Ni Hao, Kai-Lan
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan is a 2D-animated (anime-influenced[2]) children's television series produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio. It began as a series of three interstitial shorts on Nick Jr. called Downward Doghouse.[3] The first full episode was initially set to premiere in fall 2007[4] on Nickelodeon in the United States, but it was delayed to February 7, 2008, coinciding with the first day of the Chinese New Year.[4]
| Ni Hao, Kai-Lan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Preschool Fantasy Comedy |
| Created by | Karen Chau |
| Developed by | Mary Harrington Karen Chau Judy Rothman Sascha Paladino |
| Written by | Sascha Paladino (Head Writer) Bradley Zweig (Staff Writer) |
| Directed by | David Marshall |
| Starring | Jade-Lianna Peters Clem Cheung Ben Wang Jack Samson Khamani Griffin Angie Wu Beverly Duan Terence Hardy Hsiang Lo |
| Theme music composer | Matt Mahaffey |
| Opening theme | Theme song composed by Matt Mahaffey, lyrics by Sascha Paladino |
| Country of origin | United States Canada China (animation services)[1] |
| Original languages | English Mandarin |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Mary Harrington |
| Producers | Sascha Paladino Supervising Producers: David Marshall Jeff DeGrandis |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production companies | Harringtoons Productions Nickelodeon Animation Studio |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon Treehouse TV Télé-Québec |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release | November 5, 2007 (February 7, 2008 in the United States) – November 4, 2011 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan is based on childhood memories of the show's creator, Karen Chau, when she grew up in a bicultural (Chinese-American) household. "Ni hao" (你好 nǐ hǎo) means "Hello" in Mandarin, and Kai-Lan (凯兰 Kǎilán) is the Chinese name Chau was given at birth, which was later anglicized to Karen.
Premise
The series follows the adventures of Kai-Lan and her group of talking anthropomorphic animal companions. The group consists of Kai-Lan, a seven-year old Chinese-American girl; Rintoo, the yellow tiger; Tolee, the gray koala; Lulu, the pink rhino; and Hoho, the small white monkey. Each episode is based around a series of events that occur during Kai-Lan's day, along with obstacles that she and her friends are forced to overcome (with "assistance" from the viewing audience) relating to riddles, playing games, and working together. Common rituals may involve Kai-Lan resolving temper tantrums from her friends Rintoo, Lulu, Tolee or Hoho when they misbehave. To help Rintoo, Tolee, Hoho, and Lulu, Kai-Lan shows them and the audience why they are having temper tantrums. Usually, once Rintoo, Tolee and Hoho discover that their actions are wrong, they apologize and promise to work together better. The audience is usually presented two musical sing-alongs where Kai-Lan sings about what must be done to overcome her and her friends' challenges. The episode always ends with Kai-Lan successfully helping her friends and everyone getting along. In the Season 1 finale, it is stated that they all live in California.
Other aspects generally featured in episodes are breaking the fourth wall, 11 minutes of interactivity,[5] a target word that is repeated multiple times,[6] a few words of Mandarin Chinese vocabulary, and before saying goodbye (at the end of each episode), Kai-lan says, "You make my heart feel super happy!" Later installments added Kai-lan saying this phrase in Mandarin after she said it in English: "Ni rang wo hao kai xin!" Ni Hao, Kai-lan introduces its viewers to the Mandarin Chinese language, along with elements of Chinese culture and values, and intergenerational families (e.g., Kai-lan and her relationship with Ye Ye).
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 20 | November 5, 2007 | November 4, 2008 | ||
| 2 | 20 | February 2, 2009 | November 3, 2010 | ||
| 3 | 2 | August 21, 2011 | August 21, 2011 | ||
Major characters
Kai-Lan
Kai-Lan (voiced by Jade Lianna Peters) is a playful, adventurous young girl with a big heart. She has black hair that she wears in two space buns with red flowers. Kai-Lan speaks both English and Mandarin Chinese.
Rintoo
Rintoo (voiced by Jack Samson) is a rambunctious and energetic bengal tiger with a frontal lisp.
Tolee
Tolee (voiced by Khamani Griffin) is a gray koala who has a stuffed panda that he affectionately named Pandy.
Lulu
Lulu (voiced by Beverly Duan) is a sweet and intelligent pink rhinoceros. Lulu has a red balloon tied around her horn that helps her fly.
Hoho
Hoho (voiced by Angie Wu) is an energetic white monkey and is the youngest of Kai-Lan's friends.
Ye-Ye
Ye-Ye (voiced by Clem Cheung and Ben Wang) is Kai-lan's playful, thoughtful, and caring grandfather. He was born in Hong Kong and passes on his traditions to his granddaughter.
Mr. Sun
At the start of almost every episode, Kai-Lan wakes up Mr. Sun so she can start her day.
The Ants
In one corner of Kai-Lan's backyard is a teeming mini-metropolis of ants called Ant City who deliver mail and build things. San San is their leader along with his two right-hand ants, Bubu and Fufu.
