The Doodlebops
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| The Doodlebops | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Origin |  Canada |
| Genre(s) | Pop Rock, Power Pop |
| Years active | 2004 – present |
| Label(s) | Cookie Jar Entertainment Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Playhouse Disney (USA) Playhouse Disney (UK) |
| Website | http://www.doodlebops.com |
| Members | |
| Chad McNamara — Rooney Doodle Lisa J. Lennox — Deedee Doodle Jonathan Wexler — Moe Doodle |
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| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Guitar; Ukulele Piano Drums |
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| Common rating | |
|---|---|
| Australia | G |
| Canada | C |
| New Zealand | G |
| United States | TV-Y |
The Doodlebops is a Canadian Show for younger children. "Rock & Bop with The Doodlebops", Disney Records USA), was released in 2004 and continues to top the children's charts in North America. Beginning its TV broadcasting run in 2004, the series, produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment airs on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Canada in the CBC Kids morning block, on the Disney Channel in the USA as part of the Playhouse Disney morning programming schedule and on Playhouse Disney (UK) in the UK. The Doodlebops launched an 80 city tour of the United States at Madison Square Garden on September 30, 2006, with dates set through April 2007. The Doodlebops stars are Lisa J. Lennox as Deedee Doodle, Chad McNamara as Rooney Doodle, and Jonathan Wexler as Moe Doodle.
The Doodlebops' characters are members of a kids' band, The creators of The Doodlebops are Cookie Jar executive Michael Hirsh and musical director Carl Lenox. Jamie Waese is the producer and director of the TV series. David Connolly is the choreographer. Andrea Nevitt is the Line Producer. Gord McLennan is the Technical Producer. Ian Harvey is the Senior Editor.
The show features a mix of music, dancing, humor and skits that teach social lessons. The show always includes scenes from a concert in front of a preschool audience who actively participate in the singing and dancing.
The band members wear heavy makeup and/or prosthetics to look like live-action cartoon characters. During the first season, they wore cloth hoods with fake ears. Thereafter, the band used flashier costumes during their concert segments, incorporating sequins and metallic fabrics.
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[edit] Characters
[edit] The Doodlebops
- Deedee Doodle – Deedee is dressed in purple and pink. She plays the keytar and is portrayed by Lisa J. Lennox.
- Moe Doodle – Moe is dressed in yellow, orange and red. He plays the drums, and is known for his loud and messy antics. He is portrayed by Jonathan Wexler. Moe likes to watch silent films.[1] In every single episode, Moe is nowhere to be found, leading to the "Where's Moe?" session and later, just before leaving the clubhouse, Moe always pulls the rope, which drenches him in water before shaking it off. Moe loves trains because they are loud, just like him.[2]
- Rooney Doodle – Rooney is dressed in all blue. He plays the guitar and when he was a beginner, played the ukulele.[3] He is an inventor and is portrayed by Chad McNamara. Rooney likes to watch demolition derbies[1] and enjoys the history of trains.[2]
[edit] Supporting
- Bus Driver Bob – Bob is the personal bus driver of the Doodlebops. He is portrayed by John "Giovanni" Catucci. He knows how to play the guitar, but is shy about it and only plays for himself.[1] He is also a big fan of trains.[2] Bob has an identical twin brother named Rob[4] and another off-screen brother named Obear.[3]
- Jazzmin - the manager of the Doodlebops at the start of season three. She is portrayed by Jackie Richardson. Jazzmin aspires to be a stage actress, and is able to play the harp.[1]. She can disappear merely by snapping her fingers.
- Mazz – The Doodlebops manager during season one and two, is the manager of the Doodlebops. She was portrayed by Kim Roberts.
- Audio Murphy – Audio Murphy is a blue dog who acts as the Doodlebops' video producer. He is voiced by Jason Hopley and is a puppet. Murphy claims that his middle name is "Surprise", although this may just be a common expression.[1] Murphy also loves to knit.[1]
- Mudge – Mudge is a purple cat who is often the victim of Deedee's Knock Knock jokes.
- Moosehead – Moosehead is the trophy head of a Moose which hangs on the wall of the Doodlebops' clubhouse.
[edit] Recurrent themes
- Where's Moe? – Deedee and Rooney enter through a door and introduce themselves, and subsequently can't find Moe. This initiates the recurring "Where's Moe?" theme, in which the two Doodlebops search for Moe, sometimes acquiring help from Moosehead or Mudge. Eventually, Moe reveals himself, after the Doodlebops unsuccessfully search for him.
- The Pledge – The Doodlebops all line up together and recite the Doodlebop pledge, waving their flags in the process. Once they finish, the all engage in acrobatic activities for a few seconds.
- It's Jazzmin! – After the Doodlebops pledge, their manager Jazzmin appears from behind a bookshelf, scat singing before speaking in rhyme to the Doodlebops. She departs by snapping her fingers and disappearing, which the Doodlebops then try to copy and wonder how she does it.
