SEASON THREE OF DISNEY CHANNEL'S TOP RATED SERIES "A.N.T. FARM" PREMIERES FRIDAY, MAY 31 WITH A SPECIAL ONE-HOUR EPISODE

Season three of "A.N.T. Farm," the hit comedy series for kids and tweens, premieres FRIDAY, MAY 31 (8:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET/PT) on Disney Channel with a special one-hour episode. Starring China Anne McClain, the new season follows musical prodigy Chyna Parks and her friends, Olive Doyle, Fletcher Quimby and Angus Chestnut, as well as cheerleader Lexi Reed, who reveals her own prodigious talent, as they move away from home to attend a prestigious A.N.T. (Advanced Natural Talents) boarding school. The episode features the new original song "Stars Aligning," performed by Hollywood Records recording artist McClain.

In the premiere episode, the ANTs are excited when billionaire former child prodigy, Zoltan Grundy, announces the opportunity for Webster High students to audition and attend his exclusive A.N.T. boarding school. Chyna, Olive, Fletcher, Angus and Lexi all audition for the new school, but soon after, Chyna is heartbroken when she discovers she didn't make the final cut.

"A.N.T. Farm" premiered in June 2011 and ranks as TV's #1 telecast on Fridays at 8 o'clock across Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11 and Tweens 9-14. In 4Q12 it reached more than 138 million unduplicated viewers worldwide, in 162 countries and in 30 languages. [Source: NTI, U.S. ratings, most current, rank in time period vs. all TV, Fridays 8 p.m. Global: 10/1/12-12/30/12, individual country source lines available upon request.]

The "A.N.T. Farm" soundtrack from Walt Disney Records spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard Kids Album chart and yielded two hits for McClain, "Dynamite" and "Calling All the Monsters," each spending several weeks at #1 on Radio Disney's Top 30. Additionally, McClain, age 14, is currently working on an album with her sisters Sierra and Lauryn. The McClain Sisters wrote and performed "Rise," as featured in Disneynature's "Chimpanzee" and "The Great Divide" from the Tinker Bell film, "Secret of the Wings."

The series was created by Dan Signer ("The Suite Life on Deck," "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody") and is executive-produced by Signer and Stephen Engel ("The Big Bang Theory," "Mad About You," "Dream On"). In addition to McClain, the series stars Sierra McCormick ("Ramona and Beezus") as Olive Doyle, Jake Short ("Shorts," "Dexter") as Fletcher Quimby, Stefanie Scott ("Flipped," "No Strings Attached") as Lexi Reed and Aedin Mincks ("Desperate Housewives," "The Middle") as Angus Chestnut. Recurring is Dominic Burgess ("90210," "Rules of Engagement") as Zoltan Grundy.

New episodes of "A.N.T. Farm" air FRIDAYS on Disney Channel. The series is a production of It's A Laugh Productions, Inc and carries a TV-G parental guideline.

Disney Channel is a 24-hour kid-driven, family inclusive television network that taps into the world of kids and families through original series and movies. Currently available on basic cable in over 99 million U.S. homes and to millions of other viewers on Disney Channels around the world, Disney Channel is part of the Disney/ABC Television Group.