Boohbah

**Boohbah** is a British children's live-action preschool television series created by **Anne Wood** and produced by **Ragdoll Productions**, in association with **GMTV**. The series first premiered on **ITV** on April 14, 2003 and ended on January 6, 2006. It later broadcasted on **Nick Jr. UK** on April 5, 2005. It also began airing on **PBS Kids** on January 19, 2004.

According to **Anne Wood**, the show's visuals were inspired by scientific photographs of microscopic life and cell structures. The main characters, the Boohbahs, are "**atoms of energy**" who sleep in charging pods. Every episode follows the Boohbahs performing a dance routine where the audience is encouraged to participate. The creators at **Ragdoll Productions** designed the show as an interactive "**televisual game**" with an emphasis on spatial awareness, motor skill development and puzzle solving.

The series produced 104 episodes and was designed for preschoolers aged 3-6.

## Premise

The series focuses on two groups of characters; **The Boohbahs**, a group of six fuzzy and furry atoms of power, light and energy. Their names are **Humbah**, **Zumbah**, **Zing Zing Zingbah**, **Jumbah** and **Jingbah**. They don't speak, but communicate by emitting noises such as squeaks, clicks, squeals and flatulent blowing noises. Their home is **The Boohzone**.

In each episode, The Boohbahs start the day by doing a simple exercise warm-up for the viewers to follow along with. As soon as they are finished, a group of children comes into the Boohzone, moves a "**gift**" into the pit in the middle of the "**zone**", and blows into it. The gift transforms into an orb of light and is taken into the Boohball, where it transforms into something that the **Storypeople** can use and is the main focus of their segment.

The scene then focuses on the **Storypeople**, a family of seven people who live in the **StoryWorld**. They interact and eventually run into conflicts with the present given to him/her or them in the previous sequence. The children help solve the Storyperson's or Storypeople's problem by saying the magic word "**Boohbah!**", and sending another object to help him/her/them out. The Storyworld segments are narrated by **Chris Langham** and the children.

The scene returns to the Boohzone, and the Boohbahs perform a dance routine more complex than before. The dance is inspired by the **StoryWorld** segment that preceded it.

## Characters

Episodes of **Boohbah** are divided into two main segments: one featuring the **Boohbahs** and another featuring the **Storypeople**.

**Boohbahs**

* **Humbah -** A yellow Boohbah. (**Emma Insley**)
* **Zumbah -** A purple Boohbah. (**Alex Poulter**)
* **Zing Zing Zingbah -** An orange Boohbah. (**Cal Jaggers**)
* **Jumbah -** A blue Boohbah. (**Phil Hayes**)
* **Jingbah -** A pink Boohbah. (**Laura Pero**)

**Storypeople**

The Storypeople are silent human characters whose actions are controlled by off-screen children using the magic word "**Boohbah**". Every episode of **Boohbah** includes a segment where the Storypeople are magically given a present.

* **Grandmamma –** An elderly yet spry Caucasian woman. She has white banana hair and wears a dark pink housedress, pastel blue sweater, white socks, and red trainers. She is played by **Linda Kerr-Scott**.
* **Grandpappa –** An elderly yet spry Caucasian man. He has white hair and a white moustache; he wears a long-sleeved yellow shirt, dark grey slacks, red braces, and white trainers. He is played by **Robin Stevens**.
* **Mrs. Lady –** An Indian woman. She has dark hair and wears a loose light blue blouse, loose bright pink trousers, and pink trainers. She is played by **Harvey Virdi**.
* **Mr. Man –** A black man. He wears a short-sleeved bright pink shirt, white trousers, and black trainers. He is played by **Mark Ramsey.**
* **Brother** (**Manuel Bravo**) and Sister (**Vee Vimolmal**) – Always paired, they both appear to be in their late teens. Brother is a Spanish boy with short black hair; he wears a bright blue T-shirt, bright red knee-length shorts, and white trainers with pink laces. Sister is a Thai girl with hip-length black hair in a long ponytail; she wears a bright red T-shirt, bright blue capri pants, and white trainers with pink laces.
* **Auntie** (**Sachi Kimura**) **–** A Japanese woman. She has short black hair and wears a long-sleeved lavender blouse, black trousers, purple tights, and black shoes.
* **Little Dog Fido** (**Dash**) **–** A **Jack Russell** **Terrier**. He wears a red collar. He is the only character in Storyworld who is not wholly controlled by the magic word "**Boohbah**".

## Development & Broadcast

Production of **Boohbah** began shortly after Ragdoll released a direct-to-video **Teletubbies** release titled **Teletubbies Go!** in 2001, which featured segments of the characters exercising. The high sales of the release led to Ragdoll's fear of obesity in children and what led the company to develop an exercise-based program.

