| Rastamouse | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Children's Animated |
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Genevieve Webster Michael De Souza |
| Starring | Reggie Yates Sharon Duncan-Brewster William Vanderpuye and Cornell John |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 26[1] |
| Production | |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Three Stones Media Ltd Dinamo Little Roots DHX Media |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original run | 31 January 2011 – present |
Rastamouse is a British animated stop motion entertainment series that is aimed at children under six years of age. It was animated by Dinamo Productions in Trefforest, near Cardiff, Wales. It features a group of crime-fighting special agents named Rastamouse, Scratchy and Zoomer, who are all mice and who solve mysteries and have adventures. The first of the 26 episodes of the initial series was shown in the afternoon of 31 January 2011 on CBeebies, a UK BBC channel.[2] From 7 March 2011, the programme was repeated in the early mornings, on BBC2. The second series started on 11 July 2011, on CBeebies.
Rastamouse is the first British animated series to feature Jamaican-Caribbean characters.
Contents |
Rastamouse first appeared in 2005 in the children's books Rastamouse and the Crucial Plan and Rastamouse Da Bag-a Bling. A third book, Rastamouse and the Double-Crossin' Diva, was published in 2006. The stories were written by co-authors Genevieve Webster, an author and illustrator, and Michael De Souza, who is a Rastafarian swimming instructor.[3] They are written in rhyme and contain a Caribbean accent and some Jamaican Patois terms.[4] A pop song, "Ice Popp", was released in 2011.
Lenny Henry has read two of the stories, The Crucial Plan and Da Bag-a Bling, for the BBC's Jackanory Junior, which was first shown in January 2008.[5]
The series features an all-mouse reggae band — Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew — who hang out at the 'Nuff Song' recording studio (a possible reference to the Tuff Gong studio) in the fictional Mouseland. Despite the title of the series, none of the characters are Rastafari and Jah is never mentioned. There are a number of subtle and arguably stereotypical references to cannabis in most of the episodes. Rastamouse has a traditional Rasta tam (woolly hat), sports dreadlocks and a skateboard. His friend Scratchy is dressed in a 1950s style balloon skirt with a ribbon bow on her head, and always wears roller skates. The contemporarily-styled Zoomer always wears his roller blades.
Other regular characters include the President Wensley Dale, who calls Rastamouse on a small radio when he needs help to solve a problem in Mouseland; Bandulu the Cook, who has a large bite out of his left ear; and Bagga-T, the hip-hop-styled mouse who runs a surprisingly populous orphanage.
Characters that occasionally appear include several unnamed young orphan mice, Missy D, Fats the garage owner, Little Patch the female Radio DJ, Rubba and Dub the male sporty twins, Sol the trainer shop owner, Super the grocery shop owner, the President's nephew Frank C, Ron the barber, and Shorty. Ice Popp, as featured in the Rastamouse pop video, made an appearance in Episode 17.
| Character | Voice Actor |
|---|---|
| Rastamouse | Reggie Yates |
| Scratchy | Sharon Duncan-Brewster |
| Zoomer | William Vanderpuye |
| President Wensley Dale | Cornell John |
All music for the series was composed by Andrew Kingslow.
The stories show to children how people can get on and solve problems through mutual understanding, love and respect, and without resorting to punishment. Rastamouse's ethos is redemption and not retribution — "make a bad ting good" — teaching right from wrong and helping wrong-doers to redeem themselves from their mistakes.
The puppets were made by Mackinnon and Saunders,[6] who previously made the puppets for Bob the Builder and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.
