# Cartoons (band)

Cartoons, also known as Cartoons DK, are a Danish Eurodance band, best known for their song "DooDah" and their cover of the 1958 novelty song "Witch Doctor", both hits released in 1998.
The group wears outlandish plastic costumes and wigs in live performances as caricatures of 1950s American rock and roll stars.

## History

Cartoons started out as the Scooters in the late 1980s, playing rockabilly music from the 50s and 60s. In 1994, the Scooters released the album Live at Woodstock, and in 1997, they changed their name to Cartoons. Their musical style switched from rockabilly to "technobilly", their own expression of rock and roll mixed with Eurodance; many of their songs are remakes of old rockabilly hits that they covered as the Scooters. The group was first signed to FLEX Records, moving later to EMI Denmark.
Their most notable single to date is their cover version of Ross Bagdasarian's novelty song "Witch Doctor", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart. It features a combination of the original's "oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang" chorus (albeit lacking the record's double-speed playback of the chorus), driving dance beat and occasional guitar breaks. The group had further success in the UK with the Top 10 hit "DooDah" (a cover version of the American folk song "Camptown Races", albeit with completely different lyrics), the Top 20 hit "Aisy Waisy", which was performed on Jim Davidson's Generation Game, and a Top 20 debut album, Toonage (later rereleased with extra tracks as More Toonage).
The group's second album, Toontastic, did not match the success of its predecessor, but several notable hits were released from it, including "Diddley-Dee", "Little Red Ridinghood", "Big Coconuts", Lally Stott's "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" and a reworked cover of Les Humphries Singers' "Mama Loo". The group was one of several artists to contribute to the soundtrack of the 2000 animated film Help! I'm a Fish, with the track "Wobble-Di-Bubble-Di-Doo".
In 2001, Cartoons disbanded for unknown reasons. Toonie and Sponge later revealed on a Danish TV interview that they were due to tour in the US, but these plans were put to rest at the advent of the September 11th attacks. In 2005, the group made a brief comeback to promote their Greatest Toons release. It includes a new single, "Day Oh", both released by CMC Entertainment. They performed a number of shows throughout Europe, including at Bonbonland and the Jelling Musikfestival.
In July 2016, Karina Jensen died of cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2012. She was survived by her husband and two children. In 2018, the group returned once again to perform at the "We Love the 90s" festival in Aalborg, Denmark. The following year, another compilation album, De Bedste, was released by Warner Music Group and X5 Music Group; it included a remix of their cover version of the Police's "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" by Sponge. In April 2019, Erling Jensen died of lymphoma; he was 50 years old.
In 2020, the group returned to the studio with original producer Kenneth Bager to record a new single, "Shots", which was released in 2023. Later that year, they collaborated with Marnage to produce a faster version of "DooDah", titled "DooDah 2K23". As of 2024, Jesper Dukholt is the sole original member.

## Members

True to their name, the personnel of Cartoons has cartoon-inspired nicknames. The line-up is:
* Toonie – lead vocals and backing vocals
* Sponge – saxophone, keyboards and bass vocals
* Shooter – lead guitar and backing vocals
* Buzz – double bass
* Puddy – backing vocals
* Boop – backing vocals

## Discography
### Albums
#### Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Album details | BEL | DEN | NLD | NOR | SPA | SWE | POR | ITA | UK | Certifications |
| Toonage | Released: 24 September 1998 Label: FLEX Formats: CDcassette Rereleased in 1999 with extra tracks as More Toonage | 25 | 2 | 24 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 17 | IFPI DEN: 2× Platinum UK BPI: Gold |
| Toontastic | Released: 2 May 2001 Label: FLEX Formats: CDcassette | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. ||||||||||||

#### Compilation albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Album details | DEN |
| Greatest Toons | Released: 2005 Label: CMC Formats: CD | 20 |
| De Bedste | Released: 2019 Labels: Warner Music GroupX5 Music Group Formats: Digital download | — |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. |||

### Singles
#### As main artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing release year and album name :
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Year | Title | AUS | BEL | DEN | FRA | IRE | ITA | NLD | NZ | SWE | SPA | GER | UK | EUR | Certifications | Album |
| 1998 | "DooDah" | 31 | 5 | 3 | — | 21 | 9 | 56 | 31 | 10 | 19 | — | 7 | 15 | | Toonage |
| 1998 | "Witch Doctor" | — | 9 | — | 22 | 2 | — | 12 | 31 | 13 | — | 68 | 2 | 11 | UK BPI: Platinum | Toonage |
| 1998 | "Yoko" | — | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 51 | — | — | — | — | | Toonage |
| 1998 | "Let's Go Childish" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Toonage |
| 1999 | "Aisy Waisy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 34 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 54 | | Toonage |
| 1999 | "The X-Mas Single" | — | — | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | 43 | — | — | — | — | | More Toonage |
| 2000 | "Diddley-Dee" | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | — | — | 46 | — | — | — | — | | Toontastic |
| 2000 | "Mama Loo" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Toontastic |
| 2001 | "Big Coconuts" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Toontastic |
| 2005 | "Day Oh" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Greatest Toons |
| 2023 | "Shots" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. |||||||||||||||||

#### As featured artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing release year and album name :
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album |
| Year | Title | DEN | Album |
| 1999 | "Selv en dråbe" (as part of a charity single in aid of Kosovo) | 1 | Grænseløs Greatest |
| 2023 | "DooDah 2K23" (as part of a collaboration with Marnage) | — | Non-album single |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. ||||