JoJo's Circus (partially lost Playhouse Disney stop-motion animated series; 2003-2007)
The show's title card.
Status: Partially Lost
JoJo's Circus was a Canadian-American stop-motion animated children's show that aired on Playhouse Disney from September 28, 2003, to February 14, 2007, continuing in reruns until January 2009.[1]
The show was created by four people - Jim and Lisa Jinkins, David Campbell and Eric Weiner, with the former also being known for creating Doug, PB&J Otter, Stanley and Pinky Dinky Doo. The show revolves around the titular JoJo, a six-year-old clown girl who lives in the small, happy Circus Town. JoJo invites young viewers to get up and dance, jump, bend and wiggle. All episode storylines have a moral lesson that emphasizes character-building skills such as cooperation, sharing and respect for others.
On February 24, 2006, a spin-off, Feeling Good With JoJo, premiered. It was a series of twenty shorts across two seasons that would teach the audience at home to exercise. The shorts outlasted the original series, with new shorts airing until May 16, 2008.
In 2012, Disney began rerunning the original series on the Disney Junior block and channel, alongside many other Playhouse Disney series that had not been aired in a long time. These reruns would last until around mid-2014, which is the most recent time the show has been aired in the United States.
Availability
Despite the series' popularity at the time of its airing, not all of the show has resurfaced. This is especially odd, as the series aired during a time when nearly everyone in North America had some form of home recording. Most episodes are readily available online, meaning most of the series remains. Two JoJo's Circus DVDs were released in 2005, Take a Bow and Animal-a-Go-Go, with a Playhouse Disney DVD releasing in late 2005 containing the Season 1 episode "A Circus Town Christmas." Altogether, that would make nine episodes. Both DVD releases of Higglytown Heroes also contained one episode of the show, making for a total of twelve episodes released on DVD. Numerous home recordings from the 2003-2009 run still exist, while others from the brief reruns on Disney Junior from 2012-2014 also exist, albiet some are from different countries. Scripts for some episodes have been found; such as the script for The Whatchamadoodle[2], while 56 songs written for certain episodes had been released on two soundtrack albums, Songs from JoJo's Circus, and its 2005 follow up Songs from Under the Big Top!.
Nearly twenty years after the show premiered, on August 3, 2023, Twitter user @WiggleznGigglez made a tweet stating that most of the show was not accessible to the public either through physical media or streaming:
"Just some few episodes posted on YouTube, Dailymotion and the Internet Archive."
The tweet took off with many people remembering the show and with growing interest in finding the lost segments and episodes, the original poster commented under the tweet with screenshots of notes of what segments were available on the internet, what is available but in poor quality and what segments are completely missing.[3]
Episode List
Season 1
| # | Segment Title | Status (45/48) |
|---|---|---|
| 1A | Easy as Pie | Found |
| 1B | Take a Bow | Found |
| 2A | Uncle Flippy's Funny Farm | Found |
| 2B | Up Up & Away | Found |
| 3A | Hide & Go Dinky | Found |
| 3B | Fire Chef Says | Found |
| 4A | Confetti Caper | Found |
| 4B | JoJo on the Tightrope | Found |
| 5A | Try These on for Boing! | Found |
| 5B | Happy Birthday Tater | Found |
| 6A | Cotten Andy | Found |
| 6B | Nighty Night | Found |
| 7A | Skeebo's Missing Hat Trick | Found |
| 7B | Seal Fright | Found |
| 8 | The Legend of Clownfoot | Found |
| 9A | Circus Shh Shh | Found |
| 9B | The Little Big Top Boogie Band | Found |
| 10A | Drum Roll Please | Found |
| 10B | Cannonball JoJo | Found |
| 11A | Flower Shower | Found |
| 11B | The Itchy Ootchy Scratch Patch | Found |
| 12A | Messy Mess | Found |
| 12B | Pop Up | Found |
| 13A | The Whatchamadoodle | Found |
| 13B | What's The Trick? | Found |
| 14A | Zero Heroes | Found |
| 14B | The Spudinki's New Act | Found |
