Science project: the Henson Company's digital puppetry studio makes Sid the Science Kid a real-time animation reality.(Motion Capture)

Sid the Science Kid, a new television series debuting on PBS Kids this month, may be geared for youngsters, but the technology used to create the animation--a puppeteer-controlled real-time motion-capture system--is far from child's play.

Sid the Science Kid, produced by the Jim Henson Company in partnership with Los Angeles public television station KCET, is an animated series that encourages curiosity and teaches the foundations of science to preschoolers. Although the show is aimed at children, it is also certain to catch the attention of animators and animation fans everywhere. That's because Sid is the fruit of Henson Company's many-year effort to create the ...