News
Yo Gabba Gabba a hit with both kids, parents
Yo Gabba Gabba features the bouncy music, crayon-hued characters and nonsensical vocabulary that are staples of the toddler TV genre.
But with guest stars such as Jack Black, Amy Sedaris, Elijah Wood and Rachel Dratch and musical guests such as The Shins, Hot Hot Heat and Jimmy Eat World, the critically acclaimed show -- filming its third season -- has acquired serious indie cred that sets it apart from its Pablum-like ilk.
Christian Jacobs, who co-created the show with fellow Mormon dad Scott Schultz, says they simply set out to make a program they wouldn't mind watching with their own kids.
"There is humour in the show -- it's not sarcastic -- but there's a little bit of irony that I think some of the little kids won't get but will read a little more to parents," he says.
"There's a little bit of retro feeling in the music that hearkens back to when we were kids in the '80s."
The name of the show arose out of brainstorming sessions aimed at inventing a magic word that would be easy for toddler tongues to grasp, Jacobs says, but when they realized Gabba Gabba was also an homage to a Ramones catchphrase, that "sealed the deal."
The show's esthetic is a smorgasbord of Gen-Y cultural references, he says, including Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Jim Henson's Muppets and 1980s video game graphics. In order to prevent the show from becoming a "celebrity variety show," they're now turning away stars who offer their talents, Jacobs, 37, says, but they still have a wish-list of potential guest luminaries.
"I think Bill Murray is one of the ones we would flip our lids to work with," he says. "Lou Reed would be awesome."
Most of their guest stars are motivated by their children's love of Yo Gabba Gabba -- produced by W!LDBRAIN and The Magic Store and broadcast on Treehouse in Canada -- he says, and while the creators consider it a bonus if the guest stars are adult-approved, they look for toddler appeal first.
Yo Gabba Gabba belongs to a growing category of products aimed at hipster parents who haven't let go of their sense of cool now that they're living with a member of the diaper set. Parents can buy CDs of naptime renditions of everything from Johnny Cash and the Rolling Stones to Nirvana and the Cure, along with baby and children's clothes emblazoned with the Sex Pistols, Alfred Hitchcock, Frida Kahlo and Che Guevara.
"A lot of it is self-expression," says Andrea Frost, the Portland, Ore.-based founder of Baby Wit, an online store that sells a carefully curated collection of baby and children's clothes.
"You only get to dress your child for how long before they decide what they're going to wear, and admittedly you want your kid to be stylish or express the things you feel, the bands that you like."
Frost, 34, hit upon her business idea in 2003 when she visited a custom T-shirt store in Vancouver and asked to have a Sonic Youth logo printed on a shirt for her then-four-month-old daughter.
When she started, people were confused by her idea, she says, but now she's inundated by competitors.
"When I asked, 'Hey, can I put David Bowie on a baby shirt?' they were like, 'Why would anyone buy that? But okay,' " she says, laughing.
"There's so much cool stuff out there these days, I think it's very different now."
Copyright © 2009 Vancouver Sun
But with guest stars such as Jack Black, Amy Sedaris, Elijah Wood and Rachel Dratch and musical guests such as The Shins, Hot Hot Heat and Jimmy Eat World, the critically acclaimed show -- filming its third season -- has acquired serious indie cred that sets it apart from its Pablum-like ilk.
Christian Jacobs, who co-created the show with fellow Mormon dad Scott Schultz, says they simply set out to make a program they wouldn't mind watching with their own kids.
"There is humour in the show -- it's not sarcastic -- but there's a little bit of irony that I think some of the little kids won't get but will read a little more to parents," he says.
"There's a little bit of retro feeling in the music that hearkens back to when we were kids in the '80s."
The name of the show arose out of brainstorming sessions aimed at inventing a magic word that would be easy for toddler tongues to grasp, Jacobs says, but when they realized Gabba Gabba was also an homage to a Ramones catchphrase, that "sealed the deal."
The show's esthetic is a smorgasbord of Gen-Y cultural references, he says, including Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Jim Henson's Muppets and 1980s video game graphics. In order to prevent the show from becoming a "celebrity variety show," they're now turning away stars who offer their talents, Jacobs, 37, says, but they still have a wish-list of potential guest luminaries.
"I think Bill Murray is one of the ones we would flip our lids to work with," he says. "Lou Reed would be awesome."
Most of their guest stars are motivated by their children's love of Yo Gabba Gabba -- produced by W!LDBRAIN and The Magic Store and broadcast on Treehouse in Canada -- he says, and while the creators consider it a bonus if the guest stars are adult-approved, they look for toddler appeal first.
Yo Gabba Gabba belongs to a growing category of products aimed at hipster parents who haven't let go of their sense of cool now that they're living with a member of the diaper set. Parents can buy CDs of naptime renditions of everything from Johnny Cash and the Rolling Stones to Nirvana and the Cure, along with baby and children's clothes emblazoned with the Sex Pistols, Alfred Hitchcock, Frida Kahlo and Che Guevara.
"A lot of it is self-expression," says Andrea Frost, the Portland, Ore.-based founder of Baby Wit, an online store that sells a carefully curated collection of baby and children's clothes.
"You only get to dress your child for how long before they decide what they're going to wear, and admittedly you want your kid to be stylish or express the things you feel, the bands that you like."
Frost, 34, hit upon her business idea in 2003 when she visited a custom T-shirt store in Vancouver and asked to have a Sonic Youth logo printed on a shirt for her then-four-month-old daughter.
When she started, people were confused by her idea, she says, but now she's inundated by competitors.
"When I asked, 'Hey, can I put David Bowie on a baby shirt?' they were like, 'Why would anyone buy that? But okay,' " she says, laughing.
"There's so much cool stuff out there these days, I think it's very different now."
Copyright © 2009 Vancouver Sun
