''Happy Monster Band'' (also known as ''Happy Monster Band: Direct from Monsterland'' and ''Happy Monster Band: World Tour'') is a short-lived 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

Playhouse Disney Playhouse Disney was a brand of programming blocks and international cable and satellite television channels that were owned by the Disney Channels Worldwide unit (now Disney Branded Television) of The Walt Disney Company's Disney–ABC Tel ...

from October 1, 2007, to October 28, 2008. The series was created by Don Carter and produced by Kickstart Productions. It is about a group of monsters who perform songs about friendship, love, exercise, chores, and other preschool themes.

Characters

Main

There are four monsters that make up the Happy Monster Band: Ink, Bluz, L.O., and Frred. Each monster's name reflects its color: Ink's signature color is pink, Bluz's is blue, L.O.'s is yellow and Frred's is red. They were designed by Don Carter. All four band members are children, but their singing voices are those of the members of the band

Tally Hall Tally Hall is an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in December 2002. The band is known for upbeat melodies and whimsical lyrics. The members originally described their musical style as "wonky rock," later redefining their soun ...

. In the UK version, children's voices are used for the singing portions. *Frred (voice by

Rob Cantor Robert Howard Cantor is an American singer-songwriter and creator of multiple viral videos. He is mostly known as a vocalist, guitarist, and co-writer for the "fabloo" indie rock band Tally Hall. In addition, Cantor is also known for his solo w ...

(singing voice) and

Kurt Doss Kurt Doss (born September 18, 1996) is an American child actor, best known for playing Frred in '' Happy Monster Band'', and playing the youngest son, Ben Gallagher in '' Ruby & the Rockits''. Biography Doss's home town is Erie, Pennsylvania. Fr ...

(speaking voice)) is one of the band's lead singers and plays

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

. His electric guitar is

purple Purple is any of a variety of colors with hue between red and blue. In the RGB color model used in computer and television screens, purples are produced by mixing red and blue light. In the RYB color model historically used by painters ...

. While Ink may appear to be the leader, many fans tend to regard Frred as the actual leader. *L.O. (voiced by Zubin Sedghi (singing voice) and Trevor Gagnon (speaking voice)) is the other lead singer. The oldest in the band, L.O. is yellow and plays

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

. His bass guitar is

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

and has four strings. He is the only monster in the band that goes against traditional thinking, preferring to paint and write poetry instead of scaring. He is considered to be a shy introvert. *Bluz (Joe Hawley (singing voice), Jonah Lees (Direct from Monsterland), and Jake T. Austin (World tour) (speaking voices)) is the band's

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical inst ...

, is blue and has four legs. His

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mu ...

magenta Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish- red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blu ...

and has twelve

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

keys. Bluz often contradicts L.O.'s opinions, stating that monsters should scare and not care about art. During the World Tour, Bluz knows a little bit about foreign languages, which makes him appear unintelligent. However, he shows kindness and empathy for others. He can also be very friendly. He is the youngest member of the band. *Ink (Hannah Leigh (speaking voice) and

Tara Sands Tara Jayne Sands is an American voice actress and co-host of Cartoon Network's ''Fridays'' from 2005 to 2007. Sands has voiced in anime dubs and cartoons, including Bulbasaur in the ''Pokémon'' anime series, Spyler in the US dub of ''I Spy'', ...

(singing voice)) is the band's

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeeping and embellishing the musical timbre. The drummer's ...

. She has three eyes and is pink. Her drums can glow either

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

. Unlike the other band members, Ink only sings during choruses. However she has a solo verse in "Do the Monster Stomp". During the World Tour, she carries a

globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model glo ...

that shows where the band is and is fluent in several languages.

Supporting

The first season introduces several characters. *Roc and Raoul (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal and

Sam Riegel Samuel Brent Oscar Riegel, sometimes credited as Jack Lingo, is an American voice actor, director, and writer. He is a regular cast member of the web series ''Critical Role'', in which he and other fellow voice actors play ''Dungeons & Dragons' ...

, respectively) are two-headed purple monster brothers and are the show's hosts. They speak in

rhyme A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds (usually, the exact same phonemes) in the final stressed syllables and any following syllables of two or more words. Most often, this kind of perfect rhyming is consciously used for a musical or aesthetic ...

