Waybuloo

Waybuloo is a British-Canadian-American CGI television series originally created by Dan Good and Absolutely Cuckoo.[1] It was commissioned by Michael Carrington at the BBC, and first aired on CBeebies in May 2009. The 100-episode show was head-written by Marc Seal (who worked on Bob the Builder), filmed by the Foundation in Glasgow[2] and animated and directed by Gallus Entertainment.

Waybuloo
The Piplings: Nok Tok (blue bear), Yojojo (orange monkey), De Li (pink cat), and Lau Lau (purple rabbit).
Created by	Dan Good
Developed by	Zodiak Media DHX Media
Voices of	Georgia MacPherson Sunday James-Ross Finlay Christie Oliver Dillon
Narrated by	Dave Lamb (2012–2013)
Country of origin	United Kingdom Canada United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	4 (possibly) 3 (due to controversy with narrator)
No. of episodes	100
Production
Producer(s)	Vanessa Hill
Cinematography	Keith Reed
Running time	20 minutes (Series 1 & 2) 12 minutes (Series 3 & 4)
Production company(s)	The Foundation DHX Media Toronto
Distributor	Zodiak Media DHX Media
Release
Original network	CBeebies
Original release	11 May 2009 – 27 December 2013
Chronology
Related shows	Teletubbies In the Night Garden... Thomas & Friends Fimbles Bob the Builder Tweenies Postman Pat Balamory Chuggington Yoko Jakamoko Toto Seven Little Monsters (TV series) Ducktales

Post production, including audio, sound design & editing is done by Platform Post Production.[3] in Toronto (Canada) . Line produced by Matt Porter and the series producer is Simon Spencer (who works for Thomas & Friends), part of the independent company, RDF Media's subsidiary The Foundation.[4] The program makers describe it as "...a philosophy for a happy life, and is like nothing children will have ever seen before".[5]

Waybuloo is set in the fictional land of Nara. The main characters are the four Piplings, 3D CGI animated creatures with large heads and eyes that they're made in Autodesk Maya, placed on a filmed background, with the second half of each twenty-minute show featuring human children (called the "Cheebies").

The Piplings practise yogo, a gentle form of exercise similar to yoga,[6] so that the viewers and their parents can participate.[7]

The program makers describe it as "...a philosophy for a happy life, and is like nothing adults will have ever seen before".[4] In 2012 a new shorter version of Waybuloo was released with narration by Dave Lamb (who also narrated Come Dine with Me) to much criticism.[8] The negative feedback was so strong, CBeebies decided to pull the show in favour of the original version on the very next night, this possibly means series 4 never aired, another aspect of the show that has drawn criticism is the fact that despite it being specifically aimed at young children who are just beginning to learn to speak English properly, none of the characters used proper English when talking; words are left out or used incorrectly ("me not like" instead of "I don't like", etc.) the wrong tense is used, and the characters serially refer to themselves in the 3rd person.

Characters

• Lau Lau: Lau Lau is the first Pipling, is rabbit, she has a purple coloured body and green eyes, has long ears on top of her head and a puff tail. She also wears a white vest with a white skirt. Lau Lau loves painting and can often be seen behind her easel.
• Yojojo: Yojojo is the second Pipling, is monkey, he has an orange coloured body and blue eyes, and has rounded monkey ears on the side of his head. He has 4 thick hairs rising above his right ear which flop over to his left like a comb-over. In Peeka he is often seen hiding in the log and his long tail is often shown also doesn't know. He also wears a blue pair of pants. Yojojo is a talented musician and juggler.
• Nok Tok: Nok Tok is the third Pipling, is bear, he has a blue body with tanned skin. He has a short hair on top of his head and wears a yellow T-shirt. He also has a little tail and brown eyes. Nok Tok is the practical one who fixes things.
• De Li: De Li is the fourth Pipling, is cat, she has a pink body with blue eyes, pointed cat ears on top of her head and a tail with a green tip. She wears a white flower on top of her head. She wears a pink dress. De Li is very fond of her garden.
• Cheebies: A different group of six children who play Peeka and Yogo with the Piplings and engage with them in every episode. The Cheebies often find the solutions to the Piplings' problems.
• Narabugs: Four small butterfly creatures who are thought to be the Piplings' pets. Each one is coloured like its respective Pipling.

