September 7, 2020 (2020-09-07) – present (present)
Elinor Wonders Why is an animated television series created by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. The show premiered on September 7, 2020, on PBS Kids.[1]
Overview
The exploration-themed show encourages children to follow their curiosity, ask questions when they don't understand, and find answers using science inquiry skills. The main character, Elinor, is the most observant and curious bunny rabbit in Animal Town just north of Natural Forest, California. She introduces children ages 3–6 to science, nature, and communities through adventures with her friends Olive and Ari. Each episode includes two 11-minute animated stories, plus interstitial content, where Elinor and her classmates enjoy either Señor Tapir singing about famous nature explorers or Ms. Mole reading stories.[2]
Characters
Main
Elinor (voiced by Markeda McKay) – A white bunny girl with an inquisitive nature and a sweet personality.
Ari (voiced by Wyatt White) – A funny, imaginative light brown bat boy who lives in a hollow boulder, and is one of Elinor's best friends.
Olive (voiced by Maria Nash) – An elephant calf girl who is one of Elinor's best friends. She often makes charts for whatever questions are being asked.
Ranger Rabbit (voiced by Lisette St. Louis) – Elinor's mom, who works as a park ranger.
Mr. Rabbit (voiced by Colin Doyle) – Elinor's dad.
Ms. Mole (voiced by Shoshana Sperling) – A brown mole who is Elinor, Ari and Olive's teacher. She wears glasses.
Recurring
Olive's Mom (voiced by Ana Sani)
Señor Tapir (voiced by Juan Chioran) – A Spanish-accented tapir that sings about famous explorers and inventors during interstitials.
Mr. Raccoon (voiced by Dan Darin-Zanco) – A raccoon who runs a bakery.
Rollie (voiced by Eric Khou) – An armadillo who is one of Elinor, Ari, and Olive's classmates.
"Hiding In Plain Sight": Elinor and her pals are playing Hide and Go-Seek, but they are always spotted by the Goat twins! They observe camouflaged animals, and figure out to stay hidden, they need to camouflage themselves.
"Owl Girl": Elinor can't figure out what to be for Costume Day, and wants to find out why an owl has been sleeping all morning. After exploring at night with her mom, she figures out what she wants to be for Costume Day: an owl!Storytime: Ms. Mole tells a story about octopuses, and how they camouflage themselves.
2
"Backyard Soup"
Kevin Micallef
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
September 7, 2020 (2020-09-07)
113
"Colorful and Tasty"
"Backyard Soup": Elinor is visiting her Baba and Bibi in Desert Town, and wants to make Backyard Soup! But, she can't find the ingredients! She figures out that certain plants grow in certain places.
"Colorful and Tasty": Elinor, Olive, and Ari have made carrot cupcakes, but they aren't selling in the park! Everyone loves cupcakes, but what's wrong? They figure out that they need to spread the color, and the smell!Señor Tapir's Song: Señor Tapir sings a song about Ynes Mexia, a plant enthusiast.
3
"The Amazing Expandable Clubhouse"
Kevin Micallef
Katherine Sandford
September 8, 2020 (2020-09-08)
101
"The Town Picnic"
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
"The Amazing Expandable Clubhouse": Elinor, Ari, and Olive have new members for their club, but there's not enough room for everyone in the clubhouse! They look for help from their snail friends, Norma and Lulu. They figure out that they can expand the clubhouse.
"The Town Picnic": Animal Town is having its Town Picnic, and Ari is getting impatient of waiting for Ms. Llama's ketchup. They find out that the ketchup is taking a long time to pour out of the bottle due to it being too goopy! They figure out that adding water can make things more runny!Señor Tapir's Song: Señor Tapir sings a song about Jacques Cousteau, the inventor of scuba gear.
"The House That Ants Built": Elinor, Ari, and Olive want to make a cushion castle, but they all try to make different things and take from each other! They look at an anthill, and discover that the ants are working together. They figure out that they should work together.