- Don't Pull the Rope! – Just before the Doodlebops head into the recording studio to meet with Audio Murphy, a rope falls from the ceiling, which Moe pulls down, regardless of the others warnings of pulling the rope. When Moe pulls the rope, he is drenched in water and subsequently shakes it off.
- Get on the Bus! – The Doodlebops each join Bus Driver Bob on his bus after their session at the recording studio ends. Bob honks the bus' horn, the Doodlebops board, and dance and sing their way to the Doodlebops concert.
[edit] Changes from Season 1 to Season 2 and Beyond
There were several production and design changes that occurred on the TV show between season 1 and season 2. Among them:
- The opening montage ends with a computer generated version of the Doodlebops play room. In season one a jib arm (Crane shot) was used for a real shot of the room.
- Doodlebops wore a spandex hood that matched their makeup with fake ears attached to make them appear more cartoon like. In season two, the stick out style ears were removed as was the head/neck wrap. Slight makeup alterations were also made to Rooney and Deedee in season two.
- Deedee's Bouffant hair style shrunk a bit between season one and two. Also with her shrinking hair was her skirt, which appears to be less hoop style and slightly more form fitting.
- Deedee's keytar is different and so is Rooney's guitar. Moe sometimes uses a portable version of his drums during the video.
- Moe frequently shrinks himself in order to hide from his fellow Doodlebops (as is the custom in every opening sequence a.k.a. "Where's Moe?"). In season one, Moe did not display his shrinking ability, opting to hide behind props or inside of boxes etc.
- "The Pledge" in season two has a longer introduction, including a playful acrobatic sequence at the end.
- In season 2, the Doodlebops manager, Jazzmin, is able to snap her fingers then disappear when she leaves, only to have the Doodlebops to ask, "How does she do that?" at every occurrence. In season one, the manager was Mazz, an entirely different character, who left the scene the way she came in which was through a secret passage on the wall, while singing a jazzy scat style lyric.
- "Don't Pull the Rope" although not a very big change, the splash that hits Moe's head after he pulls the ropes is a much bigger splash in season two than in season one.
- After Moe pulls the rope, the Doodlebops head straight to their recording studio where they record and shoot the video for their upcoming concert with Audio Murphy. In season one, no recording studio was used and the Doodlebops would normally head outdoors to play and go about having their fun.
- "Get on the Bus" sequence underwent several changes from season one to two. The bus itself was increased in size (from the outside), slight artistic alterations in the interior, the dance music was re-recorded adding in more instruments (horns, percussion), the Doodlebops no longer performed a "musical break" in the middle of the song.
- In season two, while on stage the Doodlebops each have an article of clothing that is more sparkly than their usual everyday attire.
- "Knock, knock" where Deedee performs the timeless joke at the end of every episode with Mudge, takes place at a hot dog stand where Mudge is presumably the hot dog attendant. In season one, this skit was performed in front of Dee Dee's mirror.
- The ending song is cut down in most episodes for timing reasons.
[edit] Changes made in season three
- Deedee's keyboard on the concert stage is now more like a benchtop.
- The "Knock Knock" joke goes back to taking place in front of the mirror.
- The Doodlebops do the dance they did in Audio Murphy's studio again on stage. The dance is known as the Dance of the Day and is shown to the kids before the concert.
- To change into their tour jackets and their concert gear, the Doodlebops spin around. On the latter costume change, they say "We're the Doodlebops!" while changing.
- The bookcase spins around instead of sliding outwards when Jazzmin comes in.
- The "Get on the Bus" song is sometimes cut to save time.
- The background during the credits is changed to one of the Doodlebops meeting and greeting their fans before the show. In a couple of episodes, this is instead one of the ending song.
- The ending song now has at least the "Thanks everyone for joining us, we had the best time!", etc back.
[edit] Character Changes from Season One to Season Two
Departures
- Two talking manequin heads, who looked and sounded like a mocked up version of British royalty, were gone after season one
- Mazz, the band manager who rhymed every sentence, was no longer on the show after the second season.
- Occasional appearances from a chicken, a small alien and other smaller creatures during the search for Moe, have disappeared from the show.
Additions
- Audio Murphy appeared in the newly added recording studio as the bands engineer.
- Jazzmin replaced Mazz as the Doodlebops manager in season two.
[edit] Exposure
- The Doodlebops had a promotional mall tour in Canada during the autumn and winter of 2005, and had a concert tour in Canada during March 2006 and April 2006.[citation needed]
- The Doodlebops had an American tour take place from August 2006 through March 2007.[citation needed]
- The Doodlebops are currently on their second American tour which began in September of 2007, and will finish up in April of 2008.[citation needed]
- The Doodlebops has been professionally dubbed into Irish and is broadcast as part of the children's afternoon package Cúla 4 on the Irish Language television station TG4.[citation needed]
[edit] External links
- Doodlebops.com (official site)
