Traci Paige Johnson, creator of pre-k hit Blue’s Clues and co-creator of SuperWhy, is teaming up with award-winning feature producer Caroline Baron (Capote, Monsoon Wedding) to launch a new interactive children’s media company called yummico (www.yummico.com). The company will produce preschooler-friendly media for multiple platforms, with a focus on digital games, interactive shows, apps and ebooks, as well as narrative animation, print books and other consumer products.
The company’s kick-off project is the musical food adventure series Yummiloo, which gives the phrase “playing with your food” an entirely new meaning as it seeks to make trying new foods fun and set a foundation for lifelong healthy eating habits. The show features the Yum Yums, a band of creatures who live in a world made entirely of food, and uses story-based games to help kids discover the basics of food identification and nutrition with a curriculum developed in consultation with kids’ media research and educational consultant Dr. Natascha Crandall. The property’s first app, Yummiloo Rainbow Power, is an interactive game produced in collaboration with Night and Day Studios and will launch on iTunes March 20 with a special introductory price (regular price will be $1.99).
The founding partners met at their sons’ preschool and identified over a shared concern of their kids’ native usage of devices and the limited kid-appropriate content available. Johnson and Baron’s yummico team is also augmented by their husbands; director, animator and vfx creator Bob Mowen and feature film writer, director and producer Anthony Weintraub.
“As platforms and distribution channels evolve and technology becomes increasingly more sophisticated and ubiquitous, great content – particularly for children – continues to be at a premium and in great demand,” said Baron. “yummico is ideally suited to deliver that content. With our focus on the digital space, we have positioned the company to take full advantage of the demands of the market.”
Yummico will roll out additional content soon, including The Adventures of Ash & Ollie—an engaging series of adventures that reinforce lifestyle habits. Other programs in development include buddy comedy The App Police and the humorous adventures of a mystery-solving girl scientist, Edison the Invention Detective.
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