LazyTown (Icelandic: Latibær) is a children's television program produced in Iceland that features a cast and crew from Iceland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was created by Magnús Scheving, a gymnastics champion and CEO of LazyTown Entertainment, who also stars in the show. The show has been highly successful, airing in over 100 countries in more than a dozen languages.

A total of 52 episodes of LazyTown have been produced.

As of 2009, LazyTown continues to generate spin-off projects, including LazyTown Live! (touring stage productions) and a TV series for younger children called LazyTown Extra. LazyTown Extra has never been broadcast in the United States.

Premise

The main character is Stephanie (Julianna Rose Mauriello), who arrives in town and urges her new friends Ziggy, Trixie, Stingy, and Pixel to go outside and be active, instead of staying inside and playing video games all day. Her uncle, the bumbling Mayor Milford Meanswell, enlists the help of Sportacus 10 (Magnús Scheving), a self-described "slightly-above-average hero". It is Sportacus' job to inspire the kids to play outside, and to help solve low-key emergencies that occur from time to time. However, all this does not sit well with Robbie Rotten (Stefán Karl Stefánsson), a lazy man who lives in an underground lair hidden just on the edge of town. Most of the episodes involve Robbie Rotten dressing up in one of his numerous costumes and trying to make Sportacus leave town forever so he can encourage the kids to be lazy again.

TV production

LazyTown is part live action, part puppetry, and part CGI animation. Stephanie, Sportacus, and Robbie Rotten were the only humans on the English language show up until episode 32 (Dancing Duel), which was the first to include a fourth live actor to play the role of Rottenella. She was played by Mauriello's stunt double, Kristjana Ólafsdóttir. More recent episodes have extended the live cast as well. Such episodes include Little Sportacus and The Lazy Genie. The rest of the characters are depicted as puppets. The show's puppets are made by the Neal Scanlan Studio and Wit Puppets. The show is produced in a 5067 m² studio in Garðabær, Iceland, which contains one of the most advanced HDTV facilities in Europe. The budget for each episode is approximately USD $1,000,000.

Syndication

The original series first appeared on August 16, 2004 in the U.S. on Nick Jr. (when it was a children's block on the U.S. Nickelodeon channel). The series' second season debuted in the U.S. on Nick Jr. on May 15, 2006. It aired again in the U.S. on CBS from September 18, 2004 to September 9, 2006. Currently LazyTown is seen in the United States on Nick Jr. and a Spanish-dubbed version on V-me.

LazyTown has aired on Nick Jr. in the USA, Nick Jr. in the UK and Ireland, YTV, BBC One, CBeebies, RTP2, Nick Jr. Australia, Super RTL, Sjónvarpið, Discovery Kids, V-me and Ketnet, among other television networks. Marathon Media Group distributed the French dubbed version.

Characters

Sportacus

Played by Magnús Scheving: The super-healthy hero of the show, hailing from "an island in the North Sea" (a reference to Iceland, LazyTown's country of origin). Sportacus encourages the kids of LazyTown to eat "sports candy" (his term for fruits and vegetables), and to play outside instead of just sitting around indoors playing video games or eating junk food. He wants to make sure LazyTown is happy, and knows that they have to be healthy and fit to be so. Sportacus is constantly engaged in physical activity, and even does gymnastics just to get from place to place. Sportacus is always saving people. His crystal beeps to let him know that someone needs his help. The character is patient and understanding. Sportacus doesn't think of himself as a Superhero, but rather, a Slightly-Above-Average Hero. His weakness is that if he ever eats sugary candy, he will have a "sugar meltdown", which makes him lose all of his energy until he eats something healthy again.

Stephanie

Played by Julianna Rose Mauriello: The character who inspired the citizens (and most importantly, the children) of LazyTown to be active. Her love for being active and playing greatly influences the town. She loves the color pink as her clothes, hair, and accessories are all pink. She came to town to visit her uncle, the mayor of LazyTown. Stephanie is always encouraging the kids to go outside and play, but on each occasion she must contend with Robbie Rotten's attempts to sabotage her efforts. But when she asked for Sportacus' help, the whole town worked together to make LazyTown the best place to live. Stephanie loves to dance. She dreams of studying dance at a famous dance school.

Robbie Rotten

Played by Stefán Karl Stefánsson. The antagonist of the show. He is always trying to get the kids to eat junk food and is forever trying to banish Sportacus from LazyTown. He wants to make sure LazyTown remains quiet and lazy, as it was before the arrival of Sportacus and Stephanie. Robbie devises all sorts of plans to achieve this, and sometimes comes very close to succeeding, but in the end is always defeated by Sportacus with the help of Stephanie and her friends. The amount of effort that this champion of inactivity puts into his plots is ironic; he may be the most active person in LazyTown because of it. Although his actions are those of an evil villain, he refers to himself as "a simple, rotten guy who's just misunderstood." He lives in an underground lair from which he spies on the children of LazyTown through a periscope. His undergound lair is discovered by Sportacus, Stephanie and the kids in episode "Little Sportacus".

