JoJo's Circus is a stop-motion animated children's television series created by Jim Jinkins, David Campbell, Lisa Jinkins, and Eric Weiner and produced by Cuppa Coffee Studios and Cartoon Pizza. The series was written by Douglas Wood, who previously worked for two Warner Bros. Animation series, Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs as a creative executive. The series' songs were composed by Jeffrey Zahn and Jim Latham, with lyrics done by Judy Rothman. The theme song was performed by BECKY.
The series ran on Disney Channel as part of the Playhouse Disney block from September 28, 2003 to February 14, 2007 with reruns until 2008.
Contents
Overview
The series that takes place in a fantasy Circus Town, a self-sufficient city whose intellectual center is the "Big Top" tent. The story centers on JoJo Tickle, an active 6-year-old clown girl, and Goliath, JoJo's pet lion. She and Goliath learned at the Little Big Top Circus School, where all young soon-to-be circus performers learn under their teacher Mrs. Kersplatski. Along with her friends, JoJo discovers and learns while dealing with challenging situations.
Format
JoJo's Circus depends on repetition in its structure. Each segment always begins with JoJo searching for Goliath, who is always hiding. JoJo then is introduced with the situation that will occupy the theme of the show. A song, usually about the resolution of the situation, is then performed by JoJo.
At the conclusion of each episode, a supporting character asks, "What did you learn today, JoJo?", and before she can reply, JoJo is taken away for the last segment, the "spotlight moment". JoJo is then placed on a makeshift stage with various cameramen, lighting grips, and producers running about, while the "Spotlight Moment" song plays, asking what she's learned, is sung and JoJo taps her foot along (in some episodes she also taps her hand on her leg). Subsequently, JoJo says what she has learned in the course of the episode.
Characters
The show's voice directors are Kent Meridith (United States) and Debra Toffan (Canada).
Main
JoJo Tickle (voiced by Madeleine Martin) is a very cheerful 6-year-old clown girl whose parents are famous circus clowns and the hostess of the show. She's very kindhearted, has a great sense of humor and boundless curiosity; she loves to clown around. Quite often, she talks to the audience. JoJo attends Clown School with various friends, including her best friend Skeebo Seltzer. They are taught by Mrs. Kersplatski.
Goliath (voiced by Robert Norman Smith and Alan Ford) is JoJo's 4-year-old pet lion who attends school just like JoJo and the show's co-host. He's also part of the Tickle family. Because of his great playfulness, he hides a lot from JoJo in the beginning of each episode. He is JoJo's best friend.
Skeebo Seltzer/Funnyshoes (voiced by Austin Di Iulio in Season 1 and Keeler Sandhaus in Seasons 2 & 3) is a purple-colored, class cowboy clown who is also JoJo's closest best friend, just like Goliath, and attends school with her and the other circus kids. Skeebo's very eager to make people laugh a lot by making new jokes, gags and tricks that sometimes fall flat. Since "Skeebo's Pet", he has a pet dog named Harpo.
Croaky Frogini (voiced by Diana Peressini) is the great leaper of the group. She met JoJo on the first day of school when she realized she had different abilities and agreed to help each other learn different tricks.
Peaches Tickle (voiced by Marnie McPhail in Seasons 1 & 2 and Shannon Perreault in Season 3) is JoJo's mother, Mr. Tickle's wife, Lotta Yucks' granddaughter, Granny and Grampy's daughter and Uncle Flippy's sister. She is a very tall, skinny clown who is full of lots of sunshine and often makes goodies for her family and Circus Town residents. She is a klutzy ilk, but a very good juggler and sometimes catches 15 objects in the air when she accidentally trips.
Mrs. Karen Kersplatski (voiced by Jayne Eastwood) is JoJo's teacher and the ringmistress of the Big Top. A warm and encouraging teacher with glasses, Mrs. Kersplatski gives the circus kids a strong sense of mastery and confidence, with her combination of hard work and play. Often she has a tendency to be rather clumsy and often says, "I'm okay!" after tripping up. In the special "A Circus Town Wedding", she marries Mr. Muscles and becomes Maya's stepmother.
Supporting
Trina Tightrope (voiced by Tajja Isen) is a ballet dancing tightrope walker and a fellow classmate of the Circus Clown School. She comes across as abrupt and snobbish on some reason, but apologizes for her mistakes when she becomes aware of them. She has a pet cat named Caterina.
