JoJo's Circus
Encyclopedia
JoJo's Circus is a music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

al comedy series
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 for preschool children. The series debuted in 2003 and airs in the United States on the Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...

 as part of the Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney was Disney Channel's television block for programs aimed at entertaining preschool aged children, often airing as its own channel outside the United States. It was introduced in 1997 after Disney Channel's move to basic cable from premium cable, with a target audience of children...

 morning programming schedule at 6am eastern time. The program airs daily on both the UK and Australian versions of Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney
Playhouse Disney was Disney Channel's television block for programs aimed at entertaining preschool aged children, often airing as its own channel outside the United States. It was introduced in 1997 after Disney Channel's move to basic cable from premium cable, with a target audience of children...

 using the original American content. Since 2005, JoJo's Circus has been shown on GMTV
GMTV
GMTV was the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 to 3 September 2010. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc. in November 2009. Shortly after, ITV plc announced the programme would end...

's children's weekend slot Toonattik
Toonattik
Toonattik was the flagship children's strand of the British breakfast television station, ITV Breakfast . It began on 5 February 2005 and ran until New Year's Day 2011....

. As of June 17, 2011, it has been confirmed that it will move into its new home Disney Junior
Disney Junior
Disney Junior is a current program block on Disney Channel and an upcoming American basic cable and satellite television network intended to replace SOAPnet in February 2012. It began airing on February 14, 2011, replacing Playhouse Disney....

, which will replace the soon-to-be defunct channel SOAPnet
SOAPnet
SOAPnet is an American cable television channel that broadcasts current and past soap operas and primetime dramas, along with some original programming. The channel launched on January 20, 2000, and is owned by Disney-ABC Television Group, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...

.

Concept

The series stars JoJo Tickle — a six-year-old, female clown — (in a similar style of Pinky Dinky Doo
Pinky Dinky Doo
Pinky Dinky Doo is a children's animated series that currently airs dubbed in Spanish and English on Univision in the USA, ABC in Australia, CBeebies in Great Britain, and Treehouse in Canada, in the Kids' CBC programming block...

); and her fellow residents of 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
Hygiene
Hygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...

, 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.
It features songs music by Jeffrey Zahn and lyrics by Judy Rothman
Judy Rothman
Judith Rothman Rofé is an American screenwriter and lyricist specializing in comedy and literary adaptations for children. She won the 2002 Emmy for Best Animated Program for Madeline , for which she was writer, lyricist, story editor and supervising producer on over 70 episodes...

.

Characters JoJo and her pet lion, Goliath, re-appeared in a exercise learning series/interstitial
Interstitial program
In television programming, an interstitial program refers to a short program which is often shown between movies or other events, e.g. a cast interview after movies on premium channels...

 called Feeling Good with JoJo.

Season 1 (2003-2004)

  • 1. Easy as Pie/Take a Bow
  • 2. Uncle Flippy's Funny Farm/Up, Up and Away!
  • 3. Hide and Go Dinky/Fire Chief Says
  • 4. Confetti Caper/JoJo on the Tightrope
  • 5. Try These On for Boing!/Happy Birthday Tater!
  • 6. Cotton Andy/Nighty Night
  • 7. Skeebo's Missing Hat Trick/Seal Fright
  • 8. The Circus Shh Shh/The Little Big Top Boogie Band
  • 9. Drum Roll Please/Cannonball JoJo
  • 10. Flower Shower/The Itchy-Oochy Scratch Patch
  • 11. Messy Mess/Pop Up!
  • 12. The Whatchamadoodle/What's the Trick?
  • 13. Zero Heroes/The Spudinski's New Act
  • 14. JoJo Signs Up/The Un-Average Day
  • 15. Mirror, Mirror/Trina Trips Up
  • 16. The Clown Family Picnic/Dinky's Dance
  • 17. Hamster-cize!/Shoo Fly Shoo!
  • 18. The Last Roar/Helping Hands
  • 19. Skeebo's Pet/Follow that Rainbow
  • 20. A Case of the Sillies/Hide and Go-Liath
  • 21. Funny Bunnies/Ivan the Bearable
  • 22. JoJo to the Rescue!/A Clown Ride
  • 23. Charlie the Clown Baby/Fire House Day
  • 24. Quiet Magic/Too Many Toys

Season 2 (2004-2006)

