The Tofus
Encyclopedia
The Tofus is an animated
French and Canadian
sitcom created by Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor for Teletoon as one of its original productions. It is a satirical
parody of the environmentalist
lifestyle epitomized by its title family, which consists of Mom, Pop, Chichi, Lola, and Buba. The show is set in the fictional town of Beauvillage, and lampoons many aspects of the environmental movement
, including environmental organizations, animal rights
, and pacifism
.
Since its debut on September 1, 2004, the program has aired twenty-six episodes over two seasons.
. It was directed by Bruno Bianchi with the assistance of Danielle Marleau and several other executive producers out of Maple Pictures Corp.
, and scripted by twenty-six writers, including series creators Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor. Original music was composed by Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel.
Each episode of The Tofus was budgeted at US$230,000, and each thirty-minute time block was divided into two fifteen minute-long episodes. Production of the show began one year before it was incorporated into Teletoon's schedule, first airing in Canada
on September 1, 2004. In addition to Teletoon Canada, SIP Animation also presold the series to the France 3
, CITV, and Fox Kids Europe
networks.
The first episode of France 3's French-language version of The Tofus premiered on January 3, 2005. As Fox Kids was sold to The Walt Disney Company
in 2002, the program was broadcast under the new brand Jetix
when it arrived in other European countries in 2006.
There were five main cast members who voiced The Tofus. Aaron Grunfeld performed the voice of Chichi, while Brigid Tierney performed the voice of Lola. Maria Bircher played Mum, Marcel Jeannin voiced Pop, and Sonja Ball took the role of Buba. Additional voices were provided by Daniel Brochu
, Harry Standjofski, Pauline Little
, Kayla Grunfeld, Michael Yarmush
, and Jesse Vinet. Script direction was overseen by Florence Sandis.
in the town of Beauvillage and embrace a more natural way of life, much to the horror of their pre-teen children, Chichi and Lola. They would rather watch TV and go shopping than amuse themselves with Grandma Buba's animals: Cracker the Rooster, Curly the Sheep, and Suzie the Goat. The siblings must cope with their parents' ecology
-friendly world vision and the humiliation that results from their efforts to encourage others to protect the environment.
The neighborhood that the family settles in is filled with electronically able individuals, contrasting the Tofus' all-organic lifestyle. Unlike her mechanical-genius brother Chichi–who believes in peace within the family–Lola is more cynical and averse to being deemed oddballs in their new home. She occupies herself with her attraction to Billy Hubbub, the boy next door, despite his parents objections.
Meek but a genius. Has a crush on a local teen named Candy. Good friends with Candy and Phil.
Lola
Loyal to her brother, best friends with Lily. Has a crush on her neighbor, Billy Hubbub.
Mom
Pop
Buba
April
William "Billy" Hubbub
Tidus Hubbub
Elizabeth "Beth" Hubbub
Phillip "Phil"
Lillian "Lily"
Cherie
Nicolas "Nick"
Susan "Suzie", Cottontail "Kerli", Cracker
Youth Programs in 2005.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
French and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
sitcom created by Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor for Teletoon as one of its original productions. It is a satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
parody of the environmentalist
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
lifestyle epitomized by its title family, which consists of Mom, Pop, Chichi, Lola, and Buba. The show is set in the fictional town of Beauvillage, and lampoons many aspects of the environmental movement
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
, including environmental organizations, animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, and pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
.
Since its debut on September 1, 2004, the program has aired twenty-six episodes over two seasons.
Production
The Tofus was co-produced by SIP Animation and CinéGroupeCinéGroupe
CinéGroupe Corporation is a Canadian animation studio based in Montreal, Quebec. The company also has offices in nearby Toronto and in the U.S. city of Los Angeles...
. It was directed by Bruno Bianchi with the assistance of Danielle Marleau and several other executive producers out of Maple Pictures Corp.
Maple pictures
Maple Pictures Corporation is the distribution arm of Alliance Films. It was formed on April 25, 2005 when Lions Gate Entertainment demerged to two companies -- Lions Gate Entertainment and Maple Pictures...
, and scripted by twenty-six writers, including series creators Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor. Original music was composed by Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel.
Each episode of The Tofus was budgeted at US$230,000, and each thirty-minute time block was divided into two fifteen minute-long episodes. Production of the show began one year before it was incorporated into Teletoon's schedule, first airing in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on September 1, 2004. In addition to Teletoon Canada, SIP Animation also presold the series to the France 3
France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
, CITV, and Fox Kids Europe
Fox Kids
Fox Kids was the Fox Broadcasting Company's American children's programming division and brand name from September 8, 1990 until September 7, 2002. It was owned by Fox Television Entertainment airing programming on Monday–Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings.Depending on the show, the...
networks.
The first episode of France 3's French-language version of The Tofus premiered on January 3, 2005. As Fox Kids was sold to The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
in 2002, the program was broadcast under the new brand Jetix
Jetix
Jetix was a worldwide children's television programming brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The Jetix brand was used for blocks and channels featuring action-related and adventure-related live-action and animated programming. It was also what Disney eventually turned Fox Kids into...
when it arrived in other European countries in 2006.