"Special Places": Ari has lost his new super bouncy ball! He and his friends look around, and they track where Ari has been throughout the whole day. They figure out that to keep something safe, you should put it in a special place.Storytime: Ms. Mole tells a story about ants, and if ants have families.
6
"The Tomato Drop"
Kevin Micallef
Karen Moonah
September 14, 2020 (2020-09-14)
105
"Look What I Can Do"
Dave Dias
"The Tomato Drop": Animal Town is having its Tomato Festival, and Elinor, Ari, and Olive are participating in the Tomato Drop! But, they can't keep the tomato from smushing! They figure out that they can use something as a chute to keep the tomato from smushing.
"Look What I Can Do": The kids are learning how to play soccer, but Elinor and Ari aren't as good as the others. Elinor can't kick the ball as far, and Ari keeps catching the ball with his hands! They figure out that everybody has their own special ability.Señor Tapir's Song: Señor Tapir sings a song about Louis-Sébastien Lenormand, the inventor of the parachute.
7
"The Lizard Lounge"
Kevin Micallef
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
September 15, 2020 (2020-09-15)
106
"Feathers"
8
"Bird Song"
Kevin Micallef
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
September 16, 2020 (2020-09-16)
107
"No Need to Shout"
Kate Barris
9
"Ms. Mole's Glasses"
Kevin Micallef
Rachel Lipman
July 13, 2020 (2020-07-13) (PBS Kids Video) September 17, 2020 (2020-09-17)
108
"Elinor Stops the Squish"
Karen Moonah
10
"Speed Racer"
Kevin Micallef
Adam Ruben
September 21, 2020 (2020-09-21)
109
"One of These Goats"
Kate Barris
11
"Leave It to Ari"
Kevin Micallef
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
September 22, 2020 (2020-09-22)
111
"Snow Friend"
Katherine Sandford
12
"Wind in the Web"
Kevin Micallef
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
September 23, 2020 (2020-09-23)
112
"The Pokey Plant"
13
"Bubble House"
Kevin Micallef
Katherine Sandford
September 28, 2020 (2020-09-28)
114
"The Syrup Tree"
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
14
"The Paper Trail"
Kevin Micallef
Karen Moonah
September 29, 2020 (2020-09-29)
115
"Bath Time"
Adam Ruben
15
"Make Music Naturally"
Kevin Micallef
Kate Barris
November 2, 2020 (2020-11-02)
116
"Light the Way"
Tom Berger
16
"These Sneezes"
Kevin Micallef
Dave Dias
November 9, 2020 (2020-11-09)
117
"Ari's Lucky Shirt"
Michael Foulke
"These Sneezes": When trying to carry flowers in the park, Olive suddenly sneezes. They wonder why they sneeze. The figure out that they sneeze to keep irritating things out of your nose.
"Ari's Lucky Shirt": Ari wants to wear his lucky shirt for today's soccer game, but it's too small! He and his friends find out that Ari's growing, and he needs to wear his green shirt.Señor Tapir's Song: Señor Tapir sings a song about Lydia Bourouiba, a scientist who wanted to find how sneezes move.
"Butterfly Babies": While exploring the park, Ari and Olive explain to each other about caterpillars and butterflies. When a butterfly lands on little Miri's nose, it makes Elinor wonder: what do butterfly babies look like? They figure out that butterfly babies are actually: caterpillars!
"Elinor's Circus": Elinor, Ari, and Olive are having their own circus! But, neither of them are good at their acts. How can they get better? With the help of Siggy Squirrel, they figure out that what they need is balance.Señor Tapir's Song: Señor Tapir sings a song about Fred and Norah Urquhart, two scientists who wanted to know where butterflies go during migration.
