Camp Lazlo is an American animated television series created by Joe Murray. It features a large cast of anthropomorphic animal characters. The series takes place in Camp Kidney, a boy scout summer camp in the fictional town of Prickly Pines.
The cartoon is set in a universe inhabited solely by anthropomorphic animals of many species and focuses on a trio of campers attending a poorly run summer camp known as Camp Kidney; the series focuses on three "bean scouts": Lazlo the eccentric, optimistic monkey, Raj the Indian elephant, and Clam the albino pygmy rhinoceros. Other characters include the Camp Kidney staff, including the ill-tempered Scoutmaster Lumpus and his mild-mannered assistant Slinkman the banana slug. The program also features Lazlo's assortment of fellow campers, characters from a rival summer camp attended solely by girls, and some of the odd locales of the town of Prickly Pines.
Lazlo won the award for "Best New Character" at the Pulcinella Awards in 2006.
Creation
After the end of the production of Rocko's Modern Life, Murray kept a notebook of ideas for television shows and books. Murray attributes some of his most fond memories to days at summer camp; Murray said that he attended summer camp every summer for "4 or 5 years in a row" and that he "couldn't really get the scouting thing down". He also described cartoons with pastoral settings such as the Bugs Bunny cartoons of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series and Yogi Bear as having a "calming" effect due to the tree-filled backgrounds. At the time he believed that too many futuristic themes appeared in media and literature, so he wished to create a series that would "get back to nature." Camp Lazlo originated from a camp-related children's book series concept by Murray that, according to him, "outgrew its medium." As Murray developed the concept, he felt that his "lunatic characters wanted to live" and decided that a simple story could not sufficiently house his characters. Murray desired to create a series about a group of children without "high tech stimulus" and "in nature". Murray also cited John Candy's summer camp-themed cartoon series Camp Candy as an influence.
Linda Simensky, who had previously worked with Murray on Rocko, had since moved to Cartoon Network and called Murray to solicit a new series. After an initial hesitation, Murray sent Simensky the idea for a show with a working title of 3 Beans. Simensky "thought it sounded too much like a salad", so Murray changed the name to Camp Lazlo. When approval was given, Murray decided to produce the show at Cartoon Network Studios and brought Mark O'Hare on as co-producer.
Murray asked Tom Kenny to voice Scoutmaster Lumpus and Slinkman because Murray felt that Kenny "adds writing to his roles" and "brings so much." Murray looked for "comedic timing" in his voice actors, and therefore he used many stand-up comics and sketch actors.
Main characters
Lazlo
Lazlo (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) is the only son of his father who is an adventurous, chipper, optimistic, and quirky spider monkey. Often annoying Edward or Scoutmaster Lumpus, he is a very happy-go-lucky monkey. As a hippie, Lazlo loves peace. Lazlo has a really serious case of coulrophobia. Lazlo "goes where the wind blows" by his own statement.
Joe Murray, creator of Camp Lazlo, originally created Lazlo for a children's book concept. As he developed the concept, Murray believed that a children's book could not contain the stories and ideas, so he decided to create a television show. According to Murray, when he thought about Lazlo's personality, a spider monkey came to his mind.
Lazlo comes from São Paulo, Brazil. Murray wrote on his website that Lazlo's parents moved to the United States to start a fruit company, allowing Lazlo to learn English. Originally Murray wanted Lazlo to carry a strong Brazilian accent, but when Cartoon Network asked Murray to choose only one character to carry a strong accent, Murray opted for Raj and gave Lazlo an Americanized voice. Murray said that he did not plan for Alazraqui to voice Lazlo; according to him the arrangement simply occurred.
Lazlo stays in the Jelly Cabin with Raj and Clam; the three are called the "Jelly Cabin Trio."