Rastamouse
Rastamouse is a stop-motion animated musical children's TV series created by Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza and produced by Dinamo Productions, Three Stones Media/The Rastamouse Company and DHX Media for CBeebies. The show follows crime-busting anthro mouse reggae band Da Easy Crew, who split their time between making music and solving mysteries for the President of Mouseland.
The first 52 episodes of the original series were shown in the lunch hour starting on 31 January 2011 on CBeebies, a UK BBC channel. From 7 March 2011, the programme was repeated in the early mornings, on BBC2. The second series, comprising a further 26 episodes, began on 20 August 2012. The third series, comprising the final 26 episodes, began on CBeebies 23 March 2015.
Characters
The series features an all-mouse reggae band, Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew, who play music at the 'Nuff Song Studio' when they're not solving mysteries for the President of Mouseland. All the characters speak with a Jamaican accent.Main
- Rastamouse: Crime fighting mouse and lead guitar player for Da Easy Crew. Always knows how to "make a bad ting good." His catchphrase is "Irie, man!"
- Scratchy: DJ and bass player for Da Easy Crew. Her catchphrases are "Sweet!" and "You know what I'm saying!"
- Zoomer: Speediest mouse in Mouseland, bongo player in Da Easy Crew. His catchphrase is "Aww, man!"
- Gladstone the Rhino: rhino who Rastamouse often rides.
- Wensley Dale: President of Mouseland. He calls Da Easy Crew on his handheld radio when there's a mystery that needs solving. His name is a parody of Wensleydale.
- Bagga T: Hip-hop rapper mouse who looks after the orphanage. His catchphrase is "Me name's Bagga T, double trouble, double G!”.
- Missy D: Dancer. Runs the dance studio.
- Bandulu: Expert chef mouse who cooks at the orphanage. His specialty is cheese pies.
- Fats: Mechanic who runs Fats' 4x4 Garage.
- Mixie: Bagga T's cousin and beatboxer.
- Natty Kass: Super stylish fashion designer.
- Sasha: Wensley Dale's older sister. She's super tidy, but a little bit bossy.
- Frank: Wensley Dale's nephew. He's a skateboarding artist mouse, who's a bit clumsy and stutters.
- Aunt Janessa: Wensley Dale's aunt. Singer who runs the Mouseland Choir.
- Lil' Patch: Operates Mouseland's best-known radio station, 'For Real FM'.
- Super: Owns and runs a supermarket.
- Half Pint: Delivery mouse.
- Ron: The Grovetown barber.
- Stylus: Owns the record store.
- Toots: Lead singer of The Mousetails.
- Ice Popp: Rapper and Toots' roadie.
- Orphans: Baby mice who live in the orphanage.
- Spike Cheez: World's best-known filmmaker and director.
- Sholto: Famous cheese nibbler
Cast (voice actors)
- Rastamouse: Reggie Yates
- Scratchy: Sharon Duncan-Brewster
- Zoomer: William Vanderpuye
- President Wensley Dale: Cornell John
- Bagga T. and Gladstone the Rhino Lenny Henry
Origins
Lenny Henry read two of the stories, The Crucial Plan and Da Bag-a Bling, for the BBC's Jackanory Junior, which was first shown in January 2008.
Ethos
The stories emphasise the importance of solving problems through mutual understanding, love and respect, without resorting to punishment. Rastamouses ethos is redemption and not retribution—"make a bad ting good"—helping wrong-doers to redeem themselves from their mistakes. Meaning good things can come from bad things.Music
Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew's album Makin' A Bad Ting Good was released by EMI in July 2011. It includes the single "Ice Popp". A full second album of original music, Best Friends, was released by the Demon Music Group sublabel Little Demon on 24 June 2016. The lead single of the album was "Mi Love Mi Music". All music for the series was composed by Andrew Kingslow. The theme tune was sung by Martin "Sugar" Merchant, former singer in the rock/reggae band Audioweb. Reggae with medium to heavy bass.Puppets
The puppets were made by Mackinnon and Saunders, who previously made the puppets for Bob the Builder, Postman Pat and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.Critical reception
There was early speculation in the British media that the Rastamouse cheese was an allusion to marijuana, despite actual cheese being shown in the series.The Voice, a newspaper that serves the British African-Caribbean community, welcomed the show, albeit as a stereotype of Jamaican life: a The Voice website poll showed that over 60% considered it to be a positive programme. Digital Spy commented that the BBC said that "Rastamouse is not racist". The Guardian newspaper gave a differing view of Rastamouse, with the producer Greg Boardman stating that the producers "never intentionally put in innuendo or anything that isn't age-appropriate".
