''Zoboomafoo'' is a live-action/animated

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

that originally aired on PBS from January 25, 1999, to June 7, 2001. It was formerly shown in public television (depending on the area) and was regularly shown on Sprout until 2013. A total of 65 episodes were aired. A creation of the Kratt Brothers (

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

and

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

), it features a talking

lemur Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagas ...

Coquerel's sifaka Coquerel's sifaka (''Propithecus coquereli'') is a diurnal, medium-sized lemur of the sifaka genus '' Propithecus''. It is native to northwest Madagascar. Coquerel's sifaka was once considered to be a subspecies of Verreaux's sifaka, but was ...

) named Zoboomafoo, performed by Canadian puppeteer Gord Robertson (who had also puppeteered on Jim Henson's ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim Hen ...

''), and mainly portrayed by a lemur named Jovian, along with a collection of returned animal guests. Every episode begins with the Kratt brothers in Animal Junction, a peculiar place in which the rules of nature change and wild animals come to visit and play. On November 10, 2014, Jovian died in his home at the

Duke Lemur Center The Duke Lemur Center is an sanctuary for rare and endangered strepsirrhine primates, located at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. It is the largest sanctuary for strepsirrhine primates in the world. The center is open to the public ...

in Durham, North Carolina at the age of 20 due to kidney failure.

Premise and structure

Upon their arrival at Animal Junction, the Kratt brothers (

and

Martin Kratt Martin William Kratt (born December 23, 1965) and Christopher Frederick James Kratt (born July 19, 1969), are American zoologists, actors, producers, directors, and educational nature show hosts. Sons of musical-instrument manufacturer William K ...

) lean out the window and call Zoboomafoo ("Zoboo" and "Zob" for short), shown in a live-action segment as an actual lemur (Jovian) leaping across a field to reach them. When he comes to Animal Junction, he won't talk to the Kratt brothers until they give him a snack, generally appropriate lemur food like garbanzo beans, sweet potato, or mango slices. After he's done eating his snack, he promptly burps, saying, "Excuse me," and spins around on a turntable, shouting, ''"Zoboomafoo-oo-oo-oo-oo!"'' at which point he becomes a talking lemur puppet (voiced by Robertson). He then leads into the main segment of the episode by describing a "Mangatsika!" (a Malagasy word meaning "cold," but used in the series to mean "cool") animal that he saw on his way to Animal Junction. As he describes the animal, a song is played, "Who Could It Be?", while a cartoon shows the characteristics of the "mystery animal." At the end of the song, Chris and Martin try to guess the animal Zoboo has described, and the mystery is revealed when the animal or animals arrive at Animal Junction. Each episode has a theme. The arrival of the "mystery animal," generally used as exposition, leads Zoboo, Chris and Martin into a conversation about the animal. Once or twice every episode, Zoboo says that some event in Animal Junction reminds him of a time in Zobooland, where he tells stories about his best friends in Zobooland, such as... *Narchi: A teal elephant who uses his nose for a handful of tasks, like playing Goobleberry Catch and planting Goobleberry bushes all over Zobooland when the berries have seeds in them. *Gooble: A purple bear who eats fruit called Goobleberries and drinks Goobleberry goo (the juice from Goobleberries). *Sensit: A blue-violet

mouse lemur The mouse lemurs are nocturnal lemurs of the genus ''Microcebus''. Like all lemurs, mouse lemurs are native to Madagascar. Mouse lemurs have a combined head, body and tail length of less than , making them the smallest primates (the smallest spe ...

typically plays around and walks on his fingers. *Wiggy Waxwing: A blue and red chicken who likes to sing and eat Root Noodles. *Green Puppy: A green puppy who loves to play in Goobleberry Goo. *Slimantha: A yellow and blue salamander that likes to slide around and loves to hug her friends, despite them slipping out of her grip. At first, she had hydrophobia but overcame her fear when playing with Zoboo and Fibby. *Noggendrill: An orange mole with a drill horn he uses to dig. *Snow Lemur: A shy blue and white lemur that lives on top of Mt. Zoboomafoo. *Mama and Baby Zoboomafooasaurus: Two dinosaurs (possibly a

Ceratosaurus ''Ceratosaurus'' (from Greek κέρας/κέρατος, ' meaning "horn" and σαῦρος ' meaning "lizard") was a carnivorous theropod dinosaur in the Late Jurassic period ( Kimmeridgian to Tithonian). The genus was first described in 1 ...

