam! is Nickelodeon’s first preschool series that embeds a literacy curriculum into a full-length story, introducing skills such as letter and sound identification, rhyming, vocabulary development and comprehension strategies.  Celebrity guests featured in season one include Vanessa Bayer (SNL), Weird Al Yankovic, John O’Hurley (Seinfeld), Kate Micucci (The Big Bang Theory) and Alanna Ubach (Nick at Nite’s See Dad Run). Created by producer/writer Adam Peltzman (Emmy Award-winning The Backyardigans and Bubble Guppies), the series will regularly air weekdays at 1:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon.

“Wallykazam! offers a new approach to literacy by weaving it into a comedy-driven story with funny characters and adventures that will keep preschoolers laughing and engaged,” said Teri Weiss, Executive Vice President, Nickelodeon Preschool. “The series furthers Nickelodeon’s commitment to producing high-quality, curriculum rich content that helps prepare young children for the important adventure of starting school.”

In the series premiere, “Naptime for Borgelorp,” Wally babysits Ogre Doug’s hyper and unpredictable pet Borgelorp. Ogre Doug gives Wally two instructions: get Borgelorp to take a nap and, most importantly, make sure he doesn’t eat any purple flowers.  Wally uses magic words to help tire out the rambunctious creature and desperately tries to keep him away from purple flowers, but Bobgoblin has other plans. The words introduced in the episode start with the letter “s” and include somersault, soar, sandwich and symphony.

The Nut Job

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In animated 3D, “The Nut Job” is an action-packed comedy that follows Surly (voiced by Will Arnett), a mischievous squirrel, who must plan a heist to get into his town’s biggest nut shop in order to help his pals in the park gather food to survive the winter. Together with his sidekick, Buddy, he will assemble a ragtag crew to help him get inside – and take them on a fun-filled adventure that they’ll never forget.

The film is rated PG and stars Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl, Stephen Lang, Jeff Dunham, Gabriel Iglesias and Sarah Gadon. The Nut Job is directed by Peter Lepeniotis.

Watch “The Nut Job”  in theaters, starting January 17!