If Sportacus did the intro titles

[BRBFBI]

Thanks for the link, Pooky. I found that independently but I should have thought to search the forums for it. Nothing you haven't heard before then.

[possessor]

If I had to guess, Stephanie in Season 1/2 (the only seasons I care about) had more lines, more songs, and more screen time than any other character - possibly more than all the other characters combined. But it's just a guess.

If you do think about it Sportacus and Robbie may have had more, after all they're at the beginning and end of every episode. Plus, i'm pretty sure 1/3 of the plots of the first season focused on Sporty.

Of course this may or may not be bias

[possessor]

But if we're going to be honest, I don't think LazyTown's target audience would have cared about the male-female ratio.

It's a show promoting health targeted at 3-9 y.o.s.


(and to be fair, it doesn't really matter, i can think of tons of kids shows that were only for boys and some that were for only girls, LazyTown can be watched by anyone so at least be happy about that)

[chuft]

Stephanie tends to be in most Sportacus scenes, and also most Robbie scenes, as well as other scenes such as being at home by herself, or with the Mayor, or just her and the puppets. I would guess Robbie has more screen time than Sportacus, since we see a lot of him plotting as well as extensive interactions with the kids. Sportacus does some solo workouts but I think Robbie's plotting is more common and longer in duration. And when Sportacus shows up, Robbie is often there for it.

[possessor]

Stephanie tends to be in most Sportacus scenes

True, because they're supposed to be the two main characters

as well as other scenes such as being at home by herself, or with the Mayor, or just her and the puppets.

I think most of her screentime was shared with Milford and/or Bessie

Sportacus does some solo workouts but I think Robbie's plotting is more common and longer in duration.

Lol the writers made it comically long, in Energy Book, Robbie walks off his platform, then rides a scooter to the other side of the platform. So I think why his planning takes long, is not because of the planning mostly

And when Sportacus shows up, Robbie is often there for it.

In seasons 3 (hurr what season 3 ? ) Sportacus shows up after Robbie more oftenly

[Fairy-Possum]

It's interesting that Lazytown was seen by some to have feminist qualities.

Here are some excerpts from an essay by Dagný Kristjánsdóttir, a professor a culture studies at the University of Iceland, published circa 2011:

"Characters' gender is usually very important in books for children and young adults, but not in the LazyTown books, in which boys are in the foreground and the girls are just like the boys. The genderlessness of the books may perhaps be due to the fact that the characters stand for moral traits which can be associated with both sexes"

"Solla the Stiff is a minor character in the LazyTown books, but here she is moved into the center of the narrative. She is eight years old, as mentioned earlier. She is a guest who comes from outside and has a sharp eye, is not as bad and lazy as the locals, and thus sets off a chain of events where there was none before. This is one of the most common starting scenes in plays and stories old and new; Alice in Wonderland and Pippi Longstockings are two examples. This is also in keeping with Nickelodeon's 'girl power' policy. At the same time, the focus on a child protagonist seems sensible and in accordance with opinion polls which show that children want to see other children being active and creative. Stephanie can also attract girls to the program, while the society of the LazyTown books was a boys' community. In contrast to the book, Solla the Stiff--Stephanie of the television program--is both pretty and in top form from the start, and Goggi Mega (Pixel) become infatuated with her at first sight. She is the leader of the children; it is she who calls on Sportacus to begin with, and it is primarily she who plays opposite him.

I read somewhere else that Stephanie is tomboyish and therefore strays away from traditional gender roles for young women. Obviously culture has changed a lot since the early 2000s and simply being tomboyish is no longer enough to stand out as feminist. There are also many things to find fault with from the point of view of feminism (as Kristjánsdóttir goes on to do concerning Stephanie and Sportacus's portrayal as very nearly a couple, etc... it's actually quite interesting.)

As far as role-models, well, I don't think the other kids are supposed to be. Although they're more fleshed out in the show than in the books, they're still closer to background characters.

"The protagonist of the books is unambiguously the adult 'man,' the athletic elf. There is, however, no main character among the children in the LazyTown books. In the children's books, a group of children often plays the role of a main character. Each child has one prominent characteristic, and together the children form a kind of composite group character with whom the child who reads or is read to can identify. The group of children in LazyTown, however, does not emerge as real characters. We seldom see them interact among themselves and almost never with their parents. The parents are absent in the books, so that most of the children appear to live alone. The athletic elf thus assumes the role of both mother and father in the lives of the children."

(Source: Kristjánsdóttir. "Sportacus Saves the Day!" Published in Crossing Textual Boundaries in International Children's Literature, 2011)
https://forums.lazytown.eu/articles/...s-sunshinetown

Very well put together, I must say BRBFBI. Good job

As for the tomboy topic, I have an opinion.

As someone who is/was a tomboy, I've never seen Steph as a tomboy; she's always been a girly girl to me. I think this idea that she's a tomboy comes from the fact that she's interested in sport - something largely seen as a "man's" interest (with some exceptions, like dance or netball). But Trixie on the other hand...

She's an amazing representation of a masculine, or an otherwise 'boyish' girl. And it's not like she was too severely impacted by Nickelodeon's 'girl power policy' you mentioned (which I have plenty of opinions about). I would argue she was even more boyish in the pre-LazyTown books/plays (she bordered on being an outright Jock).

I suppose the effort to attract girls to watch the show worked. If not for Stephanie, it was Trixie (at least for one person: me lol).

That first paragraph in the essay is exactly what a was thinking about in my original reply to pookie. Specifically:

As for role models... I was lucky as a kid watching the show. Gender, age, status ect never changed who I saw as a role model.

As for the other kids not intended to be role models. I agree, they're quite literally personifications of bad habits kids have. As much as I hate to say this, the kids aren't really characters; they're dilemmas for Sportacus to 'fix', including Stephanie (originally). This changes in the series, as Sportacus trying to 'fix' the kids wouldn't work well in a serialised show (keeping them as static characters)

Also, I hope I get my point across well enough. I can't write down my thoughts very well lolol. Also also, sorry for rambling about Trixie, she's just my favourite

[BRBFBI]

I've never seen Steph as a tomboy; she's always been a girly girl to me. I think this idea that she's a tomboy comes from the fact that she's interested in sport - something largely seen as a "man's" interest (with some exceptions, like dance or netball).

I think you nailed it!

I haven't seen the plays, but Trixie sounds pretty cool. She definitely didn't get enough screen time.

[LazyPooky]

I should have thought to search the forums for it.

No that was not my intention. I thought, people want to read the whole article after they read some of the quotes in your post. It's all quite interesting.