Apple TV+: Feb / March kids highlights

Apple TV+ has unveiled a range of new original series, specials and returning fan favourites for kids and families.

Here are February & March highlights.

Pinecone & Pony (pictured)
Season Two – Friday, 3 February
Based on the book “The Princess and the Pony” by New York Times bestselling author Kate Beaton and hailing from DreamWorks Animation, season two of “Pinecone & Pony” is an eight-episode animated comedy for kids and families about a young warrior-in-training, Pinecone, and her best friend Pony, whose adventures together teach them how to be brave in the face of adversity, to speak truth to power, and what it truly means to be a hero. “Pinecone & Pony” is produced by DreamWorks Animation along with First Generation Films and Atomic Cartoons, and executive produced by showrunner Stephanie Kaliner. Kate Beaton, Christina Piovesan and Mackenzie Lush are executive producers. The series features the voice talents of Maria Nash (“Elinor Wonders Why”), Alicia Richardson (“Mistletoe Time Machine”), Andy Hull (“What We Do in the Shadows”), Rachel House (“Foundation”), Thom Allison (“Coroner”), Chase W. Dillon (“Haunted Mansion,” “The Book of Clarence”) and Viola Abley (“Scaredy Cats,” “Schmigadoon!”).

Peanuts Classics Special: A Charlie Brown Valentine
Friday, 9 February
From Mendelson/Melendez Productions and Peanuts Worldwide, watch as warm and fuzzy feelings fill the air and an inspired Snoopy writes poems about Valentine’s Day. Charlie Brown tries to impress the Little Red-Haired Girl. Sally and Lucy hope to get cards from their crushes. Peppermint Patty asks “Chuck” to the dance.

Pretzel and the Puppies
Season Two – Friday, 24 February
Meet Pretzel, the world’s longest dachshund and a playful, supportive dad to five frisky puppies. Together with his wife, Greta, they encourage their pups to get their paws up to solve problems and “make their bark” on the world.The series stars the voice talents of Emmy nominee Mark Duplass (“Morning Wars”), Nasim Pedrad (“Chad,” “Aladdin”) and newcomers Milo Stein, Alex Jayne Go, Max Mitchell, Amari McCoy and Gracen Newton. The Apple Original series hails from HarperCollins Productions (“Carmen Sandiego,” “The Oregon Trail”), part of HarperCollins Publishers. “Pretzel and the Puppies” is executive produced by showrunner Steve Altiere (“Dinotrux,” “Dragons: Rescue Riders”), Caroline Fraser, Head of HarperCollins Productions, and Ricardo Curtis and Wes Lui from House of Cool. Jennifer Contrucci of HarperCollins Productions serves as co-executive producer. The animation studio responsible for design and story is House of Cool (“Despicable Me,” “Trollhunters”), and the animation studio responsible for CG is Saturday Animation (“Mighty Mike,” “Zafari”). Dr. Tony Wagner, Senior Research Fellow, Learning Policy Institute, and author of the book “Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World.”, serves as the play, passion, purpose expert through the Apple TV+ Changemakers initiative.

Stillwater
New Shorts – Wednesday, 15 March
Prior to the launch of the enchanting new season of “Stillwater,” based on the award-winning and bestselling Scholastic book Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth, Apple TV+ will premiere three all-new shorts on platform and made available for non-subscribers on Scholastic’s YouTube. Just in time for International Panda Day, follow Jasper the cat in “Jasper’s Journey” on a mindful journey through Stillwater’s garden, join Stillwater in “Making Waves” as he makes new patterns in his Zen garden, and watch Karl join Stillwater in “Breathing” to learn how breathing can help make him feel better when he has angry feelings. The shorts are produced by Gaumont and Scholastic Entertainment, and executive produced by Sidonie Dumas, Christophe Riandee, Nicolas Atlan, Terry Kalagian, Iole Lucchese, Caitlin Friedman, Jef Kaminsky and Rob Hoegee.

Eva the Owlet
Friday, 31 March
The new animated kids and family series is based on the New York Times bestselling Scholastic book series “Owl Diaries” by award-winning author Rebecca Elliott. “Eva the Owlet” stars Eva, a creative, cheeky owlet who lives next door to her best friend Lucy in the woodland world of Treetopington. With big ideas and an even bigger personality, Eva goes on high-flying adventures, expressing herself in her journal along the way! Since first being published, “Owl Diaries” now has eight foreign language translations and 11 million copies in print. Produced by award-winning Scholastic Entertainment (“Clifford the Big Red Dog,” “Goosebumps,” “The Magic School Bus”) with production services and 4K animation by 9 Story Media Group’s Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated studio Brown Bag Films in Dublin and Bali (”Doc McStuffins,” “Vampirina,” “Octonauts”), “Eva the Owlet” also features original songs by critically acclaimed musician and singer-songwriter Fitz of Fitz and the Tantrums. Voice talent includes Vivienne Rutherford (“Eureka!,” “911: Lone Star”) as the titular character Eva, Jessica DiCicco (“The Loud House,” “Puppy Dog Pals”) as Eva’s mum, Dino Andrade (“Loud House,” “We Baby Bears”) as Eva’s dad, as well as Sascha Yurchak, Jon Olson (“The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu”), Evie Hsu (“Team Mekbots”), Sarah Vattano (“The Uglies,” “Rise Up, Sing Out”), Pressly James Crosby (“General Hospital”, and Kenna Ramsey (“Rent”). “Eva the Owlet” is executive produced by Scholastic Entertainment’s Peabody and Daytime Emmy Award-winning team including Iole Lucchese (“Clifford the Big Red Dog”), Caitlin Friedman (“Stillwater”), and Jef Kaminsky (“Signs of Survival”). Head series writers and Daytime Emmy Award nominees Annabeth Bondor-Stone (“Helpsters”) and Connor White (“Helpsters”) serve as co-executive producers, and Daytime Emmy Award nominee Damien O’Connor (“Angela’s Christmas,” “Angela’s Christmas 2”) serves as supervising director. The late Dr. John F. Evans, a writing clinician, National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach at Duke Integrative Medicine, and the Founder and Executive Director of Wellness & Writing Connections, LLC served as the expressive writing expert on the series through Apple TV+’s Changemakers initiative. The series was one of the last significant projects he worked on, hoping to inspire young viewers to write, to find their voices, and to believe in themselves.