ZuZu & the SuperNuffs is an Australian animated miniseries created by Zara and Troy Love, and commissioned by Eileen McCarthy for KidsCo. Produced by Matchbox Productions, the series ran from August 19 to September 11, 2013 on the ill-fated KidsCo with only eight five-minute episodes.
ZuZu Becky-Jones is a 13-year old wisecracking space-vlogger. She lives with her maniacal Uncle Sirius and spy-obsessed cousin EdE at the Sirius Toy Factory - where a crazy new toy is invented each week. After ZuZu sends a daily vlog out into the cosmos, a band of magical furry alien called Nuffs tune in and crash into her house in their intergalactic bathtub. Finding themselves stranded, the Nuffs befriend ZuZu and they soon find that they have a mission: to free this planet of the "splurkle" (an atmospheric chemical reaction caused by negative thoughts), and as it turns out Uncle Sirius' factory is the biggest cause of it.
Not to be confused with The ZhuZhus.
This show contains examples of:
- A Boy and His X: A girl and her magical alien friends.
- All There in the Manual: In the trailer for the show, it mentions that GoodNuff and BuffNuff are twins, but this is never said in the show itself.
- Berserk Button: Don't call CuteNuff "cute".
- Catchphrase: ZuZu has "What the ba-doogle?!"
- Character Name and the Noun Phrase: ZuZu and the SuperNuffs.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": CuteNuff does not like to be called "cute".
- Expository Theme Tune: The Theme Tune explains that the Nuffs come from a different planet and land in a world full of sadness. They befriend ZuZu, and these heroes must clean up all the splurkle.
- The Killjoy: Uncle Sirius is, as his name implies, serious. He doesn't like to have fun, nor does he like to let his employees or anyone else around him have it either.
- Meaningful Name:
- Uncle Sirius takes everything incredibly seriously.
- Obviously also applies to nearly all of the Nuffs' names. GoodNuff is good, SmartNuff is smart, and so on.
- Nervous Wreck: GoodNuff, who even dances when he's nervous.
- Older and Wiser: WiseNuff is the eldest Nuff and also the wisest.
- Short-Runner: Only eight five-minute episodes were produced, and the series only aired on TV in under a year before KidsCo shut down.
- Small Town Boredom: Fun-seekers ZuZu and EdE were often bored before the Nuffs came into their life, as Uncle Sirius' factory is the most miserable place ever.
- The Smart Guy: SmartNuff is the smartest of the Nuffs.
- Technobabble: SmartNuff often slips into this, and the other characters often ask her to use a "short-version version" of what she just said.SmartNuff: Our planet Nuff is located in the Nuffian Galaxy, which is part of the north-eastern quadrant o-
CuteNuff: Short-version version? - Theme Tune Extended: An extended Theme Tune was already uploaded to the composer's SoundCloud two months before the show aired. This version in question adds a long amount of instrumental at the beginning. It can be viewed here
. - Title Theme Tune: "Crash-landing in a bathtub, where they met a funny friend / Now it's ZuZu and the SuperNuffs!"
- Trapped in Another World: Inverted. Thanks to Sirius' factory being the biggest cause of misery (much to his liking), a group of magical furry aliens' intergalactic bathtub crashes into planet Earth, ZuZu's home to be precise. From there, they stay in hopes of cleaning up all the splurkle, in turn making ZuZu's life a whole lot more interesting.
- Two Girls to a Team: Counting WiseNuff, there are two female Nuffs and three male Nuffs. Without him, it's a Gender-Equal Ensemble.