There were five main cast members who voiced The Tofus. Aaron Grunfeld performed the voice of Chichi, while Brigid Tierney performed the voice of Lola. Maria Bircher played Mum, Marcel Jeannin voiced Pop, and Sonja Ball took the role of Buba. Additional voices were provided by Daniel Brochu
Daniel Brochu
Daniel Brochu is a Canadian voice actor born in Montreal.He is best known for voicing Buster Baxter in Arthur and Postcards from Buster, and Danny Pickett in What's With Andy?.-Animation:* Animal Crackers* Around the World in 80 Dreams...
, Harry Standjofski, Pauline Little
Pauline Little
Pauline Little is a Canadian voice actor who currently resides in Montreal Quebec.She voices Lulu's mom in The Little Lulu Show, Lotus and Jasmine the twins in The Little Flying Bears, Maya the Bee, Francine in Samurai Pizza Cats and Caillou's grandma in Caillou.She can also be seen in The Day...
, Kayla Grunfeld, Michael Yarmush
Michael Yarmush
Michael Yarmush is an American television, film, and voice actor.-Early life and career:Born in Miami, Florida, Yarmush began acting in 1995. That year, he portrayed Eric in the television series My Life as a Dog. The following year, he provided the voice for the title character in Arthur...
, and Jesse Vinet. Script direction was overseen by Florence Sandis.
Story
Environmental activists Mom and Pop Tofu, concerned that their family is suffocating from urban routine, decide to move to a farmhouseFarmhouse
Farmhouse is a general term for the main house of a farm. It is a type of building or house which serves a residential purpose in a rural or agricultural setting. Most often, the surrounding environment will be a farm. Many farm houses are shaped like a T...
in the town of Beauvillage and embrace a more natural way of life, much to the horror of their pre-teen children, Chichi and Lola. They would rather watch TV and go shopping than amuse themselves with Grandma Buba's animals: Cracker the Rooster, Curly the Sheep, and Suzie the Goat. The siblings must cope with their parents' ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
-friendly world vision and the humiliation that results from their efforts to encourage others to protect the environment.
The neighborhood that the family settles in is filled with electronically able individuals, contrasting the Tofus' all-organic lifestyle. Unlike her mechanical-genius brother Chichi–who believes in peace within the family–Lola is more cynical and averse to being deemed oddballs in their new home. She occupies herself with her attraction to Billy Hubbub, the boy next door, despite his parents objections.
Characters
ChichiMeek but a genius. Has a crush on a local teen named Candy. Good friends with Candy and Phil.
Lola
Loyal to her brother, best friends with Lily. Has a crush on her neighbor, Billy Hubbub.
Mom
- She's a zen mother trying to keep her house in line.
Pop
- He's considered oblivious a lot of the time which ends up proving false since he's usually fairly early in discovering what's going on in his house. He is also something of a handy-man, as he is often seen inventing machines made of environmentally friendly material, or otherwise run on clean fuel.
Buba
- Lola and Chichi's grandmother. She's the one who grew up in the farm land and it's the life she knows.
April
- She is a girl who often hangs around the Tofu household. Since her parents work in the emergency ward, she is often left lonely and so grew attached to the more attentive and sincere Tofus. She also developed a quick attraction to Chichi, giving him pet names like 'Chichi honey-bun.'
William "Billy" Hubbub
- Son of Tidus and Beth Hubbub, he's Lola's next door neighbour and biggest all-time crush. The only real thing keeping him from pursuing her is disrupting the families, who will often determine that they don't want the polluter's and the biodegraded's kids together.
Tidus Hubbub
- Master of Alarms, Tidus is Billy's father and number one hater of the Tofu family. He is also their next-door neighbour.
Elizabeth "Beth" Hubbub
- She runs the restaurant Burger Palace and this tends to cause a lot of conflict between the families since the Tofus don't like that she uses artificial ingredients.
Phillip "Phil"
- The neighbour on the other side of the Tofu household. He is Chichi's best friend and confidant.
Lillian "Lily"
- Lola's best friend and confidant. She is a bit quirky, being a hopeless romantic and a boatload of advice.
Cherie
- Lola's rival and the queen beeQueen bee (subculture)A queen bee is the leader of a female group, a clique's leader, usually a popular young lady. Characteristics often associated to her are a pleasant appearance, charisma, skill in manipulation, and monetary power. She is sometimes portrayed as the Head Cheerleader, Prom Queen, Homecoming Queen,...
of her school.
Nicolas "Nick"
- Chichi's rival. The leader of the team of the bullies at Beauvillage.
Susan "Suzie", Cottontail "Kerli", Cracker
- Buba's farm animals. Suzie is a goat. Suzie likes eat all and accidentally destroys it. Curly is a sheep with the lots of hair. Cracker is a rooster.
Reception
The Tofus was generally well received by viewers. It has been called "a modern gloss on the classic family sitcom [that] aptly skewers the granola-munching righteousness of the eco-hippie archetype," and has been commended for its use of ecology as a unique background theme. The Tofus also received top audience ratings among the France 3France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
Youth Programs in 2005.