JoJo's Circus

JoJo's Circus is an American-Canadian children's television series created by Jim Jinkins, David Campbell, Lisa Jinkins and Eric Weiner. The series aired on Playhouse Disney from September 28, 2003 to February 14, 2007.

Plot
The series is set in Circus Town, a self-sufficient city whose cultural center is the "Big Top" tent. The story focuses on JoJo Tickle, a young female clown and Goliath, JoJo's pet lion. She and Goliath learned at the Little Big Top Circus School, where all young soon-to-be circus performers learn under their teacher Mrs. Kersplatski. Along with her friends, JoJo explores and learns while dealing with challenging situations.

Main

 * Madeleine Martin as JoJo Tickle
 * Robert Norman Smith and Alan Ford as Goliath the Lion
 * Austin Di Iulio and Keeler Sandhaus as Skeebo Seltzer
 * Diana Peressini as Croaky Frogini
 * Tajja Isen as Trina Tightrope
 * Jayne Eastwood as Mrs. Kersplatski

Supporting

 * David Sparrow as Mr. Tickle
 * Marnie McPhail as Peaches Tickle
 * Julie Lemieux as Dinky Pachyderm / Bal Boa
 * Cole Caplan as Tater Spudinski
 * Neil Crone and John Stocker as Fellini and Frederico Frogini
 * Mark Consuelos as Mr. Muscles
 * Phoebe McAuley as Maya Muscles

Episodes
See Also: List of JoJo's Circus Episodes

Development
The show stresses simple, everyday lessons such as playing with others, personal hygiene, responsibility and safety. Also paramount is the show's focus on exercise: JoJo often asks for audience participation (such as clapping, jumping and stretching) for the viewers. The series is animated in Claymation, which is a serious departure to Jinkin's previous animated works.

Characters JoJo and her pet lion, Goliath, re-appeared in a yoga-style exercise learning series/interstitial called Feeling Good with JoJo.

Music
Each episode contains a short tune dealing with the topics of the episode. (Many of these songs can be found on three CDs: Songs from JoJo's Circus, Songs from Under the Big Top! and Playhouse Disney: Imagine and Learn with Music.) The genres of the songs range from doo-wop to funk to rock to classic punk. Phrases like "stretch your arms" and "jump up high" are common lyrics. Most of the songs are educational, telling kids how to bow, stretch, greet people, wash their hair and clean up after themselves, while a few are more entertaining, such as Cotton Candy Sure Is Sweet or The Gum Drop Song. The theme song of the show is performed by the band Becky.

Broadcast
JoJo's Circus aired on Playhouse Disney since its premiere on September 28, 2003. When the block rebranded in 2007, JoJo's Circus was moved to a new timeslot at 6:30am (following Stanley). The show was removed from the block in January 2009.

Aside from the United States broadcast, JoJo's Circus airs daily on both the UK and Australian versions of Playhouse Disney using the original American content. Since 2005, JoJo's Circus has been shown on GMTV's children's weekend slot Toonattik.

As of June 17, 2011, it has been confirmed that it would move into its new home Disney Junior, which would replace the defunct channel SOAPnet and aired again on March 23, 2012.

Home Media
The series has two DVD releases: "Take a Bow" and "Animal a Go-Go." The "Take a Bow" DVD contains the "Easy As Pie," "Take a Bow", "JoJo on the Tightrope" and "Happy Hoppy Day" episodes. "Animal a Go-Go" has "Flower Shower", "Uncle Flippy's Funny Farm", "Try These on for Boing" and "Brushing Up." Both DVDs have the opening theme, JoJo and Goliath in interstitials, printable colouring pages and other bonus features.

Two more JoJo's Circus episodes are available on Higglytown Heroes DVDs: "The Spudinski's New Act" is on Higglytown's "Heroes on the Move" DVD, and "A Clown Ride" is on the Higglytown "To the Rescue" disc. The holiday themed "A Circus Town Christmas" is included on the "A Very Playhouse Disney Holiday" DVD.