Move over, Kung Fu Panda—there’s a new animated gentle giant in town. Based on Eisner Award winner and Caldecott Honoree Jon J Muth’s Zen picture book series, which began in 2005 with Zen Shorts (Scholastic Press), Stillwater is a Scholastic Entertainment and Gaumont Film Company co-production, now streaming on the Apple TV+ platform as of December 4.
The series takes its name from its anthropomorphic panda star, played by prolific voice actor James Sie, whose credits include both the Kung Fu Panda TV series, Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series, and Jackie Chan Adventures. Stillwater serves as a wise neighbor and mindfulness guide to young siblings Karl (Judah Mackey, who appeared in The Young and the Restless), Addy (Eva Ariel Binder, whose most prominent role thus far is on Grey’s Anatomy), and Michael (Tucker Chandler, whose voice work can be heard in the Madagascar: A Little Wild series).
Stillwater’s eight executive producers are a highly qualified bunch: Nicolas Atlan, president of Gaumont U.S.; Sidonie Dumas, vice chairman-CEO at Gaumont S.A.; Caitlin Friedman, senior v-p and general manager at Scholastic Entertainment; Rob Hoegee, Emmy Award-winning animation writer and producer; Terry Kalagian, senior v-p of creative development for animation and family content at Gaumont; Jef Kaminsky, v-p of television development and programming for Scholastic Media; Iole Lucchese, president of Scholastic Entertainment; and Christophe Riandee, vice-CEO of Gaumont, all share the marquee.
“I fell in love with the books the minute that Caitlin and Jef shared them with me,” Kalagian told PW. “My team and I had been interested in developing a show in the mindfulness space for a while, but nothing had resonated with me. We had also been looking for a project to produce with Scholastic Entertainment. It was clear that Stillwater was meant to be.”
Friedman agreed, saying, “Working with Apple and Gaumont to bring Jon’s unique vision from page to screen has been such a wonderful, collaborative experience. Together we’ve been able to capture the essence of the beloved characters and expand the world that Jon created.”
Author-illustrator Muth called the process—for which he provided character drawings, notes, script reviewing, suggestions, and encouragement—“really interesting,” deeming it “totally different” from picture book creation and publishing. “The series has been in the works for over two years,” he noted. “I’m told that is unusually quick for an animated series.”
When asked about his reaction to the adaptation, Muth said he was “really happy” with it, explaining, “The series has been reframed from the books, and the emphasis is more specifically for younger children. That works wonderfully well.” For viewers who are familiar with his picture books, Muth disclosed that the show “has many ‘Easter eggs,’ as my son says.... And on top of that, Kishi Bashi and Toby Chu’s music is bright like laughter!” He concluded, “It all feels like a beautifully distilled version of Stillwater.”
The impetus behind the giant panda stories developed as Muth embarked on tours for earlier picture books, sharing Asian-inflected paintings and tales, “sometimes from the place the ink or brush came from, often Zen stories,” with “children in Colorado or Missouri or Ohio,” who were often unfamiliar with the perspectives shared.
“I started wondering how best to offer them these stories as alive and connected to themselves,” Muth shared with PW. “What if they lived down the street from someone who thought a little differently? Maybe someone who was a kind of spiritual teacher, but also a person you could have a snack with or who would fly a kite.” Rediscovering one of his previous ink drawings of a giant panda wearing a large pair of shorts, Muth immediately identified his hero, and the rest is history.
As for the panda’s intriguing name, Muth revealed that it stemmed “from the Zen idea that when you look into a pool of water, if the water is still, you can see the moon reflected in it. If the water is choppy or agitated, the moon is fractured and scattered.” He ended the conversation with a meditative musing: “Our minds are like that. When our minds and bodies are agitated, we can’t see the true moon. We can’t see the world clearly.”
While Addy’s Cup of Sugar, another adventure featuring the Stillwater cast, just released this past October, Muth already has clear visions of his next titles. “I am currently working on a picture book with my wife called Five Little Girls,” he said. “It’s about her family, her sisters, being Chinese, born in Mexico, and coming to America. And I’m also working on more Stillwater parables!”
