Interview: The Cast and Crew of Amazon’s “Do, Re & Mi”
Do, Re & Mi is an upcoming Amazon original animated musical series for preschoolers. The show follows three adorable bird friends as they learn about music and life through educational songs. The best friends are voiced by an amazing cast including Kristen Bell, Jackie Tohn, and Luke Youngblood!
With Do, Re & Mi children will learn all about music, sing along to fun original music, and develop problem-solving skills. Be sure to watch the series launching on Amazon Prime September 17th!
Here is the scoop on Amazon’s Do, Re & Mi!
The Cast & Crew of Do, Re & Mi
Kristen Bell voices Mi. She is also the Executive Producer of the show. Her other notable works include Frozen and The Good Place.
Jackie Tohn is the voice of Re and she’s also an Executive Producer. Fans will know her from her work in GLOW and Best Leftovers Ever!
Luke Youngblood voices Do. His notable works include Glitch Techs and Community.
The Importance of Education
Education is very important to both Kristen Bell and Jackie Tohn. Bell has young children herself and Tohn studied elementary education in college. Tohn says,
“Because arts education is the first thing to go in budget cuts, we’re really passionate about making sure that music education gets into the heads and hearts and homes of as many kids as possible.”
Jackie Tohn
All About the Music
Do, Re & Mi features so many fun and educational songs. In addition to Executive Producing and voice acting, Jackie Tohn also co-wrote all 52 of the songs in the series.
She jokes, “Our main focus was to make a musical catalog in a preschool show that wouldn’t make the parents want to put the kid’s iPad in the microwave.”
Kristen Bell also chimes in adding, “That was my first note when I came on. I was like ‘So is there something we can do that wouldn’t make me want to hop in my car and drive far far away when my kids are watching the television?'”
Bell also shares that, “They decided to write each of these 52 songs in a different musical genre, so you’re going to have like a hard rock song, you’re going to have a country song, you’re going to have a Olivia-Newton-John-type song.”
She continues, “You’re going to have like, so many different types of music with hooks that are actually like, modern and catchy and will not make you want to shut the TV off.”
Kristen Bell also shares, “There is so much science and data that tells us that learning about music at a young age will brighten the neural pathways of math, of social skills, of mechanics, of engineering.”
She continues, “Music does something to your brain, so to have a show that was completely engulfed in music, that taught music so that kids would then have the opportunity to play with the toys that we’ve made” or with “the apps, be able to make music by themselves. It’s all about making them smarter, and better, and happier.”
Life Lessons From Do, Re & Mi
While Do, Re & Mi teaches children all about music, it also teaches many other life lessons along the way. Luke Youngblood plays Do, a young owl who is nervous about learning to fly.
Youngblood talks about Do and says, “The one thing that I will say about him that I want to instill in my life all the time is that he just never gives up. And like having the support of his friends to keep cheering him on, I think it’s just so important that if you have something that you’re passionate about and really want to succeed in than you have to just keep trying and doing that thing.”
Kristen Bell also praises Luke’s acting. She explains, “The lesson obviously, to instill in kids is like it doesn’t matter if you can’t do the normal thing that everybody thinks you should be able to do. You have a variety of other skillsets that can get you there and Luke captures that so well.”
More Than Just Music
While Do, Re & Mi places a large focus on music education, the show also provides many other lessons to preschoolers.
Jackie Tohn shares, “One of the special things about the show is that every episode has a musical genre, a musical lesson, and an emotional lesson.”
Do, Re & Mi is available on Amazon Prime Video September 17th, so don’t forget to tune in and start learning about music!