PUPPETS STEAL
THE SHOW
Clockwise from top:
Joan Ganz Cooney in
2014 with muppets old
and new; the cardigan-
clad Mr. Rogers and King
Friday, the ruler of his
Neighborhood of Make-
Believe; and author
Angela C. Santomero.
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with choose-your-own adventure in-
teractive content such as Blue’s Clues
& You! on Noggin’s Play Along; with
Netflix’s interactive episodes of Puss
in Book, with Minecraft and Bear Gry-
lls’ You vs Wild; and with others in the
works. It will be interesting to see
how Apple leans into the interactive
media space with its new educational
content for kids as well. The future
will be based on experiments and
questions we ask to innovate and to
elevate the content further. Can the
technology be used to add more layers
to a story, to entertain and educate on
an individualized level? Can virtual
reality help kids step into others’ shoes
and become more empathetic?
On a more cautionary note, we
know media can and should do more
than entertain. Content should in-
spire action—or what I call “view
and do”—where kids watch, get in-
spired, learn and go out and create
change. We can’t rely on the technol-
ogy; we need to keep experimenting
and asking questions. Why this show?
Why now? Why this piece of technol-
ogy? What does it do for the content
itself? Does it elevate? Does it empower
kids? Does it help kids see themselves
on screen? Are we making use of these
new technologies to make even more
powerful and profound content that
truly moves the needle for children in
the real world?
The truth is, no matter how many
advances we make in technology, kids
are still kids. Emotionally, children
haven’t changed in the last five de-
cades, nor will they in the next. They
still want to bond and interact with
characters they love, they want stories
that empower them to understand
the world around them, they want to
help and be challenged to learn new
skills and they still want to laugh. They
crave respect and autonomy, while
seeking guidance from trusted adults.
And they still look to media for ideas
about how to engage with their peers
and environment. Sometimes, the big-
gest advances in media are the “small”
ones—such as creating interactivity
with just a pause or empowering kids
by looking through the camera lens,
like Rogers did.
Tomorrow we may have different
tools to create media, but the bottom
line will remain the same as when
Cooney first began her project: One
vision, one creative idea or one ques-
tion can be a powerful way to change
children’s lives for the better. And the
future of children’s media will always
start with creators who know kids,
have a passion, have something to say
and want to experiment to elevate the
media to meet the needs of kids.
Ơ Angela C. Santomero is the Emmy
Award-winning co-creator of Blue’s
Clues and Blues Clues & You! and
the creator of Super Why!, Daniel Ti-
ger’s Neighborhood, Creative Galaxy,
Wishenproof and Charlie’s Colorforms
City. She is the author of Preschool
Clues and Radical Kindness and is the
Chief Creative Officer of 9 Story Media
Group. The views expressed in this article
are the author’s own.