Ni Hao, Kai-Lan

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan
Genre Children's fantasy
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
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
Chinese
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Mary Harrington
Producer(s) Sascha Paladino
Supervising Producers:
David Marshall
Jeff DeGrandis
Running time 24 minutes
Production company(s) Harringtoons Productions
Nickelodeon Animation Studios
Release
Original network Nick Jr.
Original release November 5, 2007 (2007-11-05) – November 4, 2011 (2011-11-04)
External links
Website

Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (simplified Chinese: 你好, 凯兰; traditional Chinese: 你好，凱蘭; pinyin: Nǐ hǎo, Kǎi Lán!; Hello, Kai-Lan) is an American animated (anime-influenced[1]) interactive children's television series that premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States on November 5, 2007. It also premiered on the Canadian television channel Treehouse TV.

Ni Hao, Kai-lan is based on the childhood memories of the show's creator Karen Chau growing up in a bicultural (Chinese-American) household. "Ni hao" means "Hello" in Mandarin, and Kai-Lan is the Chinese name Chau was given at birth, which was later anglicized to Karen. It was also based on the classic short series Downward Doghouse.

Premise

In the Season 1 finale, it is stated that they all live in California. 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 generally feature breaking the fourth wall, 11 minutes of interactivity,[2] a target word that is repeated multiple times,[3] a few words of Mandarin Chinese vocabulary, one or more of Kai-lan's friends having a negative emotional response to some action or activity (problem), Kai-lan thinking out loud (observation), cause-and-effect problem solving, 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!"

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
120November 5, 2007 (2007-11-05)November 4, 2008 (2008-11-04)
220February 2, 2009 (2009-02-02)October 8, 2010 (2010-10-08)

Major characters

Kai-Lan

Kai-Lan is the host and main character, a playful and adventurous young girl with a big heart. She speaks both English and Mandarin Chinese, and she is eager to share her language, her culture, and her playtime with her animal friends and the viewers at home. Kai-Lan is a natural leader but she is also thoughtful and caring with a gift for helping her friends when they really need her. Her favorite animal is a dinosaur and in her music group, she plays her tambourine.

Kai-Lan is voiced by Jade Lianna Peters.

Ye-Ye

Ye-Ye (simplified Chinese: 爷爷; traditional Chinese: 爺爺; pinyin: yéye, "paternal grandfather") is Kai-lan's grandfather and legal guardian. He was born in Hong Kong and lovingly passes on his exciting traditions to his granddaughter. He provides Kai-lan with gentle guidance, leading her to find her own answers, at her own pace. (Kai-lan's parents and other grandparents are not known.) He can play the tuba. He also enjoys picking apples and making dumplings for Kai-lan and all her animal friends.

Ye-Ye is voiced by Clem Cheung and Ben Wang.

Rintoo

Rintoo is a rambunctious yellow-and-black young tiger with a lisp who often acts before he thinks. He likes to play rough but when it comes to his friends, he is always willing to compromise. He is an avid fan of dragons and racing racecars. Even though he is with Hoho most of the time, his actual best friend is Tolee besides Kai-Lan. He plays the xylophone in Kai-Lan's music group.

Rintoo is voiced by Jack Samson.

Tolee

Tolee is a gray koala who loves pandas and fruit (especially apples, bananas, and pineapples). He is intelligent and always thinks before he acts and sometimes worries too much, but he never lets that stop him from having a great time with his friends. Kai-Lan and her friends can always rely on him for good ideas. Tolee also has a stuffed panda he affectionately named Pandy, and Tolee loves Pandy so much he cannot imagine being without him. He is the vocalist in Kai-Lan's music group.

Tolee is voiced by Khamani Griffin.

Hoho

Hoho the white monkey is the youngest of Kai-lan's friends, so when he participates in activities, he often goes first. He is full of energy and enjoys being the center of attention. Whenever he jumps a spring sound can be heard. He can often be found jumping on his friends' heads or playing his turntables as the DJ in Kai-Lan's music group. Aside from his turntables and his friends, Hoho likes bananas.