Robbie Rotten frequently dresses up in clever disguises to cause mischief and trouble.

His emotional state rapidly goes from one extreme to another throughout an episode, reflecting Rotten's vast determination to inflict laziness on Lazytown despite an embarrassing catalogue of previous failings.

Puppets

• Ziggy (puppeteered and voiced by Guðmundur Þór Kárason) The character who loves to eat candy and sweets - particularly taffy. After Stephanie came along he found that there is more to childhood than sugary treats. He is now active and participates in any sport the gang plays, but still enjoys candy. He can usually be seen holding a lollipop.

• Stingy (puppeteered and voiced by Jodi Eichelberger) As his name implies, the greedy and possessive character. He still plays with the gang, but he will always care about his stuff: especially his car and his prized piggy bank. He often says "It's mine!" and has his own song by that name (which names everything in LazyTown as his). He can also play the harmonica and recorder.

• Trixie (puppeteered and voiced by Sarah Burgess) The trouble-maker character, though she does like to play with everyone else. Trixie refers to Stephanie as "Pinky" when trying to get her attention. She also likes to draw moustaches on the mayor's posters. In "Crystal Caper", she kisses Stingy, implying Stingy might have a crush on her.

• Pixel (puppeteered by Ron Binion and voiced by Julie Westwood and Kobie Powell) The character who plays too much on the computer. He fixes up all sorts of gadgets to help him avoid doing something himself, such as a machine to tie his shoes or a remote that "does everything for you." He loves anything to do with computers, technology and gadgets. He has a crush on Stephanie.

• Mayor Milford Meanswell (puppeteered and voiced by David Matthew Feldman) A nervous wreck who has a crush on Ms. Busybody. He loves his niece Stephanie very much and calls Sportacus if she feels sad or depressed. He is also famous for saying "Oh my!" all the time if something is wrong. In the episode 'Lazy Town Goes Digital', the Mayor is seen to be continually perplexed by modern technological terms and later has to be corrected when foolishly trying to send a 'b-mail' using a recently installed computer system. This shows the mayor is somewhat backwards.

• Bessie Busybody (puppeteered and voiced by Julie Westwood) Although patronizing, she tries her best to be motherly with the children. She is aware of every new trend, and is pompous but fashionable, and she loves to talk on her cell phone.

Others

• Sportacandy (Sweetacus in UK versions) Ziggy's superhero alter-ego who's just like Sportacus, but he only saves sweets. He is seen for a short time in some episodes, but he did star in a whole episode called Hero For A Day.

• Number 9 (not seen, only referred to) A superhero from an island in the North Sea, who served as LazyTown's protector and resident role model in times past. He had a big number 9 on his chest, whereas Sportacus is number 10. When Stephanie was trying to think how to get the kids to play outside, Mayor Meanswell told her about #9 and how they could send messages to him through a tube that Robbie Rotten had plugged up. Stephanie tried it and Sportacus got her letter asking for help. It is possible Number 9 could be the father of Sportacus.

Episodes

Robbie Rotten's disguises

• Rob U. Blind, The Traveling Salesman (Episode 2: Defeeted)
• Lazycus (Episode 2: Defeeted)
• Sherlock Foams, Private Eye (Episode 6: Swiped Sweets)
• Sportacus (Episode 8: Sportafake)
• The Birthday Fairy (Episode 9: Happy Brush Day)
• Scottie The Scoutmaster (Episode 10: Lazy Scouts)
• Dr. Rottenstein (Episode 11: Dr. Rottenstein)
• Rottenbeard (Episode 12: Rottenbeard)
• A Purple Dinosaur (Episode 13: Cry Dinosaur)
• A Royal Messenger (Episode 19: Prince Stingy)
• The Rotten Kid (A Cowboy) & A Gorilla (Episode 21: Play Day)
• Soccer-Bot 6000 (Episode 24: Soccer Sucker)
• Miss Roberta, Manners Expert (Episode 25: Miss Roberta)
• Mayor Fordmil Meansbad (Episode 27: Secret Agent Zero)
• Santa Claus (Episode 29: LazyTown's Surprise Santa)
• A Purple Cow (Episode 30: Robbie's Greatest Misses)
• A Giant Carrot, Apple, and Banana (Episode 31: Sports Candy Festival)
• Zobbie, the Space Alien (Episode 33: Ziggy's Alien)
• Johnny B. Badd (Episode 35: Rockin' Robbie)
• A Ghost (Episode 36: Haunted Castle)
• A Giant Purple Bush (Episode 37: Little Sportacus)
• A Garbage Man (Episode 38: Trash Trouble)
• The Mayor (Episode 39: Double Trouble)
• A Snow Monster (Episode 40: The LazyTown Snow Monster)
• Roberto the Ringmaster (Episode 41: The LazyTown Circus)
• Professor H.R. Rottenein (Episode 42: School Scam)
• Rob R. Robley, Newsman (Episode 43: Pixel TV)
• The Purple Legend (Episode 43: Pixel TV)
• Chef Robert (Episode 43: Pixel TV)
• A Gorilla (Episode 43: Pixel TV)
• The Shaking Cup Man (Episode 44: Friends Forever)
• The Stamp Guy (Episode 45: Energy Book)
• The Giant Wall Builder (Episode 46: Birthday Surprise)
• Bob Wired, Technician (Episode 47: LazyTown goes Digital)
• The Big Bad Wolf (Episode 49: Once Upon A Time)
• The Dance Instructor (Episode 51: Dancing Dreams)

