Blueprint Entertainment’s kids division is developing a preschool series – dubbed ‘Sesame Street for the Soul’ – based on the award-winning Dewey Doo-it books.

The Doo-its Show, a 26 x 30 hybrid live-action/animation/puppet series, is a coproduction with the series’ authors Brahm Wenger and Alan Green, who formed a non-profit organization, Caring Kids TV, to produce the series and brought the project to Blueprint.

Doo-its is unique in that it tackles world issues such as hunger and homelessness in a way preschoolers can understand and teaches them how they can make a difference in the world, while also introducing them to the work of humanitarians and charities.

‘Sesame Street and other similar shows have done a great job of teaching ABCs and 123s, but we see this as the first show that empowers preschoolers that they can affect the world becoming a better place,’ says Frank Saperstein, SVP of animation children’s programming for Blueprint.

Meant to be both educational and entertaining, each episode of the variety-style series features 2D animated characters called Doo-its (a cross between hedgehogs and little kids), puppets, storytelling, music and celebrity guests who will tell a story and/or sing a song and talk about an issue or cause that is meaningful to them. Celebrities were also attached to the five-book series, including CNN’s Larry King, actor John Goodman of Roseanne fame and Julie Bowen of Boston Legal, who narrated CDs that accompany the books.

Wenger, who is a Canadian living in the U.S. and a music composer for family films such as the Warner Bros. MVP series and Disney’s Air Bud franchise, originally brought the show concept to PBS Orange County station KOCE, which agreed to be the presenting sponsor for the series and to distribute it to flagship PBS stations across the U.S.

However, Saperstein says there is no pre-existing financial agreement with KOCE, and once they complete further development on the series, they also plan to shop the project among the major American kids channels and secure a Canadian broadcaster.

‘We have had some initial conversations and know where interest may lie,’ Saperstein says, noting that he is aiming for a production start in late 2009.

International presales will be handled through Blueprint’s distribution company Oasis International. The budget is approximately $350,000 per episode. Saperstein says he is currently in talks with an animation company and showrunner in Canada but has not closed any deals.

Each episode will feature a corporate presenting sponsor, and Wenger says he has commitments from IHOP, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and other major companies.  

Plans for ancillary licensing products include teachers kits, coloring books, sing-along CDs (in which the celebrities featured on an episode will read a story or sing) and stuffed animals produced by Gund. Charity partners will receive 5% of revenues from licensed products.

Exec producers on the series are John Morayniss and Saperstein for Blueprint and Wenger, Green, Ken Everson and Heidi Glauser for CKTV.