Hoho is voiced by Angie Wu.

Lulu

Lulu is a pink rhinoceros. She has a red balloon tied around her horn that helps her fly in the sky. Lulu is very energetic and sweet. Lulu's home is a castle in the sky. She is best friends with Kai-Lan. Her instrument is the piano. Her favorite fruit is the lychee. Some of Lulu's favorite games include dancing, playing house, having tea parties, and wearing a fairy outfit.

Lulu is voiced by Beverly Duan.

Mr. Sun

At the start of almost every episode, Kai-Lan wakes up Mr. Sun so she can start her day. With the help of the viewer, Mr. Sun rises and showers down smiling sun fuzzies to Kai-Lan and she gets tickled by them. He also knows how to play the French horn, so Kai-Lan and the ladybugs (playing the pi-pa) join him as a little music group at the beginning of Tolee's Rhyme Time and later joins Kai-Lan and her friends in the music show.

The Ants

In one corner of Kai-Lan's backyard is a teeming mini-metropolis of ants called Ant City. The ants serve very important roles in the community: they deliver mail, they build things, and they love to play with Kai-Lan and her friends. 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 is an owl who made his first appearance in "The Dragonboat Festival." He delivers letters and only speaks in hoots.
    Voiced by Khamani Griffin
  • Mr. Fluffy is a hamster. He is a baker at his own bakery who first appears in "Everybody's Hat Parade." He bakes cakes. Mr. Fluffy is currently voiced by Elan Garfias.
  • Mei Mei is a shy, innocent light blue polar bear. She is voiced by Laura Marano.
  • San- San is voiced by Zachary Gordon.
  • Stompy the Elephant is a big, playful blue elephant who made his first appearance in "Safari Pals." Nothing makes Stompy happier than being able to play with his friends. He is also known by some as Spouty or Trunky because of his long trunk.
    Stompy is voiced by Hsiang Lo.
  • Hula ducks who do not speak but dance and quack are in episodes sometimes.
  • An unnamed bat makes a few appearances as an audience member or a background character. He is believed to live in a bathroom.
  • GuNaiNai is Kai-Lan's Great Aunt and YeYe's sister. She appears in "Kai-Lan's Trip to China."
    GuNaiNai is voiced by Ming-Na Wen.
  • Xiao Xi Gua ("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.
  • The Scotland Rabbits playing tunes on his bagpipes.
  • Mr. Hoppy is a green frog who speaks in ribbits. In Kai-Lan's carnival, he has darker eyes, shown without a bowtie, talks completely and owns a game booth called "Mister Hoppy's Hop-and-Splash" where the player has to throw a ball to sink a lilypad.
  • The Monkey King is an incredible superhero who asked Kai-Lan and her friends for help in a magical kingdom where the foxes and the bears never talk to each other. He appears in "Princess Kai-Lan." He then reappeared in the 1 hour season 3 premiere in "Journey to Monkey King Castle."
    Voiced by Jack Cygan.
  • The Fox King is a fox in The Fox Kingdom. He creates magic bamboo forests to keep the bears away. He usually gets mad, and he could not get his sleep and talk to his friends, because of the dancing bears. The Fox King is voiced by James Siang'a.
  • The Foxes are red foxes that live in The Fox Kingdom. They sing loudly to annoy the Bear Queen. The Fox King's Guards wear Chinese Men's Hats and wear green.
  • The Bear Queen is a bear in The Bear Kingdom. She creates a moat to keep the foxes away. She is usually mad, and she could not get her sleep and talk to her friends, because of the singing foxes. The Bear Queen is voiced by Lucy Liu.
  • The Bears are brown bears that live in The Bear Kingdom. They dance to make the ground shake, and they anger the Fox King. The Bear Queen's guards wear knights' helmets and wear purple suited armor.

Cast

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
2010 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Special Class Animated Program Sascha Paladino, Mary Harrington, Jeff DeGrandis and Andrew Huebner Nominated

References

  1. ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/arts/television/15davi.html
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ 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.
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