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JoJo's Circus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| JoJo's Circus | |
|---|---|
| Genre | musical, comedy series, preschool |
| Creator(s) | Jim Jinkins David Campbell Lisa Jinkins Eric Weiner |
| Developer(s) | Cartoon Pizza, Cuppa Coffee Studio, TV-Loonland. |
| Starring | Madeleine Martin Robert Smith Jayne Eastwood Austin Di Iulio (Season 1) Keeler Sandhaus (Season 2) Diana Peressini Tajja Isen |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| No. of episodes | 64 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Kids Rocket, Cartoon Pizza,Cuppa Coffee Studios |
| Running time | 21 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Disney Channel |
| Original run | September 28, 2003 – 2007 |
| Common rating | |
|---|---|
| Australia | P |
| Canada | C |
| United States | TV-Y |
JoJo's Circus is a musical comedy series for preschool children. Beginning its broadcasting run in 2003, the series—created and produced by Jim Jinkins and David Campbell, who also produced fellow Disney Channel show Stanley—airs on the Disney Channel in the USA as part of the Playhouse Disney morning programming schedule. Currently, it shows daily at 6:30 AM.
Cuppa Coffee Studios was the animation studio who produced the stop-motion animation for the show.
Contents |
The story is all about JoJo Tickle—a six-year-old, female clown—and her fellow characters who hail from Circus Town, a self-sufficient city, whose cultural center is the "Big Top" circus tent. The show stresses simple, everyday lessons such as playing with others, personal hygiene, responsibility, and safety. Also paramount is the show's focus on exercise: JoJo often asks for audience participation (such as clapping, jumping, and stretching) from viewers.
JoJo's Circus relies on repetition in its structure. Each segment (of which there are usually two during the show's approximately 24 minute runtime) begins with JoJo searching for Goliath, her pet lion, who is always hiding. JoJo then is presented with the situation that will occupy the theme of the show. A song, usually about the resolution of the situation, is then sung by JoJo. At the conclusion of an episode, a secondary character asks, "What did you learn today, JoJo?", and before she can reply, JoJo is whisked away and placed on a make-shift stage, while a song asking what she has learned is sung. Subsequently, JoJo explains what she has learned in the course of the episode.
Every episode contains a short tune dealing with the topics of the preceding episode. (These songs can be found on two different CDs: Songs from JoJo's Circus and Songs from Under the Big Top!) The genres of these songs range from do-wop to funk to rock to early punk. Phrases like "stretch your arms" and "jump up high" are common lyrics. Most of the songs are educational—telling kids how to bow, stretch, greet people, wash your hair, and clean up after themselves—while a few are just fun and silly, such as Cotton Candy Sure Is Sweet or The Gum Drop Song.
Main Characters
- JoJo Tickle (voiced by Madeleine Martin): JoJo, the main character of the show, is an inquisitive and active six-year-old clown whose parents are famous circus clowns. She's kind-hearted, has a great sense of humor, boundless curiosity, and excitement about life; and she loves to clown around.
- Goliath the Lion (voiced by Robert Smith): JoJo's pet and conscience, Goliath is a playful but loyal four-year-old lion that attends school just like JoJo. He's also part of the Tickle family. Because of his playfulness, he hides from JoJo in the beginning of each episode.
- Skeebo Seltzer (voiced by Austin Di Iulio in Season 1 and Keeler Sandaus in Season 2): Skeebo, known as the class clown, is JoJo's best friend, and attends school with her and the other circus kids. Skeebo's eager to make people laugh by testing new jokes, slight gags, and tricks ... that sometimes don't work. Skeebo has a pet dog named Harpo.
- Croaky Frogini (voiced by Diana Peressini): Croaky, the great leaper of the group, met JoJo on the first day of school, when they realized they had different abilities and agreed to help each other learn different tricks. Croaky with her father and uncle make up the Flying Froginis, a famous flying trapeze group.
- Trina Tightrope (voiced by Tajja Isen): Trina is a ballet dancing, tightrope walker. She comes across as abrupt and snobbish on occasion, but apologizes for her mistakes when she becomes aware of them.
- Mr. Tickle (voiced by David Sparrow in Season 1 and Noah Weisberg in Season 2): Mr. Tickle—JoJo's dad and Peaches's husband—is a jolly clown who often blasts off to work in a cannon. On occasion, Mr. Tickle conducts an orchestra in Circus Town.
