Tak and the Power of Juju (TV series)
Tak and the Power of Juju is an all CGI-based animated series that premiered on Nickelodeon on August 31, 2007 and on Nicktoons on September 1, 2007. It has been showing on Nicktoons in the United Kingdom since 5 July 2008. Based on the video game of the same name, the show consists of two eleven minute stories per half hour episode. It is Nickelodeon's first all-CGI series (produced in house) and the company's 30th Nicktoons. The series was produced by Nick Jennings and directed, among others, by Mark Risley, Jim Schumann, and Heiko Drengenberg. The show struggled to gain an audience, and was cancelled in November 2008 after only 26 episodes.
Plot
Characters
Main characters
- Tak (voiced by Hal Sparks) - Tak has the ability to summon a magic power, which the Jujus (Magical creatures) bestowed upon him to serve as a link between his and their realms (after Tak saved the Jujus from Darkness Juju). Tak tends to be the smarter of the group, but has his mishaps when it comes to practicing his Juju power. Whenever Lok gets himself into trouble Tak is the first one on the scene to save him. He is Jibolba's nephew and apprentice. He lives with Jibolba. Little is known about Tak's parents except his mother was Aurora Juju and his father was a Pupununu. It was foretold by Psychic Juju that he would marry the future Chief of the Pupununu whom may or may not be Jeera.
- The Chief (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - He is the leader of the Pupununu and father of Jeera and Zaria as well as one of Tak's enemies. He constantly gets furious at Tak due to his mistakes in the use of his Juju power yet constantly wants Tak to use his powers to help the village (but mainly to help him). He is mainly cheerful, and kind of a scatterbrain. He loves his tribe and is very fat. His real name is never mentioned.
- Jeera (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) - She is Tak's fun loving best friend. She is the same age as Tak. Jeera is the Chief's daughter and has an older sister named Zaria, who is next in line for the throne and never lets her younger sister forget it. Jeera is a tomboy and will often punch Tak as a sign of endearment or annoyance. It is hinted that she may be in love with Tak; especially when she threatened to beat up his new best friend in a hypothetical situation to get him back if he was to move to another village in the episode "Testing Jibolba." In "Love Hurts" she openly admits that she does, and will always love him, which may have been a lie so he wouldn't be punished by Love Juju. In "To Love with Zaria" she asks Tak if he wanted to marry Zaria, then quickly saying that she didn't care, but the way she said it proves that she was lying about that. Psychic Juju hinted that Zaria might not be the next chief of the Pupununu, so it might be Jeera instead. When Zaria read her diary, it is highly suggested that she does have feelings for Tak, as she commented how her bad day was brightened up by his presence. It is also highly believed by some of the members of the tribe that they do like each other, such as the Log Hermit betting Mask guy. Sometimes she can be seen as more of a jerk than a friend to Tak, such as in "Shrink a Dink", when she keeps saying his greatest fear, or another example in "Tak's Monster". She laughs about his nightmares, says he never uses his brain, tried to smack him upside the head, and later said smacking him on the head still sounded like a good idea. It is hinted in "To Zaria With Love" that she may become the future Chief of the Pupununu and ultimately Tak's wife. So far, the only game she appears in is Tak & The Guardians of Gross.
- Linda The Sheep (voiced by Dannah Feinglass) - A talking, bright sheep who walks on 2 legs, and at other times on all 4's, who is a very loyal and close friend of Tak (her only friend) to whom her heart is open to, as well as soft spot for. She is often ridiculed by her family for standing on two legs, instead of on all fours, but is never ridiculed by Tak. She has great interest in dancing.
- Keeko (voiced by John DiMaggio) - Careless, laid back, and a dreamer, Keeko is best friends with Tak and Jeera. He has no parents and lives in a cave. His only memories of his parents is the song he whistles. He creates multiple inventions in the series and some of them rarely work.
- Banutu Steven Jibolba (voiced by Lloyd Sherr) - Tak's uncle and mentor is the shaman of the Pupununu tribe. He may very well be over a hundred years old.
- Zaria (voiced by Dannah Feinglass) - Jeera's 15 year old sister. She is the next one to inherit the throne and won't let Jeera forget it. She is preppy, girly, spoiled, bossy fashionista and has the biggest feet in the village. She constantly brags that she is the most beautiful in all the tribe (and claims she has the most beautiful feet in the world), but Jeera and Tak think she's full of herself and just plain mean. She sometimes shows her appreciation of the Pupununu tribe by letting some of the tribesmen lick her feet at times. Psychic Juju hinted that she might not be the future chief. Zaria is based on Paris Hilton (Right down to her big feet: Her feet are so big, makes one wonder how she gets her ankle-bracelet on.).
