Wild Kratts
Encyclopedia
Wild Kratts is a children’s animated television series educationally targeting children aged 6 to 8 , produced by 9 Story for PBS Kids
and TVO
. The show premiered on January 3, 2011 on most PBS stations . The show is a rework of the Kratt brothers’ lesser-received series “Be the Creature
” (2003 - 2005), and uses a donut sequence of live-action and animated characterizations of the Kratts.
. Along the way, they receive help from their young friends, Koki and Jimmy Z, who help Aviva run the team’s headquarters. Through exposition
, the series explains the different unique talents and abilities that wild animals have compared to mankind. The Kratts also occasionally receive additional help from friendly children, which are named “Wild Kratts kids”. There are three villains in the show, Zach Varmitech, who controls the creatures' minds and uses them as workers, Donita Donata, who freezes creatures and sells them alive as jewelry, and Chef Gourmand, who makes expensive gourmet dishes out of endangered species. The Kratts usually use their creature powers to foil these three villains' plots. However there are episodes where none of the villains make an appearance at all, but instead focus on the complex balance of nature. Throughout the series, the Kratt brothers learn scientific and biological facts about different kinds of animals, and use their newfound understanding of the creatures to protect those animals from oppression, poaching, and abuse. However, in some situations, their missions become extremely dangerous, and the brothers often have to rescue each other whenever they are captured by the villains (“Flight of the Draco”, “Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy”, “Platypus Café”, “Fireflies”, “Let The Rhinos Roll”, “Raptor Round-Up”). And despite the program’s educational format, some episodes bring the Kratt brothers and their young companions exceedingly close to death
(“Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy”, “Polar Bears Don’t Dance”, “Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus”, “Octopus Wildkratticus”, “Let The Rhinos Roll!”).
.
of any living thing, allowing the Kratt brothers, Chris and Martin, to transform into an animal by simply touching the animal. While their suits are activated, the brothers have the same characteristics of the animal, highlighting the animal’s principal "features". The brothers also sometimes develop the same cravings (mostly food) as the animal, and to a certain extent, become the animals. In the episode "Tazzy Chris", Chris began to crave rotten meat while he was Tasmanian Devil, crave stale French fries as a homing pigeon in "Falcon City", and want to compulsively bury acorns while he was a Gray squirrel in the episode "The Blue and the Gray". Also, Martin began to desire sunfish while he was Large-mouth bass in the episode, "Bass Class", and Chris is seen willingly chewing on blades of grass as a gazelle in “Cheetah Racer”. The suits can also grow or shrink down to the size of whatever animal they’re mimicking, as small as a firefly, or as big as an African elephant ("Fireflies", "Elephant in the Room"). However, in later episodes, this is proved to be optional. The suits have buttons that are arranged in a three-toed paw, designed similar to the paw prints of many animal species. The heel of the paw is used to activate and deactivate the suits, and this is also where the creature power disc is inserted. The suits have been deactivated vocally in "Octopus Wildkratticus", however, this cannot be done in "Little Howler".
As the episodes progressed, it is revealed that the activation buttons on the suits are very pressure sensitive, as seen in the episode "Honey Seekers", when Chef Gourmand was able to easily deactivate Chris' suit by hitting the button was a few balls of pastry dough. The suits themselves are also very sensitive, and are vulnerable to wear and tear. In the episode "Polar Bears Don't Dance" Aviva had to adjust them to arctic polar freeze, and in the episode, "Octopus Wildkratticus", Aviva mentions that the suits could very easily be damaged by the frigid cold temperatures of the Arctic sea, or crushed by the immense water pressure. In terms of biology, plants are technically living creatures too, so the creature power suits can also transform into plants. In "The Blue and the Gray", this bizarre feature turned Martin into an acorn, and then rapidly grew him into a fully grown Oak Tree before Chris’ eyes. The suits are also known to malfunction and sometimes jam, often times causing trouble for the Wild Kratts. In the episode "Tazzy Chris", a tasmanian devil scratched the activation button on Chris' suit, causing him randomly transform back and forth between being a life-sized Tasmanian devil, and a human being
, with no memory of ever doing so. The changes grew more and more frequent and uncontrollable each time. Eventually Aviva was able to deactivate him, and restore the suit to it’s proper working condition. In the episode "Octopus Wildkratticus", both Chris and Martin's suits became stuck to an Octopus named Seven, and scanned the DNA of five marine other animals, mutating Seven into a super-powerful, super-aggressive, gigantic hybrid of all five animals, until Martin managed to deactivate him. The suits can also be activated accidentally if an animal unknowingly touches the activation button ("Polar Bears Don't Dance", "Falcon City", "The Blue and The Gray", "Ker-Honk").