- Peaches Tickle (voiced by Marnie McPhail in Season 1-2 and Shannon Perreault in Season 3): Peaches is JoJo's mom and Mr. Tickle's wife. She is a tall, skinny clown who is full of sunshine and is often makes goodies for her family and Circus Town residents. She's klutzy by nature, but a good juggler and sometimes catches 15 objects in the air when she accidentally trips.
- Mrs. Kersplatski (voiced by Jayne Eastwood): She's JoJo's teacher and the big top ringmaster. A warm and encouraging teacher, Mrs. Kersplatski gives the circus kids a strong sense of mastery and confidence, with her combination of hard work and play. In the second season, she got married to Mr. Muscles and became Maya's stepmother.
Secondary Characters
- Dinky the Elephant (voiced by Julie Lemieux): Dinky is a sweet and frisky elephant. While Dinky may be clumsy and somewhat oafish, when he dances, he turns into "Mr. Graceful."
- Tater Spudinski (voiced by Cole Caplan): Tater is one of the two kids in the Spudinski clan. His sleepy potato nature seems to be the antithesis to the "get up and go" feel of the show, but sometimes he can't help but join in the fun. In the second season, he has a baby sister named Small Fry.
- Balboa the Snake (voiced by Julie Lemieux): Balboa is a contortionist snake with a talent for making number and letter shapes. Balboa also has a knack for troublemaking. He thinks it's fun to coax JoJo and others into doing what they are not supposed to do, and the kids are sometimes susceptible to Balboa's charms.
- Fellini and Federico Frogini (voice actor for Fellini: Neil Crone; voice actor for Federico: John Stocker): Also called the Flying Froginis, the two brothers are expert jumpers and on the trapeze. Fellini and Federico are uncle and father, respectively, to Croaky.
- Mr. Muscles (voiced by Mark Consuelos in Season 1 and Erik Estrada in Seasons 2-3): He's the circus strong man and a physical education instructor. He knows a lot of exercises that he teaches to those in Circus Town. He has a daughter named Maya and recently married Mrs. Kersplatski, but it's not known whether he was divorced or widowed.
- Maya Muscles (voiced by Phoebe Mcauley): Maya is the daughter of Mr. Muscles and stepdaughter of Mrs. Kersplatski. She's fairly new to both Circus Town and JoJo's class. She has red hair, and can be shy at times but loves to get up and go.
- Dr. Seltzer (voiced by Kathryn Greenwood): Skeebo's mother, she is Circus Town's only doctor and Fire Chief Seltzer's wife. Though she's not in many episodes, her most notable appearance is in the episode "A Case of the Sillies".
- Fire Chief Seltzer (voiced by Patrick McKenna): He's Skeebo's father and the chief of the local fire department in Circus Town.
- Mr. and Mrs. Spudinski (voice actor for Mr. Spudinski: Bruce Bayley Johnson. voice actor for Mrs. Spudinski: Julie Lemieux): Tater's parents, who have the same sleepy nature as he does. In the episode "Happy Birthday Tater!", JoJo and her friends try to wake up the Spudinskis.
- Small Fry Spudinski (Voiced by Julie Lemieux): Small Fry is Tater's baby sister and one of the two kids in the Spudinski clan. She first appeared in the episode "Hi There, Small Fry!".
- Mrs. Pachyderm (voiced by Judy Marshak): Dinky's mother; she's also been referred to as Mrs. Elephant.
- Babalulu (voiced by Kathy Brier): She's Circus Town's pretzel and ice cream shop vendor. JoJo and her friends sometimes go to her ice cream parlor for a snack. JoJo taught Babalulu how to make pretzel twists in the episode "A New Twist".
- Jumberto the Jackrabbit (voiced by Jonathan Potts): Jumberto is a rabbit magician whose tricks rarely work.
- Terrific the Tiger Tamer (voiced by Ed Saheley): Terrific is a famous Tiger Tamer in Circus Town. He has a tiger named Tippoo.
- Uncle Flippy (voiced by Tony Daniels): A farmer and JoJo's uncle, Uncle Flippy owns a farm on the outskirts of Circus Town. On the episode entitled "Pie in the Sky", JoJo and everyone in Circus Town helped him after a giant pie creamed his farm. Strangely, he has a pet tiger.