21
"Zig Zag Plant"
Kevin Micallef
Jorge Cham & Daniel Whiteson
March 16, 2021 (2021-03-16)
121
"Butterfly Drinks"
22
"Frozen Fish"
Kevin Micallef
Adam Ruben
March 17, 2021 (2021-03-17)
122
"Pirate Treasure"
Tom Berger
23
"Burrowing Owl Girl"
Kevin Micallef
Katherine Sandford Michael Foulke
March 18, 2021 (2021-03-18)
123
"Olive's Tree"
"Burrowing Owl Girl": Elinor is spending the day with her Bibi, and she fins an owl that doesn't act like a normal owl. She and Bibi notices that things look different, but they're still the same thing. She figures out that it was a burrowing owl she saw, and that she doesn't know everything about owls.
"Olive's Tree": Olive loves her special tree in the park. When it falls down, she is really sad. She and her friends figure out that the tree will still have a role in the park as a wildlife tree.Señor Tapir's Song: Señor Tapir sings a song about Roseli Ocampo, an explorer who wanted to know if life lived everywhere.
"A Change of Art": Elinor, Olive, and Ari are at art class with Mr. Lion, but they're out of paint! They find that grass and berries can make paint-like items. They figure out that you can use things from nature to make art.
"Litterbug": There's litter in the park, and the kids want to help Mrs. Hippo get rid of the litter. But, there's even more around the town! Elinor figures out that the cause of the litter is her, Olive, Ari, and Mrs. Hippo.Señor Tapir's Song: Señor Tapir sings a song about Sada Mire.
Development of the show began in 2017, when Cham and Whiteson were approached by PBS. PBS found Cham's comic, Piled Higher and Deeper, online and asked if he was interested in pitching to them. "I reached out to Daniel, and what inspires us beyond science is our children," Cham recalled. "They are curious, and it motivated us to create the show."[10] Cham cites Pogo and Calvin and Hobbes as inspiration for the show's visual design, which he described as "something that felt natural and calming, as opposed to overloaded or frenetic."[2]
The character of Elinor was inspired by Cham's own daughter, Elinor.[1] Cham said "She was about 4, which is just at that perfect age where she really does wonder why, all the time. Any answer you give her, she’ll (have) a follow-up question, another why."[11] Cham and Whiteson went with animals as the show's characters to make them "appealing but also relatable at the same time", and to "highlight their range of skills and abilities."[1]
A second season of the series is currently in development with funding from a National Science Foundation grant.[12]
Broadcast
The series premiered on PBS Kids in the United States on September 7, 2020, as a sneak peek by showing the first 2 episodes, before regularly airing new episodes on September 8.[13] Some episodes are available on Amazon Prime Video in the United States.[14]
PBS International has licensed the series to Canada, Latin America, Finland, Israel, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates via Knowledge Network, Discovery Kids, Yle, Hop!, SVT and E-Junior, respectively.[15] The series airs on Australia on the PBS Kids channel, which was started as a venture with Foxtel in July 2021.[16]
Home media
In early 2021, the series began to release its episodes on PBS Kids compilation DVDs.[17]
Reception
Starr Rhett Rocque of Fast Company wrote, "This clever series...encourages curiosity."[18]
Elinor Wonders Why: Hiding in Plain Sight, described as one of two launch titles for a graphic novel series based on the show, was announced in February 2022.[22] Two titles, Hiding in Plain Sight and Forest Giants, released on September 6, 2022.[23][24]
^"PBS Kids Launches Channel in Australia". aNb Media, Inc. July 14, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2022. The new channel from Foxtel includes the Australian premieres of Fred Rogers Productions' puppet series Donkey Hodie and STEM-based animated show Elinor Wonders Why.
^Maughan, Shannon. "Fall 2022 Children's Sneak Previews". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved February 26, 2022. Elinor Wonders Why: Hiding in Plain Sight by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson, one of two launch titles for a graphic novel series based on the TV show about an inquisitive rabbit exploring the natural world...
^Cham, Jorge; Whiteson, Daniel (September 6, 2022). Elinor Wonders Why: Hiding in Plain Sight (listing). ISBN978-1525306198.
