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LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR DYNAMIC KID FITNESS CHARACTERS
Kid Fitness
The lead character, played by Casey Untermann, is a wonderful combination of Superman, Tarzan and a young Jack La Lanne. Kid Fitness is youthful enough for our target audience to look up to as a big brother-about 16-18 years old. Exercising and eating right are as natural to him as breathing. Everything is fodder to Kid Fitness for building his strength, health and level of fitness. Like all super heroes, KF does have some magic powers, but the energy behind the magic comes from his physical fitness and healthy habits.
An all American super-hero with a good sense of comic delivery, Kid Fitness is always looking for new adventures, new exercises and new friends. Kid Fitness thinks of everyone around him and puts others before himself. He is well aware that he is a role model and often addresses the audience directly-inviting them to join in with him; especially in his exercises. More than anything else in the world, Kid Fitness wants to keep moving and to get other kids off the couch to move with him. Of all his relationships with the characters on the show, none are more important to Kid Fitness than his close bond with the viewers at home. Kid Fitness cares for his audience and genuinely wants them to be healthy and fit. This warm and "familial" relationship with the audience is ever present.
Annie
Played by Keyanna Murril, Annie, about 13-years-old, is the girl who often joins KF on his adventures. Annie doesn't live in the jungle, but is representative of the kids "outside" who come from the "real world" to join KF in his daily exploits and exercises. Annie and Kid Fitness interact as the ideal older brother and younger sister: no fighting or bickering. Annie definitely respects Kid Fitness as the expert regarding exercise. Although there is mutual respect, they can be playful with each other, too. Annie goes to a public school and may mention her teachers, classmates, or activities going on there that relate to the plot. Annie is the "anchor" of Kid Fitness Witness News.
Annie is our main "Club Fit Kid." When we have other children on the show, she takes on the role of the lead kid. She is sensible, fun, and has tons of enthusiasm for healthy food and exercise. In one of the first season episodes, Annie received the "Fit as the Fiddle Award." She is always up for any exercise. When she isn't exercising or on an adventure with Kid Fitness, Annie is often in Club Fit working on a craft project' or at the computer doing her homework. Annie is an extremely able, "do-it-yourself" person. She is extremely interested in science and may bring things that she has made or learned in science class at school. She is an all around enthusiastic character with a smile that's a mile long.
Brenda the Butterfly
Brenda, played by Laura Frecon, is the mothering voice of the show-and she knows a lot about Mother Nature, as well. Brenda looks out for Kid Fitness, Annie, Buster and all the other characters. She also keeps everyone on track for the different tasks within the show. Lauren is a ballet dancer as well as actress, and this allows her to perform many graceful movements. She is light on her feet and flutters around the jungle. Her favorite exercises are jumping jacks and any upper body exercises that help keep her wings in shape for flying. She can fly along with Kid Fitness.
Buster (Puppet)
Kid Fitness's other sidekick is Buster the Tarsier. (A Tarsier is a small monkey type creature with big googly eyes. In nature, tarsiers are nocturnal, however, we scoot around that truth in our show.) Buster plays the "child" or the "Elmo type" on the show. Buster is loveable, gullible and wants to grow up to be just like Kid Fitness. That's why he wears a "Jr. Kid Fitness" costume. Buster usually follows Kid Fitness's lead, although his childlike nature often causes him to jump to the wrong conclusions or head off in the wrong direction. Our conduit for appealing to and reaching younger kids, Buster is often the character who "learns a life lesson" in the show. Buster has issues that kids in our target age can relate to, such as fear of the dark, sharing, etc. Because tarsiers love bugs, Buster often uses expressions such as "Tasty termites!" or "Jumpin' jitterbugs!"
Markey the Monkey
Played by Cristiano Magni, Markey is the comedian of the bunch. With a European, "international" accent and flair, Markey is slightly crazy, fun loving, and extremely animated and likeable. He is acrobatic and rarely stops moving, except to munch on a banana, his favorite food. He loves to tell silly jokes. Markey is the resident Chef. We often find him in his tree house kitchen, which has a door in the floor through which other characters enter. Markey is a master at cooking nutritious foods with kid appeal; dishes which serve the storyline as well as our good health message. Markey has a special friend: Izzy the Inchworm. Izzy is a puppet that is only seen in Markey's kitchen.
