Camp Lazlo facts for kids

Camp Lazlo (stylized as CAMP LAZLO!) is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray for Cartoon Network. It follows Lazlo, an anthropomorphic spider monkey who attends Camp Kidney, a Boy Scout-like summer camp in Pimpleback Mountains. Lazlo resides in the "Jelly Bean" cabin with his fellow Bean Scouts Raj, an Indian elephant, and Clam, a pygmy rhinoceros. Lazlo is often at odds with his pessimistic camp leader Scoutmaster Lumpus, the second-in-command Slinkman, and other campers. Camp Kidney sits just across the lake from Acorn Flats, which is home to the campsite of the all-female Squirrel Scouts-(which functions somewhat similarly to the Girl Scouts). It was one of the first Cartoon Network Studios series produced in a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9, despite originally being broadcast in the full screen aspect ratio of 4:3.

Camp Lazlo was produced by Cartoon Network Studios. Its style of humor is similar to the Nickelodeon series Rocko's Modern Life, which Murray also created and worked on. The series premiered on Cartoon Network on July 8, 2005, and ran for five seasons comprising 61 episodes and the hour-long television special, Where's Lazlo?. The final episode aired on March 27, 2008. During its run, the series won three Emmy Awards and three Pulcinella Awards, and was also nominated for another Emmy and an Annie Award. Spin-off media include DVDs, restaurant promotions, a video game, and digital download releases.

Premise

Plot and characters

The series is set in a universe inhabited solely by anthropomorphic animals of many species and focuses on a trio of campers attending a poorly run summer camp known as Camp Kidney. The trio consists of Lazlo, the eccentric, optimistic spider monkey; Raj, the timid Indian elephant; and Clam, the quiet albino pygmy rhinoceros, and their multiple surreal misadventures.

Other characters include the selfish, ill-tempered moose Scoutmaster Lumpus and his mild-mannered assistant Slinkman the banana slug, the boys' assortment of fellow campers including the disgruntled, surly platypus Edward, the two unintelligent, dirt-loving dung beetles Chip and Skip, and the klutzy, accident-prone, geeky Guinea pig Samson. There's also a rival summer camp called Acorn Flats, which is attended solely by girls, primarily focusing on Lazlo, Raj, and Clam's respective female counterparts attending that camp; Patsy the adventurous mongoose who has a major crush on Lazlo, Gretchen the short-tempered alligator, Nurse Leslie the pink nurse shark who is a doctor and Nina the bookish, sci-fi-loving giraffe, along with the object of Scoutmaster Lumpus's affections, Miss Doe-(a female deer), the head of Acorn Flats.

Murray said that, as he did in Rocko's Modern Life, he matched the personalities of characters to various animals.

Some episodes may involve the Bean Scouts' attempts at unveiling the truth behind camp legends or clowning around, infuriating their peers or placing themselves in a variety of odd situations commonly based around traditional or fictionalized, bizarre camp activities.

Setting

The setting of the show was designed to deliberately bring a nostalgic feeling of childhood summer camps and "evoke a comfortable place to visit". The colors instill the feeling of summer camp, rather than basing color schemes on real-life colors; Murray and Sue Mondt, the art director, chose the colors. In Camp Lazlo, the sky can be yellow, and trees are not always green and brown. For the architecture and objects, books with cabins, camps and Native American artifacts were consulted. Ultimately, Murray wanted to create a place where nature prevails, and the hustle and bustle of real-life is left behind, with no technology to distract from the impressions of camp life. He describes the camp as having a "retro" feel. Murray likes 1950s and early 1960s designs of objects like advertising art, lamps, and old vacation brochures, and he said that the "brushy quality that developed at that time" heavily influenced the setting.

• Camp Kidney, set in the Pimpleback Mountains next to Leakey Lake, is the camp where most of the show takes place. This is a summer camp attended by a group of boy scout-like campers called The Bean Scouts. In keeping the theme of the name of the camp, the campers are allowed to name their cabins after various types of beans: Jelly Cabin, Pinto Cabin, Fava Cabin, and so on. The camp is known for a low standard of quality and has been threatened with closure more than once. The camp is led by Scoutmaster Lumpus, with most of the administrative details assigned to his assistant, Mr. Slinkman. A full staff complements the camp, including a nurse and a chef.
• Acorn Flats is across the lake from Camp Kidney, attended by girls of similar age, called the Squirrel Scouts. Acorn Flats has higher quality facilities than Camp Kidney, a point of contention between the two respective camps, with Acorn Flats being the more dominant in the rivalry. The leader of the Squirrel Scouts is Jane Doe, and her assistant, Ms. Rubella Mucus. Both Camp Kidney and Acorn Flats are part of a larger hierarchical organization, under the direct command of Commander Hoo-ha, with "The Big Bean" as the head of all scout chapters, which includes Beans and Squirrels and (possibly) Tomato Scouts.
• Prickly Pines is a town near both camps with full commercial facilities: a post office, several restaurants, a laundromat, and other sundry stores.

Episodes

List of Camp Lazlo episodes

Other media

See also

In Spanish: Camp Lazlo para niños