LazyTown
LazyTown is a children's TV show which airs on Nick Jr and Noggin (both owned by Viacom) in the United States, the BBC and Nick Jr in the United Kingdom, YTV in Canada, and RÚV in Iceland (where the show originates). It was created by Magnús Scheving, an aerobics champion and CEO of LazyTown Entertainment, who also stars in the show. LazyTown features a cast and crew from both the United States and Iceland (where it is known as Latibær).
The main character is Stephanie, who arrives in town and urges her new friends Ziggy, Trixie, Stingy, and Pixel to go outside and be active instead of staying inside and playing video games. Her uncle, the bumbling Mayor Milford Meanswell, enlists the help of superhero Sportacus (a pun on Spartacus, played by Magnús Scheving) to help the kids play outside. However, this does not sit well with Robbie Rotten, a Grinch-like character who lives underground and prefers not to hear the children playing above. Many of the episodes involve Robbie Rotten trying to ruin the kids' fun so that he can get some peace and quiet.
LazyTown is part live action, part puppetry, and part CGI animation. Stephanie, Sportacus, and Robbie Rotten are the only "humans" on the show. The rest of the characters are depicted as puppets. The show's puppets are made by the Neal Scanlan Studio and Wit Puppets.
Due to the timing of the show's première, it may have been created in response to the childhood obesity scare.
An unrelated Lazytown is the setting for the 1940s cartoon short entitled "Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat." The "Scrub Me" Lazytown is populated entirely by African American stereotypes who harbor a ludicrous aversion to even the simplest physical activity.
Characters
- Sportacus - Magnús Scheving
- Stephanie - Julianna Rose Mauriello
- Robbie Rotten - Stefán Karl Stefánsson
- Ziggy - Gudmundur Thor
- Stingy - Jodi Eichelberger
- Trixie - Sarah Burgess
- Pixel - Kobie Powell
- Mayor Milford Meanswell - David Matthew Feldman
- Bessie Busybody - Julie Westwood