LazyTown — BrandWiki

LazyTown

creator	Magnús Scheving
based on	Áfram Latibær! by Magnús Scheving
writer	Magnús Scheving Mark Valenti Máni Svavarsson
director	Magnús Scheving Raymond P. Le Gué Jonathan Judge
starring	Magnús Scheving Julianna Rose Mauriello Stefán Karl Stefánsson Chloe Lang
voices	Ronald Binion Guðmundur Þór Kárason Jodi Eichelberger David Matthew Feldman Julie Westwood Kobie Powell Sarah Burgess Noel MacNeal Heather Asch Joanna Ruiz Chris Knowings Aymee Garcia
end theme	"Bing Bang" (instrumental)
composer	Máni Svavarsson
country	Iceland
language	English
num series	4
num episodes	78
list episodes	List of LazyTown episodes
executive producer	Magnús Scheving Ragnheiður Melsteð Raymond P. Le Gué Brown Johnson Kay Wilson Stallings
runtime	24 minutes
company	LazyTown Entertainment Truenorth Production Turner Broadcasting System Europe (seasons 3–4)
network	Nick Jr. (United States) RÚV and Stöð 2 (Iceland)
first aired	August 16, 2004
last aired	October 15, 2007
network2	Cartoonito (EMEA)
first aired2	March 13, 2013
last aired2	October 13, 2014
related	LazyTown Extra

LazyTown is an Icelandic children's television series created by aerobics champion Magnús Scheving,[1] who portrays the character Sportacus. Originally produced in English, it has been broadcast in dozens of languages globally. Designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, the series was based on Scheving's stage play Áfram Latibær!, itself adapted from a book that Scheving wrote in 1995.[2]

The series was originally commissioned by Nickelodeon in early 2003, following the production of two stage plays and a test pilot. Originally performed in American English, it was later dubbed into thirty different languages and broadcast in over 180 countries around the world. It combines live action, puppetry and computer animation, making it one of the most expensive children's shows, with the cost per episode being over five times that of the average children's show.[3]

The first two seasons, consisting of fifty-two episodes, were produced from 2004 to 2007. LazyTown originally aired on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block in the United States and the United Kingdom and RÚV

History and production

LazyTown began as a storybook published in 1995 titled Áfram Latibær! ("Go Go LazyTown!").[2] A second book, Latibær á Ólympíuleikunum (LazyTown at the Olympics), was published in 1996. Later in 1996, a stage adaptation of the first book was shown in Iceland. It featured Sportacus as an energetic elf and Stephanie as an out-of-shape dancer. The puppet characters seen in the television series also appeared in human form, but Robbie Rotten did not yet exist. A third book, Latibær í Vandræðum (LazyTown in Trouble), was published in 1997. This book introduced Robbie Rotten to the franchise. A second stage show based on the third book titled Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ (Robbie Rotten in LazyTown) debuted in 1999. It introduced Stefán Karl Stefánsson as Robbie Rotten and featured more finalized versions of the other characters. Nickelodeon Australia reported that by the time the second play finished touring, LazyTown had become a household name in Iceland.[14] A variety of tie-in products and media were created in the country before Scheving decided to develop LazyTown into a television program; these included bottled water, toy figures, and a radio station.[15] Development on the TV series began in 2000, following the success of the second play. Production on the TV series began in 2002, and in 2003, the pilot was pitched to Nickelodeon. A deal was subsequently made with the network on September 3, 2003. As part of the LazyTown-Nick deal, LazyTown Entertainment retains all international sales rights for the show while Nickelodeon has the US rights to the show, under an agreement from LazyTown.[16]

In most episodes, the only characters played by live actors are Sportacus, Stephanie, and Robbie Rotten. The rest of the characters are depicted as puppets, made by the Neal Scanlan Studio and Wit Puppets. The show was filmed and produced at 380 Studios, a purpose-built studio near Reykjavík equipped with high-end HDTV production facilities and one of the largest green screens in the world. The production floor area is 1,800 square meters.[17][18] The budget for each episode was approximately ISK 70,000,000 (US$1 million), about five times the average cost for a children's television program at the time, making it "the most expensive children's show in the world" according to Scheving.[19]