--due to having them one horn on the noses) that the animals often play on. *Sensit's Little Sisters: Three small

s related to Sensit also play around. *Buggly: A gravelly-voiced bug that Zoboo rides on. *Fibby: A sea creature with an octopus tentacle and a lobster claw. *Cy: A flying green one-eyed squid introduced in the second season These segments are animated, using

clay animation Clay animation or claymation, sometimes plasticine animation, is one of many forms of stop-motion animation. Each animated piece, either character or background, is "deformable"—made of a malleable substance, usually plasticine clay. Tra ...

and feature distinct voices for each character. After the first Zobooland story, Zoboo singing about feeling that different creature, and the mystery animal leaving, Zoboo, Chris, and Martin received a letter from the Animal Helpers (Jackie in the first season and Amy in the second season), who show children how to help animals. This leads to Chris and Martin visiting creatures related to the theme, always beginning with the song "Going to the Closet" sung by Zoboo (and sometimes the characters from Zobooland). When Chris and Martin return to Animal Junction to see Zoboo talking to another mystery animal. At the end of each episode and after the second Zobooland story, Zoboo and the brothers sign off by singing "Animal Friends," which tells us why animals are friends to everyone, despite being different species. Finally, Zoboo turns back into a normal lemur and returns to Madagascar while saying goodbye to Chris and Martin. Chris and Martin also leave Animal Junction to better demonstrate the day's theme, traveling to a region, often in India or Africa, to visit the creatures there. Before the credits of each episode, kids show and tell the viewers about all kinds of animals and pets they have, and a disclaimer is played telling the viewers that they should be careful with the animals they meet. Then Chris and Martin mention animal facts that lead Zoboo to a joke. Example: "Knock knock! Who's there? Panther. Panther, who? Panther no pants, I'm going swimming!" The disclaimer and joke were edited out for non-PBS airings (except for On-Demand viewings and

Universal Kids Universal Kids is an American children's television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented channel joint ...

Cast

Chris Kratt Martin William Kratt (born December 23, 1965) and Christopher Frederick James Kratt (born July 19, 1969), are American zoologists, actors, producers, directors, and educational nature show hosts. Sons of musical-instrument manufacturer William K ...

as himself *

as himself * Jovian and Gord Robertson as Zoboomafoo, Zobooland Characters (voices only) * Samantha Tolkacz as Jackie (Season 1) * Genevieve Farrell as Amy (Season 2)

Episodes

Running gags

The series has some forms of slapstick and situation comedy as well. It starts when Zoboo burps after eating a snack, saying, "Excuse me," and spins around on a turntable, shouting, ''"Zoboomafoo-oo-oo-oo-oo!"'' Running gags of the series include Chris and Martin (and sometimes, Zoboo) falling into a swimming pool, a mud puddle and even simply falling. The most prominent of these recurring jokes is the "closet" gag, reminiscent of

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program. The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...

, only it involves a crammed closet that Chris and Martin open to gather needed items for exploration. As Zoboo sings a song about the brothers' preparations for a trip, Chris and Martin open the door. An avalanche of outdoor items and clothes fall on them, knocking them over and resulting in laughter. Then they emerge from the pile of gear, fully equipped for their trip. In the episode "Running," Chris and Martin open the closet, expecting to be buried under its contents, only to find it clean and organized. A form of slapstick comedy shown is when Zoboo or the brothers get hit by flying items, such as pies, balls, and even yarn thrown by animals. Also, just before the trip, there is always a bird that flies down towards Animal Junction, making Chris and Martin yell, "Incoming! Duck!" Very rarely is the bird an actual duck. Often it's a peregrine falcon named Sticky Feet or a barn owl named Moon Face. Some of Zoboo's catchphrases include "Mangatsika!" (a Malagasy phrase meaning "cold" which was mistakenly used instead of "Milay" which is the Malagasy version of the English word "Cool!"), "I meant to do that!", "I can't believe my mind!", "I'm voky!" and "Hey! Hoo! Hubba hubba!".