Figures provided by broadcast regulator Ofcom indicate that the animated TV show received 12 complaints in 2011, though none of them were upheld. The BBC described Rastamouse, aimed at children under six, as one of its most popular shows of 2011.
The series was nominated for the British Academy Children's Award for Pre-School Animation twice, in 2011 and 2012.
Episodes
Series 1 (2011)
| Title | Plot | Rastamouse.com running order | Original UK airdate |
| "Da Crucial Plan" | Da Easy Crew devise a clever plan to discover who has stolen all the cheese in Mouseland. | 1 | |
| "Bakin' and Breakin'" | Rastamouse teaches some tasty dance moves to solve a problem at the orphanage. | 3 | |
| "Da Missin Masterpiece" | Da Easy Crew must come up with a plan to track down a missing masterpiece. | 4 | |
| "For Real FM" | Da Easy Crew track down a mystery pirate who has taken all the music in mouseland. | 5 | |
| "Mice Camera Action" | Director Spike Cheez arrives in town and makes every mouse go crazy for his new pirate movie. | 6 | |
| "Hot Hot Hot" | Da Easy Crew must arrange a surprise party to track down a very selfish mouse. | 7 | |
| "President's Pie" | A thief has taken a special pie Bandulu baked for Wensley Dale. | 8 | |
| "Wicked Threads" | Somebody steals Wensley Dale's presidential tie during the island fashion competition. | 13 | |
| "Da Marathon Mystery" | Rastamouse wonders if Rubba is cheating to win the Da Big Cheese Marathon. | 14 | |
| "Da Cool Cruiser" | Rastamouse must apprehend a motorised thief who is determined to win at all costs. | 15 | |
| "Da Monstrous Fib" | Scary sounds have been spooking the orphanage mice during their camping trip. | 16 | |
| "Cheesy Rumbles" | Da Easy Crew investigate strange rumbling sounds in the Buff Bay Caves. | 17 | |
| "Boom Bada Boom" | Rastamouse and Scratchy investigate why everyone in Grove Town is so keen to snooze. | 11 | |
| "Da Ice Cold Criminal" | Rastamouse tracks down a thief with an icy ambition. | 19 | |
| "Sole Rebel" | Zoomer, Rubba and Dub are devastated when their brand new sneakers fall apart. | 22 | |
| "Double Crossin' Diva" | A missing minibus and a talent show trip. Rastamouse must judge who is breaking the rules. | 2 | |
| "Toots Re-routes" | Someone prevents a musical legend from performing at Gladstone Brie's music festival. | 9 | |
| "Da Bag A Bling" | Rastamouse instigates an ingenious plan to catch a person who has borrowed the orphans. | 24 | |
| "Pie Without Cheese" | Wensley Dale's bossy sister Sasha takes over when he goes on vacation. | 18 | |
| "Hot Sauce" | Da Easy Crew have a 'hot' plan to bring about order and save the food festival. | 23 | |
| "Rollin' Ragga Twins" | The crew stage a roller disco "skatin' competition" in order to trick a copycat thief. | 12 | |
| "Shorty Shapes Up" | It is Sports Day and there are 'blingy medals' to be won, but a mouse spoils all the fun. | 10 | |
| "Master of Disguise" | Da Easy Crew comes up with a watertight plan to fix a leaky roof. | 20 | |
| "Lady Uptown" | Old school music star Lady Uptown is distressed by the disappearance of her lucky brooch. | 21 | |
| "Sugacube" | Somebody has stolen an Easy Crew record and is now pretending the music is their own. | 25 | |
| "Da Rhyming Teef" | Da Easy Crew put aside their music making to track down the President's stolen stereo. | 26 | |