In November 2002, ITV's pre-school network, **CITV** and breakfast franchisee **GMTV** signed a five-year broadcast commitment deal with **Ragdoll** where both broadcasters would share weekday and weekend broadcasts of the series in the **United Kingdom** respectively. 104 episodes were planned to be split into two series, with the first airing in Spring 2003, and the second series being broadcast in 2004. On the same day, it was announced that **Video Collection International**, who recently had an existing home video deal with **Ragdoll**, would release the series on VHS and DVD in the country.

The series premiered as planned on **ITV** on April 14, 2003 and later debuted on GMTV's weekend pre-school slot at the same time. Ragdoll held worldwide distribution rights to the series. **Nick Jr. UK** later acquired the UK **pay-TV** rights to the series from Ragdoll, and the series would premiere on the channel on April 2, 2005. The program became a regular fixture of the **Nick Jr. UK** schedule, airing seven days a week at 7:00 a.m. to start off its morning schedule.

In the Netherlands, the series aired on the **Nickelodeon Dutch** channel, beginning on 5 April 2004. In the United States, the series was aired on **PBS Kids** weekdays at 8:30 am from January 19, 2004 until September 1, 2006, Saturdays at 5:00 am from August 28, 2004 to January 16, 2010, and Sundays at 6:30 am from July 5, 2009 to August 30, 2009. It also aired on **PBS Kids Sprout** from 2005-2009, where it was shown as part of the programming blocks "**Sprout Mornings**" and "**The Good Night Show**."

The U.S broadcast of the series on **PBS Kids** aired two exclusive segments named "**Look What I Can Do!**" and "**Extra Dances**".

The "**Look What I Can Do!**" segment was meant to fill up the expanded 30-minute running time of the show, and came up after the main part of each show; the segment was supposedly added to promote tolerance and acceptance. Each segment would have the **Boohball** flying to another place until landing on a grassy field and leaving behind a rainbow-swirl dot, with at-first-unseen children calling out "**Look what (I or we) can do!**". The main sequence would have one or more children dancing on the Boohball's rainbow dot, doing simple moves to encourage viewers at home to follow along. There would be either three or four dances performed in this segment, mostly for padding reasons. Most of them are three, or there might be rare cases of four dances.

The "**Extra Dances**" segment would air after the third "**Look What I Can Do!**" segment. A female narrator encourages viewers to visit the PBS Kids **Boohbah** website and The Boohbahs doing a random dance.

## Episodes

**Boohbah -** **Ragdoll Productions** & **GMTV**

**Season 1**

1. **Skipping Rope**
2. **Pearly Shells**
3. **Rope And Rock**
4. **Musical Pipe**
5. **Windows**
6. **Armchair (Comfy Armchair)**
7. **Record Player**
8. **Squeaky Socks**
9. **A Pile Of Balls**
10. **Painting The Fence**
11. **Big Bass Drum**
12. **Hammock**
13. **Jack-In-A-Box**
14. **Bubbles**
15. **Settee And Cushions (Couch And Cushions)**
16. **Big Comb**
17. **The Big Ball**
18. **Yellow Wooly Jumper (Yellow Wooly Sweater)**
19. **Musical Instruments**
20. **The Bed**
21. **The High Wall**
22. **Cakes And String**
23. **The Door**
24. **Building Blocks**
25. **Hot Dog**
26. **Treasure Chest**
27. **Flippers**
28. **Two Hats**
29. **Bells**
30. **Shed**
31. **Shining Armor**
32. **Flowers & Vase**
33. **A Big Bag**
34. **Piggy Bank**
35. **Drink Of Milk**
36. **Leaky Hose**
37. **Parping Horn**
38. **Musical Cushions**
39. **Following The Signs**
40. **Puddle**
41. **Skittles (Bowling Pins)**
42. **Pencil Sharpener**
43. **Cracker**
44. **Island**
45. **Collecting Mail**
46. **Tunnel**
47. **Necklace**
48. **Heavy Suitcase**
49. **Television**
50. **Long Drink**
51. **Fairground Thing**

