The Tofus
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Tofus | |
|---|---|
 From left to right: Mom, Lola and Chichi, with Curly the Sheep in the background. |
|
| Genre | Animation Children's television Comedy |
| Voices of | Aaron Grunfeld Brigid Tierney Maria Bircher Marcel Jeannin Sonja Ball Harry Standjofski Pauline Little Daniel Brochu Kayla Grunfeld Michael Yarmush Jesse Vinet |
| Country of origin |  Canada |
| Language(s) | English, French, Turkish |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Olivier Dumont Jacques Pettigrew Jacqueline Tordjman Michel Lemire |
| Producer(s) | Danielle Marleau Bruno Bianchi |
| Running time | 22 minutes (not including commercials) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Teletoon |
| Original run | September 1, 2004 – January 1, 2007 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Tofus (French: Les Tofou) is an animated French and Canadian sitcom created by Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor for Teletoon as one of its original productions. It is a satirical parody of the environmentalist lifestyle epitomized by its title family, which consists of Mom, Dad, Chichi, Lola, and Buba. The show is set in the fictional town of Beauvillage, and lampoons many aspects of the environmental movement, including environmental organizations, animal rights, and pacifism.
Since its debut on September 1, 2004, the program has aired twenty-six episodes over two seasons.
Contents |
[edit] Production
The Tofus was co-produced by SIP Animation and CinéGroupe.[1][2] It was directed by Bruno Bianchi with the assistance of Danielle Marleau and several other executive producers out of Maple Pictures Corp.,[3] and scripted by twenty-six writers, including series creators Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor. Original music was composed by Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel.[4]
Each episode of The Tofus was budgeted at US$230,000,[5] and each thirty-minute time block was divided into two fifteen minute-long episodes. Production of the show began one year before it was incorporated into Teletoon's schedule, first airing in Canada on September 1, 2004.[3] In addition to Teletoon Canada, SIP Animation also presold the series to the France 3, CITV, and Fox Kids Europe networks.[5]
The first episode of France 3's French-language version of The Tofus premiered on January 3, 2005.[4] As Fox Kids was sold to The Walt Disney Company in 2002, the program was broadcast under the new brand Jetix when it arrived in other European countries in 2006.
There were five main cast members who voiced The Tofus. Aaron Grunfeld performed the voice of Chichi, while Brigid Tierney performed the voice of Lola. Maria Bircher played Mom, Marcel Jeannin voiced Pop, and Sonja Ball took the role of Buba. Additional voices were provided by Daniel Brochu, Harry Standjofski, Pauline Little, Kayla Grunfeld, Michael Yarmush, and Jesse Vinet. Script direction was overseen by Florence Sandis.
[edit] Story
Environmental activists Mom and Pop Tofu, concerned that their family is suffocating from urban routine, decide to move to a farmhouse in the town of Beauvillage and embrace a more natural way of life, much to the horror of their pre-teen children, Chichi and Lola, who would rather watch TV and go shopping than amuse themselves with Grandma Buba's animals: Curly the Sheep, Crackers the Rooster, and Suzie the Goat. The siblings must cope with their parents' ecology-friendly world vision and the humiliation that results from their efforts to encourage others to protect the environment.
The neighborhood that the family settles in is filled with electronically-able individuals, contrasting the Tofus' all-organic lifestyle. Unlike her brother Chichi–who believes in peace within the family–Lola is more cynical and averse to being deemed oddballs in their new home, but occupies herself with her attraction to Billy Hubbub, the boy next door.
[edit] Reception
The Tofus was generally well-received by viewers. It has been called "a modern gloss on the classic family sitcom [that] aptly skewers the granola-munching righteousness of the eco-hippie archetype,"[5] and has been commended for its use of ecology as a unique background theme.[1] The Tofus also received top audience ratings among the France 3 Youth Programs in 2005.[1]
[edit] Episode list
[edit] Season 1
| Ep# | Title |
|---|---|
| 1a/1b | "That Fashion Itch / Eureka!" |
| Lola is forced to wear a dress knitted by Buba to school, just as she tries to get invited to rock concert with Billy. / Chichi works with Pop on an original invention for a physics test. | |
| 2a/2b | "Hey, Who Turned Out the Lights? / Getting the Hang of Yang" |
| Kids at school become hooked on playing a video-game called Blast-Masters. / Lola competes with rival Cherie for a leading part in the annual school play. | |
| 3a/3b | "Rooster Crime Watch / Strictly for the Birds" |
| Billy's father, Titus Hubbub, prohibits the Tofus from coming to his upcoming garden party after being attacked by Cracker. / Chichi is accused of stealing a CD player from a deli. | |
| 4a/4b | "Tough Guys Can Cry / Lovesick" |
| Chichi and class bully Nick enter into a feud while Buba prepares Curly for a contest. / Billy's family leaves Beauvillage, traumatizing Lola. | |
| 5a/5b | "The Tofu Zoo / Running Away at Christmas Time" |
