Franklin

Franklin is a Canadian animated television series, based on the Franklin the Turtle (books) by Brenda Clark (illustrator) andPaulette Bourgeois (writer). The television series was named after its main character, Franklin the Turtle.

In the Canadian French version, the cartoon shorts are presented with the title character of Benjamin (cf. Benjamin Franklin) and a similar theme song.

The series first aired on Nickelodeon in 1997, and at one point, six seasons had been produced, but only the first four were widely available, as the fifth had only been available on Canada's Family Channel. The television series is produced by Nelvana Entertainment; the books have been published by Kids Can Press (which was acquired by Nelvana in 1998). From 2000 until 2002, it moved to CBS. In 2003, Nickelodeon was the main United States broadcaster for the series, but then the new Noggin digital cable/satellite channel for preschoolers started to show all four seasons of Franklin, introducing the show to American preschoolers (many of whom were already familiar with the books). The show immediately became very popular in the U.S. and the fifth season was soon added to the Noggin line-up. This season had previously been available only in other markets, which the exception of a couple stories available on commercial video. Until recently, the sixth season has not aired on Noggin, but it began on New Year's Day, 2006 with two episodes and a new one airing each day throughout the week.