| "Missing Da Prez" | Flat tyres, abandoned limos and a missing Wensley Dale: Rastamouse prepares a premier plan to fix a presidential favour. | 27 | |
| "Da Swinging Suspect" | There's a mystery mouse leaving a nutty trail of mayhem in his wake. | 28 | |
| "Swap Til Ya Drop" | Rastamouse comes up with a crafty plan to catch a 'card cravin' criminal'. | 29 | |
| "Ready Read" | Da Easy Crew come up with a powerful plan to prove that reading really rocks. | 30 | |
| "Da Rubbish Playground" | Wensley Dale is trapped inside his mansion unable to do the things that Presidents' do. Da Easy Crew must get out there and stop a messy mouse dumping rubbish all over the island. | 31 | |
| "Where da Hair?" | Aunt Janessa's lost her best wig, but Da Easy Crew are on the case. | 32 | |
| "Da Rare Groove" | Da Easy Crew follow a wicked beat to help Wensley Dale set a rare groove free. | 33 | |
| "S'no Flour" | The first snow is about to fall in Mouseland, but Da Easy Crew are too busy investigating all the missing flour to join in the fun. | 34 | |
| "Message in a Bottle" | Someone's sending out an S.O.S as the crucial jams of For Real FM fall silent. | 35 | |
| "Hand Made Music" | The Little Orphans wake up to find that all their toys are gone. | 36 | |
| "Natty Hill Carnival" | Will Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew be able to save Carnival? | 37 | |
| "Rappers Block" | Da Easy Crew must track down Bagga T and help him find his rap. | 38 | |
| "Kharma" | Da Easy Crew come up with an open-top plan to catch a double-decker thief. | 39 | |
| "Perfec' Pizza" | Da Easy Crew are helping to put prize-winning pizzas on the menu. | 40 | |
| "Stumped" | Da Easy Crew learn that when it comes to cricket, Dwain, the post mouse, is the expert. | 41 | |
| "Hot off Da Press" | Da Easy Crew investigate the President's missing speech, while a new comic captivates Mouseland with adventures of 'Super Zoomer'. | 42 | |
| "Mice Cool Musical" | Missy D and Scratchy are both coaching the orphans in their musical, but who will guarantee that it's a sure-fire smash-hit? | 43 | |
| "Zoomer Slows Down" | A thin-crust clue and a familiar tune help Rastamouse and Scratchy get Zoomer ready for the big skate race. | 44 | |
| "MJ Meddles" | There's gonna be a slam dunking basketball contest tonight at Pow Pow Square. | 45 | |
| "No Fix Fats" | Things are breaking down all over Mouseland but Fats is nowhere to be found. Da Easy Crew race to fix everything in time for the 'Summer Party' and find out if Fats is okay. | 46 | |
| "Mouse Measles" | The 'Great Big Sponsored Skate' is approaching and Da Easy Crew find a way for everyone to participate. | 47 | |
| "Mouse Space Mystery" | Wensley Dale is planning a special treat for the Little Orphans, but one hi-tech thief just might derail his plan. | 48 | |
| "Sandy Bay Boyz" | There are three mice missing and three missing mic's. Da Easy Crew must come up with a real smooth plan to find the Sandy Bay Boyz. | 49 | |
| "Black Whiskers" | Wensley calls in Da Easy Crew for a serious problem—the Jammin' Dodger's gone missing. | 50 | |
| "Da Great Spindiski" | When President Wensley Dale sits down for breakfast he can't eat a thing—the President's plate's gone missing. | 51 | |
| "Tinie Tinsel" | While Mouseland waits for some real snow to fall Da Easy Crew must find a mouse who has been distracted by a celebration of lovin' and carin'. | 52 |