Zoboomafoo is an American children's television series that aired from January 25, 1999, to April 28, 2001, and is still shown today in syndication depending on the area, and it is regularly shown on PBS Kids Sprout. A total of 65 episodes were aired. A creation of the Kratt Brothers, it features a talking Coquerel's Sifaka, a type of lemur, named Zoboomafoo, or Zoboo for short, and a collection of repeat animal guests. Every episode begins with the Kratt brothers in "Animal Junction", a peculiar place in which the rules of nature change and wild animals come to visit and play. After January 16, 2004, the show was pulled from its weekday airing on most PBS stations, though some continue to air the show.
Episodes
The Nose Knows
Toothbrush, the baby elephant finds Martin and Chris Kratt, roaming about in a cave where bats live. Since Toothbrush has been separated from her family, the Kratt brothers aide her in searching for them. This way, she will be reunited with them again. A garder snake is spotted, when Jackie was cutting the grass. The snake likes being in dark areas, so she doesn't mow down, part of the grass.
Eye Spy
After admiring the camouflaged coats and amazing night vision of two visiting black jaguar cubs, Martin and Chris build a pair of "Eye-Spy goggles", a contraption that lets them see the world as various animals do. Jackie replants the evergreen that was her Christmas tree and decorates it with apples and popcorn for the birds.
Dinosaurs
While the brothers are building a model of a dinosaur they call the ""Martinandchrisaurus,"" Zoboo tells them he thinks he saw a dinosaur on his way to Animal Junction. The mystery creature turns out to be a monitor lizard. Jackie breaks open a pellet from an owl's stomach to see its prey's bones and fur inside, then runs into the Kratts while visiting the Royal Ontario Museum to see dinosaur bones.
Who's in the Hole?
A flying squirrel glides in looking for a hole to live in, and a search around Animal Junction reveals lots of other animals, from foxes and rabbits to snakes and porcupines, already living in various holes. When a man starts to cut down a dead tree with a hole in it, Jackie stops him by explaining that it may be the home of an owl.
Happy Lemur Day
When two fellow ring-tailed lemurs come to visit, Zoboo is stunned to hear that many people don't know what a lemur is. The Kratt brothers offer to remedy things by declaring an international Lemur Day holiday, complete with party and cake. Jackie rescues two turtles who were heading for a busy highway.
Swimming
The arrival of a couple of river otters prompts a swimming party, with black jaguars, soft-shelled turtles, penguins, and capybaras jumping in. Jackie and her dog Goldie join in with a swim in MudPuppy Pond, where they meet even more water creatures.
Slimy Buddies
Chris, Martin, and Zoboo explore the good things about slime, from puppies showing affection by licking to the slick coatings that keep frogs from drying out and let earthworms slide through dirt. To help make MudPuppy Pond an even better home for her own favorite slimy buddies "mudpuppy salamanders", Jackie rakes dead leaves into the water.
Snow Day
During the snowstorm of the century, Martin, Chris, Zoboo, and Jackie shelter one very cold Japanese snow monkey and shovel paths for animals having trouble maneuvering through the white stuff.
Night Time
A camp-out at Animal Junction gives everyone a chance to discover nocturnal animals, creatures who sleep during the day and are active at night. Binturongs, raccoons, owls, ringtails, and dormice are among those living the night life.
Climbing
Many animals have unique features that help them climb, from the sticky pads on the bottoms of frogs' feet to the prehensile tail of the kinkajou. The Kratts lose a climbing contest to a band of coatis, whose sharp claws and long tails give them an advantage, while Jackie and the Animal Helpers rescue a kitten who has figured out how to climb up a tree—but not how to get back down to the ground.
Fierce Creatures
Zoboo decides he wants to join a visiting pack of Arctic wolves, so he takes lessons in howling, hunting, and obeying the pack pecking order. But just when he's ready to go home with his new friends, someone explains how different from warm, sunny Animal Junction the wolves' home territory is, and he rethinks his decision. Meanwhile, Jackie rescues a spider who's been stranded in a neighbor's bathtub.
Homes
The Kratts help out a beaver who's looking for wood to build a dam, and Jackie and the Animal Helpers build nest boxes for Eastern bluebirds.
