Waybuloo

Waybuloo

The Piplings: Yojojo (upper left), NokTok (upper right), De Li (bottom left) and Lau Lau (bottom right).
Created by Dan Good
Developed by Zodiak Media Group
DHX Media
Country of origin United Kingdom
Canada
Original language(s) English
No. of series 4
No. of episodes 100
Production
Producer(s) Vanessa Hill
Cinematography Keith Reed
Running time 20 minutes (Series 1 & 2)
12 minutes (Series 3 & 4)
Production company(s) Zodiak Media
Distributor DHX Media
Release
Original network CBeebies (UK)
Family Jr. (Canada)
Kids Talk Talk (South Korea)
ABC1 (Australia)
3e (Ireland)
Original release 11 May 2009 – 2013

Waybuloo is a British-Canadian children's television series originally created by Dan Good and Absolutely Cuckoo.[1] It was commissioned by Michael Carrington at the BBC, and first aired on CBeebies in May 2009. The 100-episode show was Head-Written by Marc Seal, filmed by the Foundation in Glasgow (Scotland)[2] and animated and directed by Gallus Entertainment.

Post production, including audio, sound design & editing is done by Platform Post Production.[3] in Toronto (Canada). Line produced by Matt Porter and the series producer is Simon Spencer,[4] part of the independent company, RDF Media's subsidiary The Foundation.[5] The program makers describe it as "...a philosophy for a happy life, and is like nothing children will have ever seen before".[6]

Waybuloo is set in the land of Nara. The main characters are the four Piplings, 3D CGI animated creatures with large heads and eyes, placed on a filmed background, with the second half of each twenty-minute show featuring human children ("Cheebies").

The Piplings practise yogo, a gentle form of exercise similar to yoga.[7] so that the viewers and their parents can participate.[8]

It was the second show by DHX Media to use live-action with the CGI animation (the first was Super Why). The program makers describe it as "...a philosophy for a happy life, and is like nothing adults will have ever seen before".[5] In 2012 a new shorter version of Waybuloo was released with narration to much criticism.[9] The negative feedback was so strong, CBeebies decided to pull the show in favour of the original version on the very next night. Another aspect of the show that has drawn criticism is the fact that despite it being specifically aimed at young children who are just beginning to learn to speak English properly, none of the characters uses proper English when talking; words are left out or used incorrectly ("me not like" instead of "I don't like", etc.) the wrong tense is used, and the characters serially refer to themselves in the 3rd person.

Characters

Nok Tok

Nok Tok is a Pipling with a resemblance to a bear with a blue body with slightly tanned skin. He has a little patch of spiky bits on top of his head which resembles hair and wears a yellow T-shirt. He also has a little tail and big brown eyes. Nok Tok is the practical one who fixes things.

De Li

De Li the cat-like Pipling has a fuchsia body with big blue eyes, slightly pointed ears on top of her head and a tail with a white tip. She wears a flower on top of her head. She wears a pale pink dress. De Li is very fond of her garden.

Lau Lau

Lau Lau is rabbit-like and has a lilac coloured body and green eyes, has long ears on top of her head and a puff tail. She also wears a plain vest with skirt. Lau Lau loves painting and can often be seen behind her easel.

Yojojo

Yojojo is a Pipling with monkey-like features. He has an amber coloured body and blue eyes, and has rounded ears on the side of his head. He has four thick hairs rising above his right ear which flop over to his left like a comb-over. In Peeka he is often seen hiding in the log and his long tail is often shown. He also wears a blue pair of pants. Yojojo is a talented musician and juggler. He is the cheeky one who likes playing tricks on the others.

Cheebies

A different group of six children who play Peeka and yogo with the Piplings and engage with them in every episode. The Cheebies often find the solutions to the Piplings' problems.

Narabugs

Four small butterfly-like creatures who are thought to be the Piplings' pets. Each one is coloured like its respective Pipling.

Yogo

Yogo is a light form of Yoga practiced by the four main characters in the series. The characters, known as Piplings, demonstrate several poses inspired by things they see in their homeworld, Nara, such as owls, trees, and insects.

When the children (or Cheebies) arrive later during an episode, they then practice the same poses demonstrated by the Piplings at the start of the show.

The cue for both the Piplings and the Cheebies to perform Yogo is an ancient machine, which activates when sunlight falls upon it.

