Dorothea Gillim

Dorothea Gillim
Born (1964-07-18) July 18, 1964 (age 60)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Education
OccupationTelevision producer
Years active2003–present
Known forProducing animated series
Television
Awards

Dorothea Gillim (born July 18, 1964) is an American television producer. She is the creator of the animated series WordGirl and Hey Monie! and co-creator of Molly of Denali. Under GBH, Gillim has produced multiple animated series including Curious George, Pinkalicious & Peterrific, and Time Warp Trio.[1]

In 2006, Gillim created WordGirl to respond to "the idea that children's television wasn't intelligent enough," feeling that most shows "underestimated their sense of humor and their intellect."[2] In 2022, Collider praised the show for its "non-white, little girl superhero" protagonist, claiming it started a female superhero trend and the generation who grew up watching WordGirl later demanded new and diverse Marvel heroes such as Captain Marvel.[2]

Gillim's co-created animation series Molly of Denali has been celebrated as "the nation's first widely distributed children's program featuring an Alaska Native as the lead character."[3][4]

Career

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After graduating from Swarthmore College, Gillim was a fifth grade teacher in Philadelphia for three years before leaving to attend graduate school.[5][6] She took interest in television writing following a media education course[when?] at Harvard Graduate School of Education.[5]

Her 2003 adult animation series Hey Monie! was praised for its improvised comedic dialogue[7][8] and for featuring Angela V. Shelton as Monie, the show's African-American female protagonist.[9]

In 2019, Tuca & Bertie creator Lisa Hanawalt mentioned Gillim's show Hey Monie! while compiling a list of adult animated shows created by women.[10][11]

In 2022, regarding her co-creation of Molly of Denali, Gillim described the show as "long overdue" and stated, "We knew that this story was not ours to tell, and so our intention was to partner with Alaska Natives in the development of the characters in the world."[12] NPR commended the show for debunking stereotypes, addressing discrimination,[13] and presenting an educational representation of Alaskan Native culture.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "GBH Announces Expansion of GBH Kids". wgbh.org. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  2. ^ a b Stein, Minnah (2022-07-16). "WordGirl Is the Captain Marvel of PBS". Collider. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  3. ^ "When — and how — should you talk to your kids about climate change?". Canary Media. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  4. ^ "How Molly of Denali found its diverse cast and crew". Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  5. ^ a b "Screen Time as Learning Time". Harvard Graduate School of Education. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  6. ^ Becker, Katie (April 2009). "Word Domination - Swarthmore College Bulletin". swarthmore.edu. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  7. ^ Lotz, Amanda D. (2010-10-01). REDESIGNING WOMEN: Television after the Network Era. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-09176-6.
  8. ^ Seham, Amy E. (2009-10-20). Whose Improv Is It Anyway?: Beyond Second City. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-4968-0202-6.
  9. ^ Ryan, Suzanne C. (2004-06-02). "Coming soon to the small screen: less diversity". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  10. ^ Ellis, Emma Grey. "Netflix's Animated 'Tuca & Bertie' Is the Tits". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2022-09-11.
  11. ^ Hanawalt, Lisa [@lisadraws] (29 April 2019). "I've been trying to put together a list of other adult (not children's!) animated shows created by women. Am I missing any here?" (Tweet). Retrieved 2022-09-11 – via Twitter.
  12. ^ "This children's TV show helps Indigenous voices thrive". The Christian Science Monitor. 2022-02-24. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
  13. ^ a b "'Molly of Denali' tackles 'discrimination and stereotypes' Alaska Natives face: 'We're breaking it down so young kids can understand'". Yahoo!. November 2021. Retrieved 2022-09-12.
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