David Farnor | On 03, Oct 2020

Netflix is bringing Ada Twist, Scientist to the screen with a new animated preschool series.

The show, which is based on Andrea Beaty and David Roberts’ bestselling kids’ books,follows the adventures of eight-year-old Ada Twist, a pint-sized scientist with a giant-sized curiosity, who aspires to discover the truth about absolutely everything. With the help of her two best friends, Rosie Revere and Iggy Peck, Ada unravels and solves mysteries for her friends and family. But solving the mystery is only the beginning, because science isn’t just about learning how and why and what… it’s about putting that knowledge into action to make the world a better place.

The series is produced in partnership with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions (American Factory, Crip Camp, Becoming), which is dedicated to powerful storytelling that promotes greater empathy, understanding and connections between people, and lifts up new, diverse voices.

It also marks the first series announced under the overall deal with Peabody, Humanitas and Emmy Award-winning children’s television creator Chris Nee (Doc McStuffins, Vampirina) and her production company Laughing Wild.

Kerri Grant serves as showrunner for the 40-episode series, with Dr. Knatokie Ford (former Senior Policy Advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy) and Alie Ward (The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation with Mo Rocca, Brainchild) serving as consultants.

Nee says: “I’m thrilled to be partnering with Higher Ground to bring Ada Twist to the screen. As a fan of the books I was taken with the diverse characters, striking designs and vital message that science matters. Plus, Ada fulfills my personal need to populate children’s television with strong girls who aren’t afraid to be the smartest kids in the room. Once Kerri Grant came on board to showrun, I knew we had the dream team to bring this special series to life.”

Grant adds: “As a young, curious Black girl who grew up loving TV, I simply became accustomed to rarely seeing images that reflected me onscreen — and the ones that did, represented an anti-intellectual stereotype that led me to hide my own light under a bushel. To be a part of bringing a show to kids that features a young, Black girl being unapologetically the smartest kid in the room, in a world as diverse and visually stunning as the one created by the book series’ author and illustrator, fills my heart to capacity.”

The series will premiere in 2021.

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