Yogo

Yogo is a light form of Yoga practiced by the four main characters in the series. The characters, known as Piplings, demonstrate several poses inspired by things they see in their homeworld, Nara, such as owls, trees, and insects.

When the children (or Cheebies) arrive later during an episode, they then practice the same poses demonstrated by the Piplings at the start of the show.

The cue for both the Piplings and the Cheebies to perform Yogo is an ancient machine, which activates when sunlight falls upon it.

Yogo was developed by the show's producers in association with a Paediatrician and a Health and Safety Consultant. The leaflet produced by the BBC warns parents not to practise Yogo with their children if they are or have been ill, and always to speak to a GP before starting the program.

Peeka

Peeka is a hide and seek game played by the Piplings when the Cheebies arrive at nara, there are multiple places the Piplings hide in or on, in "Moving Things", De Li hid in a hole under a leaf trapdoor, Yojojo hid in a tree branch, Lau Lau hid in the same place Yojojo hid, but lower than him, Nok Tok hid behind a little rock, then he saw the Cheebies and decided to hide ontop of the stone dam, once de li was found, She also hid on the dam with Nok Tok.

Episodes

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	50		May 11, 2009 (2009-05-11)	date unknown (date unknown)
	2	50		October 16, 2010 (2010-10-16)	date unknown (date unknown)
	3	50		October 20, 2011 (2011-10-20)	date unknown (date unknown)
	4	50		November 2, 2012 (2012-11-02)	April 20, 2013 (2013-04-20)

