Line #5 Series/Zoboomafoo


1	[[quoteright:324:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Zoboomafoo_logo_1550.jpg]]
2
3	-> ''Me, and you, and Zoboomafoo!\
4	Come along, and see what's new!\
5	We're doing the things that animals do!\
6	Me, and you, and Zoboomafoo!\
7	Come along and see what's new!\
8	At Animal Junction we're waiting for you!''
9	-->-- ThemeTune
10
11	''Zoboomafoo'' is a 1999 educational children's show hosted by Chris and Martin Kratt (of ''Series/KrattsCreatures'' fame), produced by [[Creator/CookieJarEntertainment Cinar]] and distributed by Maryland Public Television for Creator/PBSKids. The Kratt brothers hang out with Zoboomafoo (Zoboo for short), an anthropomorphic Coquerel's sifaka lemur (or rather, a normal lemur who turns anthropomorphic under certain conditions) and play with animals in a fantasy place called Animal Junction. Every episode focuses on a different theme, such as baby animals, pets vs. wild animals, or just a specific type of animal. The episodes are broken up by occasional claymation stories about a place called Zobooland, as well as expeditions where the Kratt brothers leave Animal Junction to see animals in the wild.
12
13	It ran for 65 episodes over two seasons from January 25, 1999 to November 21, 2001, with reruns airing nationally until January 16, 2004.
14
15	It was followed over a decade later by an animated show called ''WesternAnimation/WildKratts''.
16
17	----
18	!! This show contains examples of:
19	* AcceptableBreaksFromReality:
20	** The brothers often remind viewers that animals of different species that are shown on ''Zoboomafoo'' would never play together in RealLife, but it's possible in Animal Junction.
21	** When non-ambulatory animals appear on the show, such as a pair of nurse sharks, it is clear that they did not wander into Animal Junction on their own and that their pool would have had to be set up for them.
22	** Lampshaded when a tadpole appears to metamorphosize to a frog in under a minute.
23	* AndTheAdventureContinues: Almost every episode ends with Zoboo leaping back to Madagascar and the Kratts running off to visit some new environment.
24	* AmusingInjuries: Usually they happen to the brothers, but sometimes they happen to Zoboo too.
25	* ArtisticLicenseLinguistics: Zoboo's catchphrase "Mangatsika!" is a case of this. The word literally means "cold" in Malagasy (the language spoken in Madagascar), but in the show it's used to mean "cool" as in "interesting". The ''actual'' word for "cool!" in Malagasy is "Milay", which is two syllables.
26	* ArtEvolution: The Zoboo puppet undergoes several notable changes throughout the series, starting off with a squarish head with a lean physique to a cartoonish and circular head and face with bigger eyes (which lose the ability to close) and a more notable mouth and a more hunched and squashed posture, essentially morphing from a mildly stretched version of his real animal species to looking more like a giant furry version of his Zobooland clay model. It's much more poignant when watching the first and last episodes front-to-back, and is an easy indicator aside from the presence of either Jackie or Amy in the "Animal Helpers" segment to tell if an episode was produced towards the end of the show's run.
27	* ArtShift: The ''Who Could it Be?'' segments are animated in 2D Flash animation, while the Zobooland shorts are animated through StopMotion claymation.
28	* BalloonBelly: In some of Zoboo's stories, this happens to Goobol whenever he eats a whole bunch of Goobolberries.
29	** This also happens to Zoboo and both brothers after eating like a bear before hibernation.
30	* {{Cartoon Creature}}: Most of the Zobooland creatures from Zoboo's stories fall into this trope.
31	* CharacterCatchphrase:
32	** "Zoboomafoooooooooo!"
33	** "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
34	** "Mangatsika!"[[note]]This means "cold" in Malagasy, but Zoboo uses it to mean "cool!" as in “interesting”. This was mistakenly used instead of "Milay" which is the Malagasy version of the English word "Cool!"[[/note]]
35	** "Leaping lemurs!"
36	** "I meant to do that."
37	** "Incoming-- {{Duck}}!" "That's not a duck..." Sometimes, the second phrase is "Is it a duck?"
38	** "I can't believe my mind!"
39	** "I don't think so!!!"