**Season 2**

1. **Big Switch**
2. **Bouncers**
3. **Beards**
4. **Paper Plane**
5. **Droopy Flowers**
6. **Fido's Flag**
7. **Sailing Boat**
8. **Gigantic Carrot**
9. **Stream**
10. **Feathers**
11. **Bat & Ball**
12. **Chair In The Air**
13. **Falling Oranges**
14. **Comfy Slippers**
15. **Ice Cream Cone**
16. **Banana Split**
17. **Pulling The Rope**
18. **Springy Sofa**
19. **Club & Ball**
20. **Hole In The Fence**
21. **Crossroads**
22. **Fido's Bone**
23. **Colored Bricks**
24. **Glowing Lanterns**
25. **Little White Cloud**
26. **Stack Of Cushions**
27. **Jigsaw**
28. **Stick**
29. **Flag**
30. **Four Jumpers**
31. **Snowshaker**
32. **Squirty Flower**
33. **Fido's Picture**
34. **Unwinding Carpet**
35. **Bouncy Castle**
36. **Wardrobe**
37. **Over The Net**
38. **Snowballs**
39. **Space Rocket**
40. **Sticky Wrapper**
41. **Jumping On The Balls**
42. **Sledge**
43. **Camera**
44. **Tightrope**
45. **Ball & Hoop**
46. **Little Rocky Boat**
47. **Flying Fish**
48. **Bucket & Spade**
49. **Umbrella**
50. **Snowman**
51. **Grass Skirt**
52. **Book**

## Home Media

Home media releases of **Boohbah.**

* **A Pile Of Balls (Promotional VHS)**
* **Magic - VHS & DVD**
* **Cracker & More Boohbah Magic - VHS & DVD**
* **Squeaky Socks & More Boohbah Magic - VHS & DVD**

**US Releases (PBS Kids)**

* **Comfy Armchair - VHS & DVD**
* **Squeaky Socks - VHS & DVD**
* **Snowman - VHS & DVD**
* **Hot Dog - VHS & DVD**
* **Big Windows - VHS & DVD**
* **Building Blocks - VHS & DVD**
* **Umbrella - DVD**

Boohbah: Magic: VHS (May 2003)Boohbah: Cracker And More Boohbah Magic: VHS (October 2003)Boohbah: Squeaky Socks And More Boohbah Magic: VHS (May 2004)Boohbah: Magic: DVD (2003)Boohbah: Cracker And More Boohbah Magic: DVD (2003)Boohbah: Squeaky Socks And More Boohbah Magic: DVD (2004)Boohbah: Comfy Armchair: VHS (August 2004) PBS KidsBoohbah: Comfy Armchair: DVD (2004) PBS KidsBoohbah: Squeaky Socks: VHS (August 2004) PBS KidsBoohbah: Squeaky Socks: DVD (2004) PBS KidsBoohbah: Snowman: VHS (October 2004) PBS KidsBoohbah: Snowman: DVD (2004) PBS KidsBoohbah: Hot Dog: VHS (March 2005) PBS KidsBoohbah: Hot Dog: DVD (2005) PBS KidsBoohbah: Big Windows: VHS (August 2005) PBS KidsBoohbah: Big Windows: DVD (2005) PBS KidsBoohbah: Building Blocks: VHS (March 2006) PBS KidsBoohbah: Building Blocks: DVD (2006) PBS KidsBoohbah: Umbrella: DVD (2006)

## Books

Book releases of **Boohbah...**

* **Bibbly, Bobbly Bubbles**
* **Dazzle**
* **Pop Up And Dance**
* **Spinaround**
* **Scrunch Up, Stretch Out!**
* **The Springy Zingy Box**
* **The Wobbly Bobbly Balls**
* **The Big Bass Drum**
* **The Enormous Sunflowers**
* **Rocket, Socks And Slots**
* **Bungee Boo Dance!**
* **Twirling, Whirling Swirl**
* **Whizzy Dizzy Fun**
* **Wiggle Waggle**
* **Sparkly Boohball**
* **Peek Bah Booh!**
* **Flip Flap Flop**
* **Storyworld Stickers**
* **Stencil Surprise**
* **Dreamy Drawing**
* **Big Stickers**
* **Sticker Sparkle**
* **Magical Colors**
* **Sticker Play**
* **Stick And Play**
* **Say Good Night!**

