The Future Is Wild is a CGI-animated adventure television series based on the Canadian 2002 joint Animal Planet/ORF (Austria) and ZDF (Germany) co-production The Future Is Wild. The series was produced by Nelvana, IVL Animation and ST Electronics Pte Ltd. for Teletoon, in association with Discovery Kids. Brett Jubinville designed the characters and creatures for the series. The show follows four teenagers (CG, Luis, Emily and Ethan) who study the future of the Earth to find a new habitat for humanity, while learning about the futuristic creatures who inhabit it. The show ran for one season with 26 episodes. It features creatures speculated about in the original version of The Future Is Wild, albeit with highly fictionalized elements.
Premise In the 131st century (10,000 years in the future), humanity is threatened by a mega ice age. Cassiopeia G. (nicknamed C.G. or "Ceeg" by her friends) is sent on a time machine called the "Timeflyer" to find a new habitat for humanity. While in the Northern Forest, a creature known as a "Squibbon" has stowed away on the Timeflyer, accidentally transporting C.G. to the 21st Century. Once there, C.G. is greeted by three teenage friends: Ethan, Emily, and Luis. The three then accompany her on her mission of exploring different eras of the future while encountering their strange populace of evolved animals.
Reception The show has garnered strong ratings on both the American and Canadian partners of Discovery Kids, leading to worldwide distributions, including the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, Hungary, Poland, Ukraine and the Middle East. Episodes are also available on certain airlines and online. In 2008, it was nominated for an Artios award for 'Outstanding Achievement In Casting', and Marc Donato was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance In A Voice-Over role. In 2009, Mike Fallows was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Direction In a Children's Series. In 2009, Steve Sullivan was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Writing In a Children's Series for his work on the show. The show was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Best Sound in a children's series.
Characters Cassiopeia G. (voiced by Ashley Peters), nicknamed CG, is the Time Flyer's captain and originates from 10,000 AD. She is often cautious and robotic in nature, but as she spends more time with Emily, Luis, and Ethan, she becomes more open and expressive. Ethan Bolato (voiced by Marc Donato) is adventurous and daring, he is willing to do most of the more dangerous tasks that the crew's mission provides, taking them as a challenge. Ethan often cracks bad jokes and teases Luis of his overly-cautious attitude. Emily Lonartae (voiced by Miranda Jones) is a motherly animal lover who tries to see the best qualities in both animals and people. She takes care of Squibbon and they both adore each other. Luis Calabasas (voiced by Taylor Abrahamse) is arguably the smartest in the crew and prefers to stay in the ship to avoid the future's hostile environments and dangerous creatures. He often freaks out and is slightly obsessive over hygiene and germs. Squibbon (voiced by Richard Binsley) is an evolved squid that stowed away on the TimeFlyer on CG's first mission. His inner monologue refers to the others as his "hairy heads" and he often communicates with the other evolved creatures. CG's father (voiced by Cedric Smith) informs C.G. of what the crew's mission objectives are in each environment. He does not approve of C.G. bringing Ethan, Emily, and Luis along, often calling them "primitives".
Episodes All episodes were directed by Mike Fallows.
Broadcast The series aired on Discovery Kids and premiered in the United States on October 13, 2007. The final episode aired on July 5, 2008. After the series ended, reruns continued to air on The Hub until June 24, 2012. In Canada, the show first aired on Teletoon on June 28, 2010; In October 2016, Teletoon still aired the show on weekdays at 10:30pm EST, but they eventually took the show off the channel's schedule. The show hasn't been seen on Canadian television since then. The series was formerly available to stream on Tubi and Amazon Prime, however, this is no longer the case. As of this moment, the show is no longer available for legal streaming.
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References
External links The Future is Wild at IMDb