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
and TVO
TVO
TVO is an abbreviation with several different significations:*Televisora de Oriente, a Venezuelan TV station*Teollisuuden Voima, a Finnish nuclear power company*Total Value of Ownership, an evaluation method*TVOntario, a Canadian TV station...
. The show premiered on January 3, 2011 on most PBS stations . The show is a rework of the Kratt brothers’ lesser-received series “Be the Creature
Be the Creature
Be the Creature is a creation of the Kratt Brothers . A wildlife series designed to immerse both the brothers and the viewers in the world of animals, Be the Creature features 13 episodes. Unlike other Kratt Brothers programs, Kratts' Creatures and Zoboomafoo, Be the Creature is oriented towards a...
” (2003 - 2005), and uses a donut sequence of live-action and animated characterizations of the Kratts.
Plot
The Kratt brothers (Chris and Martin Kratt) go around the world looking for animals and use "creature power suits", suits created by their friend, Aviva, out of the creatures' DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
. Along the way, they receive help from their young friends, Koki and Jimmy Z, who help Aviva run the team’s headquarters. Through exposition
Exposition
Exposition may refer to:*Exposition *Exposition *Trade fair*Exposition , the debut album by the band Wax on Radio...
, the series explains the different unique talents and abilities that wild animals have compared to mankind. The Kratts also occasionally receive additional help from friendly children, which are named “Wild Kratts kids”. There are three villains in the show, Zach Varmitech, who controls the creatures' minds and uses them as workers, Donita Donata, who freezes creatures and sells them alive as jewelry, and Chef Gourmand, who makes expensive gourmet dishes out of endangered species. The Kratts usually use their creature powers to foil these three villains' plots. However there are episodes where none of the villains make an appearance at all, but instead focus on the complex balance of nature. Throughout the series, the Kratt brothers learn scientific and biological facts about different kinds of animals, and use their newfound understanding of the creatures to protect those animals from oppression, poaching, and abuse. However, in some situations, their missions become extremely dangerous, and the brothers often have to rescue each other whenever they are captured by the villains (“Flight of the Draco”, “Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy”, “Platypus Café”, “Fireflies”, “Let The Rhinos Roll”, “Raptor Round-Up”). And despite the program’s educational format, some episodes bring the Kratt brothers and their young companions exceedingly close to death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
(“Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy”, “Polar Bears Don’t Dance”, “Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus”, “Octopus Wildkratticus”, “Let The Rhinos Roll!”).
Main characters
- Martin KrattMartin KrattMartin William Kratt is an educational nature show host. He and his brother Chris Kratt grew up in Warren Township, New Jersey, and together created the children's television series Kratts' Creatures and Zoboomafoo as well as Be the Creature, which runs on the National Geographic Channel...
as Himself - Martin wears a blue shirt and seems to be more of the jokester of the two. In contrast to his brother Chris’ climbing skills, Martin is a more experienced swimmer, comfortable in the oceans and lakes of the world. He is the older of the Kratt brothers, born four years before his younger brother Chris. Like his brother, Martin also has had some weird creature moments. In “The Blue and the Gray”, Martin's suit turned him to an acorn, and then into an oak tree. Martin likes to give the animals they find various names, perhaps allowing the audience to bond with the animal. He often gets distracted when he brings animals to the Tortuga HQ. In the episode "Let the Rhinos Roll!", Martin brings a baby rhino "Nubs" to the Tortuga, while he leaves Chris hanging in Zach's jet. He is also often rushing and impulsive, unlike his younger brother, Chris. In the episode "Fireflies", Martin activates his creature power suit to be a firefly, but gives the wrong flash pattern because he didn't listen to Chris's warnings to stay back in the Tortuga. In "Honey Seekers", he runs into a lion, twice.
