As a senior on the brink of entering a new stage of life at a university next year, many things prompt a sense of nostalgia and flashback to simpler childhood days. Most commonly, these sensations come from music you haven’t heard in a long time or a TikTok about a show or video game you used to play.
Among these wistful memories is the PBS Kids show “Wild Kratts,” which began in January of 2011 and combined animation with live action. The two stars of the show were brothers Chris and Martin Kratt, who taught me many facts about animals and the environment while keeping me engaged with specific storylines. This show is still going as Season Seven will continue to air through 2025.
Watching episode after episode of “Wild Kratts” on YouTube as an elementary schooler, I justified this addiction by claiming that the show was boosting my knowledge of the natural world. How else would I have known that platypuses have a sixth sense? Their eyesight is not good underwater, so they rely on electro-sensation to detect the terrain and prey.
Adding on to the phenomenal information that “Wild Kratts” provided, their cartoonish designs allowed me to learn about all sorts of animals, including sharks, which I have always been afraid of.
The concept of Chris and Martin transforming themselves into the animal they’re touching through their creature power suits fascinated me as a child. It was exciting to watch how different parts of their body transformed into those of an animal. One of my favorite animals that the Kratt brothers turned into was the jaguar. Chris turned into a black panther while Martin turned into a regular-colored jaguar, showcasing the genetic mutations that occur naturally in the wild.
Using these suits, the animals’ powers allowed the Kratt brothers to defeat the three villains — Zach Varmitech, Donita Donata and Chef Gourmand. Zach is an innovator who wants to exploit animals to produce the most efficient machinery, Donita is a fashion designer interested in using different animals for clothing and Chef Gourmand loves to use endangered animals for special recipes. Each time, the natural gift and adaptations of animals defeated these evildoers.
One part that I’ve always been envious of in the show is how friendly wild animals were to them. The mere idea that the Kratt brothers could touch animals like lions, honey badgers and polar bears was unimaginable to me in real life. I would love to hug a panda or befriend an otter. But this wasn’t only animated, as they show the brothers in real life with animals like crocodiles and alligators after the episode.
Occasionally, I find myself drawn by nostalgia and going back to YouTube to watch some episodes. The show is still as good as I remember and definitely lives up to the general love it has gathered throughout its years of production.
Thinking back about this show and all of its greatness, I am glad to have experienced this as a primary part of my childhood joy. I wish I could turn back time, when life was simpler, and experience discovering this series for the first time.