Puppies
The discovery of a litter of eight puppies turns Chris, Martin, and Zoboo into puppysitters. When one of the puppies and a calf both wander off from their mothers, everyone at Animal Junction learns how important it is to keep a close watch on babies.
Tracks
Martin and Chris follow the tracks of a lynx through the snow, and Jackie works on protecting her bird feeder from marauding squirrels.
Fling
"Fling" is the nickname the Kratts give to a white-fronted capuchin monkey, which they return to the wild. Jackie learns about the wild when she tries to build a terrarium for a frog.
Itchy
Everyone has got an itch, whether it's from poison ivy, bugs, or burrs.
Ears Hear
Rabbits, bloodhounds, springhares, and foxes weigh in as Chris and Martin want to hear every animal's range of hearing.
Feeling Good
It's all about animal coats, from porcupine to lynx to duck.
Running
Martin and Chris run like other animals, beginning with the emu, extending to the crab, the fisher, the gecko, and the cheetah.
Animal Daycare
Today, Animal Junction is full of baby creatures! A baby ring tailed lemur, lynx kittens, bobcat kittens, a sliver fox kit, and baby coatis all need to be taken care of. Chris and Martin build a creature playpen to keep them all in. DUCK! Jackie and her helpers find a baby bird that fell out of a tree. They make a nest and put the bird back for the mom to find him. TO THE CLOSET! The guys take a trip to see how different animal moms take care of their babies. CREATURE QUESTION: What creature is the biggest native North American land mammal and lives in big herds? Written by Anna Bourque Directed by Steve Wright
Giants
There are giant animals galore at Animal Junction: giraffe, elephant, camel, and capybaras among them. This leads the Kratt brothers to find the world's biggest deer, biggest lemur, and biggest cat. Trees are also given giant attention.
Pets
Chris and Martin find a bunch of pets at Animal Junction. They all belong to Jackie and her animal helpers. Zoboomafoo learns how to take care of ducklings, goldfish, a rabbit, puppies, kittens, a crab, and even a calf. We also learn that all pets need lots of love. Zoboo also learns which animals should be pets and which ones should be ""free and in the wild"". DUCK! While the guys are taking care of their pets, Jackie and the helpers take a raccoon back to his home. TO THE CLOSET! Jackie shows up at Animal Junction to help the guys take the pets back to their owners. CREATURE QUESTION: What creature uses Zoboo's hand as the spot to ""go""? As Martin says, ""You told her to go p* wherever she wants"". Ooops, false alarm, it's only pee!!! Funny guys! Written by Anna Bourque Directed by Steve Wright
Bears
Animal Junction finds itself the center of attention for bears, wolverines, and kinkajous.
Lids
The guys have a plan to plant grass seeds to attract the African Crowned Crane to Animal Junction. But, they have a time trying to keep the sheep and goats from eating all the grass beforehand. These creatures have amazing lids like horns on top of their heads. DUCK! Jackie learns about lids, like antennas on different creatures. TO THE CLOSET! Chris and Martin go off to find some more amazing lids. They run into prong horned antelope and a moose. They both have horns and antlers to protect their heads when fighting. CREATURE QUESTION: Written by Anna Bourque Directed by Steve Wright
Great Singers
Animal "music" spills into Animal Junction, performed by camels, wolves, and elk, far better than a sound effects machine.
Playtime
You know what they say about all work and no play. Thus the Kratts take a break at Animal Junction, playing with lion cubs, serval kittens, ducklings and, yes, children.
Fast and Slow
Between the cheetah and the snail, the Kratts find a great deal about the speed of animals. Then there is the chameleon, which varies speed a good deal.
Horses
Everybody likes horses, so the Kratts spend time with a foal and her mother, a strong Belgian draft horse. Then the brothers learn what's different about zebras.
Bathtime
A bath for certain animals is not what one would think. Chris and Martin give a bath to dogs before stepping out of Animal Junction for the elephant bath.
Jumpers
Zoboomafoo welcomes his fellow jumping animals to Animal Junction, from kangaroos to frogs.
Funny Faces
Time for a few laughs as moose, pigs, bats and others give viewers a look-in at their friendly faces.