- Chris KrattChris KrattChristopher F. "Chris" Kratt is an American host of television programs Wild Kratts, Kratts' Creatures, Zoboomafoo, and Be the Creature, which airs on the National Geographic Channel....
as Himself - Chris, younger than Martin by four years, wears a green shirt and is an experienced climber, feeling at home in the jungles and forests of the world. In the fourth episode "Flight of the Draco", Chris temporarily develops a severe fear of heightsAcrophobiaAcrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear of heights. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort that share both similar etiology and options for treatment.Most people experience a degree of natural fear when exposed to heights, especially if there is little...
after falling out of a tree. However, he eventually overcomes his fear after being inspired to keep climbing by a group of baby Draco lizards. After this episode, it becomes a running gag that Chris would fall out of trees but not be hurt ("Build It Beaver", "Tazzy Chris"). Chris tends to be the more methodical of the Kratt brothers. Unlike his older brother, Martin, he likes to take his time and test out the animals' DNA's so the Wild Kratts crew can understand the animals better and save them from the evil villains. When going up against dangerous villains or rogue animals, Chris often acted as the bait, while Martin and the other Wild Kratts would formulate a plan (“Whale of A Squid”, “Platypus Cafe”, “Octopus Wildkratticus”, “Kickin It With The Roos”, “Cheetah Racer”, “Little Howler”, “Raptor Round-Up”).
- Athena KarkanisAthena KarkanisAthena Irene Karkanis is a Canadian actress best-known for her role on The Best Years as fictitious Dominican-American actress Dawn Vargaz.-Filmography:*Chappelle's Show .... Caller...
as Aviva Corcovado - Aviva is the leader of the Tortuga gang. She designs the discs for Chris or Martin's creature power suits. Aviva tries to prove to the Kratt brothers that she knows all about creatures, but she is often corrected by the Kratts. For example, in episode 1, "Mom of a Croc", Aviva begins the story disliking crocodiles, but the Kratt brothers prove to her that crocodiles have a soft spot. By the end, Aviva comes to believe them and starts trusting the crocodiles. In episode 6, “Platypus Café”, Aviva refuses to accept help from a mother platypus that the Kratt brothers find, but eventually admits defeat when she learns of the platypus’ electrosensory abilities. In episode 9, "Flight of the Butterflier XT", Aviva doesn’t believe that monarch butterflies can fly 3,000 miles to Mexico from the Great Lakes, but the Kratt brothers prove it by going in Aviva's Butterfly Adventure Vehicle. In episode 17, "Elephant in the Room", Aviva thinks that baby elephants are sweet and harmless, but Martin and Jimmy try to prove that sometimes they can be mischievous, as she learns when a baby elephant crashes the Tortuga into the desert. In episode 23, "Cheetah Racer", Aviva thinks that she can make an invention way faster than a cheetah, but the Wild Kratts disagree, and prove themselves right again.
- Heather Bambrick as Koki - Koki is one of the members of the Wild Kratts crew, and works on the computer database of the Tortuga HQ, researching animals for the brothers, and often uses the computer to track villains such as Zach, Donita, and Gourmand via satellite. Also, Koki manages the communications system of the Tortuga, keeping in touch with Chris and Martin throughout their missions. She also sometimes receives signals from other people who want to communicate with the Wild Kratts.
- Jonathan Malen as Jimmy Z - Jimmy is the pilot of Tortuga HQ. Though young, Jimmy is an experienced pilot, being able to maneuver the Tortuga though storms, and perform a successful crash landing in the episode “Elephant in the Room” Jimmy Z is often unsure about animals, so he asks the rest of the Wild Kratts crew about them.
Villains
- Zachary BennettZachary BennettZachary Bennett is a Canadian actor and musician in Toronto, Ontario, who is best known for playing Felix King in Road to Avonlea. He also co-starred in the 2006 TV film Jekyll + Hyde.He was born in London, Ontario...
as Zach Varmitech - First introduced in the episode "Aardvark Town", Zach Varmitech is a pasty beatnikBeatnikBeatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
-styled villain who claims to be the world's greatest mind. He tries to develop hotels and vacation spots all over the world by controlling creatures' minds and using them as workers. However, his plans are always foiled by the Kratt Brothers. Zach has been archenemies with the Kratts ever since they were just children, as revealed in the episode "Tazzy Chris". It was also revealed in "Mystery of the Weird-looking Walrus", and "Cheetah Racer" that he went to a science camp with Aviva once, and also has a rivalry with her. And revealed in "Koala Balloon", black balloons help lift up Zach's spirits. Zach always screams when he sees an animal, hinting that he has a fear of all animals. Chris and Martin’s rivalry with Zach is surprisingly friendly and comedic, due to the Kratt brothers’ forgiving nature, even though Zach has tried to kill them several times throughout the series (“Platypus Café”, “Polar Bears Don’t Dance”, “Mystery of the Weird Looking Walrus”, “Let The Rhinos Roll!”). He also stole Aviva's miniaturizer in "The Gecko Effect".
