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<The Squirrels>

Year of Production
2024
Content Type
Mobile Online (Cut/Page View)
Target Age
All
Quantity
10

Summary

There are 10 episodes, and a different squirrel appears in each episode.

The basic sequence of episodes is
1. Introduction of the main squirrel
2. Various kinds of incidents at school that the squirrel experiences due to its neurodiversity.
3. Understanding the characteristics of neurodiversity and explaining how to make an inclusive circumsatances
4. Description of the main squirrel’s neurodivergent aspects
5. Introduction and description of the characteristics of the main character squirrel’s actual squirrel species
6. Introduction of famous people with the mentioned neurodiversity
7. A letter from the Squirrel (an activity sheet that can be downloaded via QR code)
8. The preview of the next episode

The neurodiversity is compared with the rainbow spectrum of brain development. It is correlated to the actual characteristics of a squirrel, <The Squirrels> releases through 10 episodes that people with neurodiversity are the same people as neurotypical people. The episodes are in Korean, English, and French, and was produced in a simple and intuitive format to facilitate easy understanding by people of all ages and genders around the world.

The main character of the first episode is Dodo, a ‘flying squirrel’. Dodo has ‘autism spectrum disorder’, ‘differences in gustatory sensory processing’, ‘differences in tactile sensory processing’, and ‘dyspraxia’. <The Squirrels> shows that multiple neurodivergent characteristics can be duplicated or more.
The main character of the second episode is Bora, a ‘Prevost's squirrel (Asian tri-colored squirrel)’ from Malaysia. Bora has ‘inattentive ADHD’, which is more prevalent in girls. In addition, she has ‘Benign Rolandic Epilepsy’ and these symptoms appear at school, showing the reactions of her friends and teachers and the epilepsy-journey that Bora goes through.
The main character of the third episode is Harry, an ‘Eastern Gray Squirrel’ from New York, USA. Harry has ‘autism spectrum disorder’ and his speaking accent is monotonous, making it sound like a A.I. is speaking. Harry, who has ‘differences in tactile sensory processing,’ happens to embarrass his partner. In the other hand, Harry has an excellent visual memory and there is an event that makes every squirrel happy.
The main character of the fourth episode is Willie, a ‘woodchuck’ from Canada. Willie, one of the largest ground squirrels, has autism spectrum disorder and is a non-speaking squirrel. Willy communicates on a sketchbook and has a ‘pursuit of the sense of smell.’ Although Willy does not speak, he is a good-hearted and a kind squirrel, and an incident occurs where his friends become grateful to him.
The main character of the fifth episode is Danny, a ‘red squirrel’ from Denmark. Danny is a squirrel who is constantly moving and talking all day, and has trouble concentrating in class and sitting still. Danny, who not only has ‘hyperactivity and impulse-dominant ADHD’ but also ‘dyslexia’, has difficulty reading letters and ends up calling his friend’s name incorrectly. Danny, who took first place in Denmark's national animal poll, is sociable and popular with his friends. Danny's wonderful event that demonstrates ADHD's strengths of creativity and concentration is introduced to every squirrel.
The main character of the sixth episode is Ari, a ‘Rio Grande ground squirrel’ from Mexico. Ari is a squirrel who has hypersomnia due to Kleine-Levin syndrome and hibernates for up to 7 months a year. Ari, who also has dyscalculia, has difficulty abstracting numbers. The episode shows how these characteristics affect members when performing the role of scoring tennis matches at school. Despite many difficulties, Ari has a talent for improvising compositions and playing musical instruments, and she performs perfectly.
The main character of the seventh episode is Bao, a ‘red and white giant flying squirrel’ from China. Bao, who has poor hand coordination and dysgraphia, experiences various difficulties in writing, which is the basics of school life. Bao, who also has ‘autism spectrum disorder,’ also helps him understand how his stereotyped behavior is viewed by his friends. Bao's new perspective on the world gives a spirit to his friends.
The main character of the eighth episode is Toto, a ‘black-tailed prairie dog’ from Texas, USA. Toto, who possesses several types of ‘synesthesia’ at the same time, has the strength to express himself verbally. The actual characteristics of prairie dogs, which have the most developed language system among mammals. However, Toto, who has ‘motor and spatial dysgraphia’, has difficulty recording his thoughts with his pencil. How can Toto overcome his difficulties?
The main character of the ninth episode is Haru, a ‘Fire footed rope squirrel’ from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Haru has both ‘tics’ and ‘Tourette Syndrome’. The main content of the episode is the empathy of friends to understand Haru, who is embarrassed by both vocal and motor tics that he cannot control.
The main character of the tenth and final episode is Chichi, the most common squirrel in Korea, the Korean squirrel and the ‘Siberian squirrel’. Chi-Chi, who always wore a mask from episodes 1 to 9, reveals why she was wearing a mask. Chi-Chi, who has autism spectrum disorder, has an excellent visual sense.

Company Profile

Character Cartoon Startup

Colorful Brain Friend

○ Colorful Brain Friend helps improving incorrect stereotypes and misperceptions about neurodiversity such as autism, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, ADHD, epilepsy, tics, and tourettesyndrome etc.
○ ColorfulBrainFriend helpschildren with neurodiversity a positive neurodivergentidentityfor themselves.
○ <The Squirrels> is a webtoon-based contents aimed at raising awareness of ‘neurodiversity’, which is the hot issue of the world.
○ There are 278 species of the squirrels distributed around the whole world. Among them, 10 squirrels appear as the main characters in each episode, and it is a work that correlates the unique characteristics of squirrels with the characteristics of neurodiversity.
○ The perspective of ‘neurodiversity’, which seeks to respect disability as human diversity rather than limiting it to disease, is shown through the natural life of a squirrel school.
○<The Squirrels> will help children with neurodiversity establish a positive identity.
○ By eliminating stereotypes and prejudices and expanding the range of understanding among those around people with disabilities, it will ultimately help create an inclusive society where people with disabilities can live together.
○ By explaining ‘difference’ as ‘diversity’ within the same species, it also conveys the message of inclusiveness that we are all ‘the same’ people.
○ Colorful Brain Friend has a solid synopsis of the worldview of <The Squirrels> to improve awareness of neurodiversity.

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