Red Rock Films, the innovative natural history production company known for Emmy-nominated films shown on National Geographic and Disney+, and National Wildlife Federation, the nation’s largest nonprofit conservation education organization, announced the development of a new kids series that will bring popular magazine and book character Ranger Rick to life on TV for the first time.
Noted children’s entertainment veteran Brenda Wooding is developing and executive producing the series for Red Rock Films. Bix Pix Entertainment, the award-winning animation studio behind the series Tumble Leaf (Amazon Prime Video) has been named series producer; Kelli Bixler, owner, founder and executive producer of Bix Pix, is executive producing. Talks are underway with various streaming-video hubs and kid-focused media outlets. Shannon Malone-Debenedictis is also executive producing.
“There’s never been a better time to bring the legacy of Ranger Rick to the forefront of TV and further spark kids’ passion for exploring our natural world,” said Wooding. “This series will not only have one of the largest and most trusted conservation organizations backing it [National Wildlife Federation], but will also have the fresh, imaginative storytelling and animation magic of Bix Pix steering it forward for the next era. My hope is that kids connect to the series and realize they too can make a difference.”
To continue Ranger Rick’s more than 50-year history of inspiring kids to be wildlife champions, the series will be reshaped — drawing on the National Wildlife Federation’s long-history of conservation work. The modern-day retelling of the series aims to encourage children to explore their environment through the lens of one conservation issue per season, such as the monarch butterfly migration.
Characters include:
- Ranger Rick, the beloved raccoon who is passionate about the great outdoors and driven to share this with the world
- Scarlett Fox, the smart, confident and social media savvy conservation enthusiast
- Boomer the Badger, the MacGyver-like innovator who can upcycle anything found from the the trash bin or in nature itself
- Tunia the Monarch Butterfly, whose determination and vision often launches the team into action. The first season focuses on an epic 3,000-mile adventure to help Tunia reach her ancestral family tree.
“For decades, Ranger Rick has inspired millions of children to explore, love and protect nature,” said Dawn Rodney, National Wildlife Federation’s Chief Innovation and Growth Officer. “Bringing this iconic character to life on TV will inspire an entire generation in a whole new way, thanks to the passion, creativity and imagination that Red Rock Films and Bix Pix bring to this partnership.”
Ranger Rick magazine has been a Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner for the past 10 years. More than two million children ages 0 to 12 are reached through all Ranger Rick print and digital outlets. First published as The Adventures of Rick Raccoon by the National Wildlife Federation in 1959, the character evolved to its own magazine, then called Ranger Rick’s Nature Magazine, in January 1967 and is now in its 54th year.
Launched in 2010, Red Rock Films is one of the world’s largest producers of natural history content, having developed over 100 films, series and specials for content providers including Disney +, Netflix, Discovery, National Geographic, Animal Planet and Sesame Studios. In 2018, the company formed Red Rock International, and in 2017, established Red Rock Kids. Recent projects include the three-time Emmy-nominated special Secrets of the Whales (Disney+, 2021) and eight-part series Penguin Town (Netflix, 2021). redrockfilms.net
The National Wildlife Federation is America’s largest conservation organization, uniting all Americans to ensure wildlife and people thrive together in a rapidly changing world. nfw.org
Bix Pix Entertainment is a multi award-winning animation studio, which creates innovative hybrids by combining stop-motion with other forms of animation. Tumble Leaf, the studio’s first original preschool series, won 17 Emmys, eight Parent’s Choice Gold Awards, three Annies, a Special Jury Award from the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, a BAFTA and a Peabody nomination. bixpix.com