Izzy the Inchworm
Izzy is a puppet character, an inchworm that lives in Markey's Kitchen. He is a silly little character who makes one-line comments here and there. Izzy loves apples and gets excited when Markey cooks with them! He can like other fruits and vegetables, too, as the story requires. Izzy speaks in a childish manner with an incorrect use of English. Example: "Me smell apples. -There's only one thing me likes better than smelling apples.eating them!" Izzy appears briefly in every episode but only in Markey's kitchen. Izzy has a moveable body and mouth.
Terry the Turtle
Terry (Lili Klein) is a shy character who often feels left out because of her slow speed, confining shell, and the fact that her short height prevents her from doing what the other characters can do. She is not as fit as the other characters, but what Terry lacks in ability she makes up in perseverance. She has a huge heart and is extremely generous and caring. She also speaks a little slowly. Terry's favorite exercise is the bicycle kick. She is wild about tomatoes and loves to find new recipes for them that are healthy. She doesn't want to carry around a lot of extra weight. Terry is about 30 years old, but that's still a child in "tortoise years!" She has a large, unseen extended family that she corresponds with. Terry loves it when someone scratches her back or nuzzles her shell. Terry also has a terrific singing voice.
L.J. the Lion
L.J. the Lion (Alexander Elise), king of the jungle, is confident and proud. L.J. stands for "Long Jump." As with most male lions, L.J.'s favorite "sport" is dozing. But when he is up, he is full of energy. He does not appreciate being awakened, and the running gag is that the characters avoid being the one to do so. Every time someone wakes up L.J., he roars so loud the ground shakes, and he may accidentally knock someone down by wildly pawing the air. However, once he is awake and has stretched, L.J. is a good-natured character. He is a bit vain about his mane and his royal stature. As the King of the Jungle he always knows (or wants to know) what is going on within his jungle. His favorite exercises are Lion Pounces, which he demonstrates so beautifully in the "Jungle Jamboree" episode. Being a lion, he has a natural tendency to crave hamburgers, but since he wants to eat healthier, he is working on making the switch to veggie and turkey burgers!
Chyna the Cheetah
Chyna (Danielle Tafeen) speaks with a "Valley Girl" dialect, totally. She is never without her tiara and jewels and considers herself the fashionista of the jungle. She is very conscious about staying in shape in order to remain the fastest in the jungle. Sometimes her concerns for vanity overwhelm those for health (as it does in our celebrity, body conscious kids at home). Kid Fitness helps her put the vanity in perspective and concentrate on health, not looks. Naturally Chyna's favorite exercise is running in place-but only after she has done her cat stretches. As many cats do, Chyna spends a lot of time grooming.
Zachary the Zebra
Zak (Jason Yachatin) has a lot of energy, but doesn't always show it. Zak loves to read and is a bit of a nerd and somewhat cowardly.or, let's say.risk adverse. Zak reads and knows so much that he often thinks too much! In our age of information, Zak is on information overload. Zak is also a bit wary of L.J., since he knows that in most jungles lions consider zebras to be "fast food." Like all zebras, Zak is a vegetarian. There isn't a vegetable he doesn't like. He has extremely strong legs, good for kicking (another zebra genetic trait), but it takes a lot to get Zak to kick up his heels. He does have a penchant for black and white stripes and is proud of his keen night vision. Zak handles the jungle mail delivery and tends to be a bit of a gossip. He just can't help himself, as he just loves to collect information-even information that isn't meant for him. Consequently Zak's gossip can sometimes cause miscommunication and problems.
Sugar the Sloth (Puppet)
Sugar is our new resident antagonist/mayhem maker! Hanging upside down in her tree, Sugar is devoted to two things: 1) Not moving a muscle and 2) Eating sugary, salty, processed, unhealthy foods-especially if she can get somebody else to bring them to her. Since she doesn't want to interrupt her schedule of doing nothing, she often orders the unhealthy foods via the Internet or on the phone. She has a tiny "Sloth Tech" center hanging upside down on her branch. With a tiny computer, phone and Sloth Screen TV, Sugar can use technology to order things. Zak delivers the goods to Sugar. Zak is also kind of "sweet" on Sugar and often inadvertently allows her to manipulate him and to find out what's going in the jungle. Sugar often uses the information from Zak to instigate conflict. Sugar simply hates it when Kid Fitness has plans to play a game, have a celebration, or in any way "disturb her peace." Sugar wants the jungle to stay nice and quiet so she can do nothing but hang upside down, sleep, nap and watch her "sloth screen" TV. Her favorites are the Sloth Shopping Network and the Junk Food Channel.
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