Childhood Abuse Survivor and Rugrats Producer Devotes Career to Empowering Kids to Overcome Trauma and Triumph with Animation

When Terry Thoren was growing up in the 1960s, cartoons weren’t something many people took seriously — least of all his father Ted, a hall of fame baseball coach who often violently beat Terry at home and disowned him at 16 when Terry decided he wanted to be a filmmaker.

 

Thoren found his escape from abuse in the form of movies and cartoons, which inspired him to become one of the world’s biggest champions of animation as an art form — including founding Animation Magazine and the Denver Film Festival, and serving as the CEO of Klasky Csupo, the production company that incubated the Simpsons and created the Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power and more.

 

Now he’s taking animation’s storytelling power to the next level by putting it directly in the hands of students as a way for them to talk openly about difficult subjects like their traumas and fears.

 

Thoren’s company, Wonder Media, is the creator of the 3-D Story Maker® animation system, which enables users as young as elementary school to write and create their own animated stories.

 

“I created Wonder Media to use animated stories to help prevent trauma for kids, and if they are experiencing trauma, the animated characters model the language to help students find the words and actions to navigate out of trauma,” said Thoren.

 

Since 2014, Wonder Media’s classroom modules like My Life Is Worth Living, which addresses teen mental health and suicide prevention, and The Protect Yourself Rules, which raises awareness to prevent child physical and sexual abuse, have been viewed over one billion times worldwide.

 

This spring in May, Wonder Media is working with students from 17 school districts in and around the Pittsburgh area to create Finding Stories of Wonder in the Land of Oz, a fully student-made animated feature film about navigating the emotional difficulties of graduating from an elementary school to a STEM middle school.

 

“Sometimes the world will put opportunities in front of you, and you need to have the mindset to recognize and accept them,” said Thoren. “One example is a student at Elizabeth Forward High School named Marlee, who has a stutter she’s been working to overcome for years. When she recorded the audio for her role in Finding Stories of Wonder, she realized she doesn’t stutter when she’s acting. Animation really can help students find their voice and use it to overcome life’s challenges.”

 

Finding Stories of Wonder in the Land of Oz is part of Remake Learning Days, and will make its theatrical premiere in Pittsburgh at 10:30am on May 23, 2025 at the Avonworth School District Auditorium.

 

The project is supported by The Grable Foundation.