Tree Fu Tom

Tree Fu Tom
File:Tree-fu-tom.jpeg
Also known as	Tree Fu Thomas
Genre	Adventure
Created by	Daniel Bays
Written by	Daniel Bays Douglas Wood Ian Carney Moya O'Shea Darren Jones Allan Plenderleith Corey Powell Richard Preddy John Loy Sindy McKay Richard Dinnick
Directed by	Adam Shaw Kitty Taylor
Starring	Adam Henderson
Voices of	Sophie Aldred David Tennant Tim Whitnall Samantha Dakin Sharon D. Clarke
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	72
Production
Executive producers	Jackie Edwards Alison Stewart Bob Higgins Sander Schwartz
Producers	Daniel Bays Mark Bernard
Running time	22–25 minutes
Production companies	FremantleMedia Kids and Family Blue-Zoo Productions CBeebies
Original release
Network	CBeebies
Release	5 March 2012 (2012-03-05) – 3 October 2016 (2016-10-03)

Tree Fu Tom is a British live-action/CGI television series which has been shown on BBC and CBeebies in the UK and Universal Kids, NBC and HBO in the USA. It is set in a miniature magical countryside and village area (Treetopolis) on the top of a part of a trunk of a big tree in a British-type woodland, where the trunk turns horizontal and then vertical again. Its characters are mostly anthropomorphised arthropods (which are not to size scale with each other as in reality). The programme is aimed at 2- to 6-year-olds. 72 episodes were produced across 6 series, premiering in 2012 and continuing in 2021.

In it, some species of insects are raised and controlled like cattle on a ranch: aphids, ladybirds, and a rhinoceros beetle.

In 2021, YouTube announced there's a new Tree Fu Tom channel, not replacing the original channel, it's called Tree Fu Tom Hits!

Premise

In each episode, Tom comes out of his house, puts on a power belt, and runs across his lawn towards a crooked tree protected by a magic shield. Using the power belt, he performs some Tree Fu moves, jumps up, shrinks to insect size as he flies into the tree, and enters the world of Treetopolis. He is skilled in that world's magic, and often gets characters out of scrapes. Some of the characters are four of Tom's friends (five at the beginning of season 6), Twigs, Squirmtum, Ariela, Zigzoo and Catherine. The tree's sap is shown as a glowing orange magic liquid.

At least twice in each episode, Tom has to call on "the big world" for magical help: breaking the fourth wall, As a host, he asks his viewers to make magical moves and say magical words to assist him. The magical power is shown as an orange glow that appears offscreen and flies towards Tom, who uses it to complete the spell.

The movements which the audience are called on to make are particularly beneficial for the development of children with developmental coordination disorder.

The scenario includes magical hoverboards (called "leaf boards"), a sport called "Squizzle" and many sorts of cakes and snacks that the inhabitants of Treetopolis like to eat.

At the end of each episode, Tom says goodbye to his friends and flies out of the tree's magic field. Back in the normal world, Tom flies up and says to his viewers before he gets back to the surface: "Thanks for helping me in Treetopolis. See you soon for another adventure! Bye, for now!" Tom runs out of the woods, across his back lawn, and in through his back door before the credits play.

The series' two main voice actors each previously played major roles in Doctor Who: Sophie Aldred (who voices the animated Tom) as Seventh Doctor companion Ace and David Tennant (who voices Twigs) as the Tenth Doctor. The actor who plays Tom in the live action opening and closing sections of the show, Adam Henderson, is Sophie Aldred's son.

The character of Twigs is currently given a voice by actor Mark Bonnar, who has also been in Doctor Who, playing Jimmy and his "ganger" duplicate in the two-parter The Rebel Flesh and The Almost People.

Purpose

The series was developed in conjunction with the Dyspraxia Foundation with the aim of promoting movement. Foundation specialists Dr Sally Payne and Dr Lynda Foulder-Hughes worked with the series creators to develop the movements Tree Fu Tom uses to create magic. Five percent of children have developmental coordination disorder, and these movements are similar to those used by occupational therapists to help child development. It is also hoped that the spells will help get exercise into the lives of young children.

Characters

• Tom, the main character, and a host. Voiced by Sophie Aldred, Lucien Dodge (US), 2012-2016 Mitchell Eisner 2021-present live actor Adam Henderson.
• Twigs, a Scottish Acorn Sprite. Voiced by David Tennant in the first two series (2012–2013), and Mark Bonnar in the other three (2014–2016) and Rob Paulsen in season 6.
• Catherine, the newest girl in Treetopolis. Voiced by Nika Futterman in both UK and US version.
• Zigzoo, an eccentric tree frog who is the local inventor at Treetopolis. Voiced by Tim Whitnall (2012–2015) David Holt (2016) and Charlie Adler in 2021.
• Squirmtum, a pill woodlouse. Voiced by Tim Whitnall 2012–2015 Duncan Wisbey (2016). In Season 6 he is voiced by Jess Harnell.
• Ariela, a butterfly in charge of the Branch Ranch at Treetopolis. Voiced by Samantha Dakin and Tara Strong in season 6.
• Rickety McGlum, an elderly spider of Treetopolis. Voiced by Tim Whitnall 2012–2015 Duncan Wisbey (2016) and Adrian Truss in Season 6.
• Treetog the Tree Spirit, the leader of Treetopolis. Voiced by Sharon D. Clarke.
• The Mushas (Puffy and Stink, sister and brother), two animated toadstool-type fungi. Voiced by Sophie Aldred and Tim Whitnall 2012–2015 Duncan Wisbey (2016) Charlie Schlatter and Candi Milo in Season 6.
• Zigzoo's robot. Voiced by Tim Whitnall.
• Shadow Bot, robot. Voiced by Tim Curry.
• Various sprites.
• Muru, a praying mantis introduced as part of the new 2016 cast. Voiced by David Holt.
• Racquette, spiderling with a strong northern accent, and the granddaughter of Rickety. Voiced by Sophie Aldred.
• Rootle and Shade, shy brother and sister dark sprites that live in the deep root caverns.
• Captain Treetoe, A brown skin Michael Jackson like tree sprit who is Treetog's brother, Treetopolis' long time hero, and Tom, Twigs, and Catherine's new dancing teacher. He use to save Treetopolis by using his tree fu magic of dancing with his sparkling soles. He also sings to song based on Michael Jackson's hit singles. He even teaches Tom, his friends, and his viewers (With him while breaking the fourth wall) some tree fu magic with his dance moves too. Voiced by Navi (impersonator) and in US version Phil LaMarr, Live actor Jovan Rameau. (Appearing on Series 7)

External links

• Tree Fu Tom at BBC Online
• Tree Fu Tom: the boy with magical powers comes to CBeebies
• Tree Fu Tom Episode list, images
• Tree Fu Tom at IMDb