{"id":3230,"date":"2018-05-18T00:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-05-18T00:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/05\/18\/pbs-cartoon-to-depict-life-in-rural-alaska\/"},"modified":"2020-10-29T22:00:38","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T22:00:38","slug":"pbs-cartoon-to-depict-life-in-rural-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/05\/18\/pbs-cartoon-to-depict-life-in-rural-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"PBS cartoon to depict life in rural Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amanda Bohman\/ Daily News-Miner<\/em><\/p>\n

FAIRBANKS \u2014 In \u201cMolly of Denali,\u201d an animated series appearing next year on PBS, a 10-year-old Alaska Native girl helps her parents run a general store, bunkhouse and transport hub in the fictional village of Qyah, Alaska.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first of 38 half-hour episodes plus a 1-hour special will start in summer 2019 and key roles, including the lead role of Molly, will be voiced by Alaska Native people, a PBS news release stated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Live-action segments featuring real children and regions in Alaska will also be part of the series, which was developed with guidance from indigenous people of Interior Alaska.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The announcement last week that PBS will be airing the first nationally distributed children\u2019s series featuring an Alaska Native lead character has generated enthusiasm among Alaska Native people.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s really exciting. I think it\u2019s good for the outside world to understand and know our culture,\u201d said Julie Roberts-Hyslop, a member of the council of the Native Village of Tanana.<\/p>\n

Princess Daazhraii Johnson, a writer, actor, director and Neets\u2019aii Gwich\u2019in originally from Arctic Village, is creative producer of the series. She currently resides in Fairbanks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An Alaska Native working group provided guidance on the program. Members include Adeline Peter Raboff, Dewey Kk\u2019o\u0142eyo Hoffman, Rochelle Adams and Luke Titus.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Titus is the first chief of Denakkanaaga, a nonprofit organization representing indigenous elders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Minto resident said he is excited for his 14 grandchildren to watch \u201cMolly of Denali.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI sure want to see their reaction on what Molly is saying and doing,\u201d Titus said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The series will feature an Alaska Native elder as Molly\u2019s grandfather, he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

WGBH Boston and Atomic Cartoons are producing the show, which Johnson said \u201cshowcases values paramount to all Alaskan Native cultures.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese values will be woven into each storyline and provide important learning moments,\u201d Johnson said in a prepared statement. \u201cI\u2019m especially excited that Alaska Native children will get to see themselves in Molly, who\u2019s such an inspiring role model for all kids. The project\u2019s Alaska Native advisors worked hard to ensure that our children will get to see our beautiful cultures in a respectful light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each episode follows Molly, her dog, Suki, and her friends Tooey and Trini on their daily adventures, including fishing, building snow forts and traveling by dog sled, the news release stated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

WGBH Executive Producer Dorothea Gillim described Molly as a relatable character who will resonate with children everywhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlaska itself plays a key role,\u201d Gillim said in a prepared statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The program is designed for children ages 4-8 and will offer video content, interactive games and real-world activities along with educational\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0opportunities through informational texts from books, online resources, field guides, historical archives, indigenous knowledge, maps, charts, posters, photos and more, according to the news release.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI expect it to be a positive influence on young people all over the country,\u201d said Charlene Ostbloom, vice president of communications for Doyon, LTD., a native corporation based in Fairbanks.\u201cThis is a phenomenal step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jessica Kozevnikoff, an administrative assistant at the Stevens Village Tribal Government, agreed.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing. I look forward to it,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Amanda Frank, a community organizer and Lower Tanana Athabascan, said she has known about the series for a while.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s only for native people,\u201d she said. \u201cI think anyone from Alaska should be excited. I wish I had something like that when I was a kid.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The cartoon will appear on PBS stations, the 24\/7 PBS KIDS channel and PBS KIDS digital platforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

The show is being produced with support from the U.S. Department of Education, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the PBS Ready to Learn Initiative, a federal program supporting innovative educational television and digital media for preschool and early elementary school children.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amanda Bohman\/ Daily News-Miner FAIRBANKS \u2014 In \u201cMolly of Denali,\u201d an animated series appearing next year on PBS, a 10-year-old Alaska Native girl helps her parents run a general store, bunkhouse and transport hub in the fictional village of Qyah, Alaska.\u00a0 The first of 38 half-hour episodes plus a 1-hour special will start in summer … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPBS cartoon to depict life in rural Alaska - Thunderbird Entertainment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thunderbird.tv\/2018\/05\/18\/pbs-cartoon-to-depict-life-in-rural-alaska\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PBS cartoon to depict life in rural Alaska - 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