Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, written in the title as ni hao, kai-lan, is an American fantasy television series that premiered on Nickelodeon on February 7, 2008. It later premiered on Noggin on February 2, 2009 (which is the day Season Two premiered). The show ran for three seasons, and its final episode premiered on the Nick Jr. Channel on August 21, 2011. The series was released on Paramount+ on January 19, 2021.
Production[]
The show's first premise after Downward Doghouse was first revealed in a trademark filing in 2006 (with the names kai-lan, hoho, rintoo! grandpa chow, ni hao, kai-lan!, and some other trademarks of the show's name all of these trademarks expect one of them are abandoned). After that it was licensed by Nickelodeon in 2005, who also acquired television rights for the show. Karen Chau went on to continue working with Nickelodeon, making the original three shorts and interactive game, which were on the Nick Jr website. President of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group. Brown Johnson, stated that "Kai-lan has charmed her way into the lives of preschoolers who tune in to experience her vibrant world which is infused with Mandarin language and Chinese culture. NI HAO, KAI-LAN furthers Nick Jr.'s ongoing commitment to developing diverse programming with characters who reflect today's preschoolers. Families across the country have embraced NI HAO, KAI-LAN and we're excited to work on a new set of stories with more Mandarin phrases and lessons to help preschoolers better express and deal with their feelings."
More episodes were ordered by Nickelodeon after the success of the 3 episode pilot, with HarringToons in charge of making them. The new episodes became more fleshed out to depict Ni Hao, Kai-Lan as being a real television series, with more extensive plot being involved and some of the non-speaking characters gaining voices, along with the length of the episodes being extended to 24 minutes in total. The new episodes were shown on many of Nickelodeon’s worldwide channels.
The show's third season was notably cut short, with only two aired episodes (which made up a double-length special). Concept images for three unproduced episodes of the third season were released to the blog of Jennifer Nelson (an art director for the series). It is unknown if it was for a different project or for Season 3, though they likely were for the latter as each image is labeled with its own production code. These cancelled episodes of the third season were in production by April of 2009. [1]
About the Show[]
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan premiered on Chinese New Year (February 7) 2008 with the episode Dragonboat Festival, and the day after Twirly Whirly Flyers premiered. The show is normally set around China or Ancient China throughout the show, but according to the one-hour special Kai-Lan's Great Trip to China, it's revealed on a map that it's actually set in the state of California.
Premise[]
Every day, Kai-Lan, her grandfather Ye-Ye and her animal friends Rintoo, Hoho, Lulu, and Tolee go on slice of life stories and every day, there is a main problem which the animal friends face or cause, where Kai-Lan herself must help figure out via asking the viewers.
Songs[]
- We Gotta Gotta Try To Find the Reason Why
- Let's Find Out Why
- What Can We Try (It's Up to Me and You)
- We Got It
Characters[]
- Main article: List of characters
Episodes[]
- Main article: List of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan episodes
Season One (2008)[]
- Main article: Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (season 1)
Season Two (2009-2010)[]
- Main article: Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (season 2)
Season Three (2011)[]
- Main article: Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (season 3)
International dubs[]
Main article: List of International Dubs
Media & Merchandise[]
Books[]
Several books based on the TV series were published. They were published often by either Reader's Digest or Simon Spotlight.
Video games[]
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Game Day! (PS2/Wii, 2009)
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: New Year Celebration (NDS, 2009)
- Nickelodeon Fit (Wii, 2010)
- Dora and Kai-Lan's Pet Shelter (NDS, 2011)
- Dora And Team Umizoomi’s Fantastic Flight (NDS, 2012)
- Nickeloden Dance 2 (Wii/Xbox 360, 2012)
LeapFrog Games/Books[]
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Happy Days (Leapster Explorer, 2010)
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Beach Day (Leapster, 2009)
- Kai-Lan's Super Sleep Over! (LeapFrog Tag, 2009)
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan (LeapFrog ClickStart, 2008)
Online Flash Games[]
These were Flash games that used to be on the Nick Jr. website.
- The Ants' Adventure: Preschoolers puzzle out obstacles with the help of adventurous ants and Kai-Lan.
- Chinese New Year Coin Catch: It's raining coins! Help Hoho collect them all for Chinese New Year.
- DJ Hoho's Dance Party: It's dance party time! Click on DJ Hoho's colorful notes to get it going!
- It's Playtime With a Baby Panda: Kai-Lan and Tolee are spending time today playing with a baby panda!
- Kai-lan's Great Trip to China: Take a trip to China with Kai-Lan and meet the baby panda!
- Kai-lan's Puddle Hop!: Kai-lan's favorite thing to do is hop in the water puddles. Will you help her?
- Kai-Lan's Super Matching: Master match-making skills with Princess Kai-Lan!
- Ladybug Adventure: Kids take a trip with Kai-Lan and play "I Spy" along the way!
- Lanterns: Kids pick the paper, decorate, & create a printable paper lantern with Kai-lan!
- Rintoo's Dragon Boat Race!: Rintoo & Hoho need help rowing their boat so they can win the Dragon Boat race!
- Super Apple Surprise: An apple a day makes for colorful play!
- Super Snow Dragons: Steer an ice coaster and help decorate a snow dragon--super!
- Tolee's Bamboo Bounce!: Help Tolee collect Panda stuff as he bounces from one bamboo stalk to another!
- Cooking With Ye Ye: Help kai-lan and her friends grab ingredients to make yummy meals! (was the only game that wasn't on the Nick Jr website and rather the Nick Jr Boost website until 2013)
- Dot to Dot (Nick Jr website and rather the website until 2019)
Trivia[]
- Ni Hao, Kai-Lan is the last Nick Jr. show to use the Nick Jr. Productions logo, as all other shows starting 2009 use either the Nickelodeon Productions logo (Dora The Explorer, Go! Diego Go! etc) or in some occasions the Nick Jr. logo in the credits (Peppa Pig).
- This was the last Nick Jr. animated show to be released before Nickelodeon's 2009 rebrand, making it the last Nick Jr. show/franchise to use the pre-2009 Nickelodeon logo though the pre-2009 Nickelodeon lightbulb closing logo did appear in The Fresh Beat Band, Team Umizoomi, and Bubble Guppies.
- There was a pilot of this series, which appeared on a miniseries lasting from 2004-2006 called My World.
- In 2010, the series was nominated for an Emmy Award. [2]
- This show runs on Treehouse TV in Canada outside of syndication for Chinese New Year specials in February 16 2018, February 5 2019, January 25 2020, February 12 2021, and February 1 2022, airing it once each day.
Gallery[]