Yogo was developed by the show's producers in association with a Paediatrician and a Health and Safety Consultant. The leaflet produced by the BBC warns parents not to practise Yogo with their children if they are or have been ill, and always to speak to a GP before starting the program.

Episodes

Series 1 and 2

Episode Series 1 Synopsis Series 2 Synopsis
1 Moving Things De Li stands on a box to pick plumatoes, but Yojojo wants to store his instruments in it and the other Piplings want to use it to play hopsy. They decide it's better to share it. Magical Music Lau Lau hears some beautiful music. It makes her want to dance, but when the music stops, she looks for its source.
2 Showtime Lau Lau puts on a dancing show. The other Piplings decide to join her to make a show for the Cheebies but the stage isn't big enough. So they make a bigger one. A Surprise for Yojojo Yojojo breaks a drumskin. The others decide to surprise him by fixing it, but while they put him off the scent he thinks they don't love him. He cheers up when he finds out what they were up to.
3 Trumpet Yojojo and Nok Tok find a hollow branch that makes a good trumpet. They go around frightening everyone by blowing it but this frightens Lau Lau's Narabug away. Yojojo plays it softly instead and all the Narabugs come to listen. Cheebie Tune Nok Tok makes a xylophone but one of his notes doesn't sound right. So everyone helps him find a bit of wood with the right pitch.
4 Strawberries De Li trains her Narabug to find a strawberry bush by smelling a strawberry. But the Piplings eat them all and have none left for the Narabug to smell. The Cheebies find the bush and pick all the strawberries. When De Li finds it too they're all gone. She's sad until her Narabug traces the strawberries back to the Cheebies and they all eat them. De Li gets her Shoehorns on Everyone loves walking with Nok Tok's shoehorns except De Li, who's afraid she won't be able to use them. She overcomes her fear with the help of the others.
5 Snuggly Nest Lau Lau makes cushions from Narabug thread, one for each Pipling, but her own cushion goes missing. They trace the unravelled thread to a bird's nest, and leave the cushion there. Star Lau Lau thinks she's found a star that grants her wishes, until De Li points out it's only a flower. The Cheebies make her a new star and Nok Tok launches it into the sky with the Anything Machine.
6 Whistle Nok Tok wants to call his Narabug by whistling like the other Piplings but he can't. He practices and eventually works out how. Singball Statues Yojojo's good at juggling singballs but eventually drops them. He's upset by this until the Cheebies use his mistakes to play musical statues.
7 Shy Flower De Li has a large plant in her garden that won't open its flower. She tries putting it in the sun and watering it but it won't flower. Eventually she works out it flowers by stroking it. It produces lots of seeds and soon the flowers are everywhere. Go Get Game The Piplings play a game where the first to go get a named fruit is the winner. De Li is upset she keeps coming last until they realise she picked all the best fruit to eat.
8 Going Bananas Lau Lau wants to paint three bananas but when she's gone Yojojo can't resist and eats two of them. The Cheebies stop him eating the last one. When she's finished painting Lau Lau offers it to Yojojo but he wants to share it. There's not enough to go round but Nok Tok and De Li bring enough bananas for everyone. Pictures Lau Lau tries to paint the other Piplings but they won't sit still. To make up for it they make her presents but while they're doing that she's able to paint them. The Cheebies surprise everyone with a painting of Lau Lau.
9 Nok Tok's Naracar Nok Tok offers to help the other Piplings carry some heavy things but there's too much to carry at once. So he makes a car to help transport them. Snuggly Slide De Li wants Yojojo to show her how to play lifty leaf but he wants to play on his slide with his snuggly. So the Cheebies get the snuggly its own lifty leaf and he can play with it and help De Li at the same time.
10 Bubble A huge bubble arrives in Nara and Yojojo tries to keep it from bursting. Eventually it disappears into the sky. Yojojo's sad until the Cheebies find a waterfall making hundreds of bubbles and they have fun bursting them. De Li's Garden
11 Nok Tok's Happy Plant Nok Tok's plant is sad, even though he gives it sun, soil and water. He doesn't believe the others when they say it likes music, bongleberries and Cheebies until he's proven wrong. He feels silly until they tell him it's alright to be wrong. Dance Nok Tok tries to dance like Lau Lau, but he can't. Instead he accidentally creates his own dance, that everyone wants to do.
