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PREPARENSE!...GET READY!
SCHOLASTIC ENTERTAINMENT’S EXUBERANT, FUN-LOVING, IRREPRESSIBLE
TWINS
MAYA & MIGUE
ARE SET TO TAKE PBS KIDS GO!SM BY STORM
OCTOBER 11, 2004
The Exciting Television Series Targets A Burgeoning
Multicultural Population And Is Part Of A Multi-Media Initiative
Designed To Promote Cultural Diversity
Los Angeles, CA –
July 9, 2004 - Irrepressible twins, Maya and Miguel Santos,
their loving family and their bilingual pet parrot Paco, will
unveil their vibrant and uproariously funny world starting
October 11, 2004 on PBS KIDS GO!, a new educational multimedia
destination created by, for and about early elementary school
kids (check local listings). Always unpredictable and ever
dauntless, Maya and Miguel’s daily escapades will keep kids
laughing from the bottom of their hearts. The twins’ adventures
will be chronicled throughout 65 half-hour animated episodes on
PBS KIDS GO!
The series is based on an original concept by Scholastic
Entertainment President Deborah Forte and is designed to present
culture and language learning as fun, relevant, and rewarding
for all children, with a special emphasis on the Latino
population. The series is part of a broad-based Scholastic
initiative comprised of: television; print media; school and
community outreach; dynamic Websites at pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel
and scholastic.com; publishing and a host of ancillary
materials.
Lively and colorful, the series chronicles the adventures of
10-year-old twins Maya and Miguel Santos and features their
family, friends and a richly diverse neighborhood. This
never-a-dull-moment situation comedy revolves around Maya’s
well-intended meddling in her family’s and friends’ lives. While
every episode will take humorous twists and turns, the twins’
motivation comes from the philosophy that shared happiness is
more important than personal gain. Sprinkled throughout this
hilarious series are values of friendship, family and a
positive, culturally rich portrayal of Latino family, language
and cultures.
“The next generation of children will grow up as part of the
most diverse population this country has ever known. As a
result, cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding have
pressing relevance, and my goal is to create a funny,
heartwarming series with stories and characters that appeal to
all children, but which also reflects the values and cultural
mosaic that so many of our country’s neighborhoods have become,”
said Deborah Forte, the series’ Executive Producer.
A star-studded cast of actors lend their talents to the voices
for the series, including Candi Milo (Chalk Zone, Jimmy Neutron)
as the spirited and ever-industrious Maya and Nika Futterman
(PBS KIDS’ Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks) as Maya’s
more pragmatic, both-feet-on-the-ground brother, Miguel. In
addition, Lucy Liu voices Maya’s outspoken and often outrageous
friend Maggie; Lupe Ontiveros plays the twins’ loveable
Renaissance woman grandmother Abuela Elena. The twins’ Mexican
mother, Rosa, is voiced by Elizabeth Peña and Carlos Ponce plays
the twins’ Puerto Rican father, Santiago. Erik Estrada plays the
friendly neighborhood mailman, Sr. Felipe and Carlos Alazraqui (Mucha
Lucha, The Fairly OddParents, Jimmy Neutron, SpongeBob
Squarepants) voices the Santos family’s bilingual pet parrot,
Paco, whose colorful personality matches his vibrant feathers.
Other cast members include Beth Payne, Jeannie Elias and Jerod
Mixon.
Maya & Miguel is the centerpiece of what promises to be a very
ambitious cross-company media effort by Scholastic. A number of
elements will contribute to this multimedia project including
compelling Web content, educational outreach materials,
partnerships with community-based organizations and a publishing
program. “Maya & Miguel will be everywhere children are,” said
Mindy Figueroa, Project Director. “The outreach will translate
the excitement of the television show into meaningful
participatory activities that not only help build language
skills but also enhance children’s understanding of and exposure
to different cultures and ethnicities in positive,
non-stereotypical presentations.” To achieve this goal,
Scholastic Entertainment will utilize the company’s substantial
educational and editorial expertise, along with its
wide-reaching distribution capabilities and collaborate with
PBS’s Ready To Learn Service.