There was early speculation in the British media that the Rastamouse cheese was an allusion to cannabis, despite actual cheese being seen in the series.[7][8] The Rastafarian poet Benjamin Zephaniah has criticised the accuracy of the West Indian accents. There have been complaints to the BBC regarding the use of Jamaican slang and racist overtones have been alleged.[9]
The Voice, a newspaper that serves the British African-Caribbean community, welcomed the show, albeit as a stereotype of Jamaican life:[10] a The Voice website poll showed that over 60% considered it to be a positive programme.[11] The Sun newspaper reported that the creator, Michael de Souza, had been saddened by the initial media reaction to Rastamouse.[12] Both the Sun and Digital Spy commented that the BBC claimed that "Rastamouse is not racist".[13][14] The Guardian newspaper gave a differing view of Rastamouse, with the producer Greg Boardman stating that the producers "never intentionally put in innuendo or anything that isn't age-appropriate".[15]
| Title | Original UK airdate[16] | Plot | Rastamouse.com running order[17] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Da Crucial Plan | 31 January 2011 | The Easy Crew devise a clever plan to discover who has stolen all the cheese in Mouseland. | 1 |
| Bakin' and Breakin' | 1 February 2011 | Rastamouse teaches some tasty dance moves to solve a problem at the orphanage. | 3 |
| Da Missin Masterpiece | 2 February 2011 | The Easy Crew must come up with a plan to track down a missing masterpiece. | 4 |
| For Real FM | 3 February 2011 | The Easy Crew track down a mystery pirate who has taken all the music in mouseland. | 5 |
| Mice Camera Action | 4 February 2011 | Director Spike Cheez arrives in town and makes every mouse go crazy for his new pirate movie. | 6 |
| Hot Hot Hot | 7 February 2011 | The Easy Crew must arrange a surprise party to track down a very selfish mouse. | 7 |
| President's Pie | 8 February 2011 | A thief has taken a special pie Bandulu, baked for Wensley Dale. | 8 |
| Wicked Threads | 9 February 2011 | Somebody steals Wensley Dale's presidential tie during the island fashion competition. | 13 |
| Da Marathon Mystery | 10 February 2011 | Rastamouse wonders if Rubba is cheating to win the Da Big Cheese Marathon. | 14 |
| Da Cool Cruiser | 11 February 2011 | Rastamouse must apprehend a motorised thief who is determined to win at all costs. | 15 |
| Da Monstrous Fib | 14 February 2011 | Scary sounds have been spooking the orphanage mice during their camping trip. | 16 |
| Cheesy Rumbles | 15 February 2011 | The Easy Crew investigate strange rumbling sounds in the Buff Bay Caves. | 17 |
| Boom Bada Boom | 16 February 2011 | Rastamouse and Scratchy investigate why everyone in Grove Town is so keen to snooze. | 11 |
| Da Ice Cold Criminal | 17 February 2011 | Rastamouse tracks down a thief with an icy ambition. | 19 |
| Sole Rebel | 18 February 2011 | Zoomer, Rubba and Dub are devastated when their brand new trainers fall apart. | 22 |
| Double Crossin' Diva | 14 March 2011 | A missing minibus and a talent show trip. Rastamouse must judge who is breaking the rules. | 2 |
| Toots Re-routes | 15 March 2011 | Someone prevents a musical legend from performing at Gladstone Brie's music festival. | 9 |
| Da Bag A Bling | 16 March 2011 | Rastamouse instigates an ingenious plan to catch a person who has borrowed the orphans. | Not mentioned. |
| Pie Without Cheese | 17 March 2011 | Wensley Dale's bossy sister Sasha takes over when he goes on holiday. | 18 |
| Hot Sauce | 18 March 2011 | The Easy Crew have a 'hot' plan to bring about order and save the food festival. | 23 |
| Rollin' Ragga Twins | 21 March 2011 | The crew stage a roller disco "skatin' competition" in order to trick a copycat thief. | 12 |
| Shorty Shapes Up | 22 March 2011 | It is Sports Day and there are 'blingy medals' to be won, but a mouse spoils all the fun. | 10 |
| Master of Disguise | 23 March 2011 | The Easy Crew comes up with a watertight plan to fix a leaky roof. | 20 |
| Lady Uptown | 24 March 2011 | Old school music star Lady Uptown is distressed by the disappearance of her lucky brooch. | 21 |
| Sugacube | 25 March 2011 | Somebody has stolen an Easy Crew record and is now pretending the music is their own. | 24 |
| Da Rhyming Teef | 28 March 2011 | The Easy Crew put aside their music making to track down the President's stolen stereo. | 25 |
| Missing Da Prez | 11 July 2011 | Flat tyres, abandoned limos and a missing Wensley Dale: Rastamouse prepares a premier plan to fix a presidential favour. | 26 |
| Da Swinging Suspect" | 12 July 2011 | There's a mystery mouse leaving a nutty trail of mayhem in his wake. | Not mentioned. |
| Swap Til Ya Drop" | 13 July 2011 | Rastamouse comes up with a crafty plan to catch a 'card cravin' criminal'. | Not mentioned. |
In June 2011, Rastamouse performed a series of shows in the Kidz Field at Glastonbury Festival.[18]