Boohbah: Bibbly, Bobbly Bubbles: Story Book With Stickers (February 2005)Boobah: Dazzle: Story Book With Flashing Lights (July 2004)Boohbah: Dazzle: Board Book (July 2005)Boohbah: Pop Up And Dance: Board Book (February 2005)Boohbah: Spinaround: Board Book With Sparkly Spinner (July 2003)Boohbah: Spinaround: Sparkly Spinner Book (August 2004)Boohbah: Scrunch Up! Stretch Up! Board Book (August 2004)Boohbah: The Springy Zingy Box: Lift-The-Flap Book (August 2004)Boohbah: The Springy Zingy Box: Story Book (August 2003)Boohbah: The Wobbly Bobbly Balls: Lift-The-Flap Book (August 2004)Boohbah: The Wobbly Bobbly Balls: Story Book (2003)Boohbah: The Big Bass Drum: Story Book (2003)Boohbah: The Big Bass Drum: Story Book (August 2003) 2nd VersionBoohbah: The Enormous Sunflowers: Story Book (August 2003)Boohbah: The Enormous Sunflowers: Story Book (August 2003) 2nd VersionBoohbah: Rocket, Socks And Slots: Story Book With Press-Out Sheets (August 2004)Boohbah: Bungee Boo Dance! Board Book (August 2004)Boohbah: Twriling, Whirling, Swirl! Coloring & Activity Book (August 2004)Boohbah: Whizzy Dizzy Fun! Painting Book With Water (August 2005)Boohbah: Wiggle Waggle: Board Book (February 2005)Boohbah: Sparkly Boohball: Coloring & Activity Book (August 2004)Boohbah: Peek Bah Booh! Board Book (February 2005)Boohbah: Flip Flap Flop: Interactive Book (March 2004)Boohbah: Storyworld Stickers: Sticker Story Book (August 2004)Boohbah: Storyworld Stickers: Sticker Story Book (August 2008)Boohbah: Stencil Surprise: Wipe Clean Stencil Scenes: Stencil Book (August 2003)Boohbah: Dreamy Drawing: Wipe Clean Coloring Book (May 2004)Boohbah: Big Stickers: Story Book With Stickers (April 2004)Boohbah: Sticker Sparkle: Shiny Sticker Book (April 2004)Boohbah: Magical Colours: Picture Puzzle Coloring Book (August 2003)Boohbah: Sticker Play: Board Book With Stickers (August 2004)Boohbah: Stick And Play: Story Book With Reusable Vinyl Stickers (2004)Boohbah: Say Good Night! A Musical Nightlight Play-a-Song Book (October 2004)

## Games

Game releases of **Boohbah...**

**The Boohbah Zone** is a children's game developed by **Brighter Minds Media** for the **PC**. It was released in 2007.

In the game, players can choose from three languages; English, Spanish and French. They then are transported to the **Boohbah Zone**. Activities include creating Boohbah exercise routines, making their own music, creating **Storyworld** adventures, playing a "**Look What I Can Do!**" matching game, lighting up skies with Boohbah trails, designing wrapping paper, creating presents for the **Storypeople**, and playing a silly game with **Fido** the dog.

The game also includes a durable 28" action play mat and action card games to interact with. Players can also print out their creations.

**Boohbah: Wiggle & Giggle** is a children's game developed by **Brighter Minds Media** for the **PC**. It was released on September 16, 2004.

Similar to the previous game, players can choose from 4 activities, print out their creations and play a bonus activity from **Boohbah: Movin' & Groovin' PC** game.

**Boohbah: Movin' & Groovin'** is a children's game developed by **Brighter Minds Media** for the **PC**.

Just like the other two **CD-Rom** games, players can choose from 5 activities, play a bonus activity from the **PC Rom**, **Boohbah: Wiggle & Giggle,** and print out their creations.

**Flash Games**

* **Naming Game**
* **Boohbah Dance**
* **Colored Spheres**
* **Patterns**
* **Kaleidoscope Pattern**
* **Catch The Ball!**
* **Drawing With Orbs**
* **Boohbah Subtraction**
* **The Loud Horn**
* **Bouncing On Chairs**
* **Jumping On Trampolines**
* **Behind The Windows** / **Matching Faces**
* **Catching Apples**
* **Spinning Around And Around (Make Music)**
* **Boohbah Color Matching Game**

## Reception

**Ken Tucker**, in his review for **Entertainment Weekly**, gave the show an "A-" score and commented, "**I'm positive that Boohbah** **can be experienced by both its intended audience (kids ages 3 to 6) and its inevitable inadvertent audience (doting parents and stoners of every age) as a mind-blowing gas.**" Tucker joked that when **Boohbah** aired in America, it would prove more popular than **The Price Is Right** due to having more "**flashing lights, blinding colors, and silly noise**". Lorraine Ali, a senior writer for **Newsweek**, also gave **Boohbah** a positive review and wrote, "**Move over, Barney, and make room for Zing Zing Zingbah**." **Common Sense Media** gave **Boohbah** a rating of **3/5** stars, writing that its educational and fitness goals were "**admirable**", but that "**the real test is whether or not the show works with your kid**."

**The New York Times Magazine** commented that although the show's sequence of events "**may sound incoherent ... the overall effect is mesmerizing, sometimes funny, even beautiful.**" **The Boston Globe** felt that the "**segments featuring the Boohbahs are ploddingly slow, maddeningly repetitive, and without much purpose ... the live-action segments with real people are the only things worth watching**." **Slate** was bemused by the show's segments and design, feeling that Boohbah was less effective than Anne Wood's previous show Teletubbies: "**For all its earnest intentions, Boohbah lacks both the conceptual purity of Teletubbies and its sublimely silly sensibility**." **Cheat Sheet** ranked the show first on their list of "**5 Most Horrifying TV Shows That Aren't Supposed to Be Scary**", criticizing the characters' appearances, although crediting it for encouraging children to perform in physical exercise.