VANCOUVER — Thunderbird Entertainment Group’s kids and family division, Atomic Cartoons, announced Wednesday its animated series Molly of Denali is the 2020 Peabody Award winner in the children’s and youth category.
Co-produced by WGBH Boston and Atomic Cartoons for PBS Kids and CBC Kids, Molly of Denali follows the adventures of a young Indigenous girl, who has cultural heritage from three Athabascan groups, as she helps her parents run the Denali Trading Post in interior Alaska.
Since its premiere in 2019, Molly of Denali has been recognized as the first nationally distributed children’s series in the United States to feature an Indigenous lead character. More than 60 Alaska Native actors, writers, advisors, producers and musicians are involved across the production.
The Peabody Awards, often compared to the Pulitzer prize for literature, honour the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and digital media each year. Sixty nominees were announced earlier this year from approximately 1,300 entries across news, entertainment, documentary, children’s, public service and web/interactive programming. Molly of Denali is one of just 30 productions chosen to receive a Peabody Award for 2019.
“We are deeply honoured to be included amongst such a high calibre of award recipients, all of whom are telling stories that celebrate and champion diversity. Nothing is more important at this time, and I could not be prouder of everyone involved in the creation and production of Molly of Denali,” said Jennifer Twiner McCarron, CEO of Thunderbird, in the news release.
In Canada, Molly of Denali airs Wednesday and Saturday mornings on CBC and is also available on the free CBC Gem streaming service. In the United States, the series airs on PBS Kids and is also available on the PBS Kids Video App.