40	** "Vooky" [[note]]This means "full" in Malagasy so it's often uttered by Zoboo after his snack.[[/note]]
41	* CharacterTitle
42	* CrashIntoHello: With a few exceptions, this is pretty much the only way Zoboo seems to meet anybody in his Zobooland stories.
43	* CuteApproachesCamera: In the opening sequence.
44	* CuteKitten: Several episodes feature lynx or bobcat kittens.
45	* CutenessProximity: The Kratts react this way when they care for baby animals, like bear cubs or puppies.
46	* DontTryThisAtHome: Viewers are reminded at the end of each episode that not all animals are friendly and to only touch them when an adult says it's OK.
47	* DidntThinkThisThrough: In one episode, the brothers go up in a hot air balloon, but forget the device they need to get down back on the ground.
48	* DiurnalNocturnalAnimal: Moonface the barn owl regularly visits Animal Junction during the day. Averted with Zoboo himself — unlike many other lemurs, the sifaka is diurnal.
49	* {{Duck}}: Happens OnceAnEpisode when the Messenger Bird of the Day brings a message from the Animal Helpers and Zoboo and the Brothers have to duck out of the way. Subverted sometimes because the messenger bird ''is'' a duck!
50	* ExplodingCloset: Whenever the brothers want to [[OnceAnEpisode go on an adventure]] to see the animals in the wild. On the few times they did prepare for the stuff falling out, the closet would respond by... not doing anything. Psych! There was also an episode in which a young girl who was visiting the brothers took something from the closet and nothing happened.
51	* EverybodyCallsHimBarkeep: Zoboo tells the Kratt brothers to call his parents "Zoboo's Mom" and "Zoboo's Dad."
52	* FantasticFruitsAndVegetables: Goobolberries in Zoboo's stories.
53	* FreeRangeChildren: The Animal Helpers.
54	* FreezeFrameBonus: In "Brain Power", when Martin is reading instructions for the invisibility machine, step 8 is "Do The Cha Cha Cha".
55	* GadgeteerGenius: The Kratts built (in-universe) several contraptions over the course of the show, including an invisibility machine and artificial wings for Zoboo. Zoboomafoo himself showed a knack for this when he created a machine to communicate with plants, but by chance it [[WeirdnessCensor never worked while the Kratts were around]].
56	* IAmNotWeasel: In "Dinosaurs", Zoboo initially thinks a monitor lizard he encountered on his way to Animal Junction is a dinosaur. Later, when an iguana shows up, Zoboo mistakes it for a dinosaur too.
57	* InformedSpecies: Wiggy Waxwing in the "Zobooland" skits looks nothing like an actual waxwing.
58	* InstantMessengerPigeon: OnceAnEpisode a different bird flies into Animal Junction and delivers a message from the Animal Helpers.
59	* LampshadeWearing: Zoboo mistakes a lampshade for a headlamp in one episode.
60	* MediumBlending: The Zobooland stories, which are stop-motion animated with clay models. As well as the "Who Could It Be" segments, which are hand-drawn animation.
61	** In addition, the episode "Dinosaurs" features animated dinosaurs digitally inserted into the live action environment.
62	* MixAndMatchCritters: In the dinosaur episode, the Kratts build a dinosaur skeleton using fake bones from a wide range of different species (Brontosaurus body, Tyrannosaurus rex teeth, Ankylosaurus tail, Triceratops frill, etc.)
63	* MondegreenGag: "[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binturong Binturong]]? I've been to the jungle, and I've been to Animal Junction, but I've never been to Rong. Where's Rong?"
64	* {{Neologism}}: OnceAnEpisode. "I feel _________ish!"
65	* TheNicknamer: Zoboo gives a nickname to almost every animal he meets.
66	* NotSoDifferentRemark: In the goodbye song: This animal is a friend of mine / From the tip of his nose to his funny behind / All the friends we've met today/ Are special in their own way / They've all got different names / '''But we're really all the same!'''
67	* OnceAnEpisode: The Kratt Brothers being a victim of the ExplodingCloset, the Brothers' trip, the Zobooland segments, the message from the Animal Helpers, and Who Could it Be?
68	* PercussiveMaintenance: Often used on the Snack Machine when it refuses to dispense food. When it finally does get unjammed, it has a tendency to spew food out uncontrollably.
