Jungle Junction is an American-British CGI animated children's television series created by Trevor Ricketts. It airs, in re-runs, on Disney Junior in the United States and in the Netherlands, as well as in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and in most of Asia. It was produced in the UK by animation company Spider Eye Productions. In the United States, it was originally part of the Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers. On 14 February 2011, it was moved to the Disney Junior block, serving as Playhouse Disney's replacement.
A second series of 26 episodes was ordered by Disney, and premiered on 2 April 2011.
The show aired in reruns on Disney Junior from 2012-2016.
Main characters
Zooter (voiced by Janet James) – The protagonist of the series. She is a pink pig whose name is a compound of "zoo" or "zip" and "scooter". Zooter speaks with an English accent and is the jungle messenger.
Ellyvan (voiced by Billy West) – A blue elephant van with an American accent, who carries the deliveries around the jungle. He is the biggest animal in the jungle and Zooter's best friend. His name is a made-up compound word of elephant and van. He is able to suck improbable quantities of liquids up his trunk and spray them distances of up to half a mile or more.
Bungo (voiced by Keith Wickham) – An orange bunny (as revealed in the theme song) with brown ears and an English accent, who loves to make signs and put them all over the jungle. He is very good at Geography, and knows the jungle better than anyone. He is also the only wheeler that is good at jumping, being able to leap many times his own height into the air. Bungo, despite officially being a bunny, has a long, raccoon-like tail with brown stripes as well.
Recurring characters
Taxicrab (voiced in the UK by Tyrone Benskin, and in the US by Jess Harnell) – A red crab with a Caribbean accent that loves to dance and makes the greatest smoothies in the jungle. His name derives from a Taxicab and he is the only wheeler that is able to drive sideways (possibly because of the sideways walk attributed to crabs). Despite the fact that Toadhog is often impatient, Taxicrab tolerates him the most.
Carla (voiced by Laraine Newman) – An orange koala who owns a grocery shop. Her name seems to be a simple rhyming alliteration based upon the car stem.
Crocker (voiced by Keith Wickham) – A green crocodile fire chief with a lisp who wears a yellow helmet with a red flashing light on top. He has some skill at gardening and knows how to make compost. His name comes from the phrase which is UK slang used to describe many second hand cars.
Hippobus (voiced by Amanda Symonds) – A yellow hippopotamus school bus with a Jamaican accent, which usually carries The Beetlebugs to school. Her name derives from a Hippie Bus – usually a redecorated Volkswagen Bus.
The Beetlebugs – The junior wheelers. Their name and shape derives from a Volkswagen Beetle – cars that were nicknamed bugs. They speech is mostly synchronised. There are five of them - a red one, a yellow one, a green one, a blue one and an orange one.
Lance (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) – A purple rhinoceros ambulance. His name is both a contraction of ambulance and a reference to a weapon used by lancers who attacked with it at a full charge – much like a rhino attacks things by charging at them.
Bobby (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) – A toucan police chief. His character may be derived from a Bubble car – he even has the same three-wheeled chassis. His name is derived from the British slang word for police officers. He is the only Wheeler that can fly.
Dozer (voiced in the UK by Jimmy Hibbert, and in the US by Keith Wickham) – A bull construction worker. His name and shape derive from a Bulldozer. His talent is digging and repairing roads with his dozer blade.
Miss Jolly (voiced in the UK by Carrie Rodriquez, and in the US by Amanda Symonds) – A zebra schoolteacher. She is one of the oldest and wisest of the Wheelers. She is also the only one to wear glasses.
Toadhog (voiced in the UK by Danny Wells, and in the US by Ron Orbach) – A grumpy green toad who likes worms and Fifi flies. He has a long, sticky tongue that can shoot out a long way to grab things. His name derives from Road Hog – an inconsiderate or selfish motorist. He seems to be responsible for Jungle Junction's power supply – his water wheel powers the generator for all of the lights (including the traffic lights) (see Hiccup Power) and he has a supplementary generator that is used to power the Zipsmas lights. He loses his patience with almost everyone except Taxicrab, mainly because Taxicrab is the most tolerant of him.
Christmas special
A Christmas special called "The Night Before Zipsmas" aired 5 December 2009 showing the wheelers getting ready for Christmas and trying to get to read the book "The Night Before Zipsmas". The other Christmas special was called "A Gift for Zooter" and aired the same day. It shows Ellyvan trying to find a gift for Zooter.
Songs
This is a list of songs that play in the episodes.
Credits
Voices of – Janet James, Billy West, Keith Wickham, Jess Harnell, Laraine Newman, Dee Bradley Baker, Jimmy Hibbert, Amanda Symonds and Ron Orbach
Creator – Trevor Ricketts
Writers – Craig Carlisle, Dan Chambers, Gillian Corderoy, Jill Cozza-Turner, Stan Cullimore, Paul Dawson, Jimmy Hibbert, Samantha Hill, Mark Holloway, Bridget Hurst, Paul Larson, Laura Beaumont, James Mason, Allan Neuwirth, Trevor Ricketts, Claudia Silver, P. Kevin Strader and Andy Yerkes
Director – Morgan Francis, George Evelyn, Dave Unwin