Series 1 and 2

Episode	Series 1	Plot/Summary	Series 2	Plot/Summary
1	Moving Things	De Li stands on a box to pick plumatoes, but Yojojo wants to store his instruments in it and the other Piplings want to use it to play hopsy. They decide it's better to share it. NOTE: This is the 1st episode to feature the Piplings and Cheebies NOTE: This is the 1st episode to feature the pipling pods, the wooden bridge, the leaf and the stone dam	Magical Music	Lau Lau hears some beautiful music. It makes her want to dance, but when the music stops, she looks for its source.
2	Showtime	Lau Lau wants to dance, but not everyone could fit on her stage, so the cheebies make a larger space so everyone can dance	A Surprise for Yojojo	Yojojo breaks a drumskin. The others decide to surprise him by fixing it, but while they put him off the scent he thinks they don't love him. He cheers up when he finds out what they were up to.
3	Trumpet	Yojojo and Nok Tok find a hollow branch that makes a good trumpet. They go around frightening everyone by blowing it but this frightens Lau Lau's Narabug away. Yojojo plays it softly instead and all the Narabugs come to listen.	Cheebie Tune	Nok Tok makes a xylophone but one of his notes doesn't sound right. So everyone helps him find a bit of wood with the right pitch.
4	Strawberries	De Li trains her Narabug to find a strawberry bush by smelling a strawberry. But the Piplings eat them all and have none left for the Narabug to smell. The Cheebies find the bush and pick all the strawberries. When De Li finds it too they're all gone. She's sad until her Narabug traces the strawberries back to the Cheebies and they all eat them. NOTE: This is the 1st Episode to feature the strawberry bush	De Li and the Shoehorns	Everyone loves walking with Nok Tok's shoehorns except De Li, who's afraid she won't be able to use them. She overcomes her fear with the help of the others.
5	Snuggly Nest	Lau Lau makes cushions from Narabug thread, one for each Pipling, but her own cushion goes missing. They trace the unravelled thread to a bird's nest, and leave the cushion there.	Star	Lau Lau thinks she's found a star that grants her wishes, until De Li points out it's only a flower. The Cheebies make her a new star and Nok Tok launches it into the sky with the Anything Machine.
6	Whistle	Nok Tok wants to call his Narabug by whistling like the other Piplings but he can't. He practices and eventually works out how.	Singball Statues	Yojojo's good at juggling singballs but eventually drops them. He's upset by this until the Cheebies use his mistakes to play musical statues.
7	Shy Flower	De Li has a large plant in her garden that won't open its flower. She tries putting it in the sun and watering it but it won't flower. Eventually she works out it flowers by stroking it. It produces lots of seeds and soon the flowers are everywhere.	Go Get Game	The Piplings play a game where the first to go get a named fruit is the winner. De Li is upset she keeps coming last until they realise she picked all the best fruit to eat.
8	Going Bananas	Lau Lau wants to paint three bananas but when she's gone Yojojo can't resist and eats two of them. The Cheebies stop him eating the last one. When she's finished painting Lau Lau offers it to Yojojo but he wants to share it. There's not enough to go round but Nok Tok and De Li bring enough bananas for everyone.	Pictures	Lau Lau tries to paint the other Piplings but they won't sit still. To make up for it they make her presents but while they're doing that she's able to paint them. The Cheebies surprise everyone with a painting of Lau Lau.
9	Nok Tok's Naracar	Nok Tok offers to help the other Piplings carry some heavy things but there's too much to carry at once. So he makes a car to help transport them.	Snuggly Slide	De Li wants Yojojo to show her how to play lifty leaf but he wants to play on his slide with his snuggly. So the Cheebies get the snuggly its own lifty leaf and he can play with it and help De Li at the same time.
10	Bubble	A huge bubble arrives in Nara and Yojojo tries to keep it from bursting. Eventually it disappears into the sky. Yojojo's sad until the Cheebies find a waterfall making hundreds of bubbles and they have fun bursting them.	De Li's Garden
11	Nok Tok's Happy Plant	Nok Tok's plant is sad, even though he gives it sun, soil and water. He doesn't believe the others when they say it likes music, bongleberries and Cheebies until he's proven wrong. He feels silly until they tell him it's alright to be wrong.	Dance	Nok Tok tries to dance like Lau Lau, but he can't. Instead he accidentally creates his own dance, that everyone wants to do.