San San is voiced by Zachary Gordon, Bubu is voiced by Luke Manriquez, and Fufu is voiced by Kyla Rae Kowalewski.
Other, grown-up, and minor characters
- Howard (voiced by Khamani Griffin) is an owl who first appears in "The Dragonboat Festival." He delivers letters and only speaks in hoots.
- Mr. Fluffy (voiced by Elan Garfias) is a hamster and baker who first appears in "Everybody's Hat Parade."
- Mei Mei (voiced by Laura Marano) is a shy blue polar bear.
- Stompy the Elephant (voiced by Hsiang Lo) is a big, playful blue elephant who made his first appearance in "Safari Pals."
- GuNaiNai (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) is Kai-Lan's great-aunt and YeYe's sister. She appears in "Kai-Lan's Trip to China."
- Xiao Xi Gua (meaning "little watermelon") is a baby panda. He appears in "Kai-Lan's Trip to China."
- The Peeking Mice are little, black mice who are often seen playing music. They are voiced by assorted members of the cast.
- Mr. Hoppy is a green frog who speaks in ribbits.
- The Monkey King (voiced by Jack Cygan) is a monkey superhero.
- The Fox King (voiced by James Siang'a) is a fox in The Fox Kingdom.
- The Foxes are red foxes that live in The Fox Kingdom.
- The Bear Queen (voiced by Lucy Liu) is a bear in The Bear Kingdom.
- The Bears are brown bears that live in The Bear Kingdom.
Cast
- Jade-Lianna Peters as Kai Lan
- Clem Cheung as Yeye
- Khamani Griffin as Tolee, Howard
- Beverly Duan as Lulu
- Angie Wu as Hoho
- Jack Samson as Rintoo
DVD releases
| Season | Episodes | DVD release dates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 | ||||
| 1 | 2007–08 | 20 | Volume 1: Super Special Days: August 12, 2008[7] Episodes: "Dragonboat Festival" • "Everybody's Hat Parade" • "Twirly Whirly Flyers" • "Beach Day" Volume 2: Celebrate with Kai-Lan: January 6, 2009[8] Episodes: "Safari Pals" • "Tolee's Rhyme Time" • "Kai-Lan's Campout" • "Happy Chinese New Year!" Volume 3: Kai-Lan's Great Trip to China: July 14, 2009[9] Episodes: "The Ant Playground" • "Rain or Shine" • "Kai-Lan's Trip to China" Volume 4: Kai-Lan's Carnival: October 6, 2009[10] Episodes: "Wait, Hoho, Wait!" • "Roller Rintoo" • "Kai-Lan's Carnival" • "Lulu Day" | |
| 2 | 2009–10 | 20 | Volume 5: Princess Kai-Lan: October 5, 2010[11] Episodes: "The Moon Festival" • "Lulu's Cloud" • "Princess Kai-lan" | |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Recipients and nominees | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Artios Award | Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Animation TV Programming | Sarah Noonan and Meredith Layne | Nominated |
| 2009 | Annie Award | Best Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production | Notes[12] | Nominated |
| 2010 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Special Class Animated Program | Sascha Paladino, Mary Harrington, Jeff DeGrandis and Andrew Huebner | Nominated |
Related media
Video games
The success of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan spawned its own video game series, supported by various gaming consoles and platforms:
References
- https://www.cynopsis.com/monday-january-14th-2008-3/
- Davis, Michael (15 April 2007). "Ni Hao, Kai-lan! – China – Animation – TV". The New York Times.
- https://www.awn.com/animationworld/ni-hao-kai-lan-tigers-and-dragons-and-mandarin-lessons
- https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/07/arts/television/07hale.html
- Strike, Joe (2007-12-04). "Ni Hao, Kai-lan: Tigers and Dragons and Mandarin Lessons". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2009-06-27.
- Liu, Ed (2008-01-21). "Toon Zone Interviews Nick SVP Teri Weiss About "Ni Hao, Kai-lan"". Toon Zone. Archived from the original on 2008-04-20.
- "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan – Super Special Days". Amazon.com. August 12, 2008.
- "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan – Celebrate with Kai-Lan". Amazon.com. January 6, 2009.
- "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan – Kai-Lan's Great Trip to China". Amazon.com. July 14, 2009.
- "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan – Kai-Lan's Carnival". Amazon.com. October 6, 2009.
- "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan – Princess Kai-Lan". Amazon.com. October 5, 2010.
- Crump, William D. (April 4, 2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. ISBN 9781476672939. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- Liu, Jonathan (February 6, 2010). "Have a Super Game Day with Kai-Lan". WIRED. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- Healy, Christopher (June 19, 2019). "Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: New Year's Celebration". Common Sense Media. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
External links
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Wikiquote has quotations related to: Ni Hao, Kai-Lan |
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan at TV.com
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan at IMDb
- Official Website on nickjr.com (archived on April 30, 2015)
