Life's A Zoo
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''Life's a Zoo'' is a Canadian adult-oriented
stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...
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animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of a television sitcom that is animation, animated instead of being filmed live-action, and is generally made or created for adult animation, adult audiences in most cases. ''The Simpsons'', ''SpongeBob SquarePan ...
created by Adam Shaheen and Andrew Horne. It is directed by Alexander Gorelick. A co-production between
Cuppa Coffee Studios Cuppa Coffee Studios (formerly known as Cuppa Coffee Animation) is a Canadian production company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Cuppa Coffee was founded by Adam Shaheen and Bruce Alcock in 1992. It specializes in both stop-motion animation ...
and Teletoon Canada Inc., "Life's a Zoo.tv" was named Best Animated Program or Series at the 24th Annual Gemini Awards. It premiered on September 1, 2008, on
Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
's late night programming block, Teletoon Detour. It premiered on Smosh's cartoon-themed YouTube channel, Shut Up! Cartoons on June 23, 2013.


Premise

The show is a parody of the reality TV series '' Big Brother'', with a similar plot. The seven very different contestants share a mansion "Somewhere in
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
..." where they compete in challenges to avoid being (the show's version of elimination), supervised by the show's host, Claude the
vulture A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to Nort ...
in the first season, and later Bobbie the harp seal in the second. In the first season, despite being eliminated, characters always come back, as ''Life's a Zoo'' doesn't use continuity. However, starting in season two, characters are permanently eliminated. Additionally, each episode features a specially edited
music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
from a different artist. The show won Best Animated Series at the Canadian Gemini Awards in 2009.


