StoryBots attempts to answer kids’ big questions
John Legend, Jennifer Garner and other A-listers star in Season 3
Hilarious, smart and not just for kids, Netflix’s “Ask the StoryBots” began its third season Aug. 2. So are you watching yet?
The children’s show charges colourful bots that live in computers to find answers to life’s biggest questions. Among them: Where do planets come from? How do eyes see? How do you make music?
This season looks to answer questions with help from such stars as Jennifer Garner, John Legend and Zoe Saldana. SNL alum Jason Sudeikis helps us understand what happens when we flush the toilet.
The show is layered so that children get one level of humor and parents get another. That’s by design say creators, brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis.
“That was the whole genesis for starting StoryBots as Evan and I had young kids at the time and Pixar and Disney had these amazing films that were for both for parents and kids but there was nothing like that in children’s television,” Gregg Spiridellis said. “We saw that as a big opportunity to come in and create something different.”
Evan’s children are now ages 10 and 14. Gregg’s children are ages 9, 11 and 13.
The brothers started StoryBots in 2012 as a YouTube series, where it garnered more than 500 million views. They partnered with Netflix in 2016, becoming official property of the streaming giant in May.
“Netflix bought the company and now we’re in 190 countries and 25 languages and we wanted to create a modern day ‘Sesame Street’ that is global and now we are,” Gregg said.
The Spiridellis brothers also sold their famous e-card and app business, JibJab said earlier this year.
Meanwhile, “StoryBots” earned three daytime Emmy awards. Among previous seasons celebrity guests were Ed Norton, Snoop Dogg, David Cross, Wanda Sykes and Christina Applegate.
The brothers won’t pick a fave celebrity or episode, saying picking an episode is like choosing a favourite child. And they won’t choose among celebrities since they’re grateful to any star who appears.
“We’re not working with any studio blockbuster budget here. So they’re not doing it for the money,” Evan said. “They will tell us that a lot of times their kid loves this show and they’re too young to watch whatever show they last did but they’re going to have playground bragging rights on this show.”
In a Season 2 episode starring David Cross, the bots approach Cross who plays a hippie to the hilt and ask, “How do Flowers Grow?” Sitting outside his flowered mini-bus he speaks groovy jibberish.
“Flowers grow from your mind,” he says. “Yeah, man. It’s so simple. Just think about it. Have you ever looked at a flower? I mean really looked. (Whispers) With your eyes.”
A bot asks: “What are we looking for?”
“You already know the answer. So just chill out, relax, let the universe whisper its shout knowledge to you. Just allow information to come through because the answer lies within the outside of the external-internal.”
The bots, rightly so, move on to find the answer.
The celebrities appear amid animation, claymation and song — infectious songs. At least one song breaks the answer to the question down in rhyme. Think Saturday morning’s “Schoolhouse Rock.” Both brothers were fans and educators know it reinforces learning.
The Spiridellis begin by doing their own research for the questions, which come from real children, but also turn to experts, including the UCLA head of Virology to answer where a cold comes from.
The biggest challenge in making an educational show is to keep it from sounding like a lecture, the brothers said.
“At the heart is a lesson to teach kids,” Evan said. “And we also love entertainment. We want kids and parents to be laughing.”
“If they’re not laughing, they’re not going to stick around to learn,” added Gregg.
The duo like to peruse Twitter to see fan feedback.
“...we’ll read a lot of from parents who watch the show after they put the kids to bed,” Evan said. “That’s validation for us.”