Mr. Tickle (voiced by David Sparrow in Season 1 and Noah Weisberg in Seasons 2 & 3) is JoJo's father, Peaches' husband, Lotta Yucks' grandson-in-law, Granny and Grampy's son-in-law and Uncle Flippy's brother-in-law. He is a very jolly clown who often blasts off in a cannon and whose first name is never mentioned.
Dinky Pachyderm (voiced by Julie Lemieux) is a very sweet and frisky young baby elephant and a fellow classmate of JoJo. While Dinky may be a bit clumsy and somewhat oafish, when he dances, he turns into "Mr. Graceful". Hide and seek is his personal favorite game.
Tater Spudinski (voiced by Cole Caplan) is one of the two children in the Spudinski group. His sleepy potato sort-of seems to be the antithesis to the "get up and go" feel of the show, but sometimes he just can't help but join in the fun. In the second season, he has a younger sister named Small Fry.
Bal Boa (voiced by Julie Lemieux) is a sneaky contortionist snake with a talent for making number and letter shapes. Bal Boa also has a knack for troublemaking. He thinks it's fun to coax JoJo and others into doing what they are not supposed to do, and the children are sometimes susceptible to Bal Boa's charms. Bal Boa is also an expert on harvesting squirting flowers by doing a trance dance.
Other
Fellini (voiced by Neil Crone) and Federico Frogini (voiced by John Stocker) are the two Italian-accented brothers are expert jumpers and trapeze artists. Fellini and Federico are uncle and father, respectively, to Croaky. They are also called the Flying Froginis.
Dr. Seltzer/Funnyshoes (voiced by Kathy Greenwood) is Skeebo's mother. She is Circus Town's only doctor and Fire Chief Seltzer's wife. Though she's not in many episodes and only makes cameos in some episodes, her most notable appearances are in the episodes, "A Serious Case of the Sillies", and "Tickled Pink".
Fire Chief Seltzer/Chief Funnyshoes, also known as Seltzy, (voiced by Patrick McKenna), is Skeebo's father. He is the chief of the local fire department in Circus Town and Dr. Seltzer's husband. He is also the director of the Circus Town Clown Band.
Mr. (voiced by Bruce Bayley Johnson) and Mrs. Spudinski (voiced by Julie Lemieux) are Tater's parents, who have the same sleepy nature as he does. It's revealed in "The Thanksgiving Hip-Hooray Parade" episode that Tater calls his father "Daddy Spud", and in "Circus Town Makeover" Mrs. Spudinski's name is revealed as Ida and Mr. Spudinski's name is revealed as Russ.
Small Fry Spudinski (voiced by Julie Lemieux) is Tater's baby sister and one of the two children in the Spudinski clan.
Mr. Aldeberto Muscles (voiced by Mark Consuelos in Season 1 and Erik Estrada in Seasons 2 & 3) is the circus strongman and a physical education instructor. He knows a lot of different exercises that he teaches to those in Circus Town. He has a daughter named Maya and recently married Mrs. Kersplatski, but it's unknown whether he was divorced or widowed by Maya's mother. He is in dual language and also speaks in both English and Spanish.
Maya Muscles (voiced by Phoebe McAuley) is the daughter of Mr. Muscles and stepdaughter of Mrs. Kersplatski. Maya can be rather shy at times, but she loves to get up and go. She is known by her nickname "Little Mouse" by her father and her favorite "happy place" is a daisy patch.
Development and concept
The show emphasizes simple, everyday lessons such as playing with others, detecting the sequence, personal hygiene, responsibility, and safety. Also, foremost is the show's emphasis on exercise: JoJo often asks for audience participation (such as clapping, jumping, and stretching) for the viewers. The series is animated in claymation, which is a serious departure to Jinkins' past 2D-animated works.
Two characters JoJo and her pet lion, Goliath, returned in a yoga-style interstitial called Feeling Good with JoJo.
Episodes
Feeling Good with JoJo
Feeling Good with JoJo is a series of five-minute shorts that were a spin-off of JoJo's Circus. The series featured JoJo Tickle and her pet lion Goliath teaching the viewers yoga lessons. Sometimes one of the show's characters were involved. In the intro, JoJo would stand in front of the stage, spin around and magically have her hair tied up in a bun while wearing a yellow shirt with a clown on it. The shorts run from February 24, 2006 to May 16, 2008, spanning 2 seasons with a total of 20 episodes.
Episodes
Snakes
Bears
Windshield Wipers
Reach for the Sun Stretch
Clown Shoe Stretch