Main characters

* Ray (Mike Rowland) - An immature
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 is the party-animal of the group; he acts completely on impulse and usually performs dangerous or reckless stunts. He is shown to be loud-mouthed and has bloodshot eyes from smoking marijuana, evidenced by the fact that he owns a
bong A bong (also known as a water pipe) is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the smoke flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right ...
. Ray claims that his parents went out partying a lot when he was a child, which made him very lonely. He loves watching cartoons and playing video games. Ray is also known to make outrageous bets, which he cannot pay off, although he becomes rich after betting on Jake to win in the finale. He was the fifth one eliminated in the second season. He used the money he won to rebuild the mansion after Jake blew it up, therefore feeling entitled to own it too. * Jake Oswalt (Kurt Firla) - A perverted Canadian pig who constantly attempts schemes, believing himself to be a genius when it comes to reality show strategy. He joined Life's a Zoo by accidentally walking into the audition trailer thinking it was a
sperm bank A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donation, sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons f ...
. He still lives with his mother, although she won't admit to raising him. Jake has been shown to be egotistical and devious, and is often delusional about his own grandeur. He constantly lies to the audience about his sexual encounters and often makes up stories to make himself look good. Jake lusts after Minou, and usually spies on her when she is showering. He also believes that she lusts after him just as much, and that they will have sex before the season ends, despite her disgust with him. He was the first one to be eliminated in the first season. In the second season, because of Minou's early elimination he begins to lust after Bobbie instead. Jake made it to the finale in the second season as the runner-up, but won the house when Chi-Chi forfeited it. Unfortunately, he had rigged the house to explode when she won and couldn't prevent it from happening. He now works as Ray's servant in the rebuilt mansion. * Morreski (Stephen Kishewitsch) - A
vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...
-addicted Russian
brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear native to Eurasia and North America. Of the land carnivorans, it is rivaled in size only by its closest relative, the polar bear, which is much less variable in size and slightly bigger on av ...
that wears a fez. He is the oldest member of the cast at 62. He is heard talking about his homeland many times over the series, and mentioning his wife, who is presumably very manly for a woman. Morreski is also very protective of his mother, as shown in two instances when he swears and beats up Dr. D for insulting her. Even though he is very laid back and drunk, Morreski is the wisest and strongest of the cast. He has had many jobs over the years, and thus has a wide skill-set. In the second season, he was the third one eliminated, although he made a special appearance in the next episode as a wedding officiant. * Dr. D ( Joseph Motiki) - A rapping gentoo penguin who wears a cap, sunglasses and much jewelry and has a no-nonsense attitude. He usually gives his opinion without caring about the consequences. He has a strong taste for cigars as well as his rap music. Dr. D is also known to be violent, threatening Ray when he bets with him and doesn't get paid, and often brags about his life in the "hood." In the second season, it is revealed that he is actually a poser, his real name is Dewey Dewson, and he only pretended to be a gangster to further his rap career. He was the second one eliminated in the second season. After being found out he went back to being Dewson, but tends to slip into his Dr. D persona when angry. * Rico (Francisco Trujillo) - A Colombian
American crocodile The American crocodile (''Crocodylus acutus'') is a species of crocodilian found in the Neotropics. It is the most widespread of the four Extant taxon, extant species of crocodiles from the Americas, with populations present from South Florida, ...
.He is a fashion designer, as well as a gay stereotype. Rico is the most passionate of the group, and is the "bitchy one" when Minou's not around. It is revealed in the episode "Truth or Consequences" that the producers actually asked him to play up his homosexual lifestyle, including his Latino accent, since they wanted him to be more camp and he has since grown used to and embraced as part of himself. When Rico was young, his father tricked him into believing it was okay for him to come out, an action which resulted in his father throwing a tantrum and beating him. His father is still disappointed in him, believing his homosexuality is a phase. Rico once "experimented" with being married to a woman, however, it didn't work out. He was the fourth one eliminated in both the first and second season. * Minou (Bridget Ogundipe) - A
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
n
black panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...
with a different hairstyle every episode (revealed in the episode "Self Helpless" to actually be from a collection of wigs). Minou is greedy and snotty, believing everyone else is beneath her, but the men are attracted to her nonetheless. She suffers constant harassment from Jake, who spies on her while she showers. She is revealed to be bulimic, once commenting that it's a great way to keep her tummy flat, and that bulimia came from sex. Minou is extremely insecure about her appearance deep down; which comes out as anger. In the episode "Ray Against The Machine", it is revealed that Minou would have won the mansion before the original episode script was destroyed, despite the fact that she was eliminated in the episode "Live and Let Diet". She was the first one eliminated in the second season; she jumped out of a plane without a parachute in the first episode of season two, thinking the plane was fake. She showed up later in the episode in a body cast only to be shoved out the front door. Minou appeared in the season finale, still in the body cast, and later escaped the mansion with the other characters. * Chi-Chi (Stephanie Jung) - An overweight panda from China that works as a fifth grade teacher. Chi-Chi has an enormous appetite, and is extremely gluttonous, eating everything and anything. She is goodhearted, but usually shunned by the others. Since she was two years old, her mother, now deceased, made her play an erhu all the time, saying it was better for her than being out and making friends. She was the second one eliminated in the first season, in the episode "It's Not Easy Being Chi", however she bought her way back in. Chi-Chi has a promiscuous side to her, and by the end of the series she has slept with most of the male cast but not Jake or Rico. In the second season, she made it all the way to the final episode before being drugged comatose and losing her memory. Bobbie made her watch the entirety of the first season to refresh her memory while the other disqualified characters voted on whether she or Jake should win the mansion. Chi-Chi won the house, but turned it down because she was ashamed and disgusted with what the show had made her into. * Claude (Michael Lamport) - A vulture who was the host for season one. He often makes witty comments on the plot before and after every commercial break, as well as refereeing all the challenges. Claude is shown to be usually reading, or commenting how he wants to get a better gig. While enthusiastic in the first few episodes, he soon becomes despaired over the chaos the contestants cause. After Ray discovered the show was scripted, the contestants revolted and tied him up. It is most likely that he was tied up in the basement of the mansion for the entirety of the second season and was killed in the explosion. * Bobbie (Stacey DePass) - The harp seal hostess of the second season, replacing Claude. Despite her sweet demeanour, she is much tougher than Claude, and far more determined to find a winner for the show. In the episode "Truth or Consequences" it is revealed that she is in her fifties, has had plastic surgery, has been married and divorced several times, and, though Dr. D doesn't get to reveal it, may also be a male-to-female transgender. It is unknown if she escaped with the other characters or died in the explosion.


Episodes


Streaming

The rights to the series were bought by Smosh to be aired on their Shut Up! Cartoons YouTube channel. Most of the show remains the same with the exception of the inclusion of ''Shut Up! Cartoons'' intros and outros and notably more censorship of profanity, drug references, and sexual content. Eventually, the streaming rights were acquired by
Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...
and are available to watch for free on YouTube uncensored.


Planned spin-off

There were plans for a child-friendly spin-off called Pen Pals. The series would have feature Jake and Ray as the main characters. The project has been since been scrapped as references to it were removed from the official Cuppa Coffee Studios website.


References


External links

* {{Cuppa Coffee Studios 2000s Canadian adult animated television series 2000s Canadian satirical television series 2000s Canadian sitcoms 2008 Canadian television series debuts 2009 Canadian television series endings Canadian adult animated comedy television series Canadian animated sitcoms Canadian English-language television shows Teletoon original programming Television series by Cuppa Coffee Studios Animated television series about apes Animated television series about bears Animated television series about birds Animated television series about penguins Animated television series about pigs Fictional panthers Fictional pinnipeds Television series about reptiles and amphibians Television series about pandas Television shows set in Saskatchewan Television series about talking animals