Wonder Quest

Wonder Quest was an edutainment children’s web series from Disney’s Maker Studios. It was created by Joseph Garrett, a prominent YouTube commentator who posts videos primarily set in the sandbox game Minecraft as his internet persona "Stampy Cat".[1] The series was scripted by Patrick Muhlberger, Ryan Burns, and Garrett, and produced by Muhlberger.[2] The Minecraft educational content was initially developed by Adam Clarke, who stars alongside Garrett as his own persona, "Wizard Keen".[3]

Wonder Quest
Title card
GenreEdutainment
Created by
Written by
  • Joseph Garrett
  • Patrick Muhlberger
  • Ryan Burns
Starring
Composers
  • Seth Earnest
  • Duke Westlake
Country of originUnited Kingdom
United States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes24
Production
ProducerPatrick Muhlberger
Production companies
Release
Original networkYouTube
Original releaseApril 25, 2015 (2015-04-25) –
November 5, 2016 (2016-11-05)

Featured on the Wonder Quest YouTube channel, Maker Studios described the series as a spinoff series of Joseph Garrett’s main YouTube channel, starring the character Stampy Cat.[1] Citing the runaway success of Minecraft as inspiration for Wonder Quest at the MIPTV television industry conference in Cannes, Garrett states that “if you take their engagement and put it into a more productive space like education or the arts, they’re going to be involved in that, they’re going to be engaged”.[4]

Wonder Quest premiered on April 25, 2015. By December 2016, the series had garnered over 101 million views.[5] The first episode of season 2 was released on August 20, 2016.[1]

Synopsis

Wonder Quest follows the anthropomorphic Stampy Cat and sorcerer Wizard Keen, who go on many adventures to stop various forces of evil from destroying a magic gem, called the Wonder Gem.

Series overview
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
112April 25, 2015 (2015-04-25)July 11, 2015 (2015-07-11)
212August 20, 2016 (2016-08-20)November 5, 2016 (2016-11-05)

Season 1 (2015)

Set in the town of Wonderberg, Stampy Cat and his newly acquainted friend, Wizard Keen, try to save the town from his evil wizard brother, Heinous. Together, they set off on an adventure to piece back together the 5 wonderments of the wonder gem to bring back wonder in Wonderberg, and they encounter trouble along the way.

Season 2 (2016)

Stampy Cat and Wizard Keen receive a mysterious invitation to the Society of Wonderers. As new members of the society, the Head Wonderer, Priscilla, charges the duo to spread wonder and guard Wonderberg from evil forces. They encounter Rama, a rejected member of the society who changed the past to stop the world's greatest wonderers from wondering. Using a time machine, the team sets off on another adventure to bring back wonder to the present.

Voice cast

Production and release

Wonder Quest was first announced by Joseph Garrett at the MIPTV television industry conference in April 2015. The series is a partnership between Joseph Garrett and Maker Studios. YouTube secured rights as the exclusive distributor of the series, as its parent company Google pushed for a wider coverage of children’s content on their video streaming site.[10]

The series takes on a different format to Garrett’s normal slate of videos: “It’s different to my normal videos just playing and talking about Minecraft. It’s a completely scripted show, and the production values are much higher: there’s an original score and lots of sound effects and overlays.”. Additionally, the series is pitched as an educational show for children, however Garrett stressed that entertainment is the main priority: "There’s no point having an educational show if nobody’s going to watch it".[10]

The original Minecraft maps were built by The Voxelbox, Blockworks and Johan “Dragnoz” Kruger. The original soundtrack was composed by Seth Earnest.[11]

Wonder Quest premiered on April 25, 2015. Episodes were released on a weekly schedule with an animated I Wonder episode.[5]

As part of YouTube Gaming's virtual reality initiative, season 2 of Wonder Quest includes content uploaded in 360° video. Installments of the virtual reality content immerses fans in interactive games, stories, and rides.[12]

I Wonder

Every Wonder Quest episode is accompanied by an episode of a short animated side series called I Wonder, also produced by Maker Studios. The short series, each episode lasting around three minutes in length, features Stampy Cat and Wizard Keen investigating educational topics explored in each corresponding Wonder Quest episode. The supervising producer is Cella Duffy and the co-directors are Josh Bitzer and TJ Fuller.[13] Original music for I Wonder is composed by Duke Westlake.[13]

Side Quest

Side Quest is a companion series for Wonder Quest featured on Garrett’s main channel, stampylonghead. Unlike Wonder Quest and I Wonder, this series uses the Let’s Play format. In this series, Stampy explores the world of Wonderberg with Wizard Keen and other characters.[14]

Awards
Year Award Category Result
2016 Webby Awards Video Channels and Networks – Gaming Nominated[15]
Kidscreen Award Best Web/App Series Nominated[16]

References
  1. Wonder Quest (2015-07-11), Wonder Quest - Episode 12 - STAMPY'S MINECRAFT SHOW | Stampylonghead (Stampy Cat), ShayCarl, retrieved 2016-04-25
  2. TeamMojang (2016-09-24), MINECON 2016 Day 1, retrieved 2016-10-15
  3. TeamMojang (2015-07-30), MINECON 2015 In the Studio with Stampy and Adam Clarke, retrieved 2017-05-30
  4. Dredge, Stuart (2014-04-09). "YouTube star Stampylonghead launching new education channel". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  5. "Wonder Quest". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  6. thewizardandwyld (2020-09-06). "Wonder Quest". The Digital Noodle Newsletter. Retrieved 2023-08-27.
  7. STAMPY VS SQUID! - MINECON 2016, retrieved 2023-08-27
  8. "twitter.com/stampylongnose/status/759089598651916288". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  9. "Rachel Staman - Sweet, Trustworthy, Upbeat Girl Next Door". Voice123. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  10. Dredge, Stuart (2015-04-27). "YouTube backs digital star Stampy (Joseph's Youtube nickname) 's new Minecraft show Wonder Quest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  11. Wonder Quest (2015-04-25), Wonder Quest - STAMPY'S NEW MINECRAFT ADVENTURE- Episode 1 | Stampylonghead aka Stampy Cat, retrieved 2016-04-25
  12. Studios, Maker. "Season 2 of Award-Winning Original Series "Wonder Quest," From Disney's Maker Studios, Attracts 10MM Views on YouTube". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  13. Wonder Quest (2015-07-11), I Wonder - Episode 12 - Stampylonghead (Stampy Cat) and Wizard Keen - Baking a Cake! - WONDER QUEST, retrieved 2016-04-25
  14. "stampylonghead". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  15. "2016 Webby Awards Nominees in Online Video Announced - VideoInk". VideoInk. Retrieved 2016-04-25.
  16. "2016 Kidscreen Awards shortlist revealed". Retrieved 2016-10-15.
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