doodlebops

The Doodlebops is a Canadian musical comedy series for preschool children. Beginning its broadcasting run in 2004, the series, produced by Cookie Jar Entertainment airs on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Canada in the CBC Kids morning block, and on the Disney Channel in the USA as part of the Playhouse Disney morning programming schedule. The series stars are Lisa J. Lennox as Deedee Doodle, Chad McNamara as Rooney Doodle, and Jonathan Wexler as Moe Doodle.

The Doodlebops' characters are members of a kids' band, not unlike The Wiggles. The creators of the series' are producer/director Jamie Waese, Cookie Jar executive Michael Hirsh and Carl Lenox (not related to the actress who plays Dee Dee).

The show features a mix of music, humor and skits that teach pro-social lessons. The show always includes scenes from a concert in front of a preschool audience who actively participate in the singing and dancing.

The band members wear heavy make-up and/or prosthetics to look like live-action cartoon characters. They wore cloth hoods with fake ears during the show's first season only. In the show's second season, the band changes to flashier versions of their standard costumes, including sequins and other metallic fabrics, during their concert segments.

Characters

Deedee Doodle

In the band, Deedee plays either a Keytar or a keyboard. She is always dressed in pink and purple from head to toe. She has a beautiful, mezzo-sopranic voice. DeeDee also likes to do magic tricks.

Moe Doodle

Moe plays drums. He has a mischievous personality, always hiding at the beginning of the episode. Moe wears yellow and orange.

Rooney Doodle

Rooney plays the guitar. He is an inventor, creating many impossible inventions during the show. Rooney wears blue.

Bus Driver Bob

Bus Driver Bob drives the doodlebops tour bus. He also sings portions of the "Get On The Bus" song before they drive off. The bus itself has a fold-down side and pop-up backdrop that can turn it into a stage.

Others

Other regulars on the show include Kim Roberts as the Doodlebops' scat-singing Manager Mazz (Season I), Jackie Richardson as the Doodlebops' Manager Jazzmin (Season II), puppeteers Ron Stefaniuk as the voice of both Moosehead and Mudge the cat and Jason Hopley as Audio Murphy, and the Doodlebops' canine musical engineer/video director (as of Season II).

Recurrent Themes

Each Doodlebops episode relies on reuse sequences. These sequences account for 3-4 minutes of the show's 22 minute running time. Reuse sequences are video segments that are shot once and subsequently used in each of the 26 episodes which comprise one Doodlebops broadcast season. Examples of Doodlebops reuse sequences include "The Doodlebop Pledge", Moe's rope pull/water douse, "Get on the Bus", Concert Theatre Montage, and the occasional Concert Song reuse. Other recurrent themes that are not identical reuse sequences include the following:

• At the beginning of each episode, Deedee and Rooney enter their Clubhouse through the main swinging doors, with Moe nowhere to be found. Viewers are asked to help find Moe's hiding place.
• The Doodlebops' manager ("Mazz" - Season I and "Jazzmin" in Season II) enters the clubhouse singing scat and speaking in rhyme, and departs with "See you later, Alligator". This leads to the Doodlebops' reply: "In a while, Crocodile". Vanishing in a puff of sparks, one of the Doodlebops will ask "How does she do that" and make their own attempt.
• As the Clubhouse scene ends, a whistle sound cues a mysterious rope to drop down from the ceiling in front of Moe. Despite Deedee and Rooney's warning, Moe pulls the rope and gets drenched with water (reuse sequence). "Don't Pull the Rope" has become a branding slogan for the show, as well as the name of a website that caters to Doodlebops fans and their parents.
• Mazz or Jazzmin begins each Doodlebops concert with a rhyming introduction of the band.
• During the concert sequence of each show, a large screen is lowered and a video is played wherein Deedee takes great pleasure in annoying Mudge by telling him a knock-knock joke.

Other Exposure

• The Doodlebops did a promotional mall tour including performances and autograph sessions in Canada during the fall and winter of 2005, and did a sixteen city concert tour in Canada March/April 2006.
• Their American in-person debut followed a morning performance of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 12, 2006. The performance was ten minutes in length, after which they rode circus elephants outside. A full American tour is running from August-December 2006, which began with a four-day run at Walt Disney World during Playhouse Disney In Concert August 20—23.

Foot Step Following

The Doodlebops may have been inspired by the mid-nineties "rock band" Kideo, featured on the Canadian TV show Kids Can Rock and Roll. Other apparent influences are the Wiggles and Monkees.

External links

• Official website
• Fansite 1
• Fansite 2
• Fansite 3
• Fansite 4
• Universal Music Group Canada's Doodlebops information
• CBC's Program Guide page