Disney Junior’s newest animated series, T.O.T.S., is too cute for television, starring the most adorable baby animals. The show’s title is an acronym for “Tiny Ones Transport Service,” a baby animal delivery program traditionally run by storks. While the main characters are birds, the shows two stars are an unlikely choice.
Pip the penguin and Freddy the flamingo are the newest delivery fliers at T.O.T.S. and the first ever penguin/flamingo team. Freddy is the flier while Pip navigates as they bring joy and happiness to the world, uniting expecting parents with their little bundles of joy. Their headquarters is full of adorable baby animals waiting their turn to become a special delivery.
Like most Disney Junior shows, T.O.T.S. features music as a centerpiece and each half-episode story features an original song. The music for the series is written by Rob Cantor, whose no stranger to composing for Disney Junior, but is most famous for his viral hit “Shia LaBeouf.” The musical style reminds me of Puppy Dog Pals, with Pip and Freddy’s flight song sounding a lot like “Going on a Mission.”
T.O.T.S. headquarters features an assembly line of adorable diapered animals, but the first two episodes feature four deliveries. They deliver a kitten in “You’ve Gotta be Kitten Me” and help get a baby whale to his new parents in “Whale, Hello There,” the two parts of the premiere episode. Their second half-hour adventure finds them suffering from cuteness overload in “Panda Excess” and overcoming their sense of smell while delivering a skunk in “A Stinky Situation.”
The series features two celebrity voices. Vanessa Williams from ABC’s Ugly Betty and singer of the end credit version of “Colors of the Wind” from Pocahontas is the leader of T.O.T.S. and mentor to Pip and Freddy. The nursery is run by a koala named K.C. voiced by Broadway star Megan Hilty who made a big splash in the NBC series Smash and also lent her voice to the Disney Fairies film franchise. Disney Channel fans might also recognize the voice of Freddy, played by Christian J. Simon from Sydney to the Max.
My first introduction to T.O.T.S. was earlier this year at Toy Fair when I got to experience some of the upcoming toys. My thought at that time was that this was so adorable that it had to be a guaranteed hit with kids and parents. Now that I’ve seen it, my assumption is confirmed. T.O.T.S. is a winner and kids will want to become deliver fliers themselves, learning to make others happy through good deeds and special deliveries.