69	* PieInTheFace: Martin receives one from a monkey at one point in "Dinosaurs".
70	* PreciousPuppies: Puppies make many appearances in several episodes.
71	* ProperlyParanoid: In "Happy Lemur Day" both Martin and Chris have wild hair, which Zoboo happily combs with his teeth since lemur teeth are like tooth combs. To inform other lemurs that it's Lemur Day, the brothers go out, but not before packing tooth combs. While in the jungle, their hair gets messed up again and they have to comb it.
72	* {{Revenge}}: In one episode, the brothers try to top each other's pranks. After Martin drops ice down Chris's back, for example, Chris responds by replacing Martin's chair with a block of ice. All PlayedForLaughs of course.
73	* RunningGag: The Snack Machine not working and then suddenly dumping tons of food on whoever was fixing it, one or both brothers taking a flying leap and landing in something unpleasant, The Closet exploding on everyone except the Animal Helpers, Zoboo crashing into his Zobooland friends, and "Duck!" "That's not a duck, that's -messenger bird of the day-!" The last is occasionally subverted when the messenger bird ''does'' turn out to be a duck!
74	* ShoutOut:
75	** In the episode ''Cats'': "[[Literature/TheCatInTheHat There's a cat in the hat!]]"
76	** Martin having to feel an elephant while blindfolded can bring to mind the story of the blind men and the elephant. He too initially mistakes its trunk for a snake, until he realizes he feels hair on it.
77	* SkewedPriorities: When the Kratt brothers get stranded with seals on an island, due to their raft blowing a hole and a seal taking the patch kit, they at first decide to stay until realizing they'd miss Zoboo. That is not mentioning their families would miss them, and they would have to forage for food and shelter.
78	* SlippingIntoStink: A running gag involves the Kratt Brothers swinging around on ropes in a lemur-like fashion, only to lose control and fall into a big pile of mud.
79	* StockFootage: Used a ''lot'' in both the Animal Junction and in the Zobooland scenes.
80	* StopMotion: The Zobooland segments.
81	* TalkingAnimal: Zoboo, but only after he's fed. Apparently his speech abilities wear off overnight. This gets reflected by him being represented by an actual lemur when he can't speak, and then a puppet when he can.
82	* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
83	** Both brothers have their own food slots in the Snack Machine. One slot dispenses spaghetti, the other pizza.
84	** Also, in Zoboo's stories, Goobol, Zoboo's friend absolutely loves filling his Goobol belly with Goobolberries.
85	* UnsoundEffect:
86	** "I was leaping along-- leap... leap... leap...
87	** In the episode ''Animal Daycare'': I was sleeping along-- sleep... sleep... sleep...
88	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield:
89	** Animal Junction doesn't really seem to be anywhere. The theme song claims Zoboo and other animals led them to it, so it seems it's some kind of natural location they all migrate to, though then the question is who built the place. (In reality, it was a set built at the lemur center of Duke University in North Carolina. Yes, the same Duke involved in the famous college basketball rivalry.)
90	** Wherever the Kratts travel to always appears to be [[TravelingAtTheSpeedOfPlot right next door to Animal Junction]].
91	** Zobooland ''might'' be in Madagascar, given Zoboo has once or twice expressed having to return to it, but its geography and wildlife certainly doesn't match it.
92	* WhosOnFirst: Occurs in this exchange from "Snow Day", before the OnceAnEpisode "Who Could It Be?" segment...
93	-->'''Zoboo:''' Who?
94	-->'''Chris:''' What?
95	-->'''Zoboo:''' No, WHO.
96	-->'''Martin:''' Who?
97	-->'''Zoboo:''' Yeah, WHO!
98	-->'''Chris:''' What are you so happy about?
99	-->'''Zoboo:''' No, not "yahoo"! But "who"! Who could it be?
100	----
101	-->''This animal is a friend of mine''\
102	''With the tip of his nose to his funny behind''\
103	''All the friends that we met today''\
104	''Are special in their own way''
105
106	-->''We've all got different names''\
107	''But we're really all the same''\
108	''Thanks for droppin' by''\
109	''We're glad you came''
110
111	-->''These animals are friends of mine''\
112	''They jump and swing, crawl, fly and climb''\
113	''One more thing we have to say...''\

Context Series / Zoboomafoo