- Ballooney Baloney (Voiced by Darren Frost): Known for making balloon animals, Ballooney Baloney can make any animal shaped balloons with his hands. He has a grandson named Bailey.
- Cotton Andy (Voiced by Paul Soles): Cotton Andy is a Cotton candy vendor whose cotton candy machine is named "Whoopsabelle"
- Charlie the Clown Baby: Charlie is one of JoJo's cousins whom the Tickles sometimes babysit.
- Grandma and Grandpa Tickle (Voice Actor for Grampy Tickle: Keith Knight. Voice Actor for Young Grampy: Joshua Isen. Voice Actor for Granny Tickle: Kate Gallant): JoJo's grandparents, both of them were experts on clowning around before JoJo was born. Their famous act is the "Silly Shoe Shuffle", on which Granny Tickle passed the act to both JoJo and Goliath.
- Terracotta (Voiced by Kristen Bone): Terracotta is the little girl who looks like a flower pot, and she bought JoJo's silly skates in the "Too Many Toys" episode.
- The Firefighters: They carry JoJo off at the end of each show and help build the makeshift stage for JoJo's "spotlight moment".
Special Guest Characters
- Princess Josephina (voiced by Tajja Isen): She's JoJo's royal cousin who lives in Really Royal Land. She looks like JoJo and has a pet lion named Hercules who looks just like Goliath. She appeared in the episode "Princess for a Day", where she and JoJo decide that it would be fun to trade places.
- Bailey Ballooney (Voiced by Matthew Josten): Ballooney Baloney's grandson. Bailey Ballooney normally attends Small Top Hills School and only visited JoJo's class on Valentines's Day. JoJo comes up with a special way to make him a valentine in the episode "My Clowny Valentine".
JoJo's Circus' theme song is performed by Becky, the band headed by The Real World Seattle cast member Rebecca Lord. Keanu Reeves played bass for the band at its inception.
Lyrics for the theme song:
Hey, hey, it's JoJo's Circus / JoJo, JoJo's Circus / Hey, everyone, it's time for JoJo's Circus / (JoJo, JoJo's Circus) / Get on your feet, we're gonna have some some fun / ("Come on, everybody!") / Come on, do it with us / Hooray, hooray, we're going to JoJo's Circus / (JoJo, JoJo's Circus) / We'll jump and play, there's fun for every ("Whoa!") one / (Hey, hey!) / Come on, clap your hands now / (JoJo!) / Come on, jump up high / (Circus!) / Come on, do it with us / (JoJo!) / We're gonna reach the sky / (Hey, hey!) / Come on, sing along now / (Hey!) / Come on, it's time for JoJo's Circus / Hey!
Note: Not to be confused with the J-Pop artist Becky and singner Becky Taylor
becky was originally formed by Rob Mailhouse and Rebecca Lord in Silver Lake, California.
Early on, Rob asked former Dogstar mate, Keanu Reeves, to join the rhythm section. Along with Paulie Kosta on guitar, becky was born.
"Take It On The Chin" contains four recordings from the Tim Palmer (U2, Pearl Jam) sessions with Keanu and Paulie, as well as Goldfinger's Kelly Lemieux on a hidden track. The rest of the rockin record was produced by Steve Refling, with the new band recording eleven more tracks. Rebecca's vocals have been compared to Mazzy Star but the music accompanying gives the band a much harder edge. Joined by new bassist Billy Close, the band has successfully blended a lot of different musical influences, giving the band a very unique sound. The recent addition of the extremely melodic David Dyas on guitar diversifies the sound even more.
becky has evolved into a mature power pop force with a strong internet following and have established themselves as a popular club band in Los Angeles with long residences at the Roxy, Viper Room and Spaceland.
Releasing their debut record in June, becky has found their niche with their undeniable pop songs.
The series has two DVD releases: "Take A Bow" and "Animal A Go-Go".
- Tajja Isen is also well known for voicing Sister Bear in the television series The Berenstain Bears, Betty in the Cartoon Network series Atomic Betty, and Jazzi in The Save-Ums.
- Bruce Bayley Johnson also had a role in PB&J Otter as Mayor Jeff.
- Jayne Eastwood also appeared in the The Care Bears Movie and the famous musical "Godspell". She also voiced Whoopsabelle, Cotton Andy's Cotton Candy Machine.
- Julie Lemieux is the only voice actor who has two regular roles (Dinky and Balboa) and two supporting roles (Mrs. Spudinski and Small Fry) in the series.
