Archives for June 2011

Hello – Maddy here – creator and producer of Baby Jake for production company Darrall Macqueen and juggler of all things family! Although I don’t have 10 children like the windmill family in Baby Jake, I have a one year old and a three year old that require regular chasing! Neither of them feature in this new CBeebies show, although they have inspired much of the series warmth and humour.

Baby Jake is a refreshingly natural series, starring a real baby, which begins on CBeebies this July. Baby Jake is the youngest of 10 children who live in a windmill with their parents. His six-year-old brother Isaac is the series narrator who can understand all Baby Jake’s giggles and gurgles and opens the door to an imaginary world where Baby Jake sings, dances and baby-talks with his animal friends Pengy Quin, Sydney the Monkey, Nibbles the Rabbit and the Hamsternauts.

At the heart of Baby Jake is the relationship between our 9 month old baby boy Jake and his older sibling, Isaac aged 6. We wanted the on-screen connection between these brothers to be as genuine as possible so we’ve cast two real life brothers, Adamo and Franco, as Baby Jake and Isaac – see how natural they are together on the show! We auditioned hundreds of babies before we found the right Baby Jake. It was total luck that when baby Adamo came to one of our last auditions with his Mum, along came his brother Franco too. I auditioned them both together and could hardly contain my delight when they cuddled and kissed so naturally for camera and clearly had the magic that we had been looking for. They were both fun children to work with. Thanks to their Mum, Nicola, too because they were really beautifully behaved children on the TV set!

Once we had cast Adamo as our Baby Jake we set about photographing him for the animators (Jam Media, based in Dublin) who required multiple poses to transform Adamo into a photo realistic walking, talking, crawling animated baby. Over three days in a photographic studio we used 7 stills cameras – all clicking simultaneously – to generate around 15,000 images of Baby Jake for the animators to use. When you film with a baby there are formal guidelines which must be adhered to and these include the hours on set that a baby can work. Shooting with so many cameras was the only way to get the job done!

There was a lot of good luck and positivity throughout the entire production of Baby Jake – including a double rainbow in the sky at the windmill location in Lincolnshire which you will see we have used to end the show. It really was an incredible sight! I hope this image and the sunny warmth of this family-focused programme strikes an emotional chord with all of you and your family – if so, come and laugh and smile with Baby Jake everyday at 10.15 and 14.15 on CBeebies from Monday 4th July.

Hello! Nisha here writing from Same Smile HQ.

I can’t tell you how excited we all are about the brand new series of Same Smile starting on Monday 13th June (at 10:45am). We’ve had such a lot of fun travelling round the country meeting the UK’s amazing children.

The pandas are back after a nice rest and some relaxing spa time (yes Mish has put on a little weight) and you may have noticed that the magical Same Smile suitcase has undergone a little make over of its own!

As for little Mogo, cheeky as ever, Mogo has been on some amazing adventures with the kids including looking after lambs, having muddy fun in wellies and even some metal detecting! Moosh has been busy too… Bollywood dancing, as well as going to a martial arts class and getting dressed up as a very nice fairy. Mish went to a pyjama party, on a space adventure and was a knight for a day! It’s been all go!

We’ve been on the road over the last few months travelling the length and breadth of Britain, visiting some fabulous nurseries and amazing kids. We started out in Belfast and went on to visit beautiful towns all over the country: Ullapool, Llanelli, Whitby are just a few we visited - all the places we went to were amazing! Luckily the Same Smile tricycle is pretty sturdy and stood up very well to all my pedalling.

We’ve had extra special fun this year with our nursery activities. We always try to make sure the kids have a really great day with us making things, dressing up or having a splashy time! This series we’ll see the kids foot print painting, exploring their own back yard, making funny face pancakes even running their own animal hospital! (don’t worry - the animals are of the stuffed variety!).

We hope you and the little ones have as much fun watching as we did making this new series. Watch out for me nearly dropping a wobbly jelly, riding a tiny tricycle and throwing some crazy shapes on the dance floor! Honestly the things I do for those Pandas!

Oh! And do check out the website too! www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/samesmile

Having listened very carefully to your feedback, we realised that a lot of the little Same Smilers out there would love a panda of their very own. So, coming soon to our website, we’ve put a little pattern together and we’re hoping you’ll all get crafty and make a panda!

Thanks for reading this blog! And don’t forget to tune in weekdays at 10:45 from Monday 13th June 2011.

Best

Nisha & the Pandas

Ten worms wriggling, waving... Hello! Chris Jarvis here - one half of ‘Chris and Pui’.



Pui is busy being pregnant right now - you can never have too many viewers!

But I’ve just come off the phone to her; she is extremely well and sincerely hopes you enjoy the new series of ‘Show Me Show Me’ as much as I do.



It’s great to be back at the top of the tower with Tom, Stuffy, Miss Mouse, Teddington and Momo. Ooh that reminds me… a lot of people have asked us what has happened to Momo's “bot”? Well her full name is indeed 'Momobot' but that was proving to be a bit of a mouthful for some of our youngest viewers. But moreover it really did seem much more friendly to call her 'Momo'. She doesn't seem to mind. Well she hasn't said anything. Oh now I'm worried her batteries are flat.



You will be pleased to hear the toys' songs are back. They were a new addition to the last series and everyone seems to have their personal favourite. Perhaps we should get Reggie Yates to count down the top five. In this 3rd series of ‘Show Me Show Me’ you may notice two videos are different however the songs themselves are unchanged. “Have a little tea with me, Miss Mouse" was re-shot in an amazing model village in Beaconsfield. A naughty bit of gossip here: in the making of this video, Miss Mouse was strapped to the roof of a model train for a daredevil action sequence. All was going to plan as she proudly raced along the rails until a low tunnel – just big enough for the train – came into view. Fortunately a quick-thinking stationmaster pulled the plug and a mousy catastrophe was averted. Miss Mouse seemed totally un-fazed by the incident and was soon back to her old self after a cup of cheese tea.



Back in the studio, I was completely bowled over to meet Granny Humpty.



Yes, Humpty Dumpty has a granny who unlike lazy, wobbly Humpty is a groovy old egg who, in the words of the nightclub floor filler, likes to “move it, move it!” I will not spoil your enjoyment of Pui’s comedy master class by reciting the sketch but it is her physical comedy more than the words that made me laugh. Humpty himself is back and so are Twinkle, Incy, the Grand Old Duke of York, the Hey Diddle Cow and “Oh my woolly word!” Little Bo Peep - but you can call her Bo.



It will not have escaped your attention that squeezed into each lovingly crafted episode of ‘Show Me Show Me’ are two themes. ‘Rain and Fluffy Things’, ‘Bubbles and Hiccups’, ‘Houses and Holes’… a never-ending list! (I hope!) Well we’ve got some corkers for you in this series too, covering diverse subjects like hula-hoops, sparkles, surprises (boo!), giraffes, tool kits and pineapples.



My time is up, thanks for sparing yours to read my first ever blog. Hopefully I’ve not put you off joining us on the tenth floor every weekday at 9am and /or 1pm on CBeebies for 'Show Me Show Me'. Please join in with everything! (Otherwise we look daft)



Ten worms waving goodbye… Chris