Brothers Martin and Chris Kratt pose with a Two-Toed Sloth. For three decades, the two have talked about animals, including on the TV shows Kratts’ Creatures, Zoboomafoo and Be the Creature. NICK SHAWSupplied
Martin and Chris Kratt, the Ottawa-based brothers behind the hybrid live-action/animated animal adventure TV hit Wild Kratts, have been “creature adventuring” for 30 years now in a string of popular educational series aimed at kids.
But somehow the two men, now in their 50s, are still as excited about animals as when they were boys looking for box turtles in their backyard in New Jersey – and they still express that excitement with all the boisterous energy of little kids who have broken into the juice boxes.
“We gotta do an episode about luna moths!” exclaims Martin during a Zoom interview ahead of an Ontario tour of the live Wild Kratts stage show based on the TVO and Knowledge Network series (which also streams in Canada on Netflix).
“I found a luna moth the other day, did a little research, and found out they only live in moth form for seven days!”
Sitting next to him, Chris, the younger by three and a half years, is only slightly less animated as the two go back and forth about all the animals they have and haven’t yet made TV about.
Eventually, they break out into one of those joint brotherly cackles of glee that they frequently share on their shows.
“We’re the guys you see on TV,” Chris says, unapologetically. “When we start talking about animals, we’re excited about it.”
Over the past three decades, the two have talked about animals on Kratts’ Creatures (1996), Zoboomafoo (1999-2001) and Be the Creature (2003-2007).
Now in its seventh season, Wild Kratts, which premiered in 2011, is the longest-running of their shows; it averaged 35 million streams a month on PBS Kids in the United States last year. Ontario’s TVO and BC’s Knowledge Network say the show – which has been seen in more than 210 countries and translated it into 44 languages – is popular on their channels and apps too, but declined to provide specific numbers.
The brothers use their live stage shows to share intergenerational stories with families off the screen. NICK SHAWSupplied
Growing up in the United States, Martin and Chris Kratt were raised on a steady diet of National Geographic specials and the original run of Wild Kingdom. Coming of age alongside home recording technology, the animal enthusiasts naturally started making their own nature documentaries – edited by attaching a camcorder to a VCR – as they pursued studies in zoology (Martin) and biology (Chris), accompanying professors on research trips to biodiversity hot spots such as Costa Rica and Madagascar.
Eventually, the Kratts had their lightbulb moment when they noticed there was a market for nature documentary not being served by the restrained likes of David Attenborough.
“We realized nobody’s ever made a show just for kids – and that’s the group of people who are most interested in animals,” Martin recalls.
In 1994, the Kratts sold the idea for Kratts’ Creatures – which would marry their untamd personalities with footage of animals – to Maryland Public Television, but were surprised when the public broadcaster was so into the idea it wanted 50 episodes.
A search for international co-producers to finance that order led the two to Canada, with their first show eventually being co-produced by Toronto’s (now defunct) Paragon Entertainment and airing on PBS and TVO.
Next came Zoboomafoo and We the Creature; the Kratts moved to Montreal from Toronto to make them with shifting Canadian co-producers. Then in 2008, the brothers – who had Canadian citizenship at that point – relocated with their young families to Ottawa. They started their own studio in Kanata to tap into local animation talent and produce Wild Kratts.
It allowed the Kratts to spend less time on location: Each episode begins with a live-action sequence where the brothers meet an animal and highlight one of its unique abilities, but then the animated superhero-lite meat of the show kicks off, featuring younger versions of the Kratts using imaginary technology to tap into these “creature powers” themselves to (gently) battle bad guys who are out to exploit animals.
Wild Kratts was introduced to my son by another boy over the summer, but, for an increasing number of viewers, the Kratts are being passed down by a parent raised on Kratts’ Creatures or Zoboomafoo.
The live stage shows are a chance for families to share their intergenerational stories with the brothers off the screen.
“What we’re really happy about is that this whole idea of creature adventuring has become a family activity,” Chris says. He didn’t have to tell to me that: My wife and I have been led off the couch by my Wild Kratts-wild five-year-old to “creature adventure” in Toronto ravines almost every weekend.
Wild Kratts Live! 2.0 – Activate Creature Powers is in Brantford, London, Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario this week – with extra shows added. Visit wildkratts.com for ticket information.