12 Counting Seeds De Li wants to count her jumpy seeds but they keep moving. The others don't help by putting her off her counting, but the Cheebies count with her. When they know how many pots they need they plant them, and they soon flower producing many more seeds. Lost De Li wants to play her whistle stick but the others are playing their drums so loudly she can't hear it. She tries to find somewhere quiet to play but gets lost. Then she hears the drums and knows which way to go. The others agree to play quietly and they all play together.
13 Being Brave Yojojo thinks he's brave until he's scared by the shadow of a big flappy thing. The Cheebies work out it's the shadow of Yojojo's Narabug and Yojojo feels brave again. The Gift Lau Lau gives De Li a painting, so De Li wants to get her a gift in return. She gets her flowers but her Narabug eats them, then gets her bongleberries but squashes them. The Cheebies make a painting for Lau Lau but De Li wants to get her something herself, so gives her a huggle.
14 Catch The Piplings play catch but Nok Tok can't catch. After trying different ways to learn he realises he's been shutting his eyes, so he keeps them open and catches the ball. Loving Laughing The Piplings try to make Nok Tok laugh but he wants to work on the Anything Machine. Soon they're worried he's lost his laugh but when he's finished working he gets the Anything Machine to make funny noises he can laugh at.
15 Nok Tok Thinks Big De Li builds a sandcastle but Nok Tok accidentally squashes it. So he builds a new bigger one and needs a lot of help. As it's her present he won't let De Li help, even though she wants to. He finishes it but De Li decides it's not quite finished, and decorates it with special stones. Feather Yojojo finds a feather and sets about finding out where everyone's ticklish. He tries to tickle himself but it doesn't work. He thinks he's lost his tickle until the Cheebies tell him he can't tickle himself, and tickle him all over.
16 Tricky Kicky Nok Tok wants De Li to play tricky kicky but she can't kick the ball into the goal even using the other Piplings' special techniques. A cheebie gives her a lucky pebble and suddenly she can do it. She loses the pebble and is worried she'll fail, but manages to do score without it. Neepnip
17 Green Mango Yojojo and Nok Tok want to eat a mango but it's green and doesn't taste good. De Li tells them it's not ready so they try to make it soft and yellow but it doesn't make it taste better. De Li tells them they can't do it, they have to wait for it to ripen. It does and it tastes much better. Pipling Pegs
18 Songbird Yojojo finds a bird singing a pretty song and puts it in his basket, but the bird won't sing again no matter what the Piplings do to make it happy. The Cheebies suggest taking it out of the basket and it sings but flies away. They call it back with whistles and Pipling pipes. No Talk Game
19 Fruity Fun Nok Tok gives Lau Lau his fir cones, so she wants to give him a present in return. De Li suggests giving him her mangoes, but now Lau Lau has to find De Li a present. Yojojo suggests his apples, but now Yojojo needs a present. So Nok Tok uses the Anything Machine to turn all the fruit into juice so everyone can have some. Dry Garden
20 Hiccups Carrotbeet Day
21 Cheep Cheep Lau Lau's Story
22 Echo Cave The Piplings hear their voices echo in a cave and think they have found new friends that are shy and live in the cave. Toot Toot
23 Frog Snuggly
24 Whizzcrackers The Piplings spot whizzcrackers in the skies over Nara, but Yojojo is easily distracted and keeps missing them. Eventually he stays still long enough to see them. Choosy
25 Glitter Crystal Walking Backwards
26 Missing Seed De Li leaves her quick-grow seed with Yojojo to look after, but he's distracted and loses it. Nok Tok finds it and goes to cook it, but Lau Lau finds it and decides to paint it. It disappears again, but a Narabug finds it and plants it in De Li's garden. String Goes Ping Yojojo plays his banjojo for the Narabugs, but breaks a string. The Cheebies help find a new string.
27 Flittery Narabug Where Have All The Narabugs Gone?
28 Perfect Picnic Singing Bowl Lau Lau finds a bowl in a cave and looks for a way everyone can use it together. The Cheebies discover it makes a sound they can dance to.
29 Clever Tree Bop Bop Bat Nok Tok makes bop bop bats but Yojojo breaks his. He tries to fix it himself without telling Nok Tok but in the end only Nok Tok can mend it.
