Classic TV Theme: Zazoo U (Stereo)
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- Опубліковано 10 тра 2024
- A university for animals where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, 'Zazoo U' (1990) aired for just 13 episodes on Fox, but it's acquired a following since then thanks to its off-kilter, bizarre comic situations. Voice artists included Jerry Hauser and Dorian Harewood. Plus there's the cool, bluesy theme song by Richard Morton and Shane De Rolf, performed by Mr Morton...not bad!
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Zazoo U aired at 8.30am on Saturday mornings originally.
The timeslot competitors were the popular Muppet Babies on CBS, as well as The Wizard on Oz on ABC, produced by DIC Animation, as well as two other DIC produced shows on NBC, Captain N (with The Four Tops's Levi Stubbs as one of the voices) and The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3.
Midway Zazoo U moved to 8am, meaning it was now competing with The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh (into the 3rd season) as well as Muppet Babies.
To add, Fox was still a relative minnow rather than the powerhouse it became later.
The 1980s and 1990s was an animation renaissance: it was a major boom with all sorts of animated series releasing in different styles, of different subjects and for different audiences. Some made it big (TRANSFORMERS, HE-MAN, DUCKTALES, BATMAN and X-MEN) and some didn't, like ZAZOO U. It was created by philanthropist Shane DeRolfe, who wanted to make a series that could impart morals to children but in a fun manner unlike the (by then) stodgy Filmation shows.
The show's basic premise is simple enough: a school is host to a cast of dysfunctional students and teachers, who attempt to deal with a crisis a specific character is dealing with. But no matter how eccentric the characters and their personalities are - a slovenly pig, two Romanian acrobats, a piano-playing mammoth, a scholarly walrus - the crisis is real and relatable enough (our place in the world, loneliness, stage fright) and the lesson that character learns hits home even today.
The animation and humor is rather freestyle, but that enhances its charm even more: it's a universe run amok, where anything can and would happen and is unashamedly chaotic in its comedy scenarios. This however stays in balance with the seriousness of the issues the characters try to face and cope with, which makes for a remarkable blend of humour and drama. The story is able to appear to all ages, not just with dressing up the story with jokes and gags, but also providing a little poem that sums up the fable. Very few shows (or no other show I've seen anyway) combine philosophy with funny in such a appealing and endearing manner.
The show kind of got lost in the animation flood. Which is a shame, because it's quite an outstanding little gem that appeals to all ages, and deserves a second chance.
Oh, and Murder She Wrote fans may recognise Michael Horton, as he played Jessica Fletcher's nephew Grady.
His real life wife, Debbie Zipp, played his on screen girlfriend\wife Donna Mayberry on MSW.
Tress MacNeille would of course have better success with other Fox animated series later, as she's part of the voice cast of The Simpsons (although not voicing Bernice Hibbert and Cookie Kwan nowadays like she used to) and Futurama.