Hoopla Doopla! Explained

Genre:Children's television, comedy
Creator:Melinda Wearne, Ron Saunders
Director:Mark Barnard, Liang Tong
Narrated:Zindzi Okenyo
Composer:Scott Collins
Country:Australia
China
Language:English
Chinese
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:52
Producer:Melinda Wearne, Zhao Qian, Ron Saunders
Location:China
Cinematography:Li Shunbo
Runtime:12 min.
Company:The Content Agency
Beyond Screen Production
China Television Drama Production Centre
Network:ABC TV, CCTV

Hoopla Doopla! (stylised all lower case;) is a joint Australian-Chinese live-action non-verbal children's TV series, which was first broadcast from February 2014.[1] It was created by Melinda Wearne and Ron Saunders using cast and production teams from both countries.[1] [2] It was co-directed by Mark Barnard and Liang Tong.[1] The series was filmed during six months up to late 2013, using a 2250 square metre studio, "about the size of a football field" containing the fictional town of Hoopla. Producers were Wearne (of The Content Agency) and Saunders (Beyond Screen Production) for Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Zhao Qian for China Central Television (CCTV).[1]

The studio was located outside the Chinese city of Zhuozhou – two hours south-west of capital Beijing.[3] [4] Post-production occurred in Australia.[1] [3] [4] Hoopla Doopla! targets children from the age of three to seven.[5] Its on-screen cast of six characters are Jango (Daniel Gorski), Mimi (Kate Wright), Zap (Simon Wright), Bop (Xie Ning), Squidgie (Liu Wanting) and Ziggy (Zhang Haoran). They are augmented by an off-screen Narrator (Zindzi Okenyo).[3] It began broadcast by ABC from 10 February 2014[6] and by CCTV from mid-February, for 52 episodes of 12 minutes each.[1] [4]

Premise

Hoopla Doopla! details the daily lives of six residents of Hoopla. Jango is a street sweeper and clown; Ziggy is a magician who owns a shop; Bop, a mechanic and strongman, tries to fix broken devices; Squidgie, a contortionist, grows various plants in a garden; Mimi cooks for the townsfolk while juggling and Zap is an acrobat who delivers packages to the residents. Typically one or more person has a problem, which is tackled with assistance from the others. All matters are resolved without any dialogue – communication is through non-verbal cues including acrobatics, facial expressions and body language. Explanations for the audience are provided by the unseen Narrator.

Cast

Credits:[4]

Production

Creator of Hoopla Doopla! Melinda Wearne pitched her idea to ABC's Children's Television department via a pilot episode.[4] It was decided to approach Ron Saunders of Beyond Screen Production who recommended the China Television Drama Production Centre of CCTV to develop another joint production with ABC.[4] The two networks had previously co-produced a live-action children's television series, Magic Mountain (1997–1998).[7] Wearne found casting of the roles to be difficult, each needed "a high level of physical skill and be able to act."[4] As the set was in a remote area of China the Australians would be "a long way from home, we finished work late, the conditions were not great and they would not have people they could chat to."[4] The three Australian on-screen cast members are all circus performers, both Gorsky and Simon had graduated from National Institute of Circus Arts,[8] while Kate had joined Cirkidz at the age of seven.[9] The episodes were co-directed by Mark Barnard of Australia and Liang Tong of China.[1]

Episodes

Episode list:[10]

  1. "Upsy Daisy!"
  2. "Big Squidgie"
  3. "Shadowplay"
  4. "Zap's Alarm Clock"
  5. "Mimi's Big Surprise"
  6. "Hiccups"
  7. "The Dough Monster"
  8. "Squidgie's Day Off"
  9. "Snow Business"
  10. "Squidgie's Picnic"
  11. "Sticky Situation"
  12. "Jango the Joker"
  13. "Magic Coat"
  14. "Mimi's Perfect Pie"
  15. "Zap's Special Delivery"
  16. "Hula Hoopla"
  17. "Bop's Clumsy Day"
  18. "Zap Gets Stuck"
  19. "Tomato Trouble"
  20. "Midnight Muncher"
  21. "Ziggy's Hidden Talent"
  22. "Bop and the Butterfly"
  23. "Sick Story"
  24. "Trading Places"
  25. "Sporty Jango"
  26. "Dinosaur"
  27. "Jango's Big Clean Up"
  28. "Happy Snaps"
  29. "The Lost Thing"
  30. "Moonwalk"
  31. "Jango the Genie"
  32. "Treasure Map"
  33. "Squidgie's Plant"
  34. "Ziggy Goes Camping"
  35. "The Smell"
  36. "Zap's Whistle"
  37. "Swap Shop"
  38. "The Ziggy Hop"
  39. "Ziggy's Hat Trick"
  40. "Bop and the Clock"
  41. "Ziggy the Invisible"
  42. "The Robot"
  43. "The Magic Pumpkin"
  44. "The Hungry Dragon"
  45. "In a Fix"
  46. "Best Friends Day"
  47. "King Jango"
  48. "Hoopla Fire Brigade"
  49. "The Sneaky Snacker"
  50. "Mimi's Holiday"
  51. "Squidgie's Present"
  52. "Ziggy the Hero"

Releases

Awards and nominations

At the 2014 AWGIE Awards episode 9 "Snow Business" won Children's Television (P Classification) category, while episode 16 "Hula Hoopla" was nominated for the same.[11]

References

  1. Web site: Hoopla Doopla! (2013) . The Screen Guide – Screen Australia . . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20190512102018/https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/hoopla-doopla!-2013/31438 . 12 May 2019 . 28 December 2022 .
  2. Web site: ABC and Chinese Broadcaster Join for New Kids Series . David . Knox . . 8 May 2013 . 28 December 2022 .
  3. Web site: Building Chinese Relations with Kids TV . Megan . Reynolds . Mumbrella . 26 February 2015 . 28 December 2022 .
  4. News: Let's Get Physical . Pam . Brown . . 6 February 2014 . 28 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221228103937/https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/tv/lets-get-physical-ng-ya-365237 . 28 December 2022 . live .
  5. Web site: Mandarin Hoopla Doopla! Episodes – Watch on iView . Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) . 16 February 2018 . National Library of Australia . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20180327002941/https://actf.com.au/news/10477/mandarin-hoopla-doopla-episodes-watch-on-iview . 27 March 2018 . 30 December 2022 .
  6. Web site: TV Tonight . David . Knox . Airdate: Hoopla Doopla! . 18 January 2014 . 28 December 2022 .
  7. Web site: Archive » MIP-TV Special Report: Focus on Partnerships: The Magic Mountain . Andrea . Haman . Kidscreen . 1 April 1996 . 29 December 2022 .
  8. Web site: Latest News for National Institute of Circus Arts . . 10 February 2014 . National Library of Australia . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20190323230707/http://www.nica.com.au/latest-news.php?news_id=319 . 24 March 2019 . 29 December 2022 .
  9. Web site: Playgroup Queensland Interview Mimi from Hoopla Doopla! . Playgroup Queensland . 12 November 2014 . National Library of Australia . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20150611223622/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/150396/20150612-0805/www.playgroupqueensland.com.au/playgroup-queensland-interview-mimi-hoopla-doopla/index.html . 12 June 2015 . 29 December 2022 .
  10. Web site: Hoopla Doopla! . Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF) . 28 December 2022 .
  11. Web site: 2014 AWGIE Awards . Zuk, Tony . Australian Television Information Archive . National Library of Australia . https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20151123060353/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/21124/20151123-0943/www.australiantelevision.net/awards/awgie2014.html . 23 November 2015 . 28 December 2022 .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hoopla Doopla!".

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