Animal Jam (TV series)

The show featured many innovations in puppet design and production from the Jim Henson Company. It aired on TLC for several years until 2005, and ran on Discovery Kids until 2006.

• Edi the Zebra (performed by Leslie Carrara-Rudolph) – The host of the show. Her favorite toy is Ginger the Jungle Slug and she has her own kind of dance called "the scooch." She gets the kids' attention to dance by saying "zebra, ready, pose!" She has bright pink and yellow stripes and her mane changes in style in every episode. She is the master of "Zebra Fu."
• Waffle the Cow-Monkey (performed by Rickey Boyd) – The co-host of the show. Waffle is referred to as a Cow-Monkey because he is a monkey that dresses up as a cowboy. The nicknames he gives Edi are zebra girl, pumpkin seed (used in "The Right Size for You"), and striped friend. He gets the kids' attention by saying "Now listen up with your cow-monkey ears" and wiggles his ears on his own. He always likes to take on a challenge such as in "The Not So Moving Episode", when Edi challenges him to a freezing contest to see who can play with Ginger the Jungle Slug for the day. He's the master of "Cow-Monkey Kwan-Do." He did a slide show in "I Am Rain".
• Bozark the Elephant (performed by David Maida) – A 7 ft. tall dancing elephant who is an Animal Jam Superstar. He once came in at the wrong time in "I Am Rain."
• DJ 1 the Panda (performed by John Kennedy) - One of the DJs on the show. He sings the songs for Bozark's dance numbers. His catch phrase is "Oh, yeah".
• DJ 2 the Koala (performed by John Tartaglia) – One of the DJs on the show. He makes sounds after Bozark's dance numbers and makes DJ 1 and DJ 3 look at him. He sat on a stack of books in "The Right Size For You"
• DJ 3 the Leopard (performed by Andy Stone) – One of the DJs on the show. He walked the tightrope in "Crouching Edi, Hidden Waffle" and he played the organ in "Boo! Day". He does the antics after songs in the show. He's the only DJ who can tickle himself.
• Pancake the Water Buffalo – Waffle's younger sister who appeared in the last three episodes.

The following are Animal Jam's puppeteers:

• Rickey Boyd – Waffle the Cow-Monkey
• Leslie Carrara-Rudolph – Edi the Zebra
• John Kennedy – DJ 1 the Panda
• David Maida – Bozark the Elephant
• Alison Mork – Additional Puppeteer
• Andy Stone – DJ 3 the Leopard
• John Tartaglia – DJ 2 the Koala

• Pancake the Water Buffalo appears as "Pancake Buffalo" in the Hannah Montana episode "Hannah in the Street with Diamonds" performed by Victor Yerrid and voiced by Susie Geiser. Pancake is the beloved puppet star of the local Malibu kids' series called "The Pancake Buffalo Show." When Hannah Montana receives a diamond on a Hollywood street modeled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she requests the location be moved due to overly-frequent business in the area and learns that the area her diamond was originally intended to be placed was given to Pancake Buffalo. When Miley attempts to ask the kindly puppeteer of Pancake named Cindy Merriwether (played by Edie McClurg) to switch diamonds, she only communicates (rudely) through Pancake and refuses. Hannah then schemes to switch Pancake's dismal Street Diamond location with Hannah Montana's by playing on the childhood nostalgic fondness of her show by Hollywood Parade of Street Diamonds Committee Chairman Randall Harrison (played by Michael Boatman). She is successful, but ultimately a porta-john is placed directly over the newly moved Diamond much to Miley's astonished joy. Pancake is later seen "occupying" the stall and shooing away anyone who wishes to make use of it.
• The puppets for Waffle the Cow-Monkey, DJ 1, DJ 2, DJ 3, and Pancake the Water Buffalo made appearances in Puppet Up!
• Bozark the Elephant appeared in the movie Old Dogs. He alongside Scales the Dragon from the pilot to "Little Mermaid's Island" and Beak and YesNo from the proposed show "Muppetmobile" were seen as part of Jimmy Lunchbox's show.
• The puppet for Waffle the Cow-Monkey appeared in No, You Shut Up! and The Happytime Murders.

• Animal Jam at Internet Movie Database