Sprout ‘Gets Grubby’ With ‘dirtgirlworld’

By MCN Staff -- Multichannel News, 3/22/2010 11:50:53 AM

Philadelphia — Sprout will celebrate Earth Day by introducing dirtgirlworld, an Australian import that combines live action, animation, photomontage and illustration — plus catchy songs — in a series that introduces preschoolers to the joys of outdoor play and sustainable green living.

The preschoolers’ channel will debut dirtgirlworld with a threehour marathon, noon to 3 p.m. ET, on April 22. Th ereafter, the 11-minute episodes will air every day on Sprout at 4:50 p.m. ET. Sprout gets 52 episodes in the deal, with DHX Media’s Decode Enterprises. Games, crafts and environmentally-friends tips for parents of preschoolers will be on SproutOnline.com.

Writer/producer Cate McQuillen and composer/writer Hewey Eustace developed the series from their home near the “rainbow country” of northern New South Wales in Australia. The music-centric show takes the audience to a world where the real and unreal collide. dirtgirlworld shares an environmental message, explores the natural world and invites the audience to “go get grubby” with dirtgirl, a gumbootwearing girl who grows awesome tomatoes, knows clouds’ names and drives a big orange tractor.

Helping dirtgirl are her best friend, scrapboy, a cowpunk who is a whiz with junk; grubby, with her grub’s eye view; ken the weevil, a super stunt star with an inferiority complex; roger the rooster and the chicks; hayman the monosyllabic scarecrow; and the green thumbs — real kids shown in real gardens.

“Bringing dirtgirlworld to the U.S. is just amazing for us,” Mc- Quillen said in a statement. “We know that Sprout cares about kids and we wanted a home for dirtgirlworld that cared about kids. We can’t think of anywhere better for us to be.”