The Zinghoppers are a children's brand that focus on creating content for preschoolers and families. The show includes three animal characters: Penelope The Possum, Olo The Donkey and Coconuts The Kangaroo. They are joined by their friends Conductor Jack (a friendly train conductor played by educator Jack Emmett Norton, and his wife DJ Kitty (played by Norton's real life wife Kitty who usually plays the turntables). The Zinghoppers have released CDs, DVDs and maintain an active tour schedule. It was announced in 2010 that production of their first TV series, "The Zinghoppers Show" would occur that fall with filming in Nashville, Tennessee.

The characters and songs were created by husband and wife team of Kitty and Jack Norton and developed by a team of Early Childhood Educators from the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 and the Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...

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In 2007, the Zinghoppers performed their first shows at the Mall of America

Mall of America

The Mall of America, also called MOA and the Megamall, is a shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, in the United States. It is located southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway 77, north of the Minnesota River and is across the...

, Minnesota State Fair

Minnesota State Fair

The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its slogan is "The Great Minnesota Get-Together." It is the 2nd largest fair in the United States, and the largest state fair in the United States in terms of average daily attendance, though the State Fair of Texas runs...

, South Dakota State Fair, and released their first CD, "Hop, Hop, Hop". Later that year, the band relocated from Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 to Phoenix

Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

 to film a season of "The Zinghoppers Show" for a local Arizona Public Broadcasting Service

Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 (PBS) Public television station affiliate

Affiliate

An affiliate is a commercial entity with a relationship with a peer or a larger entity.- Corporate structure :A corporation may be referred to as an affiliate of another when it is related to it but not strictly controlled by it, as with a subsidiary relationship, or when it is desired to avoid...

. This series was very low-budget and is currently out of circulation.

The Zinghoppers moved to Nashville in 2009 and we're instantly popular with families and many local celebrities. Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...

, Keith Urban

Keith Urban

Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...

, Brad Paisley

Brad Paisley

Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....

, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and members of Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...

 have all been spotted in the audience of Zinghoppers shows. The group was named "Nashville's Best Kids Entertainers" in 2009 and 2010 by the readers of Parent Magazine.

The success of their Youtube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 music video, "Tooty Ta", and their local popularity led to a venture with Nashville Public Television on a kids show slated for a summer 2011 broadcast. It was reported much of the show was filmed backstage during the Justin Bieber

Justin Bieber

Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...

 North American leg of the wildly successful My World Tour

My World Tour

The My World Tour is the debut concert tour by Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber. It is Bieber's first concert tour which supports his two-part debut album My World and My World 2.0. The tour was officially announced on March 16, 2010, a week before My World 2.0 was released...

. The band re-shot their viral video hit "Tooty Ta" with popular Radio Disney

Radio Disney

Radio Disney is a radio network based in Burbank, California and headquartered out of the Disney Channel headquarters on West Alameda Ave., from where it has been based since November 2008. Prior to that, the network was based in Dallas, Texas...

 rock band Allstar Weekend

Allstar Weekend

Allstar Weekend is a pop rock band based in Poway, California. The band gained its popularity from the Disney Channel television network. The band originally consisted of lead singer Zach Porter, bassist Cameron Quiseng, guitarist Nathan Darmody, and drummer Michael Martinez but as of September 16,...

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The Zinghoppers, and all related trademarks, are under the exclusive ownership of Kitty and Jack Norton under their limited liability corporation, The Zinghoppers Group. TZG is now based out of Franklin, Tennessee

Franklin, Tennessee

Franklin is a city within and the county seat of Williamson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 62,487 as of the 2010 census Franklin is located approximately south of downtown Nashville.-History:...

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Albums

• Snowflakes (2007)
• Hop, Hop, Hop (2007)
• Toot! Toot! All Aboard! (2008)
• A Zinghoppy Concert (2009)
• Be Creative At Your Library (2009)
• Sing Your Way Through The Day (2009)
• Splish Splash (2010)
• One World, Many Stories (2010)
• One World, Many Songs (2011)
• You Are Special! (2011)

TV Series

• Hop With The Zinghoppers (2007) - 13 interstitial episodes
• The Zinghoppers Show (2011) - 26 interstitial episodes (Nashville Public Television)