Zoboomafoo
Encyclopedia : Z : ZO : ZOB : Zoboomafoo
Zoboomafoo is an educational PBS Kids television program designed to introduce preschoolers to the animal world. It aired from 1999 to 2001 and is still shown today in syndication. A total of 65 episodes were aired. A creation of the Kratt Brothers (Chris and Martin Kratt), It features a talking Verreaux's sifaka lemur (appropriately named Zoboomafoo, or Zoboo for short) and a collection of repeat animal guests. Every episode begins with the Kratt Brothers in Animal Junction, a peculiar place in which the rules of nature change and wild animals come to visit and play. Each episode has a theme — for example, baby animals, frightening animals, or the importance of play.
Zoboo is mostly played by a puppet, but often after a camera cut, is substituted by a real lemur jumping or looking around, improving the illusion that the puppet is real. Though mostly live-action, Zoboomafoo makes occasional claymation forays into the world of Zobooland, a magical place where Zoboo and his animal friends tell brief stories related to the episode at hand. Chris and Martin also leave Animal Junction during each episode to better demonstrate the theme of the day, traveling to exotic places like India or Africa to visit the creatures there.
The show ended in 2001, though many educational networks continue to air reruns. In 2003 the Kratt Brothers committed to a new show, Be the Creature, on the National Geographic Channel.
In November 2005, the Jewish blogger Godol Hador invented a religion called Zoboomafooism, in which Zoboomafoo was regarded as an all-powerful god, who had created the universe. Godol Hador's purpose was to make an argument against theories such as that of Gosse, which argued that God had put fossils on the earth in order to fool scientists. On that blog, and many others, Zoboomafoo is often used as an example of senseless blind faith.
See also
External links
| Barney & Friends | The Berenstain Bears *| Between the Lions | Boohbah | Caillou | Clifford the Big Red Dog* | Clifford's Puppy Days | Curious George | Dragon Tales | George Shrinks* | It's a Big Big World | Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks | Jay Jay: The Jet Plane | Mister Rogers' Neighborhood* | Reading Rainbow | Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat* | Sesame Street | Teletubbies* | Zoboomafoo* | |
| PBS Kids GO! programs: Arthur* | Cyberchase | Dragonfly TV | FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman¹ | Maya & Miguel | Postcards from Buster* | ZOOM¹ | |
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* No new episodes are being produced, yet many major PBS stations televise air reruns
List does not include shows from networks airing PBS Kids shows but not funded directly from PBS such as KLCS shows. |
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