Question on Jives/Maggi Mjói in the 2004 series

[snappy710]

I was looking through the comment section of a video essay about LazyTown called "An Extensive Deep Dive into 'Lazy Town'" by Lulaloopsey when I found this comment from Dogsocks1123:

"Hæhæ, my father worked on the series. The reason for Jives being scrapped was because he came across very stoner-like which was not appropriate for the wider global audiences. The tv series was made specifically to market towards other countries - It's all filmed in English and then dubbed in Icelandic, so some things had to be changed to appeal to the masses. Jives was a bit risky considering his laidback attitude akin to stoners."

Well I was thinking: if they were to keep in Jives/Maggi in the 2004 series (despite much of his traits going to Ziggy, according to TVTropes), I think they'd make Jives who's the eight or nine-year-old sibling of Ziggy - his initial lethargy would be justified by him staying in his room, playing with his toys and watching a bit too much TV (but NOT as much as Pixel given he loves technology and spends his time in screens as well). Jives would also be the sarcastic foil to Ziggy, comparable to Abbott & Costello (with Jives being the Abbott to Ziggy's Costello) as well.

What do you think, and do you have any ideas on how Jives can work in the 2004 series?

[LazyPooky]

I still think that the color green was the problem. In the plays Jives was dressed in green/yellow and in the TV series they can't use green at all because of the green screen.

[snappy710]

Maybe change the green beanie and pants to purple? Can purple and yellow work?

[possessor]

I still think that the color green was the problem. In the plays Jives was dressed in green/yellow and in the TV series they can't use green at all because of the green screen.

They could've very easily changed his colors like with Sportacus

[snappy710]

I was thinking that they should've changed his green beanie and pants to purple ones

[Play_z]

I don’t know, if this would work in this case but doesn’t the colour of the outfit of a character have a meaning like a symbolic meaning. Like how Robbie wears more darker clothes because of being mysterious and whatever. Well that’s what I learned in film because you can’t just put a character in random coloured clothes for no reason. And yes yellow and purple are common colours to be used together, literally everywhere do it

[snappy710]

I don’t know, if this would work in this case but doesn’t the colour of the outfit of a character have a meaning like a symbolic meaning. Like how Robbie wears more darker clothes because of being mysterious and whatever. Well that’s what I learned in film because you can’t just put a character in random coloured clothes for no reason. And yes yellow and purple are common colours to be used together, literally everywhere do it

I was thinking Jives/Maggi's clothing would still be green and yellow, as both colors are opposite colors of blue and red (using the color wheel as a reference), but we gotta bear in mind the green screen used for the show (and that would mess up the chroma key a lot). I still think that if they keep in Jives in the 2004 series, they would make him Ziggy's 9-year-old sibling who serves a sarcastic foil to Ziggy in some way. What kind of colors do you think Jives would wear if they kept him in?

[Play_z]

I was thinking Jives/Maggi's clothing would still be green and yellow, as both colors are opposite colors of blue and red (using the color wheel as a reference), but we gotta bear in mind the green screen used for the show (and that would mess up the chroma key a lot). I still think that if they keep in Jives in the 2004 series, they would make him Ziggy's 9-year-old sibling who serves a sarcastic foil to Ziggy in some way. What kind of colors do you think Jives would wear if they kept him in?

Hmmm.. Honestly with how complex the show is in 2004 compared to the plays. They would have kept him as is. If not the wardrobe would have completely changed just like Sportacus. For colours idk honestly.. If they were changing it. The way they used yellow looks to tacky and old school fashion maybe blue/jeans pants with white jumper beanie idk.. I think if they want to keep it, original but no green then whatever colour is close enough then the problem solved, probably the colour of LP’s username is pretty close. I see him more of a older sibling of Ziggy just teasing/tricking him around while also helping him (just like normal siblings which would been great for the show as many kids have siblings of some sort and can relate to them)

As I’m learning about early childhood as a course, kids tend to copy or relate to role models easily, which is why Lazytown was so beneficial for kids to copy the habits of Sportacus and Stephanie with eating choices and physical play

(yes I say wardrobe instead costume lol.. costumes are more like Ziggy’s and Sportacus’s outfits. While Jives, Stephanie and the others have more natural outfit hints wardrobe anyway those two sentences in this part were kind of stupid I know)

[Fairy-Possum]

I was looking through the comment section of a video essay about LazyTown called "An Extensive Deep Dive into 'Lazy Town'" by Lulaloopsey when I found this comment from Dogsocks1123:

"Hæhæ, my father worked on the series. The reason for Jives being scrapped was because he came across very stoner-like which was not appropriate for the wider global audiences. The tv series was made specifically to market towards other countries - It's all filmed in English and then dubbed in Icelandic, so some things had to be changed to appeal to the masses. Jives was a bit risky considering his laidback attitude akin to stoners."