- Zachary Bennett as The Zachbots - The Zachbots are Zach Varmitech's mechanical minions, created to follow Zach’s orders, and often sabotage the Kratt brothers’ creature missions. However, Zach's Zachbots don't fully understand human expressions. For example: in the episode "Aardvark Town", Zach says "Stay close", and the Zachbots squish Zach until he says, "Not that close!" Or in the episode “'Polar Bears Don't Dance” when Zach said "It’ll make your spin" or "Somebody pinch me" his Zachbots spin their heads and pinch Zach until he says "I didn't mean literally”.
- Eva Almos as Donita Donata - First introduced in the fourth episode, "Flight of the Draco" , Donita Donata is a snobbishSnobA snob is someone who believes that some people are inherently inferior to him or her for any one of a variety of reasons, including real or supposed intellect, wealth, education, ancestry, taste, beauty, nationality, et cetera. Often, the form of snobbery reflects the snob's personal attributes...
woman who freezes animals alive and sells them alive as jewelry or clothing. Her franchising company is known as "Donita Donata's Live Jewelry of Nature". She also works with a man named Dabio who will do whatever Donita commands (Cory Doran).
- Cory DoranCory DoranCory Doran is a Canadian voice actor who is known as the voice of Jimmy, the star of the animated show, Jimmy Two-Shoes.-Filmography:*Jimmy Two-Shoes - Jimmy*Pearlie - Stearling...
as Dabio - Dabio is Donita's hired henchman that is treated like a servant, but usually fails in the simplest of tasks.
- Zachary Bennett as Chef Gaston Gourmand - A cajunCajunCajuns are an ethnic group mainly living in the U.S. state of Louisiana, consisting of the descendants of Acadian exiles...
-esque chef who uses endangered creatures as ingredients for his gourmet dishes. In the episode "Honey Seekers" it is revealed that Gourmand never makes the same dish twice, and in the episode "Platypus Café" it is revealed that Gourmand in fact loses his chef license because his practice of using endangered species.
Tortuga HQ
The Tortuga HQ is a large, all-terrain turtle-shaped vehicle that transports the Kratt brothers and Aviva, Koki and Jimmy Z all over the world. It is very high-tech, with a small lab (for Aviva to create the creature power suit discs), a large TV and computer monitor to track the Kratts, and a teleporter to get the creature power suit discs to the Kratts. It is powered by a specific type of energy to lift up and hover, and also has four slanted fins that act like wings. As revealed in the fourth episode, "Flight of the Draco", the Tortuga is powered by eco-friendly solar energySolar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
.
Creature Power Suits
The creature power suits are Aviva's greatest invention, which she mentioned as being only prototypes of her unfinished design, in the episode "Octopus Wildkratticus". The suits themselves are made to look like simple vests, each colored blue and green to match Chris and Martin’s individual style. But with the appropriate disc inserted, the suits can scan and analyze the DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
of any living thing, allowing the Kratt brothers, Chris and Martin, to transform into an animal by simply touching the animal. While their suits are activated, the brothers have the same characteristics of the animal, highlighting the animal’s principal "features". The brothers also sometimes develop the same cravings (mostly food) as the animal, and to a certain extent, become the animals. In the episode "Tazzy Chris", Chris began to crave rotten meat while he was Tasmanian Devil, crave stale French fries as a homing pigeon in "Falcon City", and want to compulsively bury acorns while he was a Gray squirrel in the episode "The Blue and the Gray". Also, Martin began to desire sunfish while he was Large-mouth bass in the episode, "Bass Class", and Chris is seen willingly chewing on blades of grass as a gazelle in “Cheetah Racer”. The suits can also grow or shrink down to the size of whatever animal they’re mimicking, as small as a firefly, or as big as an African elephant ("Fireflies", "Elephant in the Room"). However, in later episodes, this is proved to be optional. The suits have buttons that are arranged in a three-toed paw, designed similar to the paw prints of many animal species. The heel of the paw is used to activate and deactivate the suits, and this is also where the creature power disc is inserted. The suits have been deactivated vocally in "Octopus Wildkratticus", however, this cannot be done in "Little Howler".
