Batwheels will officially zoom onto television screens beginning Monday, October 17. The first seven episodes will premiere on Cartoon Network’s Cartoonito preschool block at 9 a.m., before streaming the following day on (Oct. 18) on the Cartoonito hub on HBO Max. A new series trailer was also revealed.
Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, Batwheels marks DC’s first-ever Batman preschool series, offering young viewers a high-speed, vibrant CGI-animated iteration of the Caped Crusader.
Throughout the series, little ones and their families will ride along with an amazing team of super-vehicles — Bam (the Batmobile), Bibi (the Batgirl Cycle), Redbird (Robin’s racecar), Buff (the Bat-Truck) and Batwing (the Bat-plane) — as they help Batman, Batgirl, and Robin keep the streets of Gotham City safe. Whether it’s facing down the Legion of Zoom or one of Gotham City’s notorious Super-Villains, the Batwheels will use their incredible gadgets and creative teamwork to save the day.
Underneath the superhero adventures, Batwheels will teach children about what it means to be a hero through its “Hero” curriculum, which aligns with Cartoonito’s Humancentric Learning framework that encourages kids to become the best version of themselves. Every Batwheels episode will demonstrate a different character strength — self-awareness, concern for others, perseverance and courage, among others — in overcoming personal and interpersonal challenges and will model how heroes contribute to the greater good.
Batwheels will also showcase the value of friendship and teamwork and illuminate the rewards of these skillsets. Moreover, the series will teach children that while each vehicle has super abilities, the more important capacities that fuel their heroism are rooted in their intrinsic character strengths, knowing how to be a good friend and ability to work as a team.
Parents can learn more about the Batwheels hero curriculum and access resources to help extend the learning offscreen by visiting the Cartoonito Parent website.
As previously announced, the voice cast includes Ethan Hawke (Bruce Wayne/Batman), AJ Hudson (Duke Thomas/Robin), Leah Lewis (Cassandra Cain/Batgirl), Jacob Bertrand (Bam), Jordan Reed (Redbird), Madigan Kacmar (Bibi), Noah Bentley (Buff), Lilimar (Batwing), Kimberly D. Brooks (The Batcomputer), Mick Wingert (Moe), Xolo Maridueña (Snowy), Griffin Burns (Prank), Alexandra Novelle (Jetstah), Josey Montana McCoy (Quizz), Ariyan Kassam (Ducky), SungWon Cho (Badcomputer), Tom Kenny (Crash), Gina Rodriguez (Catwoman), SungWon Cho (The Riddler), Mick Wingert (The Joker), Chandni Parekh (Harley Quinn), Jess Harnell (The Penguin), Regi Davis (Mr. Freeze) and James Arnold Taylor (Toyman).
Sam Register (Looney Tunes Cartoons) serves as executive producer. Michael G. Stern (Doc McStuffins) serves as co-executive producer, Simon J. Smith (Penguins of Madagascar) is supervising producer and Steven Fink of Bang Zoom Ltd. is the producer. Based on characters from DC, Batwheels is produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Animation services provided by Superprod Studio.
You can read more about Batwheels in the November ’22 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 324), available soon.