  • 1. Sleepover Surprises/How Does Your Garden Grow?
  • 2. Fit as a Tickle/Pedal Pushers
  • 3. A New Twist/Lost and Found
  • 4. The Best Breakfast Ever/Popcorn Panic!
  • 5. Frown Fighters/Goliath the Great!
  • 6. Hi There Small Fry!/My Dinner with the Tightropes
  • 7. My Favorite Frogsitters/Night of the Teddy Bears' Dance
  • 8. 100 Days and Counting/Hoop Happy
  • 9. Charlie the Clown Baby Returns/Fishing Trip
  • 10. Goliath Gets a Boo Boo/Join the Club
  • 11. The Mane Event/Stuck on You
  • 12. The Robot Clown/Mice Capades
  • 13. A Circus Town Wedding (full episode)
  • 14. Get Crabby/Bouncing Bowling Ball
  • 15. The Octopus Ride/Hiccup Helper
  • 16. Follow that Monkey/"X" Marks the Spot
  • 17. Happy Hoppy Day!/Brushing Up!
  • 18. The Cricketeers/Tickled Pink
  • 19. Practice Makes Perfect/Happy Not-Birthday, Skeebo!
  • 20. Best Pet in Circus Town/Picture Perfect
  • 21. Make It Snappy/Harpo Come Home
  • 22. Circus Town Hoedown/Time Flies
  • 23. The Giggle Kite/Chores Galore
  • 24. A Snowclown for Dinky/Skating Away

Season 3 (2006-2007)

  • 1. Simply Ear-Resistible/Hula is Cool-a
  • 2. Ride 'Em Goliath/Silly Silly Putt-Putt
  • 3. Princess for a Day (full episode)
  • 4. Pie in the Sky (full episode)
  • 5. My Granny's Shoes (full episode)
  • 6. JoJo and the Beanstalk (full episode)
  • 7. Circus Town Makeover (full episode)
  • 8. My Clowny Valentine/Hop Hooey!

Special Episodes

  • 1. The Legend of Clownfoot (full 2003 episode for Halloween)
  • 2. A Circus Town Christmas (full 2003 episode for Christmas Day/the Holidays)
  • 3. The Thanksgiving Hip-Hooray Parade (full 2004 episode for Thanksgiving Day)

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) always begins with JoJo searching for her pet lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

 Goliath 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 each episode, a secondary character asks, "What did you learn today, JoJo?", and before she can reply, JoJo is whisked away for the finale, the "spotlight moment." JoJo is then placed on a makeshift stage, while the "Spotlight Moment" song plays, asking what she's learned, is sung. Subsequently, JoJo explains what she has learned in the course of the episode.

Major characters

JoJo Tickle
Voiced by Madeleine Martin
Madeleine Martin
Madeleine Elizabeth Martin plays the character Rebecca "Becca" Moody on Showtime comedy-drama Californication. She is a student at the School of American Ballet.-Career:...


JoJo, the main character of the show, is an inquisitive and active six-year-old clown
Clown
Clowns are comic performers stereotypically characterized by the grotesque image of the circus clown's colored wigs, stylistic makeup, outlandish costumes, unusually large footwear, and red nose, which evolved to project their actions to large audiences. Other less grotesque styles have also...

 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
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

 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 (Season 1) and Keeler Sandaus (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
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...

 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.

Trina Tightrope
Voiced by Tajja Isen
Tajja Isen
Tajja Isen is a Canadian actress and singer-songwriter who is best known for voicing the titular character in the television series Atomic Betty...


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
David Sparrow
David Charles Arthur Sparrow is a Canadian actor born in England and living in Toronto.He has appeared in over eighty film and television roles, including the films Serendipity , The Hurricane, Shall we Dance and 16 Blocks and the television series Monk, Star Trek: Voyager, Corner Gas, Little...

 (Season 1) and Noah Weisberg (Season 2)

Mr. Tickle — JoJo's dad and Peaches's husband — is a jolly clown who often blasts off to work in a cannon.

Peaches Tickle
Voiced by Marnie McPhail (Seasons 1-2) and Shannon Perreault (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
Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood , also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress most famous for appearing in the 2002 film Chicago. She was one of the original cast members of the Toronto branch of The Second City, and was a semi-regular on SCTV...