LazyTown Extra

On September 15, 2008, a spin-off television series called LazyTown Extra debuted in the UK on CBeebies. This series, conceived as a "magazine format style show" for 3 to 6-year-olds, features characters from LazyTown in an assortment of short sketches. 26 episodes of LazyTown Extra have been produced, each between and 11 and 15 minutes in duration. Several characters were voiced by different actors.

Live shows

As of 2009, a new live stage production entitled LazyTown Live! The Pirate Adventure is touring throughout the United Kingdom & Ireland. The live show features the characters and songs from the LazyTown TV series performed by a new cast, and will tour the UK from January 28 to November 29, 2009.

A previous LazyTown Live! stage production toured the UK and Ireland between October 2007 and August 2008. This production introduced a new LazyTown cast to the UK, including Julian Essex-Spurrier as Sportacus.

New productions of the LazyTown Live show are planned to premiere in November 2009 in Portugal and in March 2010 in Spain.

A Spanish-speaking version of the live stage show is scheduled to launch in the United States in the first quarter of 2010 and will visit markets across the country, supported by the V-me national broadcast network and local affiliates. The stage production will be the first live family entertainment show to tour the US exclusively in Spanish.

Awards

2005:

• LazyTown won the EDDA award (the Icelandic equivalent of the BAFTA or Oscar) for Production Design. It also received EDDA nominations in four other categories: Costume Design, Cinematography and Editing, Screenplay, and TV Drama/Comedy of the Year.

2006:

• LazyTown won the BAFTA Children's Award in the international category.
• Julianna Rose Mauriello was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for her role in LazyTown as Stephanie.
• Magnús Scheving received the lifetime achievement award at the Icelandic EDDA ceremonies for his work as founder and creator of the LazyTown franchise. The president of Iceland presented the award to Scheving.
• LazyTown received a German EMIL award.

2007:

• LazyTown received two Daytime Emmy nominations – the first of which recognised Magnús Scheving and Jonathan Judge for Outstanding Directing In A Children's Series. The second went to composer Mani Svavarsson for Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction & Composition.
• LazyTown was nominated for the BAFTA Children's Award in the international category.

2008:

• LazyTown was nominated for the BAFTA Children's Award in the international category.
• LazyTown was nominated for 5 EDDA awards. The nominations were for: Best TV Show, Best Costumes, Best Makeup, Best Sound, and Best Stage Design.
• Magnús Scheving received the PROTOS Award from the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City.

Music

The soundtracks and songs of LazyTown are composed by Máni Svavarsson, whose history with the company goes back to the original Icelandic theatre plays. The popularity of LazyTown's songs and music has led to the production of soundtrack album that feature music from the show. These soundtracks have been released in a number of countries and in a number of different languages, including LazyTown in the United States, Líttu inn í Latabæ in Iceland, Los geht's! in Germany, ¡Bienvenidos a LazyTown! in Latin America and LazyTown - The Album in the United Kingdom. A second UK soundtrack, titled LazyTown - The New Album was released on October 15, 2007.

The song "Bing Bang " was released as a single in the UK, and peaked at #4 in the UK Singles Chart on December 10, 2006.

Merchandise

In the United States, Fisher-Price has produced a line of toys including an activity mat, and Stephanie and Sportacus items. There is also a soundtrack, along with books and videos.

Over 50 LazyTown DVDs have been released worldwide. For a current list, see LazyTown DVDs.

All the LazyTown DVDs in Region 1 are now discontinued including its soundtrack. There are no plans for releasing the complete seasons on DVD.

In the UK, a monthly magazine launched in March 2007. Each issue boasts a free cover-mounted gift, a large poster inside, along with various ideas for games, comic strips and dance instructions. Many features come with an inset explaining to parents the value of the activities being promoted.

References

1. Roberts, Katie. "US: Lazytown Live to hit the stage." Licensing.biz. 23 June 2009. Retrieved 25 November 2009.

External links

• Official LazyTown Website
• Official website for UK Live Theatrical Show
• LazyTown at Nick Jr.
• LazyTown at BBC
• LazyTown at Nick Jr US
• Official LazyTown Digital Download Store