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Children of 'BBC Dad' Inspire New Show


Robert Kelly, left, a political science professor at Pusan National University, holds a press conference with his wife Jung-a Kim, right, and children James and Marion at the university in Busan, South Korea, Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
Robert Kelly, left, a political science professor at Pusan National University, holds a press conference with his wife Jung-a Kim, right, and children James and Marion at the university in Busan, South Korea, Wednesday, March 15, 2017.
Children of 'BBC Dad' Inspire New Show
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This is What’s Trending Today.

Do you remember Robert E. Kelly? He is the professor from South Korea who quickly became world famous earlier this year.

On March 10, Kelly was giving an interview to the BBC about the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye when his two young children burst into his home office.

His four-year-old daughter, Marion, opened the door to Kelly’s home office and marched confidently up to her father. Her baby brother, James, followed. He entered the room in a walker, a device with wheels for babies who cannot yet walk.

Not long after, Kelly’s wife, Jeong-ah Kim, ran into the office. She quickly tried to gather the children so that Kelly could continue with his interview.

The video of Kelly’s interview spread quickly on the Internet. In two days, more than 20 million people watched it.

The incident started an online discussion about the roles of men and women, and whether Kim should have been so concerned about the children interrupting Kelly’s interview.

An Australian television comedy show even made a parody video of the moment. Only this time, the politics expert was the mother.

A few days after the BBC interview, the whole Kelly family held a news conference and appeared together on several television news programs. Many people who watched these talked about young Marion’s stylish look. She wore glasses and a trench coat.

Now, about six weeks later, the New York Times has an update on the Kellys.

The Times reported that the Kelly kids inspired an animated show. It is called “The Adventures of Mina and Jack.” Two New Yorkers are producing the show.

The first episode is short; it runs less than three minutes. In the video, Mina and Jack join their father on a business trip and help catch a thief who stole bars of gold.

The creators are hoping the show may someday run on children’s television networks.

"The Adventures of Mina and Jack" are inspired by Marion and James Kelly who interrupted their father's interview with the BBC in March.
"The Adventures of Mina and Jack" are inspired by Marion and James Kelly who interrupted their father's interview with the BBC in March.

The Kellys themselves have nothing to do with the cartoon show. But they say they enjoy it.

So far the video has about 200,000 views on YouTube. And many who have watched the episode wrote that they hope “The Adventures of Mina and Jack” becomes a full television series.

And that’s What’s Trending Today.

I’m Dan Friedell.

Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the New York Times. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

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Words in This Story

impeach v. to charge (a public official) with a crime done while in office

parody – n. a piece of writing, music, etc., that imitates the style of someone or something else in an amusing way

stylish – adj. following the popular style

inspire - v. to give (someone) an idea about what to do or create

animated – adj. produced by the creation of a series of drawings, pictures, etc., that are shown quickly one after another : produced through the process of animation

cartoon – n. a film or television show made by photographing a series of drawings : an animated film or television show

trench coat – n. a usually long raincoat with deep pockets and a belt

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