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 married Mr. Muscles and became Maya's stepmother. She is very clumsy and after she trips, her catchphrase is "I'm OK!"

Minor characters

Dinky the Elephant
Voiced by Julie Lemieux
Julie Lemieux
-Character voices:Julie Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino and Young Sapphire in Sailor Moon, Darien Shields in Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose, and Peruru in Sailor Moon Supers the Movie: Black Dream Hole. She has also played Funshine Bear Care Bears:...


Dinky is a sweet and frisky elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...

. While Dinky may be clumsy and somewhat oafish, when he dances, he turns into "Mr. Graceful."

Tater Spudinski
Voiced by Bill Cole
Bill Cole
William Shadrack Cole is an American jazz musician and educator. Cole, most unusually for his genre, specializes in non-Western wind instruments, including the Ghanaian atenteben, Chinese suona, Korean hojok and piri, South Indian nagaswaram, North Indian shehnai, Tibetan trumpet, and Australian...


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 1 year old baby sister named Small Fry.

Balboa the Snake
Voiced by Julie Lemieux
Julie Lemieux
-Character voices:Julie Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino and Young Sapphire in Sailor Moon, Darien Shields in Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose, and Peruru in Sailor Moon Supers the Movie: Black Dream Hole. She has also played Funshine Bear Care Bears:...


Balboa is a contortionist snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

 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
Neil Crone
Neil Crone is a Canadian voice actor and comedian who does the voices of Gordon the Big Engine, Splatter and Diesel 10 from the film Thomas and the Magic Railroad. He does Phillip the Concierge in the My Secret Identity episode "Sour Grapes"...

; voice actor for Federico: John Stocker)

Also called the Flying Froginis, the two brothers are expert jumpers and trapeze artists. Fellini and Federico are uncle and father, respectively, to Croaky.

Mr. Muscles
Voiced by Mark Consuelos
Mark Consuelos
Mark Andrew Consuelos is a Spanish-born American television and film actor.-Personal life:Consuelos was born in Zaragoza, Spain to a Mexican father and an Italian mother. He is the youngest of three children, he has a brother, who is a doctor, and a sister, who is a lawyer. Consuelos has lived in...

 (Season 1) and Erik Estrada
Erik Estrada
Henry Enrique "Erik" Estrada is an American police officer and actor, known for his co-starring lead role in the 1977–1983 United States police television series CHiPs...

 (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.

Other Characters

Dr. Seltzer
Voiced by Kathy Greenwood
Kathy Greenwood
Kathryn "Kathy" Greenwood is a Canadian actress and comedienne. She appeared on the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? numerous times, and played Grace Bailey on the Canadian television drama series Wind at My Back....


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
Patrick McKenna
Patrick McKenna born May 8, 1960 in Sylvania, Saskatchewan is a Canadian comedic and actor. He is best known for playing Harold Green on the television series The Red Green Show, Marty Stephens on Traders, and the Trudeau miniseries. McKenna is a member of Toronto's The Second City comedy troupe...


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; voice actor for Mrs. Spudinski: Julie Lemieux
Julie Lemieux
-Character voices:Julie Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino and Young Sapphire in Sailor Moon, Darien Shields in Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose, and Peruru in Sailor Moon Supers the Movie: Black Dream Hole. She has also played Funshine Bear Care Bears:...


Tater's parents, who have the same sleepy nature as he does. It's revealed in "The Thanksgiving Hip-Hooray Parade" episode that Tater calls his father "Daddy Spud."

Small Fry Spudinski
Voiced by Julie Lemieux
Julie Lemieux
-Character voices:Julie Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino and Young Sapphire in Sailor Moon, Darien Shields in Sailor Moon R the Movie: Promise of the Rose, and Peruru in Sailor Moon Supers the Movie: Black Dream Hole. She has also played Funshine Bear Care Bears:...


Small Fry is Tater's baby sister and one of the two kids in the Spudinski clan. She first appeared in the episode "Hi There, Small Fry!"

Mrs. Pachyderm
Voiced by Judy Marshak

Dinky's mother; she's also been referred to as Mrs. Elephant.

Babalulu
Voiced by Kathy Brier
Kathy Brier
Kathy Brier is an American actress and singer.-Early life:Brier grew up on Staten Island, where she attended Moore Catholic High School before studying theatre and business at Wagner College, qualifying for a Bachelor of Science in arts administration.-Career:Brier played the role of Marcie Walsh...