| Lola and her best friend, Lily, get into a fight with one another. / Lola runs away from home on account of her parents' inability to have an ordinary Christmas. | |
| 6a/6b | "Prime-Time Panic / Crying Over Spilled Milk" |
| The Tofus are invited to appear on a TV show that ridicules their environmentalist lifestyle. / Chichi sells goat's milk to students wanting good grades on their tests. | |
| 7a/7b | "This'll Make a Man Out of You, Son / Kidnapping" |
| Chichi goes on a survival mission in the forest to "become a man". / The Tofus investigate the theft of Titus Hubbub's garden gnomes. | |
| 8a/8b | "Just Call Me April Tofu / The Greening of Burger Palace" |
| Chichi's classmate, April, "breaks up" with her parents to get adopted by the Tofus. / The Burger Palace fast-food restaurant is approached by demonstrators, who turn it into the site of a sit-in. | |
| 9a/9b | "A Star is Almost Born / Extreme Bio-Babble" |
| Chichi starts a radio station. / An environmental guru named Master Biozen stays at the Tofu residence. Chichi, Lola, Lily and Phil wants to banish Master Biozen. | |
| 10a/10b | "Urban Jungle / The Visit of the Great Oneness" |
| Mom and Pop consider moving back to the city. / Chichi claims to have met an alien known as the "Great Oneness". | |
| 11a/11b | "The Wrong Rite of Spring / Downhill Competition" |
| Lola throws a party while her parents are out of the house. / A school ski trip is interrupted by the Tofu parents' demonstration against deforestation. | |
| 12a/12b | "Locked In / A Whale of a Valentine's Day" |
| Lola and Billy are locked in the Hubbubs' house due to an alarm malfunction. / Lola seeks to reunite Lily and her true love, Christian. | |
| 13a/13b | "That's What I Call Hubbub! / Microchip vs. Macrosheep" |
| Titus Hubbub petitions for the Tofu family's removal from the neighborhood. / Lola works on a school project with Buba's twin sister, Ramona. | |
[edit] Season 2
| Ep# | Title |
|---|---|
| 14a/14b | "The Beast of Beauvillage / Chichi the Speedster" |
| A dangerous wolf is on the prowl in the hills outside Beauvillage, frightening residents. / Chichi enters a mini-car race, but is pressured by his parents into building an ecologically-sound vehicle. | |
| 15a/15b | "Tomato Blackmail / Hubbubmobile" |
| Buba produces a new delicious breed of organic tomato. / Lola hides in the Hubbubs' new camping car to go on a picnic with Billy, but the car is hijacked. | |
| 16a/16b | "School Dinner Blues / Buba's Ark" |
| Mom replaces the Head Cook in the school cafeteria. / A rain storm forces the Hubbubs to lodge with the Tofus. | |
| 17a/17b | "Secret Agent Tofu X-08 / The Pebble of Mount Uluru" |
| Chichi and his friend, Phil, become secret agents. / Mom discovers a stone said to have healing powers. | |
| 18a/18b | "Sacked / Chichi's Big Splash" |
| Pop is fired from his job for a mistake made by Chichi. / Chichi wins a contest at Beauvillage Aqua-Park. | |
| 19a/19b | "Fried Gift Inside / Cash and Trash" |
| Lola gets a job working at the Burger Palace to pay for her mother's birthday gift. / Pop and Mom volunteer as trash collectors while Beauvillage's regulars are on strike. | |
| 20a/20b | "Lemon Confidential / The Great Escape" |
| Mom prints an ecology newsletter on Lola's diary pages, which were written with invisible ink. / The Tofus rescue circus animals they believe are being held illegally. | |
| 21a/21b | "The Revenge of the Pumpkins / All Tyred Out" |
| Billy holds a Halloween party. / The Tofu parents embark on a rubber-recycling project. | |
| 22a/22b | "When Worms Attack / Cauliflower is Wasted on the Young" |
| Rare worms are unleashed upon the town during a gardening competition. / Chichi and Lola play a prank on the neighbors by convincing them that their grandmother's great-niece Gertrude is a younger version of Buba after having eaten cauliflower from the Tofus' garden. | |
| 23a/23b | "Zen Blowpipe / Lights, Camera, Goats!" |
| Chichi gets into trouble for supposedly cheating in class. / Upon learning that the goat is considered sacred to some cultures, the Tofus begin treating Suzie like a goddess. | |
| 24a/24b | "Just Who Are You, Pop? / Operation Biorhythm" |
| Pop suffers amnesia after a blow to the head. / The Tofu parents urge their children to respect other peoples biorhythms. | |
| 25a/25b | "Out, Out, Fake Spot! / The Treasure of the Beauvillage River" |
| Chichi fakes illness to avoid taking a math test. / Chichi and Phil go on a treasure hunt. Meanwhile, a new form of algae has been proliferating there, so depriving the eels in the river of oxygen. | |
| 26a/26b | "Megacity Kids Go Tofu / A Hair-Raising Model Shoot" |
| Students from a large city, Megacity, lodge with Beauvillage residents for a student exchange program. / Chichi and Lola trick their mother into allowing Lola to appear in an egg shampoo commercial. | |
[edit] References
- Official episode guide @ teletoon.com. Retrieved May 22, 2007.
- ^ a b c SIP Animation. SIP animation. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
- ^ CinéGroupe. CinéGroupe - TV series filmography. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ a b Téléfilm Canada. Téléfilm Canada - Index des productions. Retrieved on 2007-05-22.
- ^ a b AnimeGuides. AnimeGuides - Les Tofou. Retrieved on 2007-05-25.
- ^ a b c Simon Ashdown (2003-06-01). KidScreen Magazine - Up Next: What's Developing in Kids Production. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
