Presentation of the Innovators TV show: the adventures of Phil and his sister Nana together with Neo, a visitor from outer space, and Tesla, a hamster. The group travels between time periods and locations with the goal of checking out historical scientific facts and legends. In each show, they discover new ideas and come up with new inventions.
Each of the inventions that is part of the show’s theme is absolutely real.
2. General Information
Animation: 2D (hand-drawn)
Episode length: 6.5 minutes
Season 1 episodes: 19
(status: DVD release)
Season 2 episodes: 24
(status: TV release)
Season 3 episodes: 26
(status: in production through
2015)
Releases of DVDs through June
2014: 5 releases
Audience: children 6-12 years old,
core audience is 6-8 years old,
family
Genres: entertainment, fantasy,
comedy, edutainment
3. Scientific basis
The invention that
appears in the
show really exists
or used to exist.
Most of the facts
and historical
figures (scientists,
innovators, writers)
actually had a
place in the history
of innovation.
4. Characters (main)
Phil (12 year old boy)
Nana (11, Phil’s sister)
(in English version, Lana)
Neo (10 as human,
140 as alien age)
Tesla, hamster
(6 monts)
6. PHIL
PHIL — An inventor with a deep
knowledge of technical and
mechanical matters. Phil has a
mathematician’s mind and can
master all sorts of contraptions.
His love of fantasy fiction helps
him leap over conventional
approaches.
He is confident, unhesitant and
brave ― sometimes when it
wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.
This trait of course gets him into
some problems, which he and
his friends then figure out.
8. NANA
NANA — Phil’s sister. Nana has a very
creative nature and a good
imagination.
She knows history and loves it. Nana
is very bright and quick-witted, and she
takes part in Phil and Neo’s
adventures.
She even argues with them about their
plans ― after all, the boys aren’t very
organized. Other than her sharp
tongue, Nana is a very good-natured
girl.
10. TESLA
TESLA — The hamster. Like all pets,
he loves attention and care. Without
those he becomes touchy and
annoying. He also loves to eat: He can
eat lots and lots and lots. He can eat
everything, practically.
Teslik is completely frazzled and wired,
which fairly often causes him to get
involved in the story and the
happenings and makes it necessary
for someone to pull him out.
Sometimes Tesla takes on the role of
“laboratory hamster” and helps Phil
with experiments.
12. NEO
NEO (his nickname) — The alien. On
his own planet, he worked with
construction, and as a result, his ideas
are very progressive. Neo is a fan of
scientific research and new
discoveries. He is calm, sensible and
cautious.
To better understand life on Earth, he
uses a special apparatus that he
carries around in his hand. The device
contains a collection of human
knowledge. Nonetheless, this wonder
machine doesn’t help Neo with his
command of the subtleties of the
Russian language. Nana helps with
that.
14. Season 1 and 2
Season 1-2: Timeless Ideas
The adventures of Phil and his sister Nana together with Neo, a
visitor from outer space, and Tesla, a hamster. The group travels
between time periods and locations with the goal of checking out
historical scientific facts and legends. In each show, they discover
new ideas and come up with new inventions.
Each of the inventions that is part of the show’s theme is
absolutely real.
15. A Teachable Idea
“The Innovators” TV show gives
children models for developing
creative, innovative thinking.
The main characters’ travels to
historically significant times and
places reveal facts from history
and science.
In any episode, the innovation
proposed by the main
characters is an existing model,
a form of technology or a
scientific discovery.
16. Seasons 1 & 2: Synopsis
One day, in the attic where Phil, his sister Nana and their hamster
Tesla spend time after school, a UFO crashes into the wall. The
UFO turns out to contain a friendly alien from outer space, Neo.
The group tries to help repair the flying saucer, rounding up
mechanical spare parts from a junkyard. The saucer can’t be fixed,
but from an old refrigerator Neo creates... a time machine.
Naturally, the group begins to time-travel, landing in various
adventures and sticky situations. To extricate themselves from
these situations, they have to invent something new, helped by
their knowledge of science and history ― and by their creative
thinking.
Each time the Innovators find a solution, help each other, make
new friends and return home successfully to the roof of their attic.
17. Innovations in shows from Seasons 1-2
A dirigible capable of landing back on the
ground,
a miniature hydroelectric station,
the toothbrush, masks that protect against
cold temperatures and smoke,
tidal hydroelectric stations, a miniature power
station,
the principles behind the fire extinguisher, a
moveable lantern, wax models, canola oil,
underwater motorcycle, an electric bicycle,
colored signal flares,
the oil pumping unit, absorbent powder, a
high-speed water scooter,
aerial photography, radio signal technology for
water rescues, exoskeleton,
3-dimensional printer, a device that transforms
sounds into colored signals,
and other innovations.
18. Season 2
The show provides an education in history and in the process of
inventing along with engaging adventures.
In Season 2, the adventures continue: The main characters travel
in Europe and the Americas, as well as end up in ancient and
legendary worlds and meet remarkable figures: Hercules, Leonardo
da Vinci and Henry VII.
LOCATION and time
From the Paleozoic Era and the Stone Age to the Middle Ages and
modern day.
From Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa; the ancient worlds of
Egypt, Greece, Rome and Russia; the jungle and the sea, glaciers
and mountains. Every episode involves a new historical period and
fact.
19. Sample Episodes from Season 1
Treasure in a Misty Bottle
After a trip to the Ice Age, the alien Neo has caught a cold. Phil and Nana decide
to head to a hotter place, Ancient Egypt, to warm up Neo. During his treatment,
pagan priests show up at the pyramids. The Innovators need to hide themselves
and end up in the African heat without water. Thanks to a knowledge of science,
Phil finds a solution, and the characters return home with a new idea for an
invention. (The main idea of the episode is the water machine, which transforms
atmospheric gases into water.)
