Tree Fu Tom is a British live-action/CGI children's television series shown on BