I do like a lot of the educational cartoons on TV today, but c’mon! Where’s the Schoolhouse Rock of the 21st century? Where are the shows that try to break down the electoral process, explain the constitution or tackle global warming?
Aha.
Enter Heartwood USA, a new series of animated shorts featuring a twelve year-old detective and her best friend who take on the planet’s bullies and environmental do-badders. Kids will get the humor and appreciate the messages, and certainly the high quality animation – producer and writer Shane Keats has a background in hard-core journalism, and director of animation Dave Schlafman comes via Word Girl and the award-winning animated short The Sky is Falling (which a certain Al Gore uses in his climate change presentation). So let’s just say they know what they’re doing.
Right now there ‘s a pilot episode online you can check out, with three more on their way. There’s also a dandy take action guide to accompany each episode.
Watch them now, before some big network picks them up and tries to take out all the references that could offend their polluting sponsors. –Liz
