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Tak and the Power of Juju
Genre	Comedy Action Adventure Fantasy
Created by	John Blackburn (games)
Based on	The game developed by THQ
Developed by	Jed Spingarn Nick Jennings
Voices of	Hal Sparks Lloyd Sherr Patrick Warburton Kari Wahlgren John DiMaggio Dannah Feinglass Rob Paulsen S. Scott Bullock Maurice LaMarche
Theme music composer	Guy Moon
Composers	Guy Moon Shawn Patterson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Executive producer	Nick Jennings
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	THQ Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Original release
Network	Nickelodeon
Release	August 31, 2007 (2007-08-31) – January 24, 2009 (2009-01-24)

Tak and the Power of Juju is an American animated television series that aired for one season from August 31, 2007, to January 24, 2009. Loosely based on the 2003 video game of the same name, the show consists of two eleven-minute stories per half-hour episode. It was co-produced by THQ and Nickelodeon. The series was produced by Nick Jennings and directed, among others, by Mark Risley, Jim Schumann, and Heiko Drengenberg. It was the second CGI Nickelodeon series, after The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and is also the first overseen by Nickelodeon Animation Studio. The show continued to air reruns on Nicktoons until September 3, 2012.

Characters

Main

• Tak (voiced by Hal Sparks) is a 14-year-old apprentice who lives with his mentor Jibolba. He wields various forms of magic derived from the Jujus, magical creatures from another dimension. Tak's mother is the Aurora Juju and his father is a Pupununu.
• Jeera (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) is the Chief's daughter and Tak's best friend. She is a tomboy and will often punch Tak as a sign of endearment or annoyance. It is heavily implied that she has romantic feelings for Tak.
• Banutu Jibolba (voiced by Lloyd Sherr) is Tak's mentor and shaman of the Pupununu tribe. He is 177 years old.
• Lok (voiced by Patrick Warburton) is a cowardly Pupununu warrior. He often refers to himself in third person.
• Keeko (voiced by John DiMaggio) is a careless, daydreaming, laid-back orphan. He is a skilled inventor, but his inventions rarely work.
• Zaria (voiced by Dannah Phirman) is Jeera's 18-year-old sister and the heir to the Pupununu. She is spoiled, bossy, and brags that she is the most beautiful in all the tribe.
• The Chief (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is the leader of the Pupununu and father of Jeera and Zaria. A bumbling but harmless figurehead, he constantly gets furious at Tak due to his mistakes in the use of his Juju power.

Pupununu Tribe

• Slog (voiced by Megan Cavanagh) is a heavy-set woman who is incredibly strong. She is Lok's biggest fan and harbors a crush on him.
• Blod and Bleeta Oobgachaka (voiced by Rene Mujica and Kari Wahlgren) are the children of the tribe's wealthiest family, the Oongachakas. Blod is a hot-headed oddball and likes to brag about his wealth and has taken a romantic liking to Zaria, but she hates him. Bleeta is optimistic and curious about the world outside of her lifestyle.
• Chaka and Oonga Oongachaka (voiced by Mindy Sterling and Lloyd Sherr) are the parents of Blod and Bleeta and friends of the Chief.
• Mask Guy (voiced by Lloyd Sherr) is a villager who wears a oversized voodoo mask to hide his unhumanly beautiful face.
• Log Hermit (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is a villager who wears a log. He is also revealed to have a good singing voice.
• Linda (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) is a bipedal sheep and friend of Tak.
• Donna (voiced by April Winchell) is a talking sheep in Linda's herd.
• Navis is Jeera's pet Gratch.
• Tlaloc (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is an evil shaman who attempts to replace Jibolba as the Pupununu shaman. However, he is defeated and transformed into a donkey.

Jujus

Jujus are magical creatures who originate from the Juju Realm.