- Participants of message boards on IMDb and other online communities have speculated that Fellini and Federico of The Flying Froginis are a homosexual, or gay, couple. This has not been confirmed in the program. Croaky refers to them as "my father" and "my uncle," and they call each other "brother" (for example, see episodes "Happy Hoppy Day" and "My Favorite Frogsitter"). This issue has become a point of contention among parents whose children watch JoJo's Circus. However, it's unlikely that the Froginis are gay, in light of the fact that the producers of the show have also created a Christian children's show entitled HoopDogz.
- Al Roker's guest appearance on JoJo's Circus was mentioned as the JoJo balloon passed by during the 2005 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, nearly a year before the original broadcast of the episode in which he appeared. Although no information was given on the character he voiced, or the name of the episode, Roker starred as the gentle giant "Normus" in the half-hour special episode "JoJo and the Beanstalk".
- Didi Conn appeared as character Bingo Bongo, who lost her tennis racket, in the episode "The Watchamadoodle".
- Popular comedian Wayne Brady voices two characters in the episode "JoJo and the Beanstalk"—Mayor Monkey and Cozy the squirrel.
- The first names of Tater's parents are revealed on the episode "Circus Town Makeover". They are Mrs. Ida Spudinski and Mr. Russ Spudinski.
- Peter Scolari guest starred as Mr. Tightrope, Trina's father, in the "My Dinner with the Tightropes" episode.
- In the episode "Circus Town Makeover", Billy Bush and Kathie Lee Gifford guest star as Jumping Jack and Nosey Rosie.
- The plot of the episode called "Pie in the Sky" is highly similar to an episode from another Playhouse Disney program, Bear in the Big Blue House. In the two-part "Welcome to Woodland Valley" episode, the commmunity of Woodland Valley comes together after a falling tree damaged the town's library. Whereas "Pie in the Sky" was in response to Hurricane Katrina, "Welcome to Woodland Valley" was in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 (and was also used to launch "Bear's" fourth season).
- Jim Latham, the show's main song writer, composed the opening song in the series. He also contributed to other series, including Men in Black: The Series and Extreme Ghostbusters.
- JoJo's clown school has always had the feeling of a one-room schoolhouse, but in "Messy Mess", it is indicated that there is some sort of breakroom/teacher's lounge where many teachers are enjoying a special lunch for Teacher's Day.
- In the episode "Trina Trips Up", though Skeebo does "magic" by pulling rabbits out of his hat, JoJo proves once again that there's real magic in Circus Town. She does a sustained juggling act with ten balls, a feat that would be impossible for any normal human. The balls then continue to arrange themselves in dazzling shapes in the air, apparently of their own volition.
- In "Mirror Mirror," JoJo acts as if the idea of her family having any traditions is a complete surprise to her. The pressure of the assignment apparently caused her to forget both her bedtime routine and the Santa Clown ornament she claims to remember from when she was a little baby.
- The episode "My Clowny Valentine / Hop Hooey!" premiered at 9 AM, outside the program's normal time slot, on Playhouse Disney.
- Mary Gallagher, the episode writter of JoJo's Circus borrows the idea of a practice pet from the PB&J Otter story "Bubbles' Beginnings" for "Skeebo's Pet." PB&J Otter was a Cartoon Pizza program back when the company was still known as Jumbo Pictures.
- "Skeebo's Pet" is the first ever JoJo's Circus story where someone other than JoJo is asked what they learned. Nevertheless, JoJo cuts in and her reward is that she gets carted off to the stage for the "Spotlight Moment."
- In the first episode of the series, it is learned later that JoJo's teacher isn't married, she is referred to as Mrs. Kersplatski. Possibilities include that she is widowed, divorced or separated, or that everyone simply calls her it out of respect. Mrs. Kersplatski gets married in the second season of the program.
- James Rankin does a guest-shot as the Shoe Salesman in "Try These on for Boing!" James Rankin is probably best known for his recurring role as the teacher Mr. Owl in the Nelvana hit Franklin.
- In the episode "The Itchy-Ootchy Scratchy Patch", whatever is in the flowers in the itchy-oochy scratchy patch is potent stuff! It apparently seeps right through JoJo and Skeebos' clothes, causing them to itch all over. The cream that Peaches uses on them must be equally potent because she rubs it right on their clothes.