Spots and Stripes
Spots and stripes are great camouflage for creatures, helping them blend into their environments. When Zoboo, Chris and Martin see striped and spotted creatures (tiger cub, serval cats, Dalmatian puppies, coati babies and a skunk), they're inspired to paint Animal Junction in spots and stripes. Zoboo takes that inspiration a step further when he paints spots on Martin and stripes on Chris while they're both asleep. Zoboo paints himself with spots and stripes, and the gang learns about being a camouflaged creature. Jackie says that milk weed plants may look like weeds but they're home for striped monarch caterpillars, so please don't pick them.
Sand Creatures
Meerkats, scorpions and camels start arriving after a sandstorm buries Animal Junction.
Water Creatures
When two African penguins stop by Animal Junction, Zoboo, Chris and Martin talk about water creatures. Even though penguins are birds, they swim instead of flying. But these penguins aren't swimming! Finally, they realize it's because the pool water is too warm for them. But when the water is chilled with ice cubes, there's no stopping the penguins! Jaguars love to swim, too, and the Kratts play ball in the big pond with a black jaguar who stops by. Jackie has a new goldfish named Sunny, who is also sensitive about water temperature. To keep from shocking Sunny, Jackie puts his bag into the aquarium until the water in the bag is the same temperature as the aquarium.
Who's In the Egg?
Rhode Island Red chicks hatch at Animal Junction, but Zoboo, Martin and Chris don't have any idea what's inside a strange egg they find in the nest. The guys are surprised to discover it's a baby alligator, which they take home to mom. Jackie and the Animal Helpers protect salmon eggs so tiny and delicate they can easily break if the water around them is disturbed by making sure people cross the stream away from the salmon eggs.
Hail to Tails
A kinkajou comes to hang out in Animal Junction. Her prehensile tail -- a grabber the kinkajou uses to swing through the trees and hop on the ground -- takes center stage. Creatures use their tails for all kinds of things, and Chris and Martin decide to create supertails that combine all the best elements of creature tails. Jackie visits a litter of newborn kittens, who are cute and cuddly, but must be picked up gently by placing hands around their stomachs. A kitten's tail is not a handle!
Cats
It's kitten pandemonium when all kinds of kittens turn Animal Junction upside down. An overwhelmed Zoboo, Martin and Chris try to take care of these curious creatures but quickly realize that they're in over their heads. Luckily, the cavalry rides to the rescue when the mother cats arrive to take control of the situation. The guys wonder if wild cats are similar to house cats and go to see if lions and cougars purr. Jackie is busy brushing her cat Rapunzel, a great way to show her cat that she cares for her. Plus, birds and squirrels love the loose fur for padding their nests.
The Four F's
Creature coats are the key to keeping animals warm in cold weather. Zoboo, Chris and Martin realize that animals beat the cold with the four F's: fur, feathers and fat and in the case of otters fun. But what happens when the weather warms up? Ernie the camel comes to Animal Junction looking for a good scratching post to help him shed his winter coat for summer since he won't need it when it's hot outside. Jackie brushes her dog, Goldy, to help her take off her heavy winter coat. Dogs and cats love being brushed and it feels good to lose that extra hair. Jackie knits a small sweater from the hair she brushed out of Goldy.
Stinky
In the creature world, different smells mean different things. When a skunk visits the gang at Animal Junction, Zoboo, Martin and Chris discover the difference between a 'come-here' smell and a 'go away' smell. They also visit with a mink, a creature that scent-marks to let other creatures know that it has passed by. Chris decides to make a Chris scent so he can scent-mark Animal Junction. Jackie gives her friend's dog a bath in tomato juice to get rid of a gift from a skunk that didn't want to play with her.
Bzzz
Animal Junction goes buggy, and Zoboo, Chris and Martin start to think that these tiny critters are nature's little superstars. Insects and spiders are amazing athletes: quick-leaping grasshoppers, far-flying butterflies, super-strong ants, heavily armored beetles and plenty more. Bugs have to be quick because lots of other creatures like to eat them. But if bugs disappeared, a lot of other creatures would disappear too. That's why the Kratts always say, 'Be nice to bugs.' Chris and Martin get a bug's eye perspective when they shrink down to insect size and find out that it's no picnic being an ant. Some kids stomp on ants, but Jackie's there to stop them, explaining how cool ants and their underground homes are, far too cool to stomp on.
Top Cast
Chris Kratt
Chris
Martin Kratt
Martin
Gord Robertson
Zoboomafoo
Genevieve Farrell
Amy