12	Counting Seeds	De Li wants to count her jumpy seeds but they keep moving. The others don't help by putting her off her counting, but the Cheebies count with her. When they know how many pots they need they plant them, and they soon flower producing many more seeds.	Lost	De Li wants to play her whistle stick but the others are playing their drums so loudly she can't hear it. She tries to find somewhere quiet to play but gets lost. Then she hears the drums and knows which way to go. The others agree to play quietly and they all play together.
13	Being Brave	Yojojo thinks he's brave until he's scared by the shadow of a big flappy thing. The Cheebies work out it's the shadow of Yojojo's Narabug and Yojojo feels brave again.	The Gift	Lau Lau gives De Li a painting, so De Li wants to get her a gift in return. She gets her flowers but her Narabug eats them, then gets her bongleberries but squashes them. The Cheebies make a painting for Lau Lau but De Li wants to get her something herself, so gives her a huggle.
14	Catch	The Piplings play catch but Nok Tok can't catch. After trying different ways to learn he realises he's been shutting his eyes, so he keeps them open and catches the ball.	Loving Laughing	The Piplings try to make Nok Tok laugh but he wants to work on the Anything Machine. Soon they're worried he's lost his laugh but when he's finished working he gets the Anything Machine to make funny noises he can laugh at.
15	Nok Tok Thinks Big	De Li builds a sandcastle but Nok Tok accidentally squashes it. So he builds a new bigger one and needs a lot of help. As it's her present he won't let De Li help, even though she wants to. He finishes it but De Li decides it's not quite finished, and decorates it with special stones.	Feather	Yojojo finds a feather and sets about finding out where everyone's ticklish. He tries to tickle himself but it doesn't work. He thinks he's lost his tickle until the Cheebies tell him he can't tickle himself, and tickle him all over.
16	Tricky Kicky	Nok Tok wants De Li to play tricky kicky but she can't kick the ball into the goal even using the other Piplings' special techniques. A cheebie gives her a lucky pebble and suddenly she can do it. She loses the pebble and is worried she'll fail, but manages to do score without it. NOTE:This is the 1st Special Episode NOTE: This is the 1st time The Piplings Play Tricky Kicky	Neepnip
17	Green Mango	Yojojo and Nok Tok want to eat a mango but it's green and doesn't taste good. De Li tells them it's not ready so they try to make it soft and yellow but it doesn't make it taste better. De Li tells them they can't do it, they have to wait for it to ripen. It does and it tastes much better.	Pipling Pegs
18	Songbird	Yojojo finds a bird singing a pretty song and puts it in his basket, but the bird won't sing again no matter what the Piplings do to make it happy. The Cheebies suggest taking it out of the basket and it sings but flies away. They call it back with whistles and Pipling pipes.	No Talk Game
19	Fruity Fun	Nok Tok gives Lau Lau his fir cones, so she wants to give him a present in return. De Li suggests giving him her mangoes, but now Lau Lau has to find De Li a present. Yojojo suggests his apples, but now Yojojo needs a present. So Nok Tok uses the Anything Machine to turn all the fruit into juice so everyone can have some.	Dry Garden
20	Hiccups		Carrotbeet Day
21	Cheep Cheep		Lau Lau's Story
22	Echo Cave	The Piplings hear their voices echo in a cave and think they have found new friends that are shy and live in the cave.	Toot Toot
23	Frog		Snuggly
24	Whizzcrackers	The Piplings spot whizzcrackers in the skies over Nara, but Yojojo is easily distracted and keeps missing them. Eventually he stays still long enough to see them. FACT: Fireworks/Whizzcrackers only set off at night	Choosy
25	Glitter Crystal		Walking Backwards
26	Missing Seed	De Li leaves her quick-grow seed with Yojojo to look after, but he's distracted and loses it. Nok Tok finds it and goes to cook it, but Lau Lau finds it and decides to paint it. It disappears again, but a Narabug finds it and plants it in De Li's garden.	String Goes Ping	Yojojo plays his banjojo for the Narabugs, but breaks a string. The Cheebies help find a new string.
27	Flittery Narabug		Where Have All The Narabugs Gone?
28	Perfect Picnic		Singing Bowl	Lau Lau finds a bowl in a cave and looks for a way everyone can use it together. The Cheebies discover it makes a sound they can dance to.
29	Clever Tree		Bop Bop Bat	Nok Tok makes bop bop bats but Yojojo breaks his. He tries to fix it himself without telling Nok Tok but in the end only Nok Tok can mend it.
30	Mice		Nok Tok's Narabug	Nok Tok's concerned his Narabug isn't good at anything. This makes it sad, so he decides it's good at being a friend. It cheers up enough to win the blow-leaf race.
