Viacom Media Networks Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Starring:
Magnús Scheving Julianna Rose Mauriello Chloe Lang Stefán Karl Stefánsson
Seasons:
5
Episodes:
78
LazyTown (Icelandic: Latibær) is an Icelandic children's lifestyle brand and musical comedy program, created by Magnús Scheving, a former international gymnastics champion. The program features a cast and crew from Iceland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The program was commissioned by Nickelodeon in 2003, following the production of two-stage plays and a test pilot. Originally performed in American English, the show has been dubbed into more than thirty languages (including Icelandic) and aired in over 180 countries. 53 episodes were produced from 2004 to 2007, for the first and second seasons. It originally aired on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block in the United States and internationally. Turner Broadcasting System Europe acquired LazyTown Entertainment in 2011 and commissioned third and fourth seasons for a total of 28 new episodes, which premiered in 2013 on Turner's Cartoonito and later on Viacom's Channel 5. Multiple spin-off projects were created, including stage productions and a short-format television program for younger children titled LazyTown Extra. The LazyTown brand was co-founded by Magnús Scheving and his then-wife Ragnheiður Melsteð. The brand had a large following in Iceland, before international expansion. Projects included the LazyTown Energy Campaign, during which sales of fruit and vegetables increased by 22% in Iceland.
Many likable, memorable characters such as Sportacus, Stephanie, Ziggy, Stingy, Pixel, Trixie, and of course, Robbie Rotten.
Awesome costume and background designs.
Epic songs, especially "We Are Number One" (a popular meme), "Cooking By the Book" and "You Are a Pirate".
It encourages children to be active.
They have very clever renames like for instance: "sports candy", which also gives the athletic theme distinction.
Good acting and voice acting, with one certain standout being the late Stefan Karl Stefanson as Robbie Rotten.
Memorable and catchy intro and outro song, the latter of which is Eurodance-based.
Robbie Rotten always has a creative disguise and unique personality for each one showing how in their ways to be "Rotten" as he is. Ironically, despite being considered the laziest member of LazyTown, he's shown to be the most #active, coming up with his nasty schemes.
Much of the actual dancing and gymnastics are done by Magnús Scheving, the creator and actor who plays Sportacus and fittingly, is a gymnast in real life.
The spin-off series, LazyTown Extra is also quite passable.
Several great episodes like The Lazytown Circus, Rottenbeard, Double Trouble, Once Upon a Time, Robbie's Dream Team, LazyTown’s New Hero, Cry Dinosaur, and more.
The late Stefán Karl Stefánson as the fan-favorite Robbie Rotten, most notably known for the song at WINO#3.
Qualities That Aren’t Number One
Trixie and Stingy can be somewhat mean-spirited and annoying at times.
While not exactly terrible, "Who's Who?" is considered the weakest episode of the series.
Like how Hamtaro was shown in the US on Toonami, This was shown in the Netherlands on Jetix, which is not an appropriate place for preschool shows like LazyTown.
Stephanie, Sportacus, Robbie Rotten, Mayor Meanswell, and Bessie Busybody are the only ones who weren't dubbed to sound British in the UK dub, although Stephanie, Sportacus, and Robbie Rotten are played by real humans, Bessie #Busybody is already voiced by a British woman, and Mayor Meanswell sounds fairly British.
While it does have a good lesson that you shouldn't be eating confectionery and junk all the time and that you should be eating fruit and vegetables as often as possible, it seems to be the only thing Sportacus eats.
In addition, Sportacus should also be telling kids to eat meat, fish, dairy, eggs, grains, bread, cereal, pasta, and other foods apart from fruit and vegetables.
Trivia
"Robbie's Dream Team", the episode "We Are Number One" appeared in, is the highest-rated episode on IMDb as a final tribute to Stefán Karl Stefánsson, who passed away on August 21, 2018.
It helped spawn memes ranging from "We Are Number One", "Cooking By the Book", "The Mine Song", "You Are a Pirate" & comparing Sportacus to Homelander.