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
Jonathan Potts
Jonathan Potts is a Canadian actor whose career began in the late 1980s. His earliest work was as the voice of Troy Jeffries in the animated television series Beverly Hills Teens. He is best known for providing the voice of Link from The Legend of Zelda animated series...


Jumberto is a rabbit magician whose tricks rarely work.

Terrific the Tiger Tamer
Voiced by Ed Saheley

Terrific is a famous tiger tamer in Circus Town. He has a tiger named Tippoo.

Uncle Flippy
Voiced by Tony Daniels
Tony Daniels
-Voice Acting Roles:-References:*...


A farmer and JoJo's uncle, Uncle Flippy owns a farm on the outskirts of Circus Town. On the episode entitled "Uncle Flippy's Funny Farm," JoJo and everyone in Circus Town helped him after a giant pie creamed his farm. Strangely, he has a pet tiger.

Ballooney Baloney
Voiced by Darren Frost
Darren Frost
Darren Frost is a Canadian actor and stand-up comedian. He frequently performs at Yuk-Yuks comedy clubs, and he competed in the 2007 Seattle International Comedy Competition....


Known for making balloon animals, Ballooney Baloney can make any animal shaped balloons with his hands. He has a grandson named Bailey.

Cotton Andy
Voiced by Paul Soles
Paul Soles
Paul Robert Soles is a Canadian actor and television personality.-Acting roles:He is best known as the voice of Hermie the misfit elf in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964....


Cotton Andy is a cotton candy vendor whose cotton candy machine is named "Whoopsabelle" and was also a priest for the wedding episode "A Circus Town Wedding."

Charlie the Clown Baby
Charlie is one of JoJo's cousins whom the Tickles sometimes babysit.

Grandma and Grandpa Tickle
Voice actor for Grampy Tickle: Keith Knight
Keith Knight (actor)
Keith Knight was a Canadian actor. He made his screen debut as Larry 'Fink' Finkelstein in the 1979 comedy Meatballs, voiced the White Rabbit in The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, and voiced Pigface in the BBC drama Ace Lightning. He was also known for voicing Lowly Worm in The Busy World of...

; voice actor for Young Grampy: Joshua Isen; voice actor for Granny Tickle: Kate Gallant

JoJo's grandparents, both of them were experts on clowning around before JoJo was born. Their famous act is the "Silly Shoe Shuffle," which Granny Tickle passed the act to both JoJo and Goliath.

Terracotta
Voiced by Kristen Bone

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."


Princess Josephina
Voiced by Tajja Isen
Tajja Isen
Tajja Isen is a Canadian actress and singer-songwriter who is best known for voicing the titular character in the television series Atomic Betty...


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.

Bailey Ballooney
Voiced by Matthew Josten

Ballooney Baloney's grandson. Bailey Ballooney normally attends Small Top Hills School and only visited JoJo's class on Valentine's Day. JoJo comes up with a special way to make him a valentine in the episode "My Clowny Valentine."

Music

Every episode contains a short tune dealing with the topics of the episode. (Many of these songs can be found on three CDs: Songs from JoJo's Circus, Songs from Under the Big Top!, and Playhouse Disney: Imagine and Learn with Music.) The genres of the songs range from doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...

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 their hair, and clean up after themselves — while a few are more entertaining, such as Cotton Candy Sure Is Sweet or The Gum Drop Song. The theme song of the show is performed by the band Becky.

DVD releases

The series has two DVD releases: "Take a Bow" and "Animal a Go-Go." The "Take a Bow" DVD contains the "Easy As Pie," "Take a Bow," "JoJo on the Tightrope," and "Happy Hoppy Day" episodes. "Animal a Go-Go" has "Flower Shower," "Uncle Flippy's Funny Farm," "Try These on for Boing," and "Brushing Up." Both DVDs have the opening theme, JoJo and Goliath in interstitials, printable coloring pages, and other bonus features.

Two more JoJo's Circus episodes are available on Higglytown Heroes DVDs: "The Spudinski's New Act" is on Higglytown's "Heroes on the Move" DVD, and "A Clown Ride" is on the Higglytown "To the Rescue" disc. The holiday themed "A Circus Town Christmas" is included on the "A Very Playhouse Disney Holiday" DVD.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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