Our Happy Child Productions is the creator of The Wheels on the Bus series, which is a collection of multi award-winning educational videos that teach early socialization skills such as sharing, helping, cooperation and good nutrition to young children. These musical adventures delight and entertain children while teaching important skills. Their focus is on helping to create "great kids" - kids who are polite, kind, and respectful; kids who are happy and secure.
Winner of many industry awards, including the prestigious Parent's Choice Silver Honor Award, The Wheels on the Bus children's video series features a colorful blend of live action, puppetry and animation to create fun and captivating musical adventures based on the world famous song. Each episode features visits to exciting destinations such as a zoo, a farm, an aquarium, a reptile show, a bird show, a birthday party, Whole Foods Market, and a dog parade.
Developed in consultation with Dr. Dorothy Singer, PhD, Co-director of the Yale University Family Television Research Center, the material is age appropriate and provides an intelligent way for young children to absorb important concepts. An expert on early childhood development, television effects on youth, and parent training in imaginative play, she has written more than 20 books and over 160 articles. Singer received the award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to the Media by the American Psychological Association in 2004. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2006.
Timothy Armstrong, Founder of Armstrong Moving Pictures, is an independent film producer with three young children, including busy 2-year old twins. When Tim's first child was born he saw the need for fun, entertaining, high-quality programming that taught young children valuable lessons about manners, respect and sharing, so he created the first DVD in the series, Mango and Papaya's Animal Adventure. He writes, directs, and produces The Wheels on the Bus Series.
Tiffany Foster is the CEO of Our Happy Child Productions. Tiffany has three young children with her husband Frank, and cares passionately about creating high quality, family-friendly programming for young children. Young children's brains are creating synaptic connections by the trillions (literally!) and rhythm, music and repetition help children learn through reinforcing the positive connections. Tiffany's background is in Marketing and Strategic Planning. Tiffany, originally from Sydney, earned her MBA from Harvard Business School in 1993 .
Roger Daltrey is a rock vocalist, songwriter, and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a successful musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of film, theatre and television roles. Daltrey is the voice of the bus driver, Argon the Dragon. The rock legend's voice is a perfect fit for the large green dragon and brings the beloved children's classic song, The Wheels on the Bus, to life with creative verses and several original songs written for this series. In 2003, Daltrey was honored by Time Magazine as a European Hero for his work with the Teenage Cancer Trust and other charities. "The Wheels on the Bus Video gave me the chance to do something different," says Daltrey, "It's a great way of introducing music to a whole new generation of kids - maybe even the grandchildren of teenagers that grew up listening to the WHO!"
Laura Hall is best known as the improvisational pianist on televisions Whose Line Is It Anyway? In addition to composing the music for The Wheels on the Bus Series, Laura has also written and produced two albums of original children's music.
Janie Escalle, debuted in her first Wheels on the Bus video when she was 7 years old. She has appeared live on stage in classic musicals such as Annie, Gypsy, Children of Eden, Goodbye Girl, Seussical as well as others in venues around San Diego. Janie attends five dance classes per week which includes Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Lyrical. She enjoys singing with the performing show choir at school and is proud to have been a part of the Wheels on the Bus series.