Zoboomafoo

Upon their arrival at Animal Junction, the Kratt brothers (Chris and Martin Kratt) lean out the window and call Zoboomafoo (or "Zoboo" for short, and occasionally "Zob"), shown in a live-action segment as an actual lemur (Jovian) leaping across a field to reach them. When the lemur reaches Animal Junction, he won't talk to the Kratt brothers until they give him a snack, generally lemur appropriate food like garbanzo beans, sweet potato or mango slices. After he's done eating his snack, he promptly burps, saying, "Excuse me," and then spins around on a turntable, shouting, "Zoboomafoo-oo-oo-oo!" at which point he becomes a talking lemur puppet (voiced by Robertson). He then leads into the main segment of the episode by describing a "Mangatsika!" (a Malagasy word literally meaning "cold", but used in the series to mean "cool") animal that he saw on his way to Animal Junction. As he describes the animal, a song is played, "Who Could It Be?", while a cartoon shows the characteristics of the "mystery animal". At the end of the song, Chris and Martin try to guess the animal Zoboo has described and the mystery is revealed when the animal or animals arrive at Animal Junction.

Each episode has a theme. For example, baby animals, frightening animals or the importance of play. The arrival of the "mystery animal," generally used as exposition, leads Zoboo, Chris and Martin into a conversation about the animal. At least once every episode (twice in most episodes), Zoboo says that some event in Animal Junction reminds him of a time in Zobooland, where he tell stories about his best friends in Zobooland, such as Narchi (an anteater-like creature), Gooble (a bear-like creature that eats goobleberries), Sensit (a lemur that typically plays around), Wiggy Waxwing (a bird-like creature who likes to sing and eat root noodles), Green Puppy (a green puppy as the name implies), Slimantha (a salamander-like creature), Noggin Drill (a mole-like creature that uses his drill-shaped horn), Snow Lemur (a lemur that lives on a mountain), Baby Zoboomafooasaurus and Mama Zoboomafooasaurus (dinosaurs, who appear in CGI, that the animals often play on), Buggly (a bug that Zoboo rides on), Fibby (a sea creature with several parts including a tentacle and a crab leg) and Cy (a levitating one-eyed squid introduced in the second season). These segments are animated, using clay animation and feature distinct voices for each character.

After the first Zobooland story, Zoboo, Chris and Martin receive a letter from the Animal Helpers (Jackie in the first season and Amy in the second season), who show children how to help animals. This leads into Chris and Martin going out to visit creatures related to the theme, always beginning with the song "Going to the Closet" sung by Zoboo (and sometimes the characters from Zobooland). At the end of each episode, Zoboo and the brothers sign off by singing "Animal Friends", a song that explains why animals are friends to everyone, despite being different species. Finally, Zoboo turns back into a normal lemur and returns to his home in Madagascar. Chris and Martin also leave Animal Junction to better demonstrate the theme of the day, traveling to a region, often in India or Africa, to visit the creatures there.

Before the credits of each episode, kids show and tell the viewers about various animals and pets they have, and a disclaimer is played telling the viewers that they should be careful with the animals they meet. Then Chris and Martin mention animal facts that lead Zoboo to a joke. Example: "Knock knock. Who's there? Panther. Panther who? Panther no pants, I'm going swimming!". The disclaimer and joke were edited out for non-PBS airings (excluding On Demand viewings and PBS Kids Sprout).

• Chris Kratt as himself
• Martin Kratt as himself
• Gord Robertson as Zoboomafoo (voice)
  • Jovian as Zoboomafoo
• Samantha Tolkacz as Jackie (Season 1)
• Genevieve Farrell as Amy (Season 2)

Zoboomafoo was produced by PBS KIDS, Cinar Corporation (now Cookie Jar Entertainment), and the Kratt brothers' Earth Creatures Company.[2][3]

Partial filming for the series took place on location at the Duke Lemur Center in Durham, North Carolina.[4] Although the last new episode aired on PBS KIDS in November 2001, most PBS stations continued to rerun Zoboomafoo episodes in syndication until January 2004. In addition, Sprout aired reruns until July 2011.

In 2003, the Kratt Brothers began another series titled Be the Creature on the National Geographic Channel, then began a new children's animated series Wild Kratts in January 2011, which currently airs on PBS KIDS and TVOntario, among others.

Jovian, a captive Coquerel's sifaka housed at the Duke Lemur Center, portrayed Zoboomafoo in the live-action segments (along with stand-ins). On November 10, 2014, Jovian died of kidney failure in his home at age 20.[5]

Zoboomafoo received the 2001 Emmy for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series[6] and a Parents' Choice Award for Spring 2001 and Silver Honor for Fall 2001.[7][8]

There are also several video games for the PC based on Zoboomafoo, where children learn the alphabet and animals that correlate to each letter. Some of the letters have interactive games to go with them, such as a coloring page.[9]

• Zoboomafoo at IMDb
• Zoboomafoo at TV.com