“DOGS WOW DOGS,” DVD FOR FAMILIES WITH KIDS AND DOGS

The first in a series of DVDs from Animal Wow Entertainment, Inc. Offers brilliant family entertainment with its breakthrough approach to pet care education for kids

Studio City, CA - Modern American society is changing quickly. Even our values face pressure to adapt. But one top priority is held near and dear: the quality care and treatment of children and pets. You only have to look at the recent disaster of Hurricane Katrina to know it to be true. So when a DVD like Animal Wow’s Dogs Wow Dogs is introduced to the market with its positive and playful approach, how can you go wrong?

This award-winning DVD celebrates the importance of the natural connection between children and pets. Kids learn how to be safe and successful with the family dog and neighborhood animals. The show features two thirty-minute episodes plus DVD bonus extras, and covers an impressive range of topics, including safety, feeding, grooming, tricks, obedience, health, helping, games, breeds and mutts, empathy, love, caring and responsibility, and bringing home a new family dog.

Plus, the show is brilliant family entertainment. The whole family can enjoy the whimsical settings, such as a 50’s diner to learn about feeding a dog, or a flying bathtub to discover that both pets and kids need to be clean. Even adults love the dozen catchy songs, comedy, and innovative visual style that combines animation and special effects with puppet hosts and their human sidekicks, like Super Vet, a flying veterinarian who guides the show’s many safety tips.

Animal Wow’s creator and producer, Larry Kay, invested more than two years in research and development, bringing together experts in early childhood education, animal behavior and training, and an award-winning creative team in children’s media. Kay states, “Animal Wow inspires good values and life skills in children by turning pets into best friends. Since more than three out of every four families with children have at least one pet, high quality pet care education can make a big impact on a family’s happiness and well-being. But for kids to really want to learn, it has to be fun -- really, really fun.”

Kay is no stranger to the world of children’s media. “I have had the honor of writing for Mickey Mouse and Kermit the Frog -- alter egos for two of my heroes, Walt Disney and Jim Henson,” says Kay. His work has been described as soulful, playful, respectful, kind and visionary. Kay was the original writer and co-designer of the Freddi Fish computer game series, which won more than 75 awards and sold over 2.5 million CDROMs worldwide in a dozen languages. His credits include TV writing for The Pink Panther and computer game design for The Muppets.

Kay is also a veteran children’s media producer and strategist. At Disney he was Senior Product Manager and Senior Producer for the company’s award-winning kids and education programming via the GO.com Internet portal. He also represented the company in industry, community and government forums, and consulted on interactive games for Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, 101 Dalmatians and Toy Story 2.

While viewing Dogs Wow Dogs, its positive direction immediately takes hold. The main characters -- two endearing puppets named Stately (a mutt) and Remix (an alley cat) -- are best friends, which is also the title of one of a dozen delightful original songs written by Kay and veteran children’s music composer, Jimmy Hammer. “Best Friends” is a wonderfully catchy tune that is impossible to get out of your head. The show’s motto is that a child and pet are, in fact, best friends.

Dogs Wow Dogs is picking up testimonials and endorsements faster than a pooch chasing a squirrel. Dr. Gail F. Melson (Professor of Child Development at Purdue University, leading scholar on the positive effects of pets on children and author of the book, Why the Wild Things Are: Animals in the Lives of Children, Harvard University Press) says, "I’m happy to endorse this fine program for preschoolers. This show gently and jauntily communicates messages of appropriate animal care, kindness to others, and happiness in having and being a ‘best friend.’ The mix…is in the fine tradition of shows like Mr. Rogers." In December 2005, Animal Wow was awarded Pet Product News’ 2005-2006 Editors’ Choice Award. And Emmy-nominated and noted children’s TV writer Carolyn Miller states, “I was delighted by its warm-heartedness, good values, and sense of fun.”

But at the end of the day, as business leaders like to muse, will the dog eat the dog food? Well, after a screening of Dogs Wow Dogs, you would be hard pressed to find a parent or child who isn’t delighted by this breakthrough show’s wholesome family entertainment combined with accurate education and message. In Kay’s words, “When a parent and child can authentically enjoy Animal Wow together, that strengthens the family bond. My personal mission is to inspire a world at play, where children become leaders so vibrantly expressed that they call forth the child within all of us.” By the looks of things, both he and Animal Wow are well on their way to making that dream come true.