Following the Ghost with the Light
To find out whether ghosts exist, the Innovators go to 19-century England. The
atmosphere at an abandoned castle is definitely mysterious: Swirling shadows,
sighs, creaks from rusty door hinges. When the group finds itself locked in a
secret room in the castle in the pitch dark, it really gets scary.... But the friends
keep their heads, pick up a new idea and find their way out of the trap without
problem. They still have to unlock the secret, however. (The main idea of the
episode is the “eternal” light. While its owner is alive, the light will shine: A person
simply has to use his hand to push on a lever. It transfers energy to a flywheel
and then charges a battery. Because of the flywheel and battery, the light glows
like a typical battery-powered flashlight.)
20. Sample Episodes from Season 2
A Clean Case
Neo turns up with an American catfish, but it’s too big for the aquarium. The
characters decide to visit the American continent during an earlier epoch in order
to release the fish into clean water in the untouched wilderness of North America,
but their intentions are overturned. After landing, they realize that the settling of
the new continent is in full swing. The forests have been cut down, and there are
oil spills in the Great Lakes. Using their knowledge and inventiveness, the
Innovators help the Native Americans clean the land and water of pollution, make
new friends and, in any case, release their fish into its clean, native waters. (The
main topic is inventions that help remove oil spills from bodies of water. Those
inventions were thought up by a company that manufactures parts for surfboards
from polyurethane scraps.)
A Wake-Up Call for Rome
Trying to wake the hamster, the Innovators think up a new invention: Merging the
concept of a ringing alarm clock and an motor, they come up with a clever “out of
control” device. To turn it off, you first need to grapple with it as it quacks, grunts
and becomes very loud. In pursuit of a jumping alarm clock, the group lands in
Ancient Rome, where crazy sounds woke up the guards at the edge of the city
and... saved a sleeping Rome from an unexpected invasion by the Gauls. (The
main idea is the invention of the runaway alarm clock that stops ringing only after
you fight with it.)
22. Licensing Program
The core values of the brand form the basis of the licensing
program.
“The Innovators” is a brand associated with the creative potential
that we and our children possess. It is a dynamic process, an ability
to reason creatively, to invent and to display one’s wit.
There are many elements in the design associated with the themes
of the show: science, travel, creative works. The design is vivid,
striking and colorful.
Today the licensing agent in Russia also is Disney.
25. Season 3
Season 3 is in production.
Theme
The show’s central idea is to put into context the great inventions,
discoveries and experiences that have created the world we live in
today. The “villain” Morok step by step is destroying inventions and
blocking the discoveries and ideas thanks to which civilization
exists, from the wheel to the Internet. His goal is an alternate reality
― a regression.
“The Innovators” Season 3 consists of new adventures with the
characters from the show, who now will need to save modern
civilization from the threat of degradation, using their knowledge,
bravery and wits.
The theme of Season 3 is *the role of innovations in civilization’s
development* and an understanding of the importance of those
innovations.
26. A Teachable Idea of Season 3
Each show in this season presents some of the greatest inventions
that have changed our world. In almost every show, we meet a new
figure: Louis Pasteur, Edison, Mendeleev, the Lumiere brothers,
those who invented glass, the wheel and even jeans. We will air
historically reliable dates and original facts from the history of
discovery.
Neanderthal-shaman Morok, who happened to turn up in our own
time period, has stolen from Neo, the alien, the greatest
achievement: an apparatus that can change objects and spaces.
Since Morok is convinced that civilization is the work of
descendents of his Cro-Magnon enemies, he decides to destroy
everything that civilization has created. Seeing it as a society
formed by progress, he puts himself at the moments when major
discoveries occurred and neutralizes them .
27. LOCATION and Time
As in the previous seasons of the show, all continents and
countries, from the Ice Age to our day. Seasons 1-2 of “The
Innovators” are the adventures of the grade school student Phil, his
sister Nana, the alien Neo and the hamster Tesla, who travel in
time and space to create and/or experience inventions or to find out
the history of how they came to be. Season 3 (according to the
producer’s decision) is a *restart of the project.* The adventure-fantasy
format is being taken out in order to target an older
audience, which is done with a view to further development.
Character Design
In Season 3 the design of the main characters is modified, making
them a better match for the show’s target audience and giving them
big licensing potential.
30. Sample Episodes From Season 3
Glass
Neo still doesn’t know that their incredible device has been seized
by the shaman, but Phil and Nana hope to secretly figure out the
shaman and get back the stolen apparatus. The prologue to the trip
is the making of the machine’s windows using glass that they
invented themselves. The Egyptians mistake the characters for the
Egyptian gods Amon, Osiris and Isis, while mistaking the little
hamster, which got itself wrapped in a pastry, for their sacred
beetle. The Egyptians are afraid of them, but the greater danger is
nearer than they think. The shaman Morok already has mastered
his time travel and announces his treacherous plans. Neo finds out
about the disappearance of the device but stays loyal to his friends.
Now their work has increased threefold: They need to find the
apparatus, return the shaman to the Stone Age and save
civilization.
31. Sample Episodes From Season 3
Mendeleev
One find morning Phil finds that the hamster’s bowl is no longer
plastic. What’s more, they find out there aren’t any medicines or
synthetics and their school isn’t teaching chemistry. An
investigation leads them to the great scientist Mendeleev, who
would have created the Periodic Table except... someone has
altered history. Now the Innovators must come up with a way to
return everything to its proper place, lead Mendeleev to his idea for
the table of chemical elements, save his years of research and as a
result neutralize the shaman, who is becoming more and more
dangerous.