What has a green carpet, Chick-fil-A, green popcorn, cotton candy, face-painting, and balloon animals? While most carnivals offer some of these things, much to the delight of the children in attendance, the November 14 premiere of “The Adventures of Iggy and Mr. Kirk” in downtown Nashville had it all in abundance!
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“The Adventures of Iggy and Mr. Kirk” is the brainchild of actor and Christian activist Kirk Cameron and Brave Books founder and CEO Trent Talbot, marking their foray out of the book publishing world and into the children’s television production space. When I spoke with Cameron in February about this much-anticipated part live-action, part animation endeavor, the concept and the episodes were in the formative stages, and Brave Books was crowdfunding to create more episodes.
It’s live action combined with animation. It’s got timeless biblical moral values that will be pro God, pro America, and we address issues that Mr. Rogers never had to deal with. He didn’t have to deal with critical race theory. He wasn’t dealing with gender-bending ideas and having to remind boys that, you know, you, can’t get pregnant. These are the kinds of things that we have to teach kids today, though, and that’s why I think it’s utterly unique and it may be the most important project I’ve ever worked on. So we’re really excited about it.
Thanks to a partnership with Texas FilmWorks at Texas A&M University, “The Adventures of Iggy and Mr. Kirk” not only came to full fruition, but has been able to film two seasons of episodes.
“This partnership marks a significant milestone for us in children’s entertainment,” said Brandon Jones ‘95, CEO of TexAgs and Texas FilmWorks. “Working with BRAVE Books, we’re setting new standards for content that is not only enjoyable but profoundly impactful. We’re committed to making ‘Adventures with Iggy and Mr. Kirk’ a beloved household name for its positive influence on young minds.”
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Brave Books’ founder and CEO Trent Talbot, who is a Texas A&M alum, was also thrilled at the partnership.
“We vetted dozens of production studios and we felt Texas FilmWorks was the best fit to make this incredibly important project become a reality.”
In its short, three-year his tory, Brave Books has transformed the culture — first, with books that celebrate and affirm traditional and conservative values and use engaging storytelling, illustrations, and top-notch conservative voices to further draw in the reader and deliver the content. In 2023, Brave Books took a stand with its “See You At the Library ” events across the country, which provided an alternative to the indoctrination of children through drag queen story hours and pride celebrations. Now, Brave Books has entered the children’s programming space, which, according to my interviews with parents and caregivers of small children, has gotten on board with the Woke agendas and indoctrination.
Who knew? Brave Books did, and they decided to enter the fray to offer a wholesome and highly entertaining alternative. Brave Books titles are now in over 250,000 homes. With the launch of “The Adventures of Iggy and Mr. Kirk,” the whimsical treehouse world created through Mr. Kirk, Iggy the Iguana, Mailman Dan, Creative Leigh, and other characters offers life lessons rooted in the biblical truth and a foundation of family.
The Daily Wire and its CEO, Jeremy Boreing, helped to kick this movement off when they made the move to Nashville and started their own media company for film and television production. Boreing was on the green carpet in support of Brave Books and their latest endeavor.
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Actor and Christian Activist Kirk Cameron has been the instrument God used to usher in this revolution. A pop-culture icon in the ’80s sitcom “Growing Pains,” his portrayal of teenager Mike Seaver left a legacy of impactful lessons and fond memories for Gen X on down. Cameron has recently become a grandfather, and his work with Brave Books in not just authoring books, but spearheading the library story hours, and now the birth of “The Adventures of Iggy and Mr. Kirk,” has added another layer to his legacy for a new generation of young people.
I nabbed Cameron on the Green Carpet to talk about this legacy and the vision for the future of the television series.
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As a child-free family, it was a wild time for my husband and me, but it was also wonderful to see entire families, including grandparents, hanging out with their children and grandchildren and enjoying a family-friendly environment. Before the two-episode premiere, Mailman Dan (actor Danny Adams) and Creative Leigh (actress Leigh-Allyn Baker) warmed up the audience by having them tell Dad jokes and offering prizes and Brave Books giveaways. The evening’s host, country music star John Rich, spoke to the urgent need to restore culture, and praised BRAVE Books for being at the forefront of that restoration.
There’s a lot of powerful entities out there in the government, and well-funded institutions that really don’t want to see a move like Brave Books take root. Why? Well, because it takes up their share and it pushes them out the door. Well you know what? It’s working! Last I heard about 250,000 households now have Brave Books in their house.
“Duck Dynasty” reality TV star Jep Robertson opened the evening in prayer, and the audience got the delight of watching the first episode which centered on forgiveness.
In between the episodes, Cameron and Iggy (manned by puppeteer and voice actor John Kennedy) answered kids’ questions about the episode and Iggy’s life. The second episode centered around identity, a crucial focus with the rampant gender indoctrination plaguing our schools and society.
The Chef’s kiss to the evening: John Rich led the audience in some songs, including “God Bless the USA.”
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After the premiere, guests were given a swag bag of Chick-fil-A, an Iggy hand puppet, and cool stickers. Mom Christine Yeargin was highly complimentary of the evening.
The premiere of Adventures of Iggy and Mr. Kirk felt like such a win for families. For some time now, as parents, we have had to say no to so much because of the woke agenda pushed on kids. “No, you can’t read that” or “No, you can’t watch that.” It was so refreshing to experience the launch of a brand-new wholesome kids show that we can not only say yes to, but also be excited for our children to watch!
Visit WatchBrave.com to discover how you can assist Brave Books in producing more episodes and transforming the culture.