Designed to support language acquisition, the Maya & Miguel
Websites launching this September (pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel
and scholastic.com) will feature interactive content in both
Spanish and English. Children and adults will be greeted in both
languages upon entering the site and will have the opportunity
to participate in activities in their primary and secondary
languages.
With an unprecedented 65 half-hour episode commitment for
original animated programming, the series will air Monday-Friday
on PBS KIDS GO! (check local listings), reaching 99% of U.S. TV
Households. A second audio track in Spanish (SAP) will be
available.
Launching Fall 2004, PBS KIDS GO! is a new multimedia
destination specifically created by, for and about kids in their
early elementary school years -- an audience underserved in
today's youth media environment, which generally targets pre-schoolers
and tweens. PBS KIDS GO! offers the same high-quality, diverse,
educational content that PBS KIDS' parents have come to trust;
features some of the most popular characters from PBS KIDS; and
introduces new stars that kids can relate to and learn with
along the way. The PBS KIDS GO! area on pbskids.org showcases
all of the destination's broadcast series, as well as companion
sites including History Detectives for Kids, American
Experience's WayBack, PBS KIDS Jazz and more new Web-only
programs specifically designed for this age group. With a fun,
quirky environment full of surprises, PBS KIDS GO! empowers
today's "big" kids to discover themselves, define the diverse
world around them, explore new relationships and embrace a love
of learning.
Scholastic Entertainment was awarded the largest single grant
ever given to a children’s television project by the Corporation
for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to develop a children’s
multi-media project. Additional major funding is provided by a
Ready To Learn Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of
Education through the Public Broadcasting Service.
About Scholastic Entertainment
Scholastic Entertainment (SE) is a leading producer of quality,
family-oriented feature films, television programming, videos,
and Web sites and is a major developer and marketer of
children’s brands worldwide. SE produces the award-winning,
top-rated animated series Clifford The Big Red Dog (PBS KIDS);
the spin-off to this hit series, Clifford’s Puppy Days™ (PBS
KIDS GO); the Emmy-award winning series I SPY (HBO Family); the
Emmy-award winning series Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus
starring Lily Tomlin (TLC); the award-winning Dear America
series; the popular kids’ adventure series Animorphs® and
Goosebumps; and the recently announced Maya and Miguel™, set to
debut on PBS KIDS GO! in fall 2004. Scholastic Entertainment’s
critically acclaimed feature films include Clifford’s Really Big
Movie, The Baby-sitters Club, The Indian in the Cupboard, and
The Mighty. SE also recently announced that Deborah Forte will
produce the award-winning Philip Pullman trilogy, His Dark
Materials for New Line Cinema. Scholastic Entertainment is the
entertainment and media division of Scholastic Inc., the global
children’s publishing and media company, which creates and
distributes innovative and quality educational and entertaining
materials for use in school and at home. For more information,
visit Scholastic’s award-winning website at
www.scholastic.com.
About PBS KIDS
PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO!SM are committed to providing the
highest quality commercial-free content and multimedia learning
environment for children across the country. Providing
age-appropriate, diverse programming for kids, PBS children's
programs consistently earn more prestigious awards than any
other broadcast or cable network. Only PBS has earned the
unanimous endorsement of parents, children, industry leaders and
teachers. With additional PBS resources to complement its
programming, including pbskids.org, PBS Parents (pbsparents.org),
PBS KIDS Share a Story, TeacherSource and Ready To Learn
services, PBS is providing the tools necessary for positive
child development. PBS is a nonprofit media enterprise owned and
operated by the nation's 349 public television stations, serving
nearly 90 million people each week and reaching 99% of American
homes.
About CPB
CPB, a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in
1967develops educational public radio, television and online
services for the American people. The Corporation is the
industry’s largest single source of funds for national public
television and radio program development and production. CPB, a
grant making organization, funds more than 1,000 public radio
and television stations.
www.cpb.org.
Press Contacts:
Liane Ramirez
Olivia Dupuis
Goodman Media International
Goodman Media International
212-576-2700 x249
212-576-2700 x250
lramirez@goodmanmedia.com
odupuis@goodmanmedia.com