31	Bongleberry Juice		Old Made New	Yojojo breaks his special bowl and bongleberries just don't taste as good from any other bowl. So Nok Tok fixes the bowl with mud in the Anything Machine.
32	Jumping		Pipling Playday	Lau Lau finds she's no good at any of the games because her long ears keep getting in the way. That's until she finds they make her the best at spinning.
33	Follow the Pipling	De Li is perfectly happy to play a copying game with her narabug, but feels too shy to do the same with everyone else. When the Cheebies arrive, one is also shy and she and De Li work together to gain confidence.	Sssh!	Nok Tok scares away the bird Lau Lau's trying to paint with sounds he's recorded on the Anything Machine. So he records the bird's song to attract it instead.
34	Dancing Feet	Lau Lau loves dancing so much that she wants to paint it, but can't get it right until the cheebies arrive.	Enough	Yojojo collects lots of flowers for the Piplings. Then he realises he's picked them all and ruined De Li's favourite place. So the Cheebies make a giant flower picture instead.
35	The Tallest Pipling in Nara	Nok Tok is very proud of the measuring stick he's made.	Pod Men	Lau Lau and Yojojo make a pod man, fixing the head with mud. Nok Tok also makes a pod man but the head falls off. He won't ask for help. His pride dented, he gets everyone to work together to make a pod face instead.
36	Pipling Rhythm		Too Slow	De Li keeps losing races and wants to go faster. But when she comes last in a race around Nara she decides being slow is good as it enabled her to collect some nice things.
37	Narabug Chase		Chimey Leaves	Lau Lau finds a plant whose leaves chime when they knock together. She takes the leaves home but then no one else can hear them chime. So they plant it in De Li's garden where everyone can hear.
38	Catch the Plumato		Nok Tok Rock	Nok Tok finds a box full of useful objects and hands them out to the Piplings. Everyone's pleased except Nok Tok, who's left with a rock. The Cheebies show him he can use it to play games, but then it gets broken. So he uses the hollow halves to make clip-clop sounds like a horse. NOTE: this episode does not have a title recorded, although it has been aired by the BBC. This is the only episode in the entire show not to feature a title
39	Fireflies		Swapping	Lau Lau swaps her paintbrushes for Yojojo's banjojo, but neither of them are any good at the other's hobby. So Lau Lau paints the banjojo and Yojojo uses the brushes as drumsticks.
40	Jumpybug		Bluebell	Yojojo tricks everyone into thinking bluebells ring when they touch them. Soon everyone's tricking each other with sounds, so they decide instead to make noise together.
41	Leaf		The Search For Lau Lau's Glowstone	Lau Lau finds a glowstone, and immediately loses it. The Piplings help look for it but only find things they'd lost. The Cheebies suggest retracing her steps.
42	Picnic		Yojojo's Plumpkin	The Piplings grow vegetables for soup, but Yojojo doesn't want to eat his huge plumpkin so it can grow bigger. The Cheebies tell him it might go off and get smaller, so he picks it straight away and plants the seeds for more plumpkins.
43	Treasure Hunt		Fairy Thing	De Li finds a floaty, sparkly thing in her shed which the Piplings think might be a fairy. The Cheebies realise they are fireflies and build a new home for them in De Li's shed.
44	Sad Narabug		Surprise	Nok Tok sets up the Anything Machine to give the Cheebies a bubble surprise. He leaves it with Yojojo to look after but he accidentally sets it off. Yojojo hides it in De Li's shed so the surprise isn't ruined, but the bubbles escape and the Cheebies see them. Nok Tok doesn't mind as the Cheebies love the bubbles anyway.
45	Balancing		Round and Round	Nok Tok finds a golden feather and puts it in a safe place. The other Piplings find it, not realising it's Nok Tok's, and hide it somewhere else. Soon none of them can find it. When they realise they're all looking for the same feather they search for it together, until a bird finds it.yojojo keeps turning sizes.
46	De Li's Trick		Swapsy Box	The Piplings each put presents in a box and swap them. De Li is puzzled by the stick in her box until she discovers it's for planting special seeds in her garden.
47	Ball		Den For Ten	Lau Lau makes a den, but when the other Piplings join her it falls down. So they make the den bigger.
48	Clouds		Shaker Breaker	Yojojo lets Nok Tok play with his shakers but he loses one. The Cheebies make new shakers but De Li finds Yojojo's in her bush.
49	Nok Tok Goes Driving		Lau Lau's Quiet Day	Lau Lau and Jumpy Bug have a quiet day, but everyone else is too noisy. They decide to have a loud day instead.
50	Tricky Stick		Nok Tok Goes Away

