PBS Kids will premiere a series of animated digital shorts called City Island on December 26. The series is aimed at early elementary school-age kids and covers topics such as cooperation, conflict resolution and city planning, intended to help children understand how cities and communities work.
City Island is created by Aaron Augenblick. Set in the thriving metropolis of City Island, not to be confused with the eponymous neighborhood in the Bronx, every car, tree and building is its own character.
The shorts star Watt, a little lightbulb with big ideas.
The voice cast includes Kimia Behpoornia and Kimiko Glenn, with a guest appearance from Amy Schumer.
“PBS Kids is committed to meeting kids where they are and making learning accessible in multiple formats,” said Sara DeWitt, senior VP and general manager, PBS Kids. “We’re excited to continue building our short form content library, and to tackle civics with City Island in such a vibrant and engaging way.”
Augenblick executive produces with Daniel Powell and Gemma Correll. Augenblick and Powell founded children’s animation studio Future Brain Media in 2021.
“After years of making cartoons, City Island is my dream project,” said Augenblick. “It’s a love letter to all my favorite kids' shows. Best of all, City Island is a world where we can explore dynamic visuals and important themes. Working with PBS Kids has been an extremely rewarding process.”
The style of City Island is based on the comics of Correll. The theme song and score for the series are composed by Tunde Adebimpe, who is the lead singer of TV on the Radio. ■
