The new Amazon Prime preschool show “Do, Re and Mi” centers on the musical adventures of three best birdie buddies voiced by Kristen Bell, Jackie Tohn, and Luke Youngblood. The three birds go on a journey filled with toe-tapping original songs spanning multiple genres. And in each new adventure, they will discover new sounds and melodies, move to the beat, and see how music helps solve every problem!
ThatsItLA had the opportunity to join their fellow journalists at the virtual press conference for the upcoming series.
Tohn, who had been acting since she was nine, spent some time learning about child education in college. That experience would later help influence the creation of “Do, Re, Mi.” “It’s something I’ve always been passionate about,” she said. “Because arts education is the first thing to go in budget cuts, Kristen and I are really passionate about making sure that arts education gets into the heads and hearts of homes of many kids as possible.
Bell credits Tohn, who wrote all 52 of the original songs on the show with David Schuler, for creating a show that has music that explores different genres with catchy hooks that will not want to make parents shut the TV off. But beyond having the idea, Bell echoed Tohn’s sentiments on the importance of having a focus on arts in childhood education.
“I just want to expand how Jackie’s talents influence the show beyond having this idea with Mike Scharf, which was bring music to the doorsteps of children in their house since arts education is being cut, which is very important to me as a mom,” Bell said. “My kids go to public school. I mean, it is a charter, so our allotments were allowed to funnel into music or arts if we want, and we keep those alive. But public schools don’t have that opportunity. Having studied music at a young age, there is so much science and data that tell us learning music at a young age will brighten the neural pathways of math, of social skills, of mechanics, and engineering, all of these pathways that kids could study.”
“It’s the same idea of why they put Baby Einstein on in the womb. Music does something to your brain. To have a show that completely is engulfed in music, that taught music, so that kids would then have the opportunity to play with the toys that we made alongside it, which was very strategic, and the apps to make music by themselves, it’s all about making them smarter, better, and happier, and I don’t think this show would have been as successful if Jackie hadn’t had the music career as an adult that she had,” Bell added.
Executive produced by Bell, Tohn, Michael Scharf, and Ivan Askwith, episodes of “Do, Re & Mi” are available now, exclusively on Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Kids+.