| 15A | JoJo Signs Up | Found |
| 15B | The Un-Average Day | Found |
| 16A | Mirror Mirror | Found |
| 16B | Tina Trips Up | Found |
| 17A | The Clown Family Picnic | Found (German) Lost (English) |
| 17B | Dinky's Dance | Found (German) Lost (English) |
| 18 | A Circus Town Christmas | Found |
| 19A | Hamster-cize | Found |
| 19B | Shoo Fly Shoo! | Found |
| 20A | The Lost Roar | Found |
| 20B | Helping Hands | Found |
| 21A | Skeebo's Pet | Found |
| 21B | Follow that Rainbow | Found |
| 22A | A Serious Case of The Sillies | Found |
| 22B | Hide & Go-Liath | Found |
| 23A | Funny Bunnies | Found |
| 23B | Ivan the Bearable | Found |
| 24A | JoJo to the Rescue | Found |
| 24B | A Clown Ride | Found |
| 25A | Charlie the Clown Baby | Partially Found (English; low quality) Found (Polish; high quality) |
| 25B | Fire House Day | Found |
Season 2
| # | Segment Title | Status (37/49) |
|---|---|---|
| 1A | Sleepover Surprises | Found |
| 1B | How does your Garden Grow | Found |
| 2A | Fit as a Tickle | Lost |
| 2B | Pedal Pushers | Found |
| 3A | A New Twist | Found |
| 3B | Lost & Found | Found |
| 4A | The Best Breakfast Ever | Found |
| 4B | Popcorn Panic | Found |
| 5A | Frown Fighters | Found |
| 5B | Goliath the Great | Found |
| 6A | Hi There, Small Fry | Found |
| 6B | My Dinner with the Tightropes | Found |
| 7 | The Thanksgiving Hip-Hooray Parade | Found |
| 8A | Happy Hoopy Day | Found |
| 8B | Brushing Up | Found |
| 9A | Charlie The Clown Baby Returns | Found |
| 9B | The Fishing Trip | Found |
| 10A | My Favorite Frog Sitters | Found |
| 10B | Night of the Teddy Bears Dance | Found |
| 11A | Goliath Gets a Boo Boo | Found |
| 11B | Join the Club | Found |
| 12A | 100 Days in Counting | Found |
| 12B | Hoop Happy | Found |
| 13 | The Mane Event | Partially Found |
| 14A | Circus Town Hoedown | Lost |
| 14B | Time Flies | Lost |
| 15A | The Robot Clown | Found |
| 15B | Mice-Capades | Found |
| 16A | The Octopus Ride | Lost |
| 16B | Hiccup Helper | Lost |
| 17A | Best Pet in Circus Town | Found |
| 17B | Picture Perfect | Found |
| 18A | Get Crabby | Found |
| 18B | Bouncing the Bowling Ball | Found |
| 19A | The Cricketeers | Lost |
| 19B | Tickled Pink | Partially Found (very poor quality) |
| 20A | Practice makes Perfect | Found |
| 20B | Happy Not-Birthday Skeebo | Found |
| 21A | Make it Snappy | Partially Found |
| 21B | Harpo Come Home | Found |
| 22 | A Circus Town Wedding | Found |
| 23A | Follow that Monkey | Found |
| 23B | X Marks the Spot | Found |
| 24A | Quiet Magic | Found |
| 24B | Too Many Toys | Found |
| 25 | Ride Em Goliath | Found |
| 26A | A Snowclown for Dinky | Partially Found |
| 26B | Skating Away | Lost |
Season 3
| # | Segment Title | Status (9/13) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stuck on You | Partially Found |
| 2A | Simply Ear-Resistable | Found |
| 2B | Hula is Cool-a | Found |
| 3 | Silly Silly Putt-Putt | Partially Found |
| 4A | The Giggle Kite | Found |
| 4B | Chores Galore | Found |
| 5 | Princess for a Day | Found (very poor quality) |
| 6 | My Granny's Shoes | Found |
| 7 | JoJo & The Beanstalk | Found (very poor quality) |
| 8 | Pie in the Sky | Found |
| 9 | Circus Town Makeover | Found |
| 10A | My Clowny Valentine | Partially Found (very poor quality) |
| 10B | Hop Hooey | Partially Found (very poor quality) |
Feeling Good With JoJo
| # | Short Title[4] | Status (8/20) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reach the Sun Stretch | Found |
| 2 | Snakes | Found |
| 3 | Ragdoll | Lost |
| 4 | Lion | Lost |
| 5 | Pop | Found |
| 6 | The Wiggle | Found |
| 7 | Happy Baby | Lost |
| 8 | Count to 5 | Lost |
| 9 | Froggy Jump | Found |
| 10 | Cat | Lost |
| 11 | Windshield Wipers | Found (very poor quality) |
| 12 | Bears | Found |
| 13 | Float Like a Boat | Lost |
| 14 | Strong Clown | Lost |
| 15 | Clown Shoe Stretch | Found (very poor quality) |
| 16 | Butterfly | Lost |
| 17 | Downward Dog | Lost |
| 18 | Donkey Kick | Lost |
| 19-20 | 2 Other Unknown Named Shorts | Lost |
Gallery
Screenshots
For a long time, this was the only screenshot from the episode "Skating Away" that survived.
