Happy Monster Band
| Happy Monster Band | |
|---|---|
 Logo card | |
| Opening theme | "Happy Monster Band" |
| Ending theme | "Happy Monster Band" (Instrumental) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 79 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Kickstart Productions Playhouse Disney Original (2007–08) |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Playhouse Disney |
| Original release | September 8, 2007 – October 26, 2008 |
Happy Monster Band is an American television series is an Playhouse Disney from September 8, 2007 until February 13, 2011. That airs on Playhouse Disney, and is produced by Kickstart Productions. The series was created by Don Carter. The show is about a group of monsters that performs songs about friendship, love, exercising, chores, and other preschool related themes. Season 2 follows the Happy Monsters on their tour around the world. On March 23, 2012, when Disney Junior started its own channel, the show returned to airing with only reruns. But starting in 2013, the starting, backstage, announcing, and judge segments of Season 1 were cut off, allowing the show to skip right ahead to the song. There has said to have been a third season in 2014, but no video footage of any season three episodes have surfaced online.
Characters
Major characters
There are four monsters that make up the Happy Monster Band: Ink, Bluz, L.O., and Frred. All of the monsters' names echo their colors: Ink's trademark color is pink, Bluz's is blue, L.O.'s is yellow, and Frred's is red. The main characters were designed by Don Carter. All four of the band members.
- Frred is the band's vocal output who plays electric guitar and is red, referring to his name. While Ink may appear to be the leader, many fans often tend to view and consider that Frred himself is the actual leader. He is also voiced by Rob Cantor and later Kurt Doss.
- L.O. voiced by Zubin Sedghi and later Trevor Gagnon is the other lead singer, and plays bass guitar. He is yellow. L.O. is the only monster in the band that goes against traditional thinking, preferring to paint and draw instead of scaring and happens to be viewed and considered a shy introvert, although he sometimes can be quite successful in that. He is the oldest in the band. He is yellow. He is 9-years-old.
- Bluz is the band's keyboardist, and has four legs. He often contradicts L.O.'s opinions, stating that monsters should scare and not care about art. He is blue. During the World Tour, he doesn't know about foreign languages, making him almost ditzy, though he is not fully air-headed and also naturally hates seeing others frustrated, down or in a conflict, even if they are his friends in fact. He is also the youngest in the Happy Monster Band. He is also voiced by Jonah Lees and later Jake T. Austin.
- Ink is the band's drummer. She has three eyes and is pink. Unlike the other band members, Ink only sings in choruses. However, she did get a solo verse in do the monster stomp. During the World Tour, she carries a globe and is fluent in several languages. She is the only girl in the Happy Monster Band and appears to be the leader, despite many fans considering Frred to be the leader and Ink herself to the co-leader. She is voiced by Hannah Leigh.
Minor characters
The first season introduced several characters.
- Roc and Raoul (voiced by Yuri Lowenthal and Sam Riegel respectively) are a two-headed purple monster that are the shows hosts, who speak in rhyme, except while backstage and are also in season 2 and 3.
- La, Dee, and Da are the show's judges, who are only shown the first season and are all bright green. They are based on Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell.
World Tour characters
- Akito is the band's pen pal in Tokyo, Japan.
- Joey is a kangaroo in Sydney, Australia.
- Dwight is a giant Italian monster who is often hungry.
- Ravi is a 4-year-old boy who is energetic.
- The Rancher is an introducer.
Episode list
Season 1 – Direct from Monsterland (Fall 2007)
- I Will Be Your Friend (10-1-2007)
- Do The Monster Stomp (10-2-2007)
- Monster Hoe Down (10-3-2007)
- Dirty, Smelly Monster Chores (10-4-2007)
- Scare Up Some Fun (10-5-2007)
- I'm The Best At Being Me (10-8-2007)
- Do Re Me-Me-Me (10-9-2007)
- Even Monsters Cry Sometimes (10-10-2007)
- Get Up And Go Go Go (10-11-2007)
- Practice Makes Progress (10-12-2007)
Season 2 – World Tour (Fall 2008)
- A Wonderful Time In France – The band are in hot pursuit of a monster wearing a beret eating A baguette in Paris, France. (10-11-2008)
- The Monster Tangle – The band visits Argentina and learn a new dance move; the monster tangle. (10-11-2008)
- Here In Australia – The band visits Australia after receiving fan mail from Joey. (10-11-2008)
- In India – The band visits India. (10-11-2008)
- Siesta, Siesta – The band enters the soccer stadium in Spain to play soccer. (10-11-2008)
- Konichiwa! – The band travels to Tokyo, Japan to see their pen pal, Akito and learn how to say hello in Japanese. (10-11-2008)
- Yin & Yang – The band shops Hong Kong and meets Yin and Yang. (10-11-2008)
- London Town – Since their own bus has a flat tire, the band had to take a double-decker bus to go the Buckingham Palace to perform for the Queen of the United Kingdom. (10-11-2008)
- At The Rodeo – The band visits a Texas rodeo after being invited by a ranch owner. (10-25-2008)
- The Italian Way – The band visits Italy. (10-26-2008)
Happy Monster Band facts
The actual music and vocals were written and performed by Tally Hall, an American rock band. The characters and concept for the show were created by children's book author/illustrator, Don Carter. His work can be seen at . Judy Rothman Rofé wrote all the episodes in Season 1 and five of the episodes in Season 2.