Curious George® Wins 2010 Daytime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program
Ranked number one among PBS KIDS® Series with kids 2–5, America’s favorite little monkey continues to shine on the small screen
BOSTON and UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — June 30, 2010 — Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions are pleased to announce that the celebrated PBS KIDS television series Curious George was presented with the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program at the 37th-annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy Awards gala on Friday, June 25, 2010. This is Curious George’s second Emmy win, following an award in the same category in 2008.
Premiering its fifth season on PBS KIDS in fall 2010, Curious George the television series is designed to inspire kids to explore science, math and engineering in the world around them in a fun and entertaining way. The series currently ranks number one among PBS KIDS series with kids 2–5 and is the number-one series across all children’s television among moms with toddlers.*
“We are truly honored to receive a 2010 Emmy Award and we’re thrilled to know George continues to resonate with parents and preschoolers,” said Senior Vice President of Animation Production for Universal Studios Family Productions Ellen Cockrill. “After four seasons, we’re proud to be able to keep the series fresh with themes and new characters while still accomplishing our educational goals, and we’re grateful to be recognized for our hard work.”
Based on the best-selling Curious George books by Margret and H.A. Rey, Curious George the television series expands George’s world to include a host of colorful characters and original locales, while maintaining the charm of the beloved books. Season Five will introduce preschoolers to social science concepts such as transportation and bartering, along with a new friend, eight-year-old Marco, who is a member of George’s favorite Pan-Latin band.
“We’re thrilled that the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has recognized Curious George for its outstanding achievement within the growing landscape of children’s programming,” said WGBH Executive Producer Dorothea Gillim. “As we enter our fifth season this fall, this serves as a wonderful reflection of our continued commitment to delivering the highest standard of educational content in a fun and entertaining way.”
Curious George is funded by public television viewers. National Corporate Sponsorship is provided by Chuck E. Cheese’s,® Sun-Maid Growers, and Rainforest Café.®
Curious George is a production of Imagine Entertainment, WGBH Boston and Universal Studios Family Productions. Executive producers are Ron Howard (Imagine), Brian Grazer (Imagine), Ellen Cockrill (Universal), Carol Greenwald (WGBH), Dorothea Gillim (WGBH), Jon Shapiro and David Kirschner. Curious George and related characters, created by Margret and H.A. Rey, are copyrighted and trademarked by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and used under license. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLP. Television series: ©2010. Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
*Source: NTI/Nielsen National NPOWER, Live +7 average audience ratings for children 2–5 and ladies of the household ages 18–49 with children under the age of 3 for PBS, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel, Monday–Friday, 6:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m., 10/5/09–6/6/10.
About the Curious George Television Series
Curious George the television series is designed to inspire kids to explore science, math and engineering in the world around them in a fun and entertaining way. Based on the best-selling Curious George books by Margret and H.A. Rey, the daily series on PBS KIDS expands George’s world to include a host of colorful characters and original locales, while maintaining the charm of the beloved books. Each half-hour episode includes two animated stories followed by short live-action pieces showing real kids who are investigating the ideas that George introduces in his stories. The series encourages inquiry and curiosity, promotes hands-on exploration and shows parents and caregivers how to support children’s science and math-related play.
About Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Entertainment was founded in 1986 by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer to create movies, television and other original programming. Since its inception, Imagine Entertainment has been honored with more than 60 prestigious awards, including 10 Academy Awards and 37 Emmys. Their past productions include the Academy Award-winning films A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile, Apollo 1, The Da Vinci Code and Curious George, and the Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning television series 24 and Arrested Development. Imagine Entertainment has a longstanding production/distribution agreement with Universal Pictures.
About WGBH Boston
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source of one-third of PBS’s prime-time lineup along with some of public television’s best-known lifestyle shows, many public radio favorites and a roster of children’s programs that empower kids with innovative, entertaining, curriculum-based content. Among the WGBH produced children’s titles: Arthur, Curious George, Postcards from Buster, Between the Lions, Design Squad, Martha Speaks and Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman. WGBH is the number-one producer of websites on www.pbs.org, one of the most trafficked dot-org websites in the world and a pioneer in educational multimedia and in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who rely on captioning or video descriptions. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards…even two Oscars. In 2002, WGBH received a special institutional Peabody Award for 50 years of excellence. For more information, go to www.wgbh.org.
About PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO!
PBS KIDS, for preschoolers, and PBS KIDS GO!, for early elementary school kids, inspire and nurture curiosity and a love of learning in children. PBS offers all children—from every walk of life—opportunities for exploration and discovery through content on television, mobile devices, new media, the web and community programs. Empowering children for success in school and in life, only PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! have earned the unanimous endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and teachers. PBS, with its nearly 360 member stations, serves more than 110 million people on TV and nearly 19 million people online each month.
About Universal Studios
Universal Studios Family Productions is part of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Universal Studios Home Entertainment is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios (www.universalstudios.com). Universal Studios is a part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80%-owned by General Electric, with 20% owned by Vivendi.
About Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company is a global education leader and the world’s largest publisher of educational materials for pre-K–12 schools. The Company publishes a comprehensive set of best-in-class educational solutions, ranging from research-based textbook programs to instructional technology to standards-based assessments for students and educators. The Company also publishes an extensive line of reference works and award-winning literature for adults and young readers. With origins dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt combines its tradition of excellence with a commitment to innovation. To learn more about Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, visit www.hmhpub.com.
CONTACT:
Josef Blumenfeld
Vice President, Communications
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
617-351-5432
Josef.blumenfeld@hmhpub.com