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For Immediate Release:
"It's a Small World: Songwriter Richard Sherman teams up with Tiny Oaks Entertainment on educational CD"
It's a small world. How else to explain the newest, most exciting pairing in children's educational entertainment?
Tiny Oaks Entertainment, the brand new children's entertainment company based in Southern California, has teamed up with Beverly Hills ' Academy Award-winning composer Richard M. Sherman, co-writer of the Disney theme park anthem "It's a Small World," on an exciting new line of children's entertainment products.
Los Angeles-based Tiny Oaks opened for business this year on Jan. 1 and recently released an audio CD, "Sing Along with Me,” the companion to the company's educational DVD , “Amanda Acorn's Adventures: Learn Along With Me!” Children will experience the adventures of Amanda Acorn, the Grumble Brothers, Pinkie, and all their friends who inhabit the imaginative world of the Tiny Oaks Tree!
Sherman and his brother Robert are perhaps best known for the song, "It's a Small World," featured in the theme park ride of the same name at Disneyland, Disneyworld and other Disney properties. Together they also won two Oscars for their music in the Disney feature film, "Mary Poppins," the stage version of which opens this month on Broadway. As composers and lyricists they created other songs in films including "Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang," "The Jungle Book,” "Snoopy Come Home," "Winnie the Pooh," "The Parent Trap," "The Aristocats," and "Charlotte's Web" among many others.
"We're thrilled that a composer of Richard Sherman's caliber has brought our Tiny Oaks characters to life," said Ben Rosenberg, president of Tiny Oaks Entertainment. "His songs have stayed in the brains and on the lips of generations of children and adults. We're sure his memorable tunes will help the lessons of Tiny Oaks stay in your child's heart and mind as well."
Sherman wrote 13 of the 15 songs on the "Sing Along" CD and serves as musical supervisor for Tiny Oaks. The CD ($12.99) and DVD ($16.99) are both available at www.tinyoaks.com.
"Many of my earlier songs have had a learning aspect to them," Sherman said. "But I've never been involved in a project whose primary goal was to educate."
"When initially approached by the people at Tiny Oaks Entertainment, I was intrigued by the originality of the story and the characters. But most of all I loved the fact that my songs were to be used as a teaching mechanism," Sherman said. "I'm exceptionally proud of this project and the lessons that my songs teach."
The Tiny Oaks DVD and CD are aimed at children 2 to 6 years of age and contain lessons on everything from counting to learning how to dress. ("You must button your buttons and fasten your hooks; learning to dress isn't as hard as it looks. Button my buttons and hook up my hooks, is that how a very well dressed person looks? Yes, that's how a very well dressed person looks." Lyrics from "The Dressing Song" by Richard M. Sherman).
Sherman said that while the DVD and CD are meant to spark children's imaginations, the idea is to make them more curious about the real world around them. "We have acorns and termites and soon will be adding lightning bugs, caterpillars, and the cutest little mouse on our next DVD . Characters pulled from real life," said Sherman . "We hope that after watching our DVD , the next time a child is in her or his backyard, or at the park, they might not just ignore the multitude of small things around them...the bugs and nuts. They just might pick one up and study it, explore it. And that's a special thing."
To celebrate the partnership of Tiny Oaks Entertainment and Richard Sherman, Tiny Oaks is hosting its "Fly Along with Mary Poppins" contest at www.tinyoaks.com . The grand prize is a three-day, two-night stay in New York , complete with two tickets to the new Broadway musical, "Mary Poppins" which opens Nov. 16 at The New Amsterdam Theater in New York City . Richard and his brother, Robert, won two Oscars for their songs in the movie, including "Feed the Birds,” "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” and the winner of Best Song for 1965, "Chim Chim Cher-ee."
About Richard M. Sherman: Born in 1928 in New York City to Rosa and Al Sherman, who was also a songwriter. Richard and his brother, Robert, wrote their first hit song, "Tall Paul," in 1958 for Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. The tune caught the attention of Walt Disney, who hired the Sherman Brothers to write songs for his movies. The Shermans wrote "It's a Small World" for the New York World's Fair in 1964 and won two Academy Awards the next year for their songs in the Disney film, "Mary Poppins." They both have earned nine Academy Award nominations, two Grammy Awards and four Grammy nominations, and 23 gold and platinum albums. The Sherman Brothers were inducted into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame in New York City in 2005, and wrote music for the stage adaptations of "Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang" and "Mary Poppins" in recent years. Sherman lives in Beverly Hills with his wife of 49 years, Elizabeth , with whom he has three children.
About Tiny Oaks Entertainment: Tiny Oaks Entertainment is an education and entertainment multimedia company based in Los Angeles , Calif. The company released its first DVD in January 2006, “Amanda Acorn's Adventures: Learn Along With Me!" that combines songs and animation along with segments of children completing lessons in their classrooms. A companion CD, "Sing Along with Me" was released in October. The staff at Tiny Oaks includes two educators with a combined 30 years of public and private pre-school teaching experience. Creative development is led by three Emmy nominated, Clio award winning animators, with a combined thirty years experience in the entertainment industry. The team has been employed at major studios including DreamWorks and production houses including Digital Domain. The members have been animators on feature films and television projects including, “ I, Robot,” “ WB's Looney Tunes,” “Titanic,” Stephen Spielberg's “Taken” and this year's feature “Stealth” starring Jamie Foxx. In addition, the members of the team at Tiny Oaks have worked on many high profile commercial spots for companies including: Coca Cola, Boeing Airlines, American Express, and General Motors.
In the winter of 2006, Tiny Oaks will release four children's books based on the lessons in “Learn Along With Me”. The follow up DVD entitled “Amanda and The Sea Shell Carousel” and the four associated books are scheduled for release in Spring 2007. The new DVD will have all new music written by Richard M. Sherman and will introduce Amanda's new friends, Tick N' Squeak, a mouse with all the right riddles and Sprite Lighting, Amanda's best friend who's afflicted with never-ending Hay Fever. We will also explore new worlds like Grumbletown.
CONTACT:
Benjamin Rosenberg
Tiny Oaks Entertainment
11024 Balboa Blvd. #657
Granada Hills , California 91344
1-818-986-7410 (Telephone)
ben@tinyoaks.com (e-mail)
www.tinyoaks.com
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