As the episodes progressed, it is revealed that the activation buttons on the suits are very pressure sensitive, as seen in the episode "Honey Seekers", when Chef Gourmand was able to easily deactivate Chris' suit by hitting the button was a few balls of pastry dough. The suits themselves are also very sensitive, and are vulnerable to wear and tear. In the episode "Polar Bears Don't Dance" Aviva had to adjust them to arctic polar freeze, and in the episode, "Octopus Wildkratticus", Aviva mentions that the suits could very easily be damaged by the frigid cold temperatures of the Arctic sea, or crushed by the immense water pressure. In terms of biology, plants are technically living creatures too, so the creature power suits can also transform into plants. In "The Blue and the Gray", this bizarre feature turned Martin into an acorn, and then rapidly grew him into a fully grown Oak Tree before Chris’ eyes. The suits are also known to malfunction and sometimes jam, often times causing trouble for the Wild Kratts. In the episode "Tazzy Chris", a tasmanian devil scratched the activation button on Chris' suit, causing him randomly transform back and forth between being a life-sized Tasmanian devil, and a human being
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
, with no memory of ever doing so. The changes grew more and more frequent and uncontrollable each time. Eventually Aviva was able to deactivate him, and restore the suit to it’s proper working condition. In the episode "Octopus Wildkratticus", both Chris and Martin's suits became stuck to an Octopus named Seven, and scanned the DNA of five marine other animals, mutating Seven into a super-powerful, super-aggressive, gigantic hybrid of all five animals, until Martin managed to deactivate him. The suits can also be activated accidentally if an animal unknowingly touches the activation button ("Polar Bears Don't Dance", "Falcon City", "The Blue and The Gray", "Ker-Honk").
Recurring Tools & Vehicles
- The Miniaturizer - First introduced in the series premiere “Mom of A Croc”, but contradictinglyParadoxSimilar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
not being invented until episode 5, “Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy”, the miniaturizer is an invention of Aviva’s that allows the Kratt brothers, (and occasionally their companions), to shrink down to almost microscopic size, and observe some of the world’s smallest creatures. However, the Wild Kratts team is sometimes put in grave danger whenever they are stuck in their shrunken state (“Platypus Café”, “Elephant In The Room”, “Flight of the Pollinators”, “The Gecko Effect”).
- The Createrra VX: First introduced in the third episode, “Aardvark Town”, the Createrra VX is a jeep created by Aviva, that is able to travel across all seven continents, capable of driving over the ice and snow of the Arctic, crossing the harsh jungles of Africa, and even flight. Chris and Martin mention some of the jeep’s alternate modes in the following episodes “Let The Rhinos Roll” and “Kickin’ It With the Roos”. In the latter episode, the Kratt brothers spend an entire day trying to retrieve the keys to the Createrra from a joey named Hopster, but never succeed, only regaining access to the Createrra after Hopster willingly gives them their keys back.
- Buzz Bikes - First introduced in “Aardvark Town”, Aviva’s buzz bike is a flying scooter that allows Aviva to glide across the African deserts at high speeds, using it to save the Kratt brothers in “Honey Seekers”. In episode 14, “Fireflies”, Aviva builds two other bikes for Chris and Martin, though these bikes are designed to look more like fireflies, and can be shrunk down to the size of an insect with the aid of Aviva’s miniaturizer. Afterwards, Aviva continued working on the buzz bike design, and eventually built another bike for Koki. At the beginning of “A Bat In The Brownies”, Chris, Martin, Koki, and Aviva are briefly seen riding the buzz bikes, while Jimmy stays behind in the Tortuga.
- Manta Riders - Built by Aviva in “Octopus Wildkratticus“, the Manta Riders are underwater gliders, designed to resemble Manta Rays and Sting Rays, so they would be more aerodynamic and glide across the ocean floor easily.
- Teleporter - Controlled by Jimmy Z, this teleporter is controlled by his game console, allowing them to transport objects anywhere across the globe instantaneously, including the activator discs to the Kratt brothers’ creature power suits.