Animal Helpers

Another segment of the series features a group of kids known as the "Animal Helpers," who send messages to the Kratt brothers at Animal Junction through a series of birds: a

turkey vulture The turkey vulture (''Cathartes aura'') is the most widespread of the New World vultures. One of three species in the genus '' Cathartes'' of the family Cathartidae, the turkey vulture ranges from southern Canada to the southernmost tip of So ...

(named Tomatohead), an

barn owl The barn owl (''Tyto alba'') is the most widely distributed species of owl in the world and one of the most widespread of all species of birds, being found almost everywhere except for the polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Himala ...

(called Moonface), a

lanner falcon The lanner falcon (''Falco biarmicus'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that breeds in Africa, southeast Europe and just into Asia. It prefers open habitat and is mainly resident, but some birds disperse more widely after the breeding season. A l ...

(named Sandstorm), a

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey bac ...

(named Stickyfeet), a

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air"), or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extre ...

(called Blink), a

saker falcon The saker falcon (''Falco cherrug'') is a large species of falcon. This species breeds from central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia ...

, a

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird ...

(named Talon), a

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

, a

snowy owl The snowy owl (''Bubo scandiacus''), also known as the polar owl, the white owl and the Arctic owl, is a large, white owl of the true owl family. Snowy owls are native to the Arctic regions of both North America and the Palearctic, breeding m ...

, a

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

and several others. The letters lead into short stories illustrating the Animal Helpers' interactions with the animals in their environments, performing small tasks such as placing a baby bird back in its nest or leading a calf back to a mother cow. Samantha Tolkacz appeared on the series as Jackie from its introduction on January 25, 1999, until April 27, 2000. Genevieve Farrell replaced her, appearing as Amy for the rest of the series. Zoboomafoo would also give the animals interesting names that have to do with their appearance, behavior, or personality. Examples include a baby Indian elephant named "Toothbrush" because of his bristly hair; a young female chimpanzee named "Brainiac" because chimps are very intelligent; and two sloths named "Slow" and "Slower."

Production notes

''Zoboomafoo'' was produced by PBS KIDS,

CINAR Corporation Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. (also known as Cookie Jar Group and originally known as CINAR; renamed as DHX Cookie Jar Inc. from 2012 until 2014, or simply just Cookie Jar) was a Canadian media production and distribution company owned by DHX M ...

(now WildBrain), and the Kratt brothers' Earth Creatures Company. Partial filming for the series took place on location at the

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 Census, Durham is the 4th- ...

. Although the last new episode aired on

PBS Kids PBS Kids is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service ( PBS) in the United States. Some public television children's programs are not produced by PBS member stations or transmitted by PBS. Inste ...

in November 2001, most PBS stations continued to rerun ''Zoboomafoo'' episodes in syndication until January 2004. In addition, Sprout aired reruns until August 2013. After production on the series ended, in 2003, the Kratt Brothers began another series titled ''

Be the Creature ''Be the Creature'' is a TV series created by the Kratt Brothers (Chris and Martin). A wildlife series designed to immerse both the brothers and the viewers in the world of animals, unlike the brothers' previous works, ''Kratts' Creatures'' and '' ...

'' on the

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...

. In 2011, they would create'' Wild Kratts'' an animated series, which currently airs on PBS Kids and

TVOntario TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...

. Jovian (a captive

housed at the Duke Lemur Center) portrayed Zoboomafoo in the live-action segments (along with stand-ins). On November 10, 2014, he died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

in his home at age 20.

Telecast

The show was first premiered on PBS on January 25, 1999 and ended on June 7, 2001. It is formerly shown in public television (depending on the area). After the series ended, reruns aired on selected PBS stations until 2017. In addition, Sprout aired reruns until February 2012. The show is/was broadcast in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Middle East, and India.

Awards and nominations

''Zoboomafoo'' received the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series and a

Parents' Choice Award The Parents' Choice Award was an award presented by the non-profit Parents' Choice Foundation to recognize "the very best products for children of different ages and backgrounds, and of varied skill and interest levels." It was considered a "prest ...

for Spring 2001 and Silver Honor for Fall 2001.

Other media

There are also several video games for the PC based on ''Zoboomafoo'', where children learn the alphabet and animals that correlate to each letter. Some of the letters have interactive games to go with them, such as a coloring page.

References

External links