Its virtual sets were generated with an Unreal Engine 3-based framework, created by Raymond P. Le Gué and known as XRGen4. According to Le Gué, "We start with the live actors and puppets on a physical set with a green screen behind them as a backdrop. The green screen is replaced in real time with the sets created in XRGen4 using UE3. As we move the camera and actors around the physical set, the backdrop scene also moves in real time in complete synchronization with the movements of the real camera. All of this is recorded, and the director can watch the resulting composition in real time."[20] Seasons 3 and 4 of LazyTown were filmed as usual in the LazyTown Studios in Iceland, but the special effects for these seasons were created by Turner Studios in Atlanta, USA.[21]

Future

On 16 May 2024, in an interview given to Stöð 2, Magnús Scheving received the rights for LazyTown back from Warner Bros. Discovery. Also expressing interest in reviving the show in some way, Scheving remarks, "LazyTown must be moving. We sometimes say "Let's move the world". Let's move the world. That's what LazyTown should do. I think that LazyTown has a lot to do again, as can be seen from YouTube views and such. It's a hugely popular topic, incredibly."[22]

Television and on-demand history

In the United States, the show premiered on Nickelodeon on the Nick Jr. block on August 16, 2004, and ended on October 15, 2007.[23] The second season debuted in the United States on Nickelodeon in 2006.[24][25] It also aired in the United States on CBS, as part of the Nick Jr. on CBS Saturday morning block, from September 18, 2004, to September 9, 2006. The series aired daily on the Nick Jr. Channel (formerly as "Noggin") from 2005 to July 19, 2010.[26] On April 18, 2011, PBS Kids Sprout acquired the American TV rights to LazyTown.[27] The series aired daily on PBS Kids Sprout from September 5, 2011, to September 26, 2016. LazyTown aired on NBC Kids from July 7, 2012, to March 27, 2016.

The series has been broadcast on a variety of networks internationally, many of which belong to Viacom Media Networks. Nickelodeon Southeast Asia has carried the program in eleven territories.[28] In Oceania, it is shown on Nickelodeon Australia.[14] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it aired on the BBC's CBeebies, Nick Jr. UK, Noggin and Boomerang.[29][30] The series arrived in the UK on October 3, 2005, making a simultaneous debut on both CBeebiee and Nick Jr.. CBeebies aired the first two series and stopped repeats in March 2012. Nick Jr UK stopped airing repeats in 2011.[31][32]

In 2008, a Spanish-dubbed version of LazyTown debuted on V-me, a television network created for the Hispanic market in the US.[36] The Spanish-dubbed version was also aired on Telemundo (a sister station to NBC) as part of the weekend preschool morning block MiTelemundo.

In 2011, an Arabic dub aired on Cartoon Network Arabia's early morning Cartoonito block for the Middle East and North Africa and it aired until late 2014 when the block was discontinued. It made a brief return back to air in 2019 upon the return of the Cartoonito block on the channel, but hasn't been aired since. In 2010, a subtitled version briefly aired on Saudi Channel (MBC 3) but was not a huge success compared to the dubbed version at Cartoon Network Arabia.

In Brazil, the two first seasons of the show was broadcast with Brazilian Portuguese dubbing on SBT (on the children's television block Bom Dia & Cia), and subsequently on Discovery Kids and Cartoon Network. The last two seasons were broadcast on Boomerang until 2018.

In Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia, the show was broadcast on Ultra TV. A Croatian-dubbed version called Lijeni Grad was broadcast in Croatia on HRT 2. A Macedonian-dubbed version called Мрзеливиот Град was broadcast in Macedonia on Sitel.

In Portugal, the first two seasons of the European Portuguese version aired on RTP2, and Canal Panda, with the latter two seasons airing solely on RTP2 several years later.

The series has been dubbed into thirty-two languages. In the Icelandic dub, actors Magnús Scheving (Sportacus), Guðmundur Þór Kárason (Ziggy) and Stefán Karl Stefánsson (Robbie Rotten) dubbed themselves on the audio track.