Zoboomafoo

Infobox Television
show_name = Zoboomafoo


caption =
format = Nature/Comedy
camera =
picture_format =
runtime = 29 minutes
creator =
developer =
executive_producer = Leo Eaton
Chris Kratt
Martin Kratt
starring = Chris Kratt
Martin Kratt
Gord Robertson (voice of Zoboo)
narrated =
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = USA
network = PBS
first_aired = January 25, 1999
last_aired = April 22, 2001
num_episodes = 65 (List of episodes)
website = http://www.pbs.org/zoboo
imdb_id = 0190211
tv_com_id = 9966

"Zoboomafoo" is an educational PBS television program designed to introduce preschoolers to the animal world. It aired from 1999 to 2001 and is still shown today in syndication depending on the area, and it is regularly shown on PBS Kids Sprout. A total of 65 episodes were aired. A creation of the Kratt Brothers (Chris and Martin Kratt), it features a talking Coquerel's Sifaka, a type of lemur (appropriately named Zoboomafoo, or Zoboo for short) and a collection of repeat 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.

Upon their arrival at Animal Junction, the Kratt brothers lean out the window and summon Zoboomafoo, who is shown in a live-action segment as an actual lemur leaping across a field to reach them. When the lemur reaches Animal Junction, the Kratt brothers offer him a snack--generally some lemur-appropriate food like garbanzo beans or mango slices--whereupon the "real" lemur spins around on a turntable and becomes a talking lemur puppet. This change enables Zoboomafoo to lead into the main segment of the episode, which he begins by describing a "Mangatsiaka!" (a Malagasy word meaning "cold") animal that he saw as he traveled to Animal Junction. As he describes the animal, a song is played wondering "Who Could It Be?", while a cartoon shows the characteristics of the "mystery animal". At the end of the song, Chris and Martin attempt to guess the animal Zoboomafoo has described, and the mystery is solved when the animal or animals arrive at Animal Junction. Each episode has a theme--for example, baby animals, frightening animals, or the importance of play--and the arrival of the "mystery animal" leads the Kratts and Zoboo into a conversation about various aspects of that particular animal.

Zoboomafoo's trademark catchphrases are " Mangatsiaka!" and " I can't believe my mind!"

Though mostly live-action, Zoboomafoo makes occasional claymation forays into the world of Zobooland, a magical place where Zoboo and his animal friends tell brief stories related to the episode at hand. Chris and Martin also leave Animal Junction during each episode to better demonstrate the theme of the day, traveling to exotic places like India or Africa to visit the creatures there. The show has some forms of slapstick and situation comedy as well. Running gags of the show include the Kratt brothers [and sometimes Zoboo] falling in a swimming pool, a mud puddle, and even falling down. The most prominent of these recurring jokes, the "closet" gag, involves a crammed closet which the brothers open to gather needed items for an exploration. As the Zoboomafoo puppet sings a song about the brothers' preparations for "going on a trip", the brothers open the door and an avalanche of outdoor items and clothing fall on them, knocking them over and resulting in laughter from the brothers. A form of slapstick comedy shown in the show is when the Brothers or Zoboo gets hit by flying items, such as pies, balls, and even yarn thrown by animals. A good example is shown in the Season 1 episode "Fling".

Another segment of the show features a group of children known as the "Animal Helpers", who send messages to the Kratt brothers at Animal Junction via a series of birds--a barn owl, a vulture, a duck, and several others. The letters lead into short stories illustrating the Animal Helpers' interactions with the animals in their environment, performing small tasks such as placing a baby bird back in its nest, or leading a calf back to a mother cow.

Zoboo would also give the animals interesting names that have to do with their appearance, behavior, or personality. Examples: A male elephant was given the name "Toothbrush" because of his bristly hair; a young female chimp was named "Brainiac", because chimps are very intelligent; two sloths were named "Slow" and "Slower", because sloths are very slow; a dog was given the name "Lostnfound", because he was a lost dog, but was then found; and a tiger cub was named "Stripey", because tigers have stripes.

Other songs were "Zoboomafoo," "I Feel [whatever Zoboo is feeling like today] ," and "Come Make an Animal Friend Today."

Before the credits of each episode, the Kratt brothers mention animal facts that lead Zoboo to a joke. For example, "Knock-Knock. Who's there? Panther. Panther Who? Panther no pants, I'm going swimming."

Although production of the show ended in 2001, PBS Kids Sprout continues to air reruns. In 2003 the Kratt Brothers committed to a new show, "Be the Creature", on the National Geographic Channel.

The actual lemur that portrays Zoboomafoo is Jovian, a captive Coquerel's Sifaka housed at the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina. The filming for the show took place on site at the Lemur Center.

ee also

*List of Zoboomafoo episodes

Funding

*Viewers Like You
*Healthtex
*Danimals Yogurt

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/zoboo Website] at PBS.org
*imdb title|id=0190211|title=Zoboomafoo
*tv.com show|id=9966|title=Zoboomafoo