Life's a Zoo

Life's a Zoo is a Canadian stop motion sitcom created by Adam Shaheen and Andrew Horne II. It is directed by Alexander Gorelick. A co-production of Cuppa Coffee Studios and Teletoon, "Life's a Zoo.tv" was named Best Animated Program or Series at the 24th Annual Gemini Awards. It premiered on September 1, 2008 on Teletoon's late night programming block, "Teletoon At Night". It premiered on Smosh's Cartoon YouTube channel, Shut Up! Cartoons on June 23, 2013.

Premise

The show is a parody of the reality TV series Big Brother, with a similar plot. The seven very different contestants share a mansion "Somewhere in Saskatchewan..." where they compete in challenges to avoid extinction (the show's version of disqualification), supervised by the show's host, Claude the vulture in the first season, and later Bobbie the seal in the second. Despite being eliminated, characters always come back the next episode, as Life's a Zoo does not use continuity, although this changes in the second season. Additionally, each episode features a specially edited music video from a different artist. The show won Best Animated Series at the Canadian Gemini Awards in 2009.

Main characters

• Ray (Mike Rowland) - A spastic orangutan who often commits acts of random stupidity. He is shown to be loud-mouthed and has bloodshot eyes. He is a stoner, evidenced by the fact that he owns a bong. He claims that his parents went out partying a lot when he was a child, which made him very lonely. He also once ate an action figure, which never came out. He ate several more in an attempt to rescue it, and had to be hospitalized. The action figure eventually did come out after Ray was force-fed coffee. He was the fifth one eliminated in the second season. He bet on Jake after he was eliminated, and used the money he won to rebuild the mansion after Jake blew it up, therefore feeling entitled to own it too.

• Jake Oswalt (Kurt Firla) - A Canadian pig who constantly attempts schemes, believing himself to be a genius when it comes to reality show strategy. He joined Life's a Zoo by accidentally walking into the audition trailer thinking it was a sperm bank. In the episode "Welcome to the Jungle", it is implied that he still lives with his mother. In the episode "Scared Shirtless", it was also implied that he was bullied severely as a child. He has been shown to be egotistical and devious. He lusts after Minou, and constantly spies on her when she is showering. He also believes that she lusts after him just as much, and that they will have sex before the season ends, despite her disgust with him. He was the first one to be eliminated in the first season. In the second season, he began to lust after Bobbie. He was the sixth one eliminated in the second season, but won the house when Chi-Chi forfeited it. Unfortunately, he had rigged the house to explode when she won and couldn't prevent it from happening. He now works as Ray's servant in the rebuilt mansion.

• Morreski (Stephen Kishewitsch) - An alcoholic Russian Brown bear who wears a fez. He is always holding or at least near a bottle of vodka. He has a thick Russian accent. He is heard talking about his homeland many times over the series, and mentioning his wife, who is presumably very manly for a woman. He is also very protective of his mother, as shown in two instances when he swears and beats up Dr. D for saying something about her. Even though he is very laid back and drunk, he is wise and has strength. In the second season, he was the third one eliminated. He made a special appearance in the next episode to marry Jake and Ray and also appeared in the final episode. He escaped the mansion before it exploded, but what happened to him next is unknown.

• Dr. D (Joseph Motiki) - A rapping penguin who wears a lot of bling and has a no nonsense attitude. He usually gives his opinion without caring about the consequences. He also wears a cap and sunglasses. In the second season, it is revealed that he is actually just a poser, his real name is Dewey Dewson, and he worked at a shoe store for seven years, being named employee of the month for the better part of. He was the second one eliminated in the second season. After being found out he went back to being Dewson, but tends to slip into his Dr. D persona when angry. What happened to him after he escaped the mansion explosion is unknown.

• Rico (Francisco Trujillo) - A homosexual American crocodile with a Latino swish. It is revealed in the episode "Truth or Consequences" that the producers actually asked him to play up his homosexual lifestyle, including his Latino accent, since they wanted him to be more camp and he has since grown used to and embraced as part of himself. When he was young, his father tricked him into believing it was okay for him to come out, an action which resulted in his father throwing a fit and beating him. His father is still disappointed in him, as revealed in the episode "Truth or Consequences" when he attempts to appear silhouette/anonymous during a live interview, though mishaps off-stage cause him to be bumped into the light for all to see. He once "experimented" with being married to women, however, it didn't work out. He was the fourth one eliminated in both the first and second season. What happened to him after he escaped the mansion explosion is unknown.

• Minou (Bridget Ogundipe)- A Jamaican Black panther with a different hairstyle every episode (revealed in the episode "Self Helpless" to actually be from a collection of wigs). She is greedy and snotty, believing everyone else is beneath her, but the men are attracted to her nonetheless. She is revealed to be bulimic, once commenting that it's a great way to keep her tummy flat, and that bulimia came from sex. In the episode "Ray Against The Machine", it is revealed that she would have won the mansion before the original episode script was destroyed, despite the fact that she was eliminated in the episode "Live and Let Diet". She was the first one eliminated in the second season; she jumped out of a plane without a parachute in the first episode of season two, thinking it was just a "bravery test". She showed up later in the episode in a body cast only to be shoved out the front door. She appeared in the season finale, still in the body cast, and later escaped the mansion with the other characters. What happened to her after is unknown.

• Chi-Chi (Stephanie Jung) - An overweight panda from China. She teaches the fifth grade. She was sick in the first episode, but is now merely gluttonous. She is goodhearted, but usually shunned. Since she was two years old, her mother made her play an erhu all the time, saying it was better for her than being out and making friends. Her mother is deceased. She was the second one eliminated in the first season, in the episode "It's Not Easy Being Chi", however she bought her way back in. It is implied she may love Dr. D. In season one, she has slept with all of the male cast except for Jake and Claude. In the second season, she made it all the way to the final episode before being drugged comatose and losing her memory. Bobbie made her watch the entirety of the first season to refresh her memory while the other disqualified characters voted on whether she or Jake should win the mansion. She won the house, but turned it down because she was ashamed and disgusted with what the show had made her into. What happened to her after the destruction of the mansion is unknown, but it is suggested she went back to her home in China to get in touch with the "real her".

• Claude (Michael Lamport) - A vulture who hosts the "show within a show". He often makes witty comments on the plot before and after every commercial break, as well as refereeing all the challenges. He is shown to be usually reading, or commenting how he wants to get a better gig.

• Bobbie (Stacey Depass)- The seal hostess of the second season, replacing Claude. Despite her sweet demeanour, she is much tougher than Claude, and far more determined to find a winner for the show. In the episode "Truth or Consequences" it is revealed that she is in her fifties, has had plastic surgery, and has been married and divorced several times. It is unknown if she escaped with the other characters or died in the explosion.

Episodes

Shut Up! Cartoons

The rights to the series were bought by Smosh to be aired on their Shut Up! Cartoons YouTube channel. Most of the show remains the same with the exception of the inclusion of Shut Up! Cartoons intros and outros and notably more censorship of profanity, drug references, and sexual content.

External links

• Official website
• Life's a Zoo at the Internet Movie Database
• Life's a Zoo at TV.com