Brooklyn animators bring math to life for little ones

Leave it to Brooklynites to come up with a creative, interactive series of videos to get pre-schoolers used to -- and unafraid of – math.

Two Brooklyn animators, artist Jennifer Oxley and writer Billy Aronson, have created "Peg + Cat," which  PBS selected from 36 proposals.

Peg + Cat = Brooklyn

"I knew instantly that I wanted to team myself with the best most creative, funniest writer in the world, and Bill Aronson came to the top of the list," Oxley said.

"We put our heads together and came up with an idea that we both liked together. She had some characters she had drawn and I had some concepts for shows, and one of my concepts matched with one of her drawings and it just went from there," Aronson said.

Their pilot episode earned the backing of the Fred Rogers Company, founded by the late, iconic "Mister Rogers."

Working out of their Brooklyn homes, the pair had launched a company, 987 Productions. They then moved  to space on Gold Street in downtown Brooklyn, with a current staff of 20.

"It's a little bit cheaper in Brooklyn [than in Manhattan]," said Aronson. "It's a lot hipper, and it's near where we live, which is great because Jennifer has a young kid, I have a young wife, we like to be near them, and a lot of the folks working for us either live near here or can get here pretty quick."

"Peg + Cat" is set to debut Oct. 7 on PBS Kids (locally on WNET Channel 13).

"The fact that little ideas that we were coming up with in our apartments are now being made into TV shows, still blows my mind," Oxley said.

"We can't wait for the idea that it's going to be on TV all over the country," Aronson said.

To view a sample video of "Peg + Cat," go to pbskids.org/peg.