30 Mice Nok Tok's Narabug Nok Tok's concerned his Narabug isn't good at anything. This makes it sad, so he decides it's good at being a friend. It cheers up enough to win the blow-leaf race.
31 Bongleberry Juice Old Made New Yojojo breaks his special bowl and bongleberries just don't taste as good from any other bowl. So Nok Tok fixes the bowl with mud in the Anything Machine.
32 Jumping Pipling Playday Lau Lau finds she's no good at any of the games because her long ears keep getting in the way. That's until she finds they make her the best at spinning.
33 Follow the Pipling De Li is perfectly happy to play a copying game with her narabug, but feels too shy to do the same with everyone else. When the Cheebies arrive, one is also shy and she and De Li work together to gain confidence. Sssh! Nok Tok scares away the bird Lau Lau's trying to paint with sounds he’s recorded on the Anything Machine. So he records the bird’s song to attract it instead.
34 Dancing Feet Lau Lau loves dancing so much that she wants to paint it, but can't get it right until the cheebies arrive. Enough Yojojo collects lots of flowers for the Piplings. Then he realises he's picked them all and ruined De Li's favourite place. So the Cheebies make a giant flower picture instead.
35 The Tallest Pipling in Nara Nok Tok is very proud of the measuring stick he's made. Pod Men Lau Lau and Yojojo make a pod man, fixing the head with mud. Nok Tok also makes a pod man but the head falls off. He won't ask for help. His pride dented, he gets everyone to work together to make a pod face instead.
36 Pipling Rhythm Too Slow De Li keeps losing races and wants to go faster. But when she comes last in a race around Nara she decides being slow is good as it enabled her to collect some nice things.
37 Narabug Chase Chimey Leaves Lau Lau finds a plant whose leaves chime when they knock together. She takes the leaves home but then no-one else can hear them chime. So they plant it in De Li's garden where everyone can hear.
38 Catch the Plumato Nok Tok Rock Nok Tok finds a box full of useful objects and hands them out to the Piplings. Everyone's pleased except Nok Tok, who's left with a rock. The Cheebies show him he can use it to play games, but then it gets broken. So he uses the hollow halves to make clip-clop sounds like a horse.
39 Fireflies Swapping Lau Lau swaps her paintbrushes for Yojojo's banjojo, but neither of them are any good at the other's hobby. So Lau Lau paints the banjojo and Yojojo uses the brushes as drumsticks.
40 Jumpybug Bluebell Yojojo tricks everyone into thinking bluebells ring when they touch them. Soon everyone's tricking each other with sounds, so they decide instead to make noise together.
41 Leaf The Search For Lau Lau's Glowstone Lau Lau finds a glowstone, and immediately loses it. The Piplings help look for it but only find things they'd lost. The Cheebies suggest retracing her steps.
42 Picnic Yojojo's Plumpkin The Piplings grow vegetables for soup, but Yojojo doesn't want to eat his huge plumpkin so it can grow bigger. The Cheebies tell him it might go off and get smaller, so he picks it straight away and plants the seeds for more plumpkins.
43 Treasure Hunt Fairy Thing De Li finds a floaty, sparkly thing in her shed which the Piplings think might be a fairy. The Cheebies realise they are fireflies and build a new home for them in De Li's shed.
44 Sad Narabug Surprise Nok Tok sets up the Anything Machine to give the Cheebies a bubble surprise. He leaves it with Yojojo to look after but he accidentally sets it off. Yojojo hides it in De Li's shed so the surprise isn't ruined, but the bubbles escape and the Cheebies see them. Nok Tok doesn't mind as the Cheebies love the bubbles anyway.
45 Balancing Round and Round Nok Tok finds a golden feather and puts it in a safe place. The other Piplings find it, not realising it's Nok Tok's, and hide it somewhere else. Soon none of them can find it. When they realise they're all looking for the same feather they search for it together, until a bird finds it.
46 De Li's Trick Swapsy Box The Piplings each put presents in a box and swap them. De Li is puzzled by the stick in her box until she discovers it's for planting special seeds in her garden.
47 Ball Den For Ten Lau Lau makes a den, but when the other Piplings join her it falls down. So they make the den bigger.
48 Clouds Shaker Breaker Yojojo lets Nok Tok play with his shakers but he loses one. The Cheebies make new shakers but De Li finds Yojojo's in her bush.
49 Nok Tok Goes Driving Lau Lau's Quiet Day Lau Lau and Jumpy Bug have a quiet day, but everyone else is too noisy. They decide to have a loud day instead.
50 Tricky Stick Nok Tok Goes Away

