8 /10 1 Votes
Genre Children'sAnimated Running time 11 minutes Created by Michael de Souza | 7.9/10 IMDb Country of origin United Kingdom No. of episodes 104 First episode date 31 January 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cast Reggie Yates, William Vanderpuye, Sharon Duncan‑Brewster Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rastamouse school of rock shortlisted for british animation awards
Rastamouse is a British animated stop motion children's TV series created by Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza and produced by Three Stones Media/The Rastamouse Company for CBeebies.
Contents
- Rastamouse school of rock shortlisted for british animation awards
- Rastamouse da monstrous fib
- Characters
- Cast voice actors
- Origins
- Ethos
- Music
- Discography
- The puppets
- Critical reception
- Live performances
- All Tings Rastamouse Shop
- References
The show follows crime busting mouse reggae band Da Easy Crew, who split their time between making music and solving mysteries for Da President of Mouseland.
The first 26 episodes of the initial series were shown in the afternoon beginning 31 January 2011 on CBeebies, a UK BBC channel. From 7 March 2011, the programme was repeated in the early mornings, on BBC2. The second series, comprising a further 26 episodes, started on 11 July 2011. The third series, comprising the final 26 episodes, began on CBeebies 23 March 2015.
Rastamouse da monstrous fib
Characters
The series features an all-mouse reggae band, Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew who play music at the 'Nuff Song Studio' when they're not solving mysteries for the President of Mouseland. All the characters speak with a Jamaican accent.
Cast (voice actors)
Origins
Rastamouse first appeared in 2003 in the children's books Rastamouse and the Crucial Plan and Rastamouse Da Bag-a Bling. A third book, Rastamouse and the Double-Crossin' Diva, was published in 2006. The stories were written by co-authors Genevieve Webster, an author and illustrator, and Michael De Souza, who is a Rastafarian swimming instructor. They are written in rhyme and contain a Caribbean accent and some Jamaican Patois terms. A pop song, "Ice Popp", was released in 2011.
Lenny Henry has read two of the stories, The Crucial Plan and Da Bag-a Bling, for the BBC's Jackanory Junior, which was first shown in January 2008.
Ethos
The stories emphasise the importance of solving problems through mutual understanding, love and respect, and without resorting to punishment. Rastamouse's ethos is redemption and not retribution — "make a bad ting good" — helping wrong-doers to redeem themselves from their mistakes.
Music
Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew's album 'Makin' A Bad Ting Good' was released by EMI in July 2011. It includes the single 'Ice Popp.'
A full second album of original music, 'Best Friends' was released by the Demon Music Group sub label Little Demon on June 24 2016. The lead single of the album was 'Mi Love Mi Music'.
All music for the series was composed by Andrew Kingslow. The theme tune was sung by Martin 'Sugar' Merchant, former singer in the rock/reggae band Audioweb.
Discography
The whole catalog is available to stream at www.qkids.com and the Qkids app in iTunes Store.
The puppets
The puppets were made by Mackinnon and Saunders, who previously made the puppets for Bob the Builder and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.
Critical reception
There was early speculation in the British media that the Rastamouse cheese was an allusion to marijuana, despite actual cheese being seen in the series. The Rastafarian poet Benjamin Zephaniah has criticised the accuracy of the West Indian accents. There have been complaints to the BBC regarding the use of Jamaican slang and racist overtones have been alleged.
The Voice, a newspaper that serves the British African-Caribbean community, welcomed the show, albeit as a stereotype of Jamaican life: a The Voice website poll showed that over 60% considered it to be a positive programme. The Sun newspaper reported that the creator, Michael de Souza, had been saddened by the initial media reaction to Rastamouse. Both the Sun and Digital Spy commented that the BBC claimed that "Rastamouse is not racist". The Guardian newspaper gave a differing view of Rastamouse, with the producer Greg Boardman stating that the producers "never intentionally put in innuendo or anything that isn't age-appropriate".
Figures provided by broadcast regulator Ofcom indicate that the animated TV show received 12 complaints in 2011, though none of them were upheld. The BBC also described Rastamouse, aimed at children under six, as one of its most popular shows of 2011.
Live performances
In June 2011, Rastamouse performed a series of shows in the Kidz Field at Glastonbury Festival.
They also performed in 2011 on English breakfast show Daybreak.
On 13 March 2015, Rastamouse & Da Easy Crew took part in Dermot's Day of Dance for Red Nose Day 2015.
All Tings Rastamouse Shop
On 28 February 2015, the world's first ever official Rastamouse shop was opened; by co-author Michael de Souza, in Peckham, South London.