There aren’t many children’s shows related to Jewish culture out there in popular media today, an issue that one kosher dill pickle with Baltimore ties is attempting to resolve.
Monty Pickle is the titular character in an online short video series launched earlier this year by a group of Emmy-winning or nominated children’s programming creators who want to spread knowledge about Jewish traditions and culture with a flair of humor.
Longtime TV industry veteran Halle Stanford, who produced well-known projects including “Fraggle Rock” and “Sid the Science Kid,” realized the need for a Jewish kids’ program through an interaction with … well, a Jewish kid.
“I was actually at a trampoline park and I had this, like Mickey Mouse Chanukah menorah backpack, and this little kid came up to me and he said, ‘Hey, are you Jewish?’ And I was like, ‘Yes, I am.’ And we did a fist bump, and he said, ‘You know, I’m bullied on Roblox for being Jewish,’” Stanford said.
Stanford said that revelation took her breath away, even more so when the child informed her that he was only 8 years old. She said in that moment, she realized there was a need for a series for kids to celebrate Jewish joy and foster pride in Jewish identity.
The best way to bring the show to life was to create a character that kids can connect with. So the project brought on Jewish puppeteer and Columbia native Victor Yerrid, who plays the chief role of Monty Pickle.
“Having a friend for kids that they love, whether it’s a sponge living in a pineapple under the sea or a frog playing the banjo, usually bonds kids to the experience,” Stanford said.
Yerrid spent the first 17 years of his life in Columbia before he attended college in Philadelphia and earned a degree from the Curtis Institute of Music.
Yerrid explained the importance of being a puppeteer and inspirational figure for kids behind the scenes.
“I think a lot of puppeteers come to this [field] with pretty altruistic hopes and dreams of reaching a wide family audience,” he said. “As you’re performing, you’ve always got an ear out for the kids who are hopefully listening and watching what you’re doing and trying to be positive and sometimes teaching lessons, but also just being funny and, for me, puppeteering is just a chance to goof around and play like a kid. For me, Monty is particularly special because of my Jewish background — I’m able to really share and kind of dive into what that means to me.”
Todd Shotz, a producer on the show and Jewish educational consultant, said that the first episodes, which range from 20 seconds to nearly 10 minutes, came out around March and have been featured on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
“The reason that we’re out in social media, particularly on YouTube, is YouTube has 2.5 billion users per month, and that’s where kids are, and that’s where their families are. We want to be there with this really fun and meaningful content,” Stanford said. “The education of the Jewish experience is going to, I think, create really meaningful friends across the world, and we hope Monty can be that bridge.”
Shotz explained that Monty covers a range of topics. He just learned his Chanukah blessings for an upcoming episode, previously explained Purim, and recently learned how to do a shofar blowing for Rosh Hashanah.
Head writer Elise Allen explained that the writing process tries to balance what’s happening in Judaism at the moment and what’s happening in culture.
She explained that when the new “Superman” movie came out in the summer, Monty did an episode reviewing it. To Monty’s disappointment, there were no pickles in “Superman.”
Yerrid said that his role as Monty hasn’t just been educational for the audience alone.
“[There’s] a lot of the nuance stuff that I didn’t know about Jewish religion and Jewish culture. And steeping myself in it more has been just a phenomenal learning experience for me, and just a great opportunity to share that with Jewish and non-Jewish families alike,” Yerrid said.
Stanford said a major goal of the videos is to reach a non-Jewish population of kids and their families.
Allen shared an anecdote about the show’s impact that she experienced firsthand with an interfaith family who she met on a cross-country flight.
One of the parents explained that he had been searching for a resource to show his young kids about the traditions he grew up with but had been having trouble finding any. Allen recommended the show, and the parent told her it was exactly what he was looking for.
Stanford said the production team hopes to grow the show and obtain the funding for a longer format series. The YouTube channel currently has more than 175 subscribers. The Instagram page has more than 700 followers.
Shotz and Allen said their experience of working on the show and bringing it to kids has been amazing.
“I’m so heartened as a Jewish producer, as a Jewish educator, to get to work with them on a project that is this important, that will be, and is already starting to be this important to the Jewish community,” Shotz said.