• Aurora Juju (voiced by Danielle Schneider) is Tak's mother, who created the crystal that powers his staff.
• Belly Juju (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is a hungry Juju with no brain whose body is controlled by his stomach.
• Big Boss Juju is a powerful, fiery rock monster.
• Brain Juju (voiced by Nick Jennings) is a brain-themed Juju.
• Bug Juju (voiced by Wayne Knight) is a small beetle-like Juju who can manipulate other insects.
• Caged Juju is a cranky, horned Juju who lives in a cage and is obsessed with eating others.
• Darkness Juju (voiced by Mitch Watson) is a demonic Juju and Aurora Juju's former fiancé.
• Dinky Juju (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is a short-tempered Juju with powerful magic. He is an adult, but many confuse him for a baby because of his small size.
• The Devour Juju Brothers (both voiced by S. Scott Bullock) are troublemaking Jujus and the brothers of Caged Juju.
• Feet Juju are a disembodied pair of blue legs who enjoy dancing.
• The Gremlin Jujus (voiced by Jeff Bennett) are short anglerfish-faced creatures who serve as law enforcement.
• Head Juju is a green floating head with arms and the coach of a Gratchball team.
• Judge Juju (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is a corn Juju dressed as a judge. She is female, but has a masculine voice.
  • The Bulldrafish is a chimeric monster and Judge Juju's pet. It has a bull head named Henry/George (voiced by Maurice LaMarche), a dragon head named Doris (voiced by Dannah Phirman), a fish head named Gillbert (voiced by Rob Paulsen), and a fish tail.
• Killjoy Juju (voiced by Mary Birdsong) is a one-eyed Juju known for stopping parties and Party Juju's wife.
• Love Juju (voiced by Danielle Schneider) is a mermaid-like Juju who wields a snorkel as if it was her wand.
• Mayhem Juju is a small, teleporting Juju who Tak and Jeera adopt in the episode "New Pet".
• The Motikis are wild tiki-like creatures who will go on a rampage if they are out of the Juju Realm. They are later revealed to be living cookie jars who can only be stopped by screwing their heads off.
• Party Juju (voiced by Rob Paulsen) is a skeletal Juju who is known to start parties. Only his wife, Killjoy Juju, can undo the effects of his powers.
• Phobia Juju is a floating brain Juju who helps the Pupununu tribe overcome their fears.
• Psychic Juju (voiced by S. Scott Bullock) is a large-headed genie-like Juju with psychic powers.
• Pugnacious Juju (voiced by Kirk Ward) is a three-armed retired boxer Juju.
• Repulsive Juju (voiced by John DiMaggio) is a slug-like Juju and the younger brother of Repugnant Juju and Really, Really, Revolting Juju.
• Repugnant Juju (voiced by Dannah Phirman) is a gross-looking Juju and the sister of Repulsive Juju and Really, Really Revolting Juju.
• Really, Really, Revolting Juju (voiced by Hal Sparks) is a gross-looking Juju and the sister of Repugnant Juju and Repulsive Juju.
• Roadkill Juju (voiced by John DiMaggio) is a short peg-legged Juju who loves being run over by J-Runners.
• Spider Juju (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) is a spider-like man-eating Juju with a French accent.
• Vendor Juju (voiced by Nick Jennings) is an orange octopus-like Juju who can sell anything from within its body.

Episodes

Series overview

1. Both episodes was first released on The Trouble with Magic DVD on June 24, 2008

Home media

Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic was released on June 24, 2008, and contained the episodes Woodiefest, Loser, A Shaman's Shaman, The Gift, The Three Chiefs, The Party, The Beast, To Zaria with Love, Girls Only, and Secession.

Tak and the Power of Juju: Season 1 was released on October 17, 2011, and contains all 26 episodes.

On September 22, 2021, the series was added to Paramount+, though originally reported for August. As of December 31, 2023, the show was removed from Paramount+.

KCA preview

During the Nickelodeon 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, hosted by Justin Timberlake, a preview was shown of the new show in Nick.com. The site included the preview, a character page and a story page minimally different from the game.

Differences from the games

• Tak, Jibolba, and Tlaloc are recast, being voiced by Hal Sparks, Lloyd Sherr, and Jeff Bennett rather than Jason Marsden, John Kassir, and Rob Paulsen. Additionally, Tlaloc is renamed Traloc.
• Tak's tribe is named Pupununu rather than Pupanunu.
• Dead Juju and Mind-Reader Juju are respectively renamed Party Juju and Psychic Juju. Additionally, S. Scott Bullock voices the latter rather than Rob Paulsen.

Reception

Common Sense Media rated the show a 3 out of 5 stars, stating "Based on a popular Nickelodeon video game, Tak and the Power of Juju is an entertaining CG-animated series full of colorful characters and outlandish scenarios sure to entertain older school-age kids and young tweens. Tak's mix of good intentions and general mischief lays the groundwork for plenty of fun in each episode, and parents will like that there's not much to worry about here, aside from mild, typical cartoon violence. Just be ready for your kids to begging for the tie-in games once they've developed an affection for the jungle-dwelling cast."

See also

• Tak and the Power of Juju

References

1. "Nick Dishes New Shows, Development Process". 9 March 2006. Archived from the original on 28 August 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
2. DeMott, Rick (August 14, 2007). "Tak's Got the Power on Nickelodeon". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
3. Ridgely, Charlie (July 22, 2021). "Everything Coming to Paramount+ in August 2021". ComicBook. Archived from the original on June 1, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
4. Ashby, Emily (31 August 2007). "Tak and the Power of Juju review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.

External links

• Advanced Review: AnimationInsider.net
• Tak and the Power of Juju at IMDb

• Tak and the Power of Juju
• 2000s American animated television series
• 2007 American television series debuts
• 2007 animated television series debuts
• 2009 American television series endings
• 2000s Nickelodeon original programming
• American children's animated action television series
• American children's animated adventure television series
• American children's animated comedy television series
• American children's animated fantasy television series
• Animated series based on video games
• American computer-animated television series
• American English-language television shows
• American teen animated television series
• Animated television series set in jungles
• Nicktoons