Lunar Jim

Origins

In the spring of 1994, Alexander Bar drew a picture of a spaceman on the moon watching his moon buggy being driven off by little green men blowing raspberries, captioned "Oh no… Joyriders!". From that drawing, Bar decided the spaceman's name would be Lunar Jim. He produced marketing materials for a comic strip and pitched it over the phone to the Daily Mail, saying "It's about a man who walks about on the moon all day doing nothing in particular." The editor responded positively, but the Daily Mail deal never materialized. Lunar Jim first appeared publicly in the Young Telegraph on 21 October 1996.

Characters

Lunar Jim, voiced by Benny Zelkowicz, is the main protagonist, an adventure- and mystery-loving astronaut in a blue spacesuit who is curious about his surroundings. Rover is a robot dog who stays by Jim's side, speaks only in beeps, and is understood only by Jim and T.E.D. Ripple, voiced by Gil Anderson, is the African-Canadian engineer on the moon, the only female in a red spacesuit until Skye joins; she invents new devices and drives the Scooter.

Eco, voiced by Jim Fowler, is the farmer in a green spacesuit who works in the Eco dome growing plants and raising animals; he drives the Hopper. T.E.D. (Technical Equipment Device), voiced by John Davie, is a humanoid robot whose clumsiness creates slapstick comedy; he is paranoid and sometimes arrogant but can solve problems. Pixel, voiced by Kristin Bell, is the computer that helps locate things and assigns daily tasks. Daisy is an anthropomorphized cow that provides milk, and Delores is an anthropomorphized chicken that yields eggs.

In the second season, three characters were added: Skye, a young trainee astronaut in an orange spacesuit; Yik Yak, a turtle-like alien who speaks in rhyme; and Zippity, a space mailman who sounds like a robot. Minor characters include Colby the Collector, who collected objects on the moon before Jim's team arrived, and the Garden-bot, built by Ripple to help Eco but malfunctions.

Setting

The show takes place on Blue Moon L22, divided into sectors such as "L" or "12" that contain locations like "The Crystal Caves" or "The Chime Flower Meadow". The settlement Moonaluna includes the Eco dome, Mission control, Jim's home, and a windmill. Mission control stores vehicles and is where Jim "gets lunar". The Eco dome is a lunar greenhouse where Eco farms and cares for Daisy and Dolores.

Jim's home is where he and Rover live and where episodes often start. In Season 2, the Moonport was built for spaceship landing and refueling. Other colonies of astronauts are mentioned but never seen. When Jim "gets lunar", he chooses from vehicles: the Lunar Scrambler (fast blue scooter), the Lunar Lifter (yellow hovering vehicle with a winch), the Lunar Scooter (red, used by Ripple), the Lunar Crawler (red-orange backhoe with customizable attachments), and the Lunar Hopper (green tractor, the slowest wheeled vehicle, with a trailer and winch).

Telecast and home media

The show premiered in Canada and Latin America on 2 January 2006 on CBC Television and Discovery Kids Latin America. Other broadcasters included ABC TV in Australia on 14 March, CBeebies in the United Kingdom on 3 April (with British voice actors), KiKA in Germany on 13 April, and Ici Radio-Canada Télé on 15 April. France 5 planned a Fall 2006 premiere. The show also aired on V-me in the U.S. and on TG4, Cultura, Canal Panda, MiniMini, EBS, NRK Super, Boomerang, ABC 4 Kids, Nickelodeon, eToonz, and Hop! Channel from 2007. On 9 October 2006, Alliance Atlantis appointed BBC Worldwide as the British DVD licensee. The first British DVD, "Let's Get Lunar", containing 10 episodes, was released that week. As of 2023, the show streams on Tubi in English.