NEWS ITEMS

Back to home page

Animated Web Show Inspires Kids To Take Action On Real-World Environmental Challenges

A new animated Web show features an animated story about a wise green gorilla and kids who turn visions into reality. SustainLane, a San Francisco-based green-media company, has released a pilot episode of "Gorilla in the Greenhouse," a Web-based, animated show that inspires kids to take real-world steps toward a healthier planet.

The show is set in a magical greenhouse in San Francisco and features a visionary green gorilla and four kids who use their imagination, their network and their music to tackle the environmental challenges facing their generation.

"Kids can save the world," says Eli Noyes, a children's TV veteran and director of the show. "This is the kind of show that will travel effortlessly from the TV to the Internet to the real world; kids can do in the real world what they see our virtual kids doing."

The pilot episode, titled 'The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,' follows the kids as they face a demented plot by Dr. Morlon Huffelbot to create an island of plastic bags in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. In the show, the kids travel to the island to observe the situation, go undercover into the plastic bag factory and then foil the plot though multiple actions.

They spread their green message through their social networks, rally cities to ban plastic bags, design a new eco-friendly bag and create awareness through their original song "Bag the Bag (The Gyre Song)."

"When I was a kid, I loved "Schoolhouse Rock" -- the great songs and stories gave me a context for learning how the world worked," says Jay Golden, creator of the show. "Gorilla in the Greenhouse" is our way of introducing this generation to a world of possibility through story."

The show is available through www.greengorilla.com; it's also being shown on the Earth Day Network, at www.earthdaytv.net.