''WonderWorks'' is an

anthology series An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a di ...

which ran from 1984 to 1992. Produced by the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educa ...

, the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October 1 ...

purchased the home video rights to the series in 1987 and was responsible for making the series available to the public on VHS and later DVD in addition to airing some of the programs on the Disney Channel. The series consisted of short,

made-for-television films A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

out of acclaimed

children's books A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younge ...

. They included adaptations of ''

Anne of Green Gables ''Anne of Green Gables'' is a 1908 novel by Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery (published as L. M. Montgomery). Written for all ages, it has been considered a classic children's novel since the mid-20th century. Set in the late 19th century, t ...

'', '' Bridge to Terabithia'', '' All Summer in a Day'', '' Jacob Have I Loved'', '' The Box of Delights'', ''

The Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, te ...

'' series, '' Miracle at Moreaux'', '' The Hoboken Chicken Emergency'' (starring Peter Billingsley), ''Odile & Yvette at the Edge of the World'' (scored by

Blake Leyh Blake Leyh (born in Syracuse, New York in 1962) is a composer, sound designer, and music supervisor. Leyh's prominent credits include music supervising HBO's television show ''The Wire'', most notably the end theme called "The Fall" written by Ley ...

), '' How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!'' (by Stephen Manes), ''Gryphon'' (produced by Manuel Arce and Carl Haber, starring

Amanda Plummer Amanda Michael Plummer (born March 23, 1957) is an American actress. She is known for her work on stage and for her roles in such films as ''Joe Versus the Volcano'' (1990), '' The Fisher King'' (1991), '' Pulp Fiction'' (1994), and '' The Hung ...

), ''

A Little Princess ''A Little Princess'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published as a book in 1905. It is an expanded version of the short story "Sara Crewe: or, What Happened at Miss Minchin's", which was serialized in ''St. Nicholas Ma ...

'', ''A Girl of the Limberlost'', '' Sweet 15'', '' A Waltz Through the Hills'', '' The Canterville Ghost'', ''

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

,'' ''The Haunting of Barney Palmer'', ''Lone Star Kid'', '' Caddie Woodlawn'', '' The House of Dies Drear'', and '' The Boy Who Loved Trolls''. It also co-produced the Australian '' Clowning Around'' series. ''WonderWorks'' also carried ''Traitor in My House'' (1990), a 50-minute film that tells the story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union sympathizer who lived in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

.Traitor in My House, Turner Classic Movies, Retrieved April 3, 2015, http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/475532/Traitor-in-My-House/ The story is told through the eyes of Van Lew's 12-year-old niece, Louise Van Lew. ''Traitor in My House'' stars Mary Kay Place, Charles S. Dutton, Harris Yulin, and Angela Goethals.Traitor in My House, IMDb, Retrieved April 3, 2015, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294975/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 The film is directed by Nell Cox and was produced by the Educational Film Center. Cate Adair provided costume design. In 1987, the show's home video rights were picked up by

Walt Disney Home Video Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, a ...

to release the episodes on videocassette. The ''WonderWorks'' series opening intro consisted of a computer animated light bulb shaped hot air balloon with an airplane at the base of it under the name ''The WonderWorks BalloonPlane'' as the main focal point of the intro. During the airing of later productions, the show was renamed as ''The WonderWorks' Family Movie'' up until the series' end. The program was co-produced by WQED-Pittsburgh,

KCET KCET (channel 28) is a secondary PBS member television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the Public Media Group of Southern California alongside the market's primary PBS member, Huntington Beach–licensed KOC ...

-Los Angeles, KTCA-St. Paul/Minneapolis, WHRO-Hampton-Norfolk/Virginia, South Carolina Educational Television, WETA-Washington, D.C. and KERA-Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. In 1999, rights to 55 WonderWorks specials were passed over to CINAR Corporation, who have since sold the rights to Questar Entertainment sometime in the 2000s.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''WonderWorks'' , list = {{Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program {{TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming PBS original programming Television series by Disney 1980s American anthology television series 1990s American anthology television series