NEW ORLEANSNEW ORLEANS — In their “office” – a colorful fairy tale room with a gingerbread house and giant beanstalk – the Imagination Movers are busy filming the second season of a Disney Channel television show that has become must-see viewing for multitudes of preschoolers.
The four jumpsuit-wearing New Orleans performers, who sing, dance, make music and solve problems on their namesake show, were all smiles about being renewed by Disney, and not quite believing their good fortune.
“It’s still surreal to me, all of this,” said Dave Poche, standing in the set called the fairy tale room. “They make these incredible sets, and we get to play in them. It’s just shocking to me that we get to do this.”
“Imagination Movers” premiered in September 2008 during Disney Channel’s morning “Playhouse Disney” programming. In less than a year, viewership expanded to more than 50 countries. In June it was ranked among the top five shows for young children, according to Nielsen Media Research.
The four 30-something Movers, who got their start playing kiddie birthday parties in New Orleans, say the premise remains constant: The Movers help solve problems from their Idea Warehouse with slapstick bits and rock-infused musical interludes. The band’s Web site suggests it’s “what would happen if the Beastie Boys collaborated with Mr. Rogers.”
On the show, each Mover has a unique tool to help him think. For example, drummer Rich Collins has drum sticks that allow him to write and Scott “Smitty” Smith keeps a journal.
The educational components are interwoven with the Movers’ music, a blend of rock, funk, country, hip-hop, new wave and other genres set to lyrics for young children.
Visiting the set recently was 7-year-old Olivia Landis. The girl from Coral Springs, Fla., has spina bifida and asked to meet the Movers through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Landis and her family got a tour of the studio, ate lunch with the group and met the show’s puppet star, Warehouse Mouse.
“He’s funny,” said Landis, who giggled when the squeaky plump puppet asked her for some cheese. She also met the man behind the mouse, puppeteer Kevin Carlson of Burbank, Calif.
Collins and the other Movers – Poche, Smith and Scott Durbin – danced with Landis and sang to her, changing the name in one song from Nina, a character on the show, to hers.
“O-L-I-V-I-A, Olivia’s the girl with the smiling face,” they sang, strumming guitars as Landis looked on, smiling.
The new shows, which will include a host of special guests, are being filmed this summer in a New Orleans area studio and will begin airing in September.
Nicole Anderson of “JONAS,” the Disney Channel series starring the Jonas Brothers, and Jason Dolley, star of “Cory in the House,” were on the set with the Movers recently to film an episode titled “A Fairy Tale Ending.” For that show the Movers must convince Cinderella (played by Anderson) to re-enter her fairy tale so the story can have its happy ending. Dolley plays Prince Charming.
In another episode, actress and comedian Cheri Oteri of “Saturday Night Live” plays a tooth fairy who isn’t very good at her job, and the Movers have to help her get better.
Grammy-winning blues singer and guitarist Chris Thomas King of Baton Rouge, La., will guest star in an episode called “Out of Tunes” in which King plays a musician with writer’s block.
“We’re very proud that we’re working in New Orleans and that 95 percent of our crew is from here,” Durbin said. “This is where it all started.”
The “Imagination Movers” show started coming together long before Disney entered the scene. For years, the Movers met each evening – after working day jobs – to write songs and generate ideas for TV. The Movers say they were never really into playing the city’s club scene. The longtime friends kept their sights on writing and performing songs their kids could appreciate. All the band members are married and three have young children.
They were discovered in 2005 by a Disney executive visiting the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Negotiations however were interrupted by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The floodwaters claimed the band’s office, as well as the homes of Collins, Durbin and Poche.
Still, a deal was signed in spring 2006. Two years later, Walt Disney Records released a CD of the Movers’ music, called “Juice Box Heroes.”
In October, the Movers will launch a 40-city concert tour, said the show’s executive producer Skot Bright.
“It’s exciting, it really is,” Durbin said. “The first season, it was pretty much just us. But this season, we’re doing shows with Disney stars our kids are fans of, like Nicole and Jason. Our kids come to the set and are like, ‘wow, this is cool.'”
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On the Net:
Imagination Movers, https://www.imaginationmovers.com/website
