‘City Island’ Animated Series to Encourage Civic Engagement on PBS Kids With Assists From Amy Schumer, Julio Torres, Debi Mazar (Exclusive)

Kimia Behpoornia and Kimiko Glenn are set to star in a new series of digital animated shorts from PBS Kids, titled “City Island.” The series comes from creator and executive producer Aaron Augenblick of Augenblick Studios.

The series, which premieres Dec. 26, will also feature guest appearances from Amy Schumer, Julio Torres, James Adomian, Debi Mazar and more. Targeted toward early elementary school children, “City Island” follows a thriving metropolis with local organizations, government institutions, and a diverse citizenry, where every car, tree and building is a fun character with its own name, voice, and distinctive personality.

“After years of making cartoons, ‘City Island’ is my dream project. It’s a love letter to all my favorite kids’ shows. Best of all, ‘City Island’ is a world where we can explore dynamic visuals and important themes. Working with PBS KIDS has been an extremely rewarding process,” said Augenblick in a statement.

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“PBS KIDS is committed to meeting kids where they are and making learning accessible in multiple formats,” said Sara DeWitt, Senior Vice President and General Manager, PBS KIDS. “We’re excited to continue building our short form content library, and to tackle civics with CITY ISLAND in such a vibrant and engaging way.”

“City Island” will focus on Watt, a little lightbulb with big ideas, and Windy, a flying kite who lives in the floating City Island neighborhood of Skytown. Together, their thirst for exploration and adventure leads them to meet cheerfully optimistic members of the community and learns about how they make the city run, exploring different locations like the library, airport, planetarium, art museum and more, all while working together to find the best solutions to simple problems.

In an exclusive clip of the upcoming series, which you can watch above, the characters are at Circus Beach, where they meet the “world famous” Wanda Wheel — who is sad because the beach has become littered with trash and is run down from years without repairs. So, the crew formulates a plan to clean up Circus Beach and restore it to its former glory.

You can also see an exclusive first look image above, which includes many of the major characters found throughout the series.

“City Island” is created and executive produced by Augenblick and comes via Future Brain Media, a joint venture between fellow veteran animation producer Daniel Powell (Irony Point, “Inside Amy Schumer”) that’s focused on “bringing a unique perspective and aesthetic to the children’s media landscape.”

Powell and Gemma Correll also executive produce, and Correll serves as art director. The style of “City Island” is based on the comics of Correll.

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