Zoobilee Zoo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Zoobilee Zoo
Cast of Zoobilee Zoo
Developed by	Hallmark
Presented by	Ben Vereen
Opening theme	by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	65 (plus three direct-to-video episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Steve Binder Jean Chalopin Andy Heyward
Producer(s)	Mary Jo Blue
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	DIC Group Production Hallmark Cards BRB Productions
Distributor	SFM Entertainment
Release
Original network	first-run syndication
Original release	September 15, 1986 (1986-09-15) – March 27, 1987 (1987-03-27)

Zoobilee Zoo is a children's television series featuring actors dressed as animal characters that originally aired from 1986 to 1987. It continued to run in syndication until 2000 on several television channels including commercial network television stations, public television stations, The Learning Channel, and the Hallmark Channel. The original 65 episodes are currently owned by Hallmark Properties and were produced by WQED Pittsburgh.

Hosted by Ben Vereen, the show centers around a group of six creative animal friends who live in a magical land called Zoobilee Zoo. Each possess a unique artistic skill and they frequently break into song and dance.

Plot

Each episode is opened by a greeting from host Ben Vereen, dressed as a spotted snow leopard, who plays the mayor of Zoobilee Zoo. Speaking directly to viewers that he refers to as "Zoobaroos", Vereen usually appears throughout each episode to summarize the main themes or to perform a song and dance.

The plot in each episode centers around the main characters, called Zoobles, as they play together and encounter difficulties common to young children. The primary themes are cooperation, making friends, and creativity.

Cast and characters

Each Zooble character has a certain artistic talent that shapes the way they approach different scenario.

• Sandey Grinn as Bill Der Beaver in all but 2 episodes (see below), who likes to invent and fix stuff.
• Forrest Gardner as Van Go Lion, who enjoys art.
• Karen Hartman as Talkatoo Cockatoo, who enjoys reading, writing, and speech.
• Michael B. Moynahan as Lookout Bear, who enjoys adventuring and travel.
• Gary Schwartz as Bravo Fox, who enjoys performing.
• Louise Vallance (Stevie Vallance) as Whazzat Kangaroo, the youngest Zooble who encourages kids to enjoy music and dance.
• Ben Vereen as Mayor Ben, a snow leopard who stars as the host of the show explaining what kind of adventure the Zoobles will be having.
• Michael Sheehan as the original Bill Der Beaver in 2 episodes. When Sheehan decided to leave the show for other interests (such as Jem), he was replaced by Sandey Grinn.

Minor characters

• Roger Behr as Limerick Leprechaun and Peter Possum
• Roger Peltz as Rhymin' Simon and the Genie
• Crosby the Dog as Crosby
• Suzy Gilstrap as Sandy
• Robert Shields as Elmo the Clown
• Patty Maloney as Ergo
• Helen Lambros as The Witch
• Vinson Crump as Vince
• Norman Merrill as Dr. Feelright

In addition, Grinn, Schwartz and Vallance have also played some minor characters. Schwartz played the gorilla in "A Camping We Will Go" (revealed in a blooper reel) and Grinn played Bravo's Vaudeville friend Charlie Google in "Vaudeville Star". Due to this, in the respective episodes, neither Bravo nor Bill appear. Vallance voiced Gilda the Tooth Fairy in "When You Wish Upon a Tooth Fairy".

Episodes

(*These are the first two episodes filmed (but aired out of sequence) featuring Michael Sheehan as Bill Der Beaver; all other episodes feature Sandey Grinn in that role)

Awards and recognition

The series was awarded the 1987 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Costume Design.