The Mighty Jungle is a Canadian puppet series created by Jeff Rosen and Jason Hopley. The narrative of the story is largely crafted by a group of preschoolers who appear in live-action segments interspersed between puppet-acted scenes. It is co-produced by Halifax Film and Decode Entertainment, both DHX Media Companies (now as WildBrain), and produced in association with CBC Television. The series is broadcast in Canada on CBC Television, a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national English-language public broadcaster, in the Kids' CBC programming block, and in the United States on Sprout. In Latin America, it aired on Playhouse Disney in Spanish as Había una vez... en la selva poderosa.
Plot
Babu the meerkat, along with his friends Bruce the gorilla and Rhonda the rhinoceros, explore many of the same issues that very young children face, such as wanting to win, feeling silly, or not knowing how much is "too much" of a good thing. As the story illustrating the day's theme is played out, the narrative occasionally pauses so that the live-action preschoolers can suggest a course of action for the puppet characters to take, and often the puppets will react to the advice they receive. Sometimes, there may even be a song related to a part of an episode's story.
Characters
Babu (performed by Frank Meschkuleit) is a meerkat who isn't scared of anything. Bruce (performed by Mike Peterson) is a gorilla who is always nervous. He is always having fun with the help of his friends and his safety helmet. Rhonda (performed by Wendy Welch) is a rhinoceros that enjoys playing dress-up. She likes playing by the rules including the ones she makes up.
Cast
Puppeteers
Jamie Bradley as Wendall the Sloth, Mr. Bristle the Warthog, Pizza Monkey, Steven the Elephant, Baby Kiko the Meerkat, Rainbow Unicorn, Dragon Dentist, Winter Wizard, Glinda the Stinky Flower, Eric the Baby Lion, Chocolate Marshmallow Monkey, Magical Unicorn, Chucky the Cheetah, Friendly Octopus, Baby Dinosaur, River Pigs. Frank Meschkuleit as Babu the Meerkat Mike Petersen as Bruce the Gorilla Cheryl Wagner as Lala the Lion Cub Wendy Welch as Rhonda the Rhinoceros
Episodes
Season 1
Planet Crazy
Babysitting Kico
Tag that Sloth
The Magic Hat
The Ice Cream Castle
Dress-Up Tea Party
Babu's Missing Ball
Watch That Egg! Bruce's First Sleepover The Mighty Jungle Club Bananas for Bananas Queen Rhonda Spot the Giraffe (It's Not Easy) Being Stinky All That Sparkles Mighty Juice Jungle Picnic Jungle Snow Day Beehive Boogie Flower Picking Rules Jungle Campout Chocolate Marshmallow the Monkey Rhonda's Candy Wand-a-Rhonda Rhonda's Birthday Silly Day in the Jungle