- Lok (voiced by Patrick Warburton) - The resident warrior of the village, Lok is more talk than action and, in fact, his cowardice usually gets the better of him. He'd rather make up a story (mostly from stating it was him and not Tak who saved the village) to save face than do the actual dangerous deed. He often refers to himself in third person. He is also one of Tak's enemies.
- Slog (voiced by Megan Cavanagh) - A heavyset woman who is incredibly strong. She has a "man-lady" voice. She has a big crush on Lok.
- Blod and Bleeta Oongatchaka (voiced by Rene Mujica and Kari Wahlgren respectively) - The spoiled twins are the children of the tribe's richest and most snooty family, the Oongachakas. Blod and Bleeta are known to cause trouble for Tak and Jeera because they covet Tak's ability to summon the power of Juju and are constantly plotting ways to take his powers from him. They are commonly in the form of blue sheep, as seen in one episode.
- Chaka and Oonga Oongachaka (voiced by Mindy Sterling and Lloyd Sherr respectively) - They are the parents of Blod and Bleeta.
- Navis (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) - Jeera's pet Gratch. She obtains it in "The Littlest Gratch" and can be seen again in "Girls Only", "Mofather", "Double Tak", "Break This" and "Testing Jibolba".
- The Pupununu Tribe-Mineless follower of Chief and Lok who play a similar role to Shy Guys and Waddle Dees in the show.
Jujus
Jujus are very odd magical creatures that Tak calls upon whenever he's in need of them. Each of the Jujus reside in their own part of the Juju Realm. Among the Jujus featured in this series are:
- Aurora Juju - She's Tak's mom and she created the crystal that powers Tak's staff. She was Darkness Juju's fiance but left him and married a man from the Pupununu tribe. Not much is to be known of her, though it hinted in "Destiny Schmestiny" that she might still be alive and in hiding as Darkness Juju stated that she had 'returned' to him thought it proven not to be her. She appears to be some sort of bug Juju.
- Belly Juju (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - A hungry Juju whose belly button has taken over for his natural mouth. The stomach controls the body because the head has no brain.
- Big Boss Juju - A fiery rock monster who is the mightiest Juju in the Juju Realm. It is so powerful, even other Jujus fear him. A long-forgotten Juju tradition has the Pupununu Chief fighting the Big Boss Juju as a way of evading world annihilation. It will target whoever is wearing the crown during the fight.
- Bug Juju (voiced by Wayne Knight) - A small Juju that resembles a beetle. He has command over insects and loves to write autobiographical musicals.
- Bulldrafish (voiced by Maurice LaMarche as Henry/George; Dannah Feinglass as Doris; Rob Paulsen as Gillbert) - A monster that has three heads (an aggressive bull head named Henry/George, a female dragon head named Doris who can breathe blue fire, and a fish head named Gillbert), a dragon-like body, and a fish tail. It is the pet of Judge Juju and serves as one of her enforcers of the law. It is also referred to in the credits as the Drykopf.
- Caged Juju - A cranky, horned Juju that lives in a cage and would dearly love to eat Tak. Or anyone else, for that matter.
- Darkness Juju (voiced by Mitch Watson) - A Juju that looks a bit like an obese version of the Devil, who sought the power of the crystal that came into Tak's possession. He was Aurora Juju's fiance until she ran off with a man from the Pupununu tribe and had Tak.
- Dinky Juju (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - A short-tempered Juju with powerful magic. Unlike the game, he is restored with a deep voice. He is an adult, but many confuse him for a baby because of his small size.
- Devour Brothers - They star in the episode "Sans Sheriff". They're causing trouble in the Juju Realm. They are the brothers of Caged Juju.
- Feet Juju - A pair of large, blue feet (and legs) that likes to dance. They seem to be recolored versions of the Giant Misunderstanding Juju.
- Gremlin Juju (voiced by Jeff Bennett) - There is an assortment of these short anglerfish-faced creatures. Some of them serve as the law enforcement of the Jujus.
- Guess Who Juju (voiced by Hal Sparks) - An imaginary Juju that is really Tak just wearing the most clever of disguises.
- Head Juju (voiced by John DiMaggio) - A green floating head with arms that has a southern accent. He lives in the Realm of Scrolls and is the coach of the professional Gratchball team in the Juju realm.
- Judge Juju (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - A corn Juju dressed as a judge. Despite sounding like a man, Judge Juju is actually a woman.
- Killjoy Juju (voiced by Mary Birdsong) - A one-eyed Juju known for stopping parties. She is the wife of Party Juju. She often mistakes Tak for a girl.