Footnote 1: S02E38 does not have a title recorded, although it has been aired by the BBC.

Series 3 and 4

Decode Entertainment stated that two more CGI seasons of Waybuloo will be made. Series 3 was aired on CBeebies beginning 3 October 2011.[9]

Episode	Series 3	Plot/Summary	Series 4	Plot/Summary
1	Happiness Parade	Yojojo wants everyone to do one thing together that makes them happy, so the cheebies suggest a Happiness Parade.	Dancing
2	Narabug Games	De Li wants to find a game she and her narabug can play together, but the shoehorns she is playing on are too big.	Narabug's Rescue
3	Nok Tok's Promise		Going Bananas
4	Bell-buloo!		Flying Birds
5	Yojojo Wants to Share		Strawberries
6	Flower Surprise		Tricky Stick
7	Bongleberry Bubbles		Happy Yojojo	Lau Lau, De Li and Nok Tok gather presents for the cheebies.
8	Froggy Rock
9	Follow Nok Tok
10	De Li's Dance
11	Happy Yojojo	Lau Lau, De Li and Nok Tok gather presents for the cheebies.
12	Needing Help	Nok Tok wants to make bongleberry juice for everyone, so De Li goes to pick the bongleberries.
13	Lau Lau's Picture	Lau Lau makes a picture of Nara and gives it to Yojojo, but she is sad to see it go.
14	Go Yojojo		Crawly Caterpillar
15	Most Beautiful Thing	De Li tries to find something that she thinks is the most beautiful thing ever.
16	Flowerstrings	Nok Tok tries to use the Anything Machine to make a flowerstring.
17	Bye Bye Snuggly
18	De Li's Harvest	De Li has grown lots of fruit, vegetables and even bamboo! She shares everything with the other Piplings.
19	Dry Garden		A Surprise For De Li	Nok Tok and Lau Lau are making a surprise flower arch for De Li. Yojojo is very excited and wants to help.
20	Carrotbeet Day		The Plumpkin And The Caterpillar	De Li sees that a caterpillar has made a home on her plumpkin.
21	Lau Lau's Story		Yojojo's Twinkler Show
22	Toot Toot		Nok Tok Builds a Follow Box
23	Snuggly		Home Swapsy
24	De Li's Lucky Day		Swapsy Time
25	Trumpet Up Top		De Li's Flower
26	Lau Lau's Special Day		Pod Men
27	Feely Box		Hop Chase Game
28	Everybody Happy		Chimey Leaves
29	Yojojo's Big Music Day		Narabug Chase
30	Neither Nest		Dancing Feet
31	Puppet Show		Enormous Neepnip
32	Thirsty Day		Bye Bye Snuggly
33	Wobbly Wheelbarrow		Pipling Playday
34	Crawley Caterpillar		De Li Gets Her Shoehorns
35	Blossom Berry Hop		Tricky Sick
36	Butterfly Day		Narmole Trouble
37	Can't Do It		Toot Toot
38	Hop Chase Game		Bongleberry Bubbles
39	Cloud Gazing		Swapping
40	Very Special Flower		Nok Tok Rock
41	Being Happy
42	Narabug and Songbird
43	Glittery Narmole
44	Nok Tok's Talent
45	Keep Trying
46	Lost Leaf	Lau Lau asks De Li to look after her leaf, however, it flies away, and it is up to the other piplings and cheebies to restore the leaf to lau lau, de li tells lau lau that lau Lau's leaf flew away, lay lay wasn't sad, everyone went to a yellow tree, suddenly, a cheebie spotted lau Lau's flyaway Leaf, with the leaf restored to lau lau, she floats up into the air with the other piplings! NOTE: this is the only episode to feature flashbacks
47	Sneezy Nok Tok
48	Nok Tok Picking Carrots		Narmole Day
49	Lau Lau Vegetables		Everyone Play Together
50	Growing Tomatoes		Lau Lau's Bird

Footnote 1: Series 4 had a controversy with Dave Lamb narrating waybuloo, several parents complained to bring the old format back, BBC then accepted and brought the old format back the very next night, which possibly meant that series 4 never aired

DVD releases

• UK
  • 2 Entertain (2009–2012)
  • Delta Entertainment Corporation (2014)
• Canada
  • Treehouse TV (2012)

Release name	UK release date
Meet the Piplings	26 October 2009
Adventures In Nara	30 November 2009
Piplings Love to Play	29 March 2010
Hi-Hi Cheebies	6 September 2010
Piplings Feel Buloo	22 November 2010
Series 1-5 Box Set	6 December 2010
Piplings Love to Exercise	5 March 2012
Pipling Fun	3 September 2014

See also

• Holland Publishing

References

1. "HugeDomains.com - AbsolutelyCuckoo.com is for sale (Absolutely Cuckoo)". www.absolutelycuckoo.com. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
2. Waybuloo, a TV show of delight and wonder, The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 20 August 2018, retrieved 13 April 2012
3. Platform Post Production, archived from the original on 14 March 2007, retrieved 20 September 2010
4. "Waybuloo puts the kids back in kids' TV". The Guardian. 30 May 2009. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
5. "Waybuloo Official website". Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
6. "Yoga for tots? Meet the new Teletubbies". www.independent.ie. 30 May 2009. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
7. "Cbeebies GrownUps page about Waybuloo". CBeebies. Archived from the original on 9 December 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
8. "BBC - CBeebies Grown-ups: New Waybuloo!". Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
9. "Waybuloo - CBeebies - BBC". Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.

External sources

• BBC iPlayer with episodes aired in series 2

External links

• Waybuloo at BBC Programmes
• Waybuloo on IMDb
• Waybuloo on Treehouse Website