Larry Kay
President and Founder of Animal Wow Entertainment, Inc.
Creator and Producer, Dogs Wow Dogs DVD

When you look at the lives of most successful individuals, you see definite patterns. The example usually starts early in life with inspiration. Later in life, if they follow their bliss with determination, then magic can happen. Larry Kay is no exception. As creator and producer of Dogs Wow Dogs, the new award winning children’s DVD by Animal Wow Entertainment, Kay creates magic by blending his love of pets with his creative talent for giving children and parents memorable shared experiences.

“When I was three years old, I would make up characters and stories for friends, family, anyone who would listen.” That childlike innocence has stayed with him ever since. As a kid and teenager, he made little stop-action animated vignettes on the family’s 8mm movie camera, and short films with his Boy Scout troop where he was an Eagle Scout and nationally-honored young leader.

Many years later, Kay returned to children’s media. “Actually, I resisted at first. My career was already going well.” He taught at NYU’s film/TV school and became Executive Producer of a short film showcase series for WNYC-TV/PBS – not a bad start for a rookie in New York City who had just earned a Master’s Degree at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications, where he was an award-winning student filmmaker. Kay wrote, produced, and directed documentaries and educational films for PBS and the New York City Board of Education. When the feature film bug bit him, he became Assistant Music Supervisor on True Love, which won the Grand Prize at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival (beating out Sex, lies, and videotape), plus Music Coordinator on the film’s soundtrack album that produced two Billboard hits.

During those years, Kay would create kids’ stories and characters. Most of those creations would just be shared with friends and their kids. “Creating for kids was fun and natural for me. I didn’t take it seriously. But fortunately, my friends sometimes know me better than I know myself. They insisted that I try writing for kids professionally.”

As soon as Kay followed his friends’ advice he got noticed. He was accepted into Hanna-Barbera’s Animation Writing Program, then wrote cartoons for The Pink Panther. In under two years Kay was lead writer on the Muppet Treasure Island CDROM, and became an in-demand creator and writer represented by the William Morris Agency. One of his first projects was as the original writer and co-designer of the Freddi Fish CDROM series that won some 75 awards and sold 2.5 million copies in a dozen languages.

When Disney called, Kay answered. He consulted on interactive games for Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, 101 Dalmatians, and Toy Story 2. When the internet boom hit, Disney tapped him to be Senior Product Manager and Senior Producer for the company’s award-winning kids and education programming on the GO.com web portal. He also became a Disney spokesperson at industry, community, and government forums.

Then a few years ago, Kay got the spark for Animal Wow. “My golden retriever, Higgins, inspired me to learn all about pets. I was already having a great time in kids’ media. So why not combine the two?” He studied the market and learned that the pet industry was growing rapidly. For more than two years, Kay developed creative materials and business plans, invested his own funds, brought on team members and investors, and then produced Animal Wow’s first DVD, Dogs Wow Dogs.

“Through Animal Wow,” Kay said, “I have the privilege of expressing my true creative voice.” And a fine voice it is. On Dogs Wow Dogs, Kay is the creator, writer, and co-songwriter of a dozen original songs. This highly innovative show has already earned testimonials and endorsements from notable early childhood educators and from across the pet industry, including a 2005-06 Editors’ Choice Award from Pet Product News. Plus, a few select strategic partnerships are already in the works.

“Part of my mission with Animal Wow is to give kids and parents an entertaining show that inspires good values and good works. When we do good work together, we become more closely connected in healthy ways.” After one views Dogs Wow Dogs with kids and adults together, and then observes their delighted reactions, one would have to agree that this authentic, original voice in children’s media has arrived.

Dogs Wow Dogs is the first in a series of DVDs by Animal Wow Entertainment, Inc., that brings children a playful and positive message about responsible pet ownership. Dogs Wow Dogs is now available nationwide at a growing roster of independent and regional pet stores. It can also be ordered by calling 1-866-603-7969 or by visiting www.animalwow.com. The DVD costs $19.95 plus tax, and can be shipped to any address in the United States for an additional shipping cost.