- Love Juju (voiced by Danielle Schneider) - A short, floating, mermaid Juju that wears an inner tube and wields a snorkel as if it was her wand. The Pupununu always throw a festival in her honor. She one time left a hole in the Chief's stomach when she ended up displeased in one of the earlier festivals.
- Mayhem Juju - A cute but mischievous little creature that Tak and Jeera take home as a pet in the episode "New Pet". It has three musical horns on its head that sound off when it summons a magical power. Mayhem JuJu also has the power to disappear and reappear at any time.
- Party Juju (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - Also known as Dead Juju, Party Juju is a skeleton Juju who is known to start parties and even enjoys parties. Only the powers of his wife, Killjoy Juju can undo the effects of his powers.
- Phobia Juju - A floating brain Juju that helps the Pupununu tribe every year to overcome their fears. He appears in the episode "Shrink A Dink".
- Psychic Juju (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) - Also known as Mind-Reader Juju, Psychic Juju is a large-headed genie-like Juju with psychic powers and precognition abilities. He always demands "Silence" when he doesn't want to be interrupted when he is giving his latest precognition. He claims to know everything, and "even if I don't know the answer, how would you know?"
- Pugnacious Juju (voiced by Kirk Ward) - A three-armed retired boxer Juju. He tried to helped Chief into training him to fight the Big Boss Juju.
- Really, Really, Revolting Juju (voiced by Hal Sparks) - A gross-looking Juju. She is the sister of Repugnant Juju and Repulsive Juju.
- Repugnant Juju (voiced by Dannah Feinglass) - A gross-looking Juju. She is the sister of Repulsive Juju and Really, Really Revolting Juju.
- Repulsive Juju (voiced by John DiMaggio) - A gross-looking Juju. He is the younger brother of Repugnant Juju and Really, Really, Revolting Juju. Like his siblings he resembles an obese dinosaur covered with holes that blow disgusting gasses. He also has a large head and large eyestalks. He seems to be the friendliest JuJu and is the most common JuJu to appear. He and Tak are friends.he later evolves and becomes grosser,fatter,and very blob-like.
- Roadkill Juju (voiced by John DiMaggio) - A short peg-legged Juju that loves being run over by J-Runners.
- Spider Juju (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) - A spider Juju with a French accent who's diet seems to consist mainly of human beings. On one occasion, Tak summoned him to get rid of Zaria when she was in charge during the Chief's vacation.
- Vendor Juju (voiced by Nick Jennings) - An orange octopus/jar-like Juju that can sell anything from within its body. He is where Tak and Jeera got the Motiki from.
Crew
Directors:
- Heiko Drengenberg
- Nick Jennings
- Lane Lueras
- Mark Risley
- Jim Schumann
Voice Directors:
Supervising director:
Creative Director, CG Department
Writing credits
- Brandon Auman
- Nicole Dubuc
- Reid Harrison
- Tom Krajewski
- Gene Laufenberg
- Mitch Watson (Head writer)
Producers
- Nick Jennings (executive producer)
- Audu Paden (supervising producer)
- Mitch Watson (co-producer (2007))
Sound department
- Michael Petak (sound editor)
Story artists
Story editor
Production companies
Distributors
Based on the games published by THQ and Nick Games and developed by Avalanche Software
DVDs
Volume 1: The Trouble with Magic
Release Date: June 24, 2008
Episodes:
Tak and the Power of Juju: Season 1
Released through Amazon
Contains all 26 episodes of season one.
KCA preview
During the Nickelodeon 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, hosted by Justin Timberlake, a preview was shown of the new show and the website is now available at Nick.com. The site includes the preview, a character page and a story page minimally different from the game.
Differences from the games
- Jason Marsden does not reprise Tak from the video game. Instead, Hal Sparks voices him. Lloyd Sherr voices Jibolba who was previously voiced by John Kassir in the video game.
- Patrick Warburton is the only cast member from the games to reprise his role of Lok from the video game.
- In the series, Tak has brown hair with a middle parting, while in the games his hair is black and in a bowl cut.
- Preview commercials on Nickelodeon clearly display the name of Tak's tribe. For the series, it is written "Pupununu". In the series of video games, it was "Pupanunu".
- In the television series, Dead Juju is instead called Party Juju with Rob Paulsen reprising the role. Also, Mind-Reader Juju is called Psychic Juju here with S. Scott Bullock voicing him instead of Rob Paulsen.
- Tlaloc, the antagonist in the video games, is named Traloc in the show. Rob Paulsen doesn't voice him in the series, Jeff Bennett does.
- So far the only Jujus and characters from the original games that haven't appeared are Two-Headed Juju, Moon Juju, Fauna and Flora, and Tlaloc's minions Pins and Needles.
See also
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Animation portal |
References
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