Spirit Rangers: Karissa Valencia and Joey Clift on Bringing Native Traditions to Life for a Younger Generation
Through its striking visuals, lovable characters, and team of nearly a hundred Native creatives, the Peabody Award-nominated animated children’s series Spirit Rangers shows it’s possible to create kids’ TV that’s as disruptive as it is entertaining.
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Show Notes
This episode, we’re talking about the Peabody Award-nominated animated children’s series Spirit Rangers, a superhero show about Native siblings who use their powers to protect the national park they call home. Showrunner and creator Karissa Valencia joins us to discuss how the show’s team came together and became the first U.S. preschool show that features an all-Native writers' room. Through this process, they created an authentically Native series that helps kids of all backgrounds connect to nature. Host Gabe Gonzalez then speaks with comedian and Spirit Rangers writer Joey Clift about the way their writers’ room and crew allowed them to tackle complex subjects that had never before been told in children’s animation.