Footnote 1: S02E38 does not have a title recorded, although it has been aired by the BBC.

Series 3 and 4

Decode Entertainment stated that two more CGI seasons of Waybuloo will be made. Series 3 was aired on CBeebies beginning 3 October 2011.[10]

Episode Series 3 Synopsis Series 4 Synopsis
1 Happiness Parade Yojojo wants everyone to do one thing together that makes them happy, so the cheebies suggest a Happiness Parade. Dancing
2 Narabug Games De Li wants to find a game she and her narabug can play together, but the shoehorns she is playing on are too big. Narabug's Rescue
3 Nok Tok's Promise Going Bananas
4 Bell-buloo! Flying Birds
5 Yojojo Wants to Share Strawberries
6 Flower Surprise Tricky Stick
7 Bongleberry Bubbles Happy Yojojo
8 Froggy Rock
9 Follow Nok Tok
10 De Li's Dance
11 Happy Yojojo Lau Lau, De Li and Nok Tok gather presents for the cheebies.
12 Needing Help Nok Tok wants to make bongleberry juice for everyone, so De Li goes to pick the bongleberries.
13 Lau Lau's Picture Lau Lau makes a picture of Nara and gives it to Yojojo, but she is sad to see it go.
14 Go Yojojo Crawly Caterpillar
15 Most Beautiful Thing De Li tries to find something that she thinks is the most beautiful thing ever.
16 Flowerstrings Nok Tok tries to use the Anything Machine to make a flowerstring.
17 Bye Bye Snuggly
18 De Li's Harvest De Li has grown lots of fruit, vegetables and even bamboo! She shares everything with the other Piplings.
19 Dry Garden A Surprise For De Li Nok Tok and Lau Lau are making a surprise flower arch for De Li. Yojojo is very excited and wants to help.
20 Carrotbeet Day The Plumpkin And The Caterpillar De Li sees that a caterpillar has made a home on her plumpkin.
21 Lau Lau's Story Yojojo's Twinkler Show
22 Toot Toot Nok Tok Builds a Follow Box
23 Snuggly Home Swapsy
24 De Li's Lucky Day Swapsy Time
25 Trumpet Up Top De Li's Flower
26 Lau Lau's Special Day Pod Men
27 Feely Box Hop Chase Game
28 Everybody Happy Chimey Leaves
29 Yojojo's Big Music Day Narabug Chase
30 Neither Nest Dancing Feet
31 Puppet Show Enormous Neepnip
32 Thirsty Day Bye Bye Snuggly
33 Wobbly Wheelbarrow Pipling Playday
34 Crawley Caterpillar De Li Gets Her Shoehorns
35 Blossom Berry Hop Tricky Sick
36 Butterfly Day Narmole Trouble
37 Can't Do It Toot Toot
38 Hop Chase Game Bongleberry Bubbles
39 Cloud Gazing Swapping
40 Very Special Flower Nok Tok Rock
41 Being Happy
42 Narabug and Songbird
43 Glittery Narmole
44 Nok Tok's Talent
45 Keep Trying
46 Lost Leaf
47 Sneezy Nok Tok
48 Nok Tok Picking Carrots Narmole Day
49 Lau Lau Vegetables Everyone Play Together
50 Growing Tomatoes Lau Lau's Bird

DVD releases

Release name UK release date
Meet the Piplings 26 October 2009
Adventures In Nara 30 November 2009
Piplings Love to Play 29 March 2010
Hi-Hi Cheebies 6 September 2010
Piplings Feel Buloo 22 November 2010
Series 1-5 Box Set 6 December 2010
Piplings Love to Exercise 5 March 2012
Pipling Fun 3 September 2014

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.absolutelycuckoo.com
  2. ↑ Waybuloo, a TV show of delight and wonder, The Daily Telegraph, retrieved 2012-04-13
  3. ↑ Platform Post Production, retrieved 2010-09-20
  4. ↑ "Waybuloo Full Cast and Crew credits". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  5. 1 2 "Waybuloo puts the kids back in kids' TV". The Guardian. 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  6. ↑ "Waybuloo Official website". Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  7. ↑ "Yoga for tots? Meet the new Teletubbiesii". www.independent.ie. 2009-05-30. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  8. ↑ "Cbeebies GrownUps page about Waybuloo". CBeebies. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
  9. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/cbeebiesgrownups/2012/01/new-waybuloo.shtml
  10. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tzxf7/episodes/player

External sources

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