Twin Cities Kids Club was recently invited to a luncheon celebrating the launch of Universal Kids network’s original series Terrific Trucks. We met Kristofer Updike, Sprout’s super-fun Director of Programming who shared details about his idea for this neat show for kids, and we’re excited to share what we learned with our families!
If your child loves trucks — fire trucks, dump trucks, loaders, and other big equipment — or is a fan of Bob the Builder, Thomas and Friends, or other construction- or big machine-themed shows, Terrific Trucks is a must-see. Let’s find out why Terrific Trucks earns Twin Cities Kids Club’s seal of approval.
Terrific Trucks Brings Big Trucks to Life
Terrific Trucks combines live-action footage of big trucks with animation in a half-hour series designed primarily for pre-schoolers. The producers wanted to capture the larger than life perception of trucks that many children have, and it uses a close-up style to show their awesome power and size.
Terrific Trucks brings trucks to live as characters with human-like personalities. The story follows five truck friends: Tork, the dump truck, Dug, the digger, Sparky, the front-end loader, Stotz, the semi, and Blinker, the scooper, as they take on big jobs in a real-world setting.
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In each episode, the friends take on big jobs like crushing cars, digging a foundation, moving a house, digging a tunnel, or tearing down a barn. Of course, these big jobs are never easy, and the friends face obstacles that make completing the job difficult. They must learn to work together – each one has a special talent after all – to overcome the challenges. The show fosters lessons of problem-solving, teamwork, and friendship.
Here are 4 cool things about Terrific Trucks:
- This show uses REAL TRUCKS, not claymation or animated trucks. Though there is some CGI animation to help bring them to life, the show is filmed using two fleets of real trucks at a quarry outside of Toronto, Canada. It’s powerful and realistic and your truck-loving child will feel the awesomeness of big rigs and equipment.
- The series features cameo voices from celebrity parents Kristen Bell, who voices Zippy and Dax Shepard, who brings Digby and Trench to life. The other voice actors who portray the main truck characters are also phenomenal.
- The show appeals to children of all genders, not just boys. The producers have made a conscientious effort not to gender trucks or liking them as masculine. Two of the five trucks are girls, and they haven’t just made one of them stereotypically girly. One is pink, and one is green – not all girly colors!
- The show teaches real-life lessons that are common to pre-schoolers and early elementary-aged children. In one episode, Dug gets distracted and causes an accident. He then loses his confidence and his friends have to help restore it. In another, Blinker almost gets hurt and creates a problem when her obsession with river stones means she can’t stay out of the way during off-loading. She needs to learn to master self-control and patience, and her friends help keep her occupied and help her learn. In a different episode, Sparky becomes the leader while Tork is in for repairs, and gets over-confident. She ignores instructions and procedures and tries to do things her own way, creating a mess that the trucks have to work together to fix. When her first instinct is to run and hide from her problem, her friends convince her to confront it. They stand by her and help her learn from her mistakes.
WATCH TERRIFIC TRUCKS!
You can tune in to Terrific Trucks on Hulu, which your kids can watch from their tablets or your phone, in case you need a terrific distraction to keep them occupied in the car, airplane, or restaurant. Seasons 1 and 2 are available for purchase as digital copies or DVD/Blu-Ray. Whenever your kid needs a dose of Terrific Trucks, you can be assured there are ways to provide it.
At Twin Cities Kids Club, our job is to curate great activities for kids in the Twin Cities area and to help parents find fun, age-appropriate media for their children. In addition to our seal of approval, Terrific Trucks is very favorably rated by Parents’ Choice media and toy reviews, as well as Common Sense Media
. Make sure to get your free twin cities kids club membership card by clicking here!
You can trust that Terrific Trucks is, well, terrific for your little ones.