Camp Lazlo

Camp Lazlo
Genre	Animation
Created by	Joe Murray
Written by	Joe Murray
Starring	Carlos Alazraqui Jeff Bennett Tom Kenny Doug Lawrence Jodi Benson Jill Talley Steve Little
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	61 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Broadcast
Original channel	Cartoon Network
Original run	July 8, 2005 – March 27, 2008
External links
Official Website	Cartoon Network.com
IMDb profile	IMDb
TV.com summary	TV.com summary

Camp Lazlo was a children's animated TV show. It was produced by Cartoon Network Studios, and currently airs on Cartoon Network in re-runs.

History

After the end of the production of Rocko's Modern Life, Murray kept a notebook of ideas for television shows and books. Murray attributes some of his most fond memories to days at summer camp; Murray said that he attended summer camp every summer for "4 or 5 years in a row" and that he "couldn't really get the scouting thing down." He also described cartoons with pastoral settings such as the Bugs Bunny cartoons of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series and Yogi Bear as having a "calming" effect due to the tree-filled backgrounds. At the time he believed that too many futuristic themes appeared in media and literature, so he wished to create a series that would "get back to nature." Camp Lazlo originated from a camp-related children's book concept by Murray that, according to him, "outgrew it’s medium." Template:Sic As Murray developed the concept, he felt that his "lunatic characters wanted to live" and decided that a simple story could not sufficiently house his characters. Murray desired to create a series about a group of children without "high tech stimulus" and "in nature."

Linda Simensky, who had previously worked with Murray on Rocko, had since moved to Cartoon Network and called Murray to solicit a new series. After an initial hesitation, Murray sent Simensky the idea for a show with a working title of 3 Beans. Simensky "thought it sounded too much like a salad", so Murray changed the name to Camp Lazlo. When approval was given, Murray decided to produce the show at Cartoon Network Studios and brought Mark O'Hare on as co-producer.

According to Murray, the "green light" to start Lazlo had been initially given and later revoked, leaving Murray and Mark O'Hare "pissed" and "depressed." Murray believed that an executive was not "completely sold" with starting production for Camp Lazlo. Murray worked to have the series receive its final, definite approval.

The production of Camp Lazlo began in 2004 and ended in 2007. November 2007 marked the final production run of Camp Lazlo.

Production

Murray felt that Camp Lazlo successfully appealed to younger children because his prior experiences with his own children helped him determine details that children found humorous. Murray said that he resisted the urge inside of him to micromanage the production and instead approved aspects and contributions related to the show. He said that he had "a lot of pre-production time" and therefore details became established before the show aired on television.

Rough Draft Studios, a South Korean studio, produced the Camp Lazlo footage.

Writing style

His main philosophies expressed in the show include the phrase “be who you are" and that one should question authority unless the issue is "a safety issue." Murray said that he avoids sending "messages" to children and that he hoped that his television show did not contain "too many messages."

Animation style

Murray said that he likes storybook art and the works of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse; the styles influenced the visual style of Camp Lazlo. He also describes "great comic book artists" as important to himself and Mark O'Hare.

The team created some backgrounds using "Acryl Gouache," a mixture of acrylic paint and gouache.

Description

The show features the adventures of three major characters: Lazlo, the title character, is a spider monkey from São Paulo, Brazil with a carefree attitude; Raj, an Asian Indian elephant who is more level-headed; and Clam, an albino pygmy rhino, who speaks in bursts of one or two words, synonymously echoing his friends statements.