The WotWots
The WotWots is a New Zealand children's television show which premiered in 2009 and has since aired in several other countries worldwide. Created by Martin Baynton and Richard Taylor, the series uses a mix of live-action and animation to follow a pair of inquisitive, creative alien siblings as they learn about life on Earth. It currently consists of two series, produced from 2009 to 2011, and a total of 78 ten-minute episodes. In 2018, spin-off series Kiddets began airing.
Plot
The show features a pair of tiny, young alien twin siblings who spend their days exploring the environment where their steam-powered spaceship has landed, in an effort both to learn more about Earth fauna and to try to determine what they themselves will grow up to look like. DottyWot, the smart and responsible ship's captain, spends most of her time supervising her more boisterous, fun-loving brother SpottyWot, the ship's engineer and a talented artist. Episodes are set in a zoo, at a farm, or on a beach and most often tie their discovery of an animal characteristic into their own adventures.Production
The WotWots was created and developed by children's author Martin Baynton in alliance with filmmaker Richard Taylor, who had previously worked on the TV series adaptation of Baynton's book Jane and the Dragon. WotWots is produced by Pūkeko Pictures, a production company founded by Baynton, Taylor, and Tania Rodger. Baynton's son Theo is the series' director, and his daughter Terri is one of the writers.The puppet-like WotWots characters are animated over live-action footage by the Weta Workshop, the special effects company founded by Taylor and Rodger, well known for its work on the The [Lord of the Rings (film series)|Lord of the Rings film trilogy]. Episodes are filmed on location at Auckland Zoo, Wellington Zoo and Melbourne Zoo, as well as undisclosed beach and farm regions.
Since the WotWots' language consists almost entirely of the syllables "wot" and "wotty", co-creator Martin Baynton also acts as an interactive narrator for the series, serving as a translator both for the aliens' efforts to understand Earth and the human viewership trying to understand them. In Poland the narrator is voiced by Vladimir Press. Baynton also provides the voice for SpottyWot, while South African actress Nathalie Boltt voices DottyWot whilst Janet Roddick voices the WotWots' computer.
In September 2008, Pūkeko Pictures had appointed ABC Commercial, the Australian distribution division of The Australian Broadcasting Corporation to handle worldwide distribution to the series in other countries.
When British broadcasting channel Five had acquired UK broadcasting rights to Pūkeko Pictures' television series The WotWots from ABC Commercial one year later in late-March 2009, the British TV channel had appointed British production company Impossible Television to re-edit the series for the UK audience with Nicholas Parsons taking the role as narrator of the UK version replacing the series' original narrator & co-creator Martin Bayton and Irish actress Fiona Lewis had also replaced Janet Roddick for the role of the ship's computer for the UK version.
Partnership with the NZ Ministry of Health
In August 2011, it was announced by New Zealand's Minister of Health, Tony Ryall, that the WotWots would serve as ambassadors for B4 School Checks, an initiative offering a comprehensive assessment of four-year-old children's health and development.Broadcast details
In addition, selected episodes from the show's first season are currently available on Netflix in the United States and episodes can be seen online on Pluto TV's Kids TV channel.Merchandise
, a toy brand of Hasbro, is licensed to produce the WotWots toy range, and the toys were launched on 2 September 2009.In 2011-06-11, the intellectual property and outbound licensing division of American Greetings Corporation announced it has acquired the licensing and merchandising rights to the WotWots. As part of the agreement with production company Pūkeko Pictures, American Greetings Properties has signed on to represent the WotWots brand worldwide.