8.3 /10 2 Votes
6.9/10 TV Original language(s) EnglishFrench No. of episodes 26 (list of episodes) First episode date 6 September 2004 | 6.3/10 IMDb Country of origin CanadaFrance No. of seasons 2 Running time 22 minutes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Voices of Aaron GrunfeldBrigid TierneyMaria BircherMarcel JeanninSonja BallHarry StandjofskiPauline LittleDaniel BrochuJason SzwimmerKayla GrunfeldMichael YarmushJesse Vinet Cast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Tofus (French: Les Tofou) is a Canadian-French sitcom created by Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor. The animated series is a satirical parody of the environmentalist lifestyle epitomized by its title family, which consists of Mom, Pop, Chichi, Lola, and Buba. The show is set in the fictional town of Beauvillage, and lampoons many aspects of the environmental movement, including environmental organizations, animal rights, and pacifism.
Contents
Since its debut on September 6, 2004 on Teletoon in Canada, the program has aired twenty-six episodes over two seasons.
Production
The Tofus was co-produced by SIP Animation and CinéGroupe. It was directed by Bruno Bianchi with the assistance of Danielle Marleau and several other executive producers out of Maple Pictures Corp., and scripted by twenty-six writers, including series creators Fabrice de Costil and Bertrand Victor. All the scripts were story edited by Florence Sandis in charge of the script directing. Original music was composed by Alain Garcia and Noam Kaniel.
Each episode of The Tofus was budgeted at US$230,000, and each thirty-minute time block was divided into two fifteen minute-long episodes. Production of the show began one year before it was incorporated into Teletoon's schedule. In addition to Teletoon Canada, SIP Animation also presold the series to the France 3, CITV, and Fox Kids Europe networks.
The first episode of France 3's French-language version of The Tofus premiered on January 3, 2005. As Fox Kids was sold to The Walt Disney Company in 2002, the program was broadcast under the new brand Jetix when it arrived in other European countries in 2006.
There were five main cast members who voiced The Tofus. Aaron Grunfeld performed the voice of Chichi, while Brigid Tierney performed the voice of Lola. Maria Bircher played Mum, Marcel Jeannin voiced Pop, and Sonja Ball took the role of Buba. Additional voices were provided by Daniel Brochu, Harry Standjofski, Pauline Little, Jason Szwimmer, Kayla Grunfeld, Michael Yarmush, and Jesse Vinet. Script direction was overseen by Florence Sandis.
Story
Environmental activists Mom and Pop Tofu, concerned that their family is suffocating from urban routine, decide to move to a farmhouse in the town of Beauvillage and embrace a more natural way of life, much to the horror of their pre-teen children, Chichi and Lola. They would rather watch TV and go shopping than amuse themselves with Grandma Buba's animals: Cracker the Rooster, Curly the Sheep, and Suzie the Goat. The siblings must cope with their parents' ecology-friendly world vision and the humiliation that results from their efforts to encourage others to protect the environment.
The neighborhood that the family settles in is filled with electronically able individuals, contrasting the Tofus' all-organic lifestyle. Unlike her mechanical-genius brother Chichi–who believes in peace within the family–Lola is more cynical and averse to being deemed oddballs in their new home. She occupies herself with her attraction to Billy Hubbub, the boy next door, despite his parents objections.
Characters
Chichi
Meek but a genius. Has a crush on a local teen named Candy. Good friends with Candy and Phil.Lola
Loyal to her brother, best friends with Lily. Has a crush on her neighbor, Billy Hubbub.Mom
She's a zen mother trying to keep her house in line.Pop
He's considered oblivious a lot of the time which ends up proving false since he's usually fairly early in discovering what's going on in his house. He is also something of a handy-man, as he is often seen inventing machines made of environmentally friendly material, or otherwise run on clean fuel.Buba
Lola and Chichi's grandmother. She's the one who grew up in the farm land and it's the life she knows.April
She is a girl who often hangs around the Tofu household. Since her parents work in the emergency ward, she is often left lonely and so grew attached to the more attentive and sincere Tofus. She also developed a quick attraction to Chichi, giving him pet names like 'Chichi honey-bun.'William "Billy" Hubbub
Son of Tidus and Beth Hubbub, he's Lola's next door neighbour and biggest all-time crush. The only real thing keeping him from pursuing her is disrupting the families, who will often determine that they don't want the polluter's and the biodegraded's kids together.Tidus Hubbub
Master of Alarms, Tidus is Billy's father and number one hater of the Tofu family. He is also their next-door neighbour.Elizabeth "Beth" Hubbub
She runs the restaurant Burger Palace and this tends to cause a lot of conflict between the families since the Tofus don't like that she uses artificial ingredients.Phillip "Phil"
The neighbour on the other side of the Tofu household. He is Chichi's best friend and confidant.Lillian "Lily"
Lola's best friend and confidant. She is a bit quirky, being a hopeless romantic and a boatload of advice.Cherie
Lola's rival and the queen bee of her school.Nicolas "Nick"
Chichi's rival. The leader of the team of the bullies at Beauvillage.Susan "Suzie", Cottontail "Kerli", Cracker
Buba's farm animals. Suzie is a goat. Suzie likes to eat everything and accidentally destroys it. Curly is a sheep with a lot of hair. Cracker is a rooster.Reception
The Tofus was generally well received by viewers. It has been called "a modern gloss on the classic family sitcom [that] aptly skewers the granola-munching righteousness of the eco-hippie archetype," and has been commended for its use of ecology as a unique background theme. The Tofus also received top audience ratings among the France 3 Youth Programs in 2005.