Well I was thinking: if they were to keep in Jives/Maggi in the 2004 series (despite much of his traits going to Ziggy, according to TVTropes), I think they'd make Jives who's the eight or nine-year-old sibling of Ziggy - his initial lethargy would be justified by him staying in his room, playing with his toys and watching a bit too much TV (but NOT as much as Pixel given he loves technology and spends his time in screens as well). Jives would also be the sarcastic foil to Ziggy, comparable to Abbott & Costello (with Jives being the Abbott to Ziggy's Costello) as well.

What do you think, and do you have any ideas on how Jives can work in the 2004 series?

It pains me to say this (since Maggi is my all time favourite LT character), but I don't think Maggi could have worked the the show. It's about necessity, I think.

We all know the characters, specifically the kids, represent some kind of health/behaviour crisis in youth, it's the foundation for the whole franchise. Maggi was a special case as he represented health problems associated with teenagers (poor diet, lethargy, moodiness).

My theory is that, with the show lowering its age demographic, Maggi had no utility since teens wouldn't be watching. But you can still see his traits (^^^^^) written into other characters, mostly Pixel/Ziggy. All this applies to Eyrún, too. And Haninn!..



As for the stoner point, I find that quite interesting. I personally never thought of Maggi being a stoner, just as a teen who is chill as hell. Maybe the kinda guy to wear a shirt with a marijuana leaf on it, but not actually smoke it.

Although, relating to the "Maggi representing teen health problems" idea, I wonder if Scheving or other writers tried inserting drugs into that narrative, since drug usage in teens IS a problem. It feels unlikely, considering how unsubtle the health crisis representation is with these characters generally.

P.s (I didn't know where else to add this). Whilst I like the idea of Maggi becoming the older brother and foil of Ziggy, I just don't think it would work. Maggi is a teen, if not anything else. And I always saw him as the cool older brother figure to Ziggy, but not actually related (*enter GGIL scene of Maggi and Ziggy chilling out and gardening*)... actually, now that I think about it, it MIGHT work... I just like the GGIL interpretation more lol

[snappy710]

It pains me to say this (since Maggi is my all time favourite LT character), but I don't think Maggi could have worked the the show. It's about necessity, I think.

We all know the characters, specifically the kids, represent some kind of health/behaviour crisis in youth, it's the foundation for the whole franchise. Maggi was a special case as he represented health problems associated with teenagers (poor diet, lethargy, moodiness).

My theory is that, with the show lowering its age demographic, Maggi had no utility since teens wouldn't be watching. But you can still see his traits (^^^^^) written into other characters, mostly Pixel/Ziggy. All this applies to Eyrún, too. And Haninn!..



As for the stoner point, I find that quite interesting. I personally never thought of Maggi being a stoner, just as a teen who is chill as hell. Maybe the kinda guy to wear a shirt with a marijuana leaf on it, but not actually smoke it.

Although, relating to the "Maggi representing teen health problems" idea, I wonder if Scheving or other writers tried inserting drugs into that narrative, since drug usage in teens IS a problem. It feels unlikely, considering how unsubtle the health crisis representation is with these characters generally.

P.s (I didn't know where else to add this). Whilst I like the idea of Maggi becoming the older brother and foil of Ziggy, I just don't think it would work. Maggi is a teen, if not anything else. And I always saw him as the cool older brother figure to Ziggy, but not actually related (*enter GGIL scene of Maggi and Ziggy chilling out and gardening*)... actually, now that I think about it, it MIGHT work... I just like the GGIL interpretation more lol

Should Jives/Maggi be aged down to 10 years old? Also, I don't think Scheving, Valenti and the others would put drug problems into the character, given this show was made for kids (preschoolers, to be exact)