Footage
See Also
Disney Channel
- 101 Dalmatians: The Series (partially found pitch pilot of Disney animated TV series based on animated film; 1996)
- The All-New Mickey Mouse Club (partially found revival of Disney variety TV series; 1989-1994)
- Amazing Animals (found Disney Channel educational animated series; 1996-1999)
- Amphibiland (found pitch pilot of "Amphibia" Disney Channel animated series; 2018)
- Arwin! (partially found pitch pilot of cancelled spin-off of "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" Disney Channel sitcom; 2007)
- Bonkers "Fall Apart Bomb Squad" (found episode of Disney Channel animated series; 1993)
- Country Club (partially lost test pilot of "Big City Greens" Disney Channel adventure-comedy animated series; 2015)
- Disney Channel Interactive (lost Dish Network game channel; late 2000s)
- Disney Channel "Disney's One Too" (partially lost "Recess" gags of TV channel block; 1999-2003)
- Disney Channel "Wand Idents" (partially found bumpers from TV channel; 2003-present)
- Disney's Coyote Tales (found Disney Channel extended version of "The Coyote's Lament" animated short; 1991)
- Disney's Doug (found episodes of animated TV series; 1996-1999)
- Dreamfinders (unproduced Disney Channel series based on "Journey Into Imagination" Epcot ride; 1983)
- Dumbo's Circus (partially found Disney Channel live-action puppet series; 1985-1986)
- Fish Hooks (partially found test pilot of Disney Channel animated series; 2009)
- Going Wild with Jeff Corwin (partially found Disney Channel documentary series; 1997-1999)
- Gravity Falls (found Comic Con 2012 promo of Disney Channel animated mystery comedy series; 2012)
- Gravity Falls (found pitch pilot of Disney Channel animated mystery comedy series; 2010)
- Hannah Montana (lost production material of cancelled anime adaptation of Disney Channel teen sitcom; 2009-2010)
- Herbie the Lovebug (lost Disney Channel animated pilot; late 1990s-2000s)
- The Jersey (partially lost Disney Channel sports-themed comedy series; 1999-2004)
- J.O.N.A.S. (partially found original pilot of "Jonas" Disney Channel comedy series; 2007)
- Katbot (partially found unreleased Disney Channel animated series; 2005)
- Lizzie McGuire "Season 3" (lost production material of cancelled season of Disney Channel comedy series; 2020)
- Minnie Takes Care of Pluto (found Mickey Mouse Works animated short; 2000)
- Mousercise (partially found Disney Channel exercise series; 1983-1996)
- Mouseterpiece Theater (partially found Disney Channel cartoon compilation series; 1983-1990)
- The Owl House (found test animation of Disney Channel animated series; 2017)
- Pepper Ann (found Disney animated TV series; 1997-2000)
- Pepper Ann (partially found Nickelodeon pitch pilot of Disney animated series; 1996)
- Phineas and Ferb "Delivery of Destiny" (partially found Simon Pegg version of Disney Channel animated series episode; 2013)
- Phineas and Ferb: Spot the Diff (found Disney Channel animated special; 2008)
- The Proud Family (partially found Nickelodeon pitch pilot of Disney Channel animated sitcom; 1999)
- Recess "The Break In" (partially found pitch pilot of Disney animated TV series; 1996)
- Shooting Star Milkshake Bar (found full version of "Phineas and Ferb" song; 2008)
- Star and the Forces of Evil (found pitch pilot of Disney Channel animated series; 2011)
- Talespin (lost Phil Harris audio recordings from Disney Channel animated series; 1990)
- Teen Angel (partially found Disney Channel serial drama; 1989)
- Welcome to Pooh Corner (partially found Disney Channel live-action puppet series; 1983-1986)