, except while backstage, and are also present in season two (World Tour). *La, Dee, and Da are the show's judges and are only in the first season. They are all bright green and are based on

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing ba ...

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...

, and

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

World Tour

*Akito is the band's pen pal in

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. He has a

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

named Robo-Dude. *Joey is a

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. *Dwight is a giant monster in Italy who is often hungry and is used as a comedic explanation for the

Tower of Pisa The Leaning Tower of Pisa ( it, torre pendente di Pisa), or simply, the Tower of Pisa (''torre di Pisa'' ), is the ''campanile'', or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result of an unst ...

's leaning and for the

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

missing a large part of its wall. *Ravi is an energetic four-year-old boy in India. He has the biggest star in Bollywood, Pooja. *The Rancher is an introducer in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. *Johnny and Franklin were introduced in the World Tour episode "The Monster Tangle" in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

. *The Queen is a three-eyed monster who lives in

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

. *The Gondolier is a monster who rows a

gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, ...

Venice, Italy Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isl ...

. *The Beret Monster is a monster with a

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

in France. Bluz talks to him about his beret but he doesn't know where he got it from which made Bluz upset, then he gave the beret to Bluz and Bluz got really happy and puts it on.

Episodes

Series One (Direct from Monsterland, 2007)

* "I Will Be Your Friend"(L.O.'s memory book)– the monsters celebrate their long friendship together. * "Do the Monster Stomp"(the missing dance move)– Frred thinks that Bluz found what was missing. * "Monster Hoe Down"(a monster scare dance)– the monsters dress up as cowboys and cowgirl. * "Dirty, Smelly Monster Chores"(waiting for L.O.)– L.O. does chores, spreading clothes on the floor, bringing in garbage and tracking mud around. * "Scare Up Some Fun"(band: gone missing)– the twins see an empty room and think that the band is not there. The band tries to scare them. * "I'm the Best at Being Me"(L.O. the best)– L.O. is not as scary as Bluz because he likes to write poetry and paint. * "Do Re Mi–Mi–Mi"(ink's rhyme struggle)– Ink struggles to write a song for work. * "Even Monsters Cry Sometimes"(touch me circle)– Frred is sad because his father has a flat tire and he worries he will miss the concert, making him cry until his friends comfort him, saying it’s okay for anyone, even monsters, to cry. * "Get Up and Go Go Go"(morning routines ON!)– the band tell the twins to get ready. * "Practice Makes Progress"(get ready to practice)– Ink's jump rope contest is coming up, so she practices her skills.

Series Two (World Tour, 2008)

* "Here in Australia"-The band rocks at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

in Australia. * "A Wonderful Time in France"-While The band is in France, Bluz wanted to ask The Beret Monster where did he got his beret from. * "Yin & Yang"-The band is in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...

. * "London Town"-The band finds a

double decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...

in England because their bus has a flat tire. * "In India"-The band makes a

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

movie at the

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, ...

and rocks with a

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

, a

snake charmer Snake charming is the practice of appearing to hypnotize a snake (often a cobra) by playing and waving around an instrument called a pungi. A typical performance may also include handling the snakes or performing other seemingly dangerou ...

and Pooja the

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...

in India. * "Siesta! Siesta!"-The band plays

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in Spain * "The Monster Tangle"-The band does the Monster Tangle instead of a

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

. * "Konichiwa!"-The band rocks in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

. * "At the Rodeo"-The band is in

and is at the ranch. Frred is on a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

and twirls a lasso. Frred is a rock-and-roll rodeo cowboy. * "The Italian Way"-The band is in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and Frred is very hungry but L.O. accidentally drops his

camera A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with ...

Production

The music was written and performed by indie rock band

. The characters and concept for the show were created by children's book author and illustrator, Don Carter. Judy Rothman Rofé wrote all the episodes in Season One and five of the episodes in Season Two.

Broadcast

In the United Kingdom, the show was shown on Playhouse Disney/Disney Junior from October 5, 2007, to 2014.

References

External links

* {{Playhouse Disney 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings 2000s American animated television series 2007 British television series debuts 2008 British television series endings 2000s British animated television series American children's animated musical television series American flash animated television series American preschool education television series British children's animated musical television series British flash animated television series British preschool education television series Animated preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series Disney Channel original programming Television series by Disney Disney Junior original programming English-language television shows Animated television series about children Animated television series about monsters