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JoJo's Circus is a musical comedy series for preschool children. Beginning its broadcasting run in 2003.
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.
Cuppa Coffee Studios was the animation studio who produced the stop-motion animation for the show.
Story 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.
DVD's
Recurring themes 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.
Music 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): 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. 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): 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. Ballooney Baloney: Known for making balloon animals Cotton Andy: 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 Terracotta: 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.
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!
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