- What's Stevie Thinking? (lost pitch pilot of cancelled spin-off of "Lizzie McGuire" Disney Channel comedy series; 2005)
Playhouse Disney
- Adventures in Nutrition with Captain Carlos (found Playhouse Disney animated short series; 2004-2007)
- Bear in the Big Blue House (found unaired pilot of Disney Channel puppet series; 1997)
- Bear in the Big Blue House (found Playhouse Disney puppet series; 1997-2006)
- The Book of Pooh (found Playhouse Disney puppet series; 2001-2004)
- Breakfast with Bear (partially found spin-off of "Bear in the Big Blue House" Playhouse Disney puppet series; 2005-2006)
- Handy Manny (partially found DKP Studios pilot of Playhouse Disney CGI animated series; 2005)
- Imagination Movers (found pitch pilot of Playhouse Disney series based on children's music group; 2006)
- Little Einsteins (partially found British dub of Playhouse Disney animated series; 2005-2010)
- Little Einstein (partially found pitch pilots of Playhouse Disney animated series; 2003-2004)
- My Friends Tigger & Pooh (partially found test pilots of Playhouse Disney CGI animated series; 2005/2006)
- Out of the Box (partially lost Playhouse Disney children's series; 1998-2004)
- PB&J Otter (found original credits sequences of Playhouse Disney animated series; 1998-2000)
- Playhouse Disney UK (partially found interstitial material of TV channel block; 1999-2006)
- Stanley (found pitch pilot of Playhouse Disney animated series; 1999)
Disney Junior
- Beverly Hills Chihuahuas (found pitch pilot of cancelled Disney Junior animated adaptation of film series; 2012)
- Jake's Team Pirate (found pitch pilot of "Jake and the Never Land Pirates" Disney Junior animated series; 2009)
- Jungle Junction (lost pitch pilots of Disney Junior CGI animated series; 2003-2008)
Toon Disney
- Teamo Supremo (partially lost Toon Disney animated series; 2002-2004)
- Toon News (partially found Toon Disney CGI animated interstitial series; 2004/2005)
Disney XD
- The 7D (found pitch pilot of Disney XD animated series; 2012)
- Billion Dollar Freshmen (lost pitch pilot of "Lab Rats" Disney XD live-action comedy series; 2010)
- Commando Crash (lost pitch pilot of cancelled spin-off of "Crash & Bernstein" Disney XD sitcom; 2014)
- DXP (partially lost Disney XD video game block; 2017)
- Power Rangers Animated Series (lost Disney XD pilot of animated adaptation of live-action superhero series; existence unconfirmed; 2007-2009)
- Very Important House (found Disney XD animated pitch pilot; 2016)
Other
- Green Monkeys (lost Disney animated pitch pilot; 1999)
- Kingdom Hearts (found animatic of cancelled Disney animated TV adaptation of game series; 2003)
- La Chambre Folle (lost French Disney children's TV block; 1998)
- Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers (found English dub of anime series; 2015)
- The Mouse Factory (found Disney live-action/animated TV series; 1972-1973)
- Robodz (partially found Disney Toei animated TV series; 2008)
- The Shnookums and Meat Funny Cartoon Show (found episodes of Disney animated TV series; 1995)
- X-Heart (partially found unreleased English dub of "X-Coração" Brazilian animated TV series; 2014)
External Links
- Wikipedia page for JoJo's Circus.
- IMDB page for JoJo's Circus.
- Wikipedia page on the Feeling Good With JoJo shorts.
References
- ↑ Rome News-Tribune article that mentions the series. Retrieved 05 Aug '23
- ↑ The Script of the episode "The Whatchamadoodle" Retrieved 29 Aug '23
- ↑ WiggleznGigglez's tweet about the series. Retrieved 04 Aug '23
- ↑ Feeling Good With JoJo - Copyright Catalog