Zoboomafoo


Zoboomafoo is a live-action/animated children's television series that originally aired on PBS from January 25, 1999, to November 21, 2001. After the original run on public television, reruns were shown on Universal Kids#As [PBS Kids Sprout/Sprout (2005–17)|PBS Kids Sprout] until 2012. A total of 65 episodes were aired. A creation of the Kratt Brothers, it features a talking Coquerel's sifaka lemur named Zoboomafoo, performed by Canadian puppeteer Gord Robertson, and mainly portrayed by a lemur named Jovian, along with a collection of returned animal guests.
WWW Official Site

Production

Zoboomafoo was produced by PBS Kids, CINAR Corporation, and the Kratt brothers' Earth Creatures company. Paragon Entertainment Corporation, who previously worked on Kratts' Creatures, was slated to be involved with Zoboomafoo before being replaced by CINAR.
Partial filming for the series took place on location at the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina. The claymation segments were filmed at a studio in Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada. Although the last new episode aired on PBS Kids in November 2001, many PBS stations continued to rerun Zoboomafoo episodes in syndication through 2009. Select stations aired reruns as late as 2017. In addition, Sprout aired reruns until February 2012. The show was broadcast in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Middle East, and India.
After the series ended, in 2003, the Kratt Brothers began another series titled Be the Creature on the National Geographic Channel. In 2011, they created the animated series Wild Kratts, which currently airs on PBS Kids and TVOntario.
Jovian portrayed Zoboomafoo in the live-action segments. On November 10, 2014, he died of kidney failure in his home at the age of 20.

Cast

Segments

  • Zoboomafoo Theme Song
  • The Kratt Brothers Arrive, Calling for Zoboo, and Snacktime
  • The Mystery Animal
  • Zobooland Story #1
  • Mystery Animal Leaves
  • Duck/Animal Helpers with Jackie/Amy
  • A Journey to Visit Animals
  • Exploring the Wild and Seeing Animals
  • Back to Animal Junction and Another Mystery Animal
  • Zobooland Story #2
  • Ending Theme: Animal Friends
  • Zoboo and Kratt Brothers Leave Animal Junction
  • Kids Introducing Their Pets
  • Meeting Animals Disclaimer
  • Jokes From Zoboomafoo
  • End Credits

Episodes

Series overview


Awards and nominations

Zoboomafoo received the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series and a Parents' Choice Award for Spring 2001 and Silver Honor for Fall 2001.

Other media

There are also several video games for the PC based on Zoboomafoo, where children learn the alphabet and animals that correlate to each letter. Some of the letters have interactive games to go with them, such as a coloring page.