television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
programme aimed at young children, broadcast on the BBC pre-school channel
CBeebies
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...
, which ran from 5 April 2010 to 11 June 2012.
Overview
ZingZillas is a music show aimed at children ages six and under.
It is set on a monkey-shaped tropical island where everyone joins in to create music magic. They use musical influences from all over the globe from
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
to
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
to
samba
Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havin ...
,
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...
to
orchestra
An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.
There are typically four main sections of instruments:
* bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
.
A yellow submarine is sometimes seen in the sea near the island. One episode contains what appears to be a view from the submarine through its
periscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position.
In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
. In a recently started five-minute version called ''Zingzillas Zingbop'', the submarine goes very near the viewpoint, showing children inside the submarine through its
porthole
A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicle ...
s; those children later take part in the programme's singing and dancing session, as if (in the world of the story) the submarine is the usual transport for guests to and from the island.
The main characters are primates: Zak, Tang, Panzee and the youngest, Drum. They are mentored by music guru DJ Loose and they create their unique ZingZilla sound just in time for their daily performance which is called 'The Big Zing'. A coconut clock counts down the time to the island's fireworks eruption that signals the start of the Big Zing and breaks each programme into four parts.
In every episode from series 3, they wake up and ask Todd for an idea for the day's song. Todd uses his ideas machine but it always breaks down, or other things happen. They are visited by a different musical guest. The ZingZillas always discover their musical guests in a 'glade' in the jungle and they take inspiration from these guests, incorporating them and their sounds into The Big Zing, where they wear a cool cape, a feather boa, a groovy hat and wings.
Original music for the series has been composed by
Banks & Wag
Banks & Wag are composers based in London.
Chris Banks and Wag Marshall-Page studied Commercial Music together at the University of Westminster (1996-1999). After graduation, Chris studied Composition For Screen at the Royal College of Music (1 ...
.
On Monday, 30 August 2010, "Do You
Didgeridoo
The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...
?" was released on an EP, alongside the "ZingZillas Theme Tune" and "Bhangra Beat", reaching #1 in the iTunes Children's Chart.
On Monday 4 October 2010, "ZingZillas: The Album" was released on CD and as a digital download, reaching #1 in the iTunes Children's Chart on the first day. The recording features guest tracks by musical luminaries who have appeared on the show including cellist
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme.
Early years and education
Julian ...
flautist
James Galway
Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". He established an international career as a solo flute player. In 2005, he received the Brit Award for Outstan ...
and jazz vocalist
Cleo Laine
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth (born Clementine Dinah Bullock; 28 October 1927)
Characters
Each ZingZilla has their own personality:
* Zak has a positive attitude. He is serious, confident and likes taking risks. He is a
gorilla
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
who is the lead singer, played by
Jeremiah Krage
Jeremiah Krage is a British actor who appears in television, including the 2015 reboot of ''Teletubbies'' as Tinky Winky.
Career
Among his many credits he appeared in the eighth series '' Doctor Who'' as a Cyberman, portrayed Zak in ''ZingZillas ...
and Jack Andrews and has purple fur. He is voiced by
Michael Offei
Michael Shaun Offei (born 4 October 1966) is an English actor. He is best known for starring in the CBeebies
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the br ...
.
* Tang thinks creatively and is never afraid of asking for help whenever there's a problem. He is an
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
who plays guitars (acoustic & electric) and backing vocals. He is played by
Nick Kellington
Nick Kellington is a British actor and musician. He is best known for his roles in children's television series, the new ''Star Wars'' films and '' The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance''. His television acting career began in 2007, when he portraye ...
and voiced by Gary Jordan.
* Panzee loves to dress up. She is sensitive, fun and always ready to try something new. She is a
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
who plays bass, keyboards and backing vocals, played by Victoria Bovingdon and voiced by
Sarah-Jane Honeywell
Sarah-Jane Honeywell (born 5 January 1974) is an English actress, writer, TV and radio presenter, blogger and singer. She is best known for her work on the CBeebies television channel.
As well as appearing on pre-school TV, Honeywell is a suppor ...
.
* Drum is very young at heart. She loves exploring sounds and enjoys making rhythms and noise. She is very sensitive to the mood of music. She is a
monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
who plays drums, percussion and backing vocals, is played by Rachelle Beinart, Cecily Fay and Amy Collins and her voice is by Penni Tovey.
Other characters
* Todd is the 'father figure'. Helpful, inventive, accident-prone and loveable. He is a
mandrill
The mandrill (''Mandrillus sphinx'') is a large Old World monkey native to west central Africa. It is one of the most colorful mammals in the world, with red and blue skin on its face and posterior. The species is sexually dimorphic, as males ...
and has a ideas machine that always breaks down, Todd is performed and voiced by Aiden Cook.
* Auntie Dot is a relation of Todd. She is voiced by Penni Tovey.
* DJ Loose is the island's
sloth
Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their li ...
DJ. He plays the ZingZillas music made by real people in the glade. DJ Loose is Puppeteered and voiced by Mark Jefferis and Josh Elwell.
* The Beach Byrds (Maxine, Patti and Laverne) are tropical birds who work in the coconut hut and say everything tunefully.
* The Moaning Stones are similar to the standing
moai
Moai or moʻai ( ; es, moái; rap, moʻai, , statue) are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, Rapa Nui in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main mo ...
heads on
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...
. Although four are shown, only the middle pair called Granite and Gravel talk.
Episodes & guest performers
Series Overview
Series 1 (2010)
Series 2 (2010)
Series 3 (2011–2012)
Series 4 (2012)
DVD releases
Welcome to the Island
This DVD contains five episodes (note that it's ''not'' the first five of the series, although there's a lot of overlap):
# Didgeridoo Hullabaloo (Series 1, Episode 1)
# Operatic Todd (Series 1, Episode 6)
# Rock Guitar (Series 1, Episode 3)
# Auntie Dot’s Dash (Series 1, Episode 4)
# A Great Place to Live (Series 1, Episode 11)
Extras: Musical instrument game and character profile.
World Music Tour
This DVD contains five episodes:
# Bhangra Beats (Series 1, Episode 8)
# Welcome Beach Byrds (Series 1, Episode 14)
# Keep Your Castanets (Series 1, Episode 17)
# Disappearing Drum (Series 1, Episode 16)
# Bam-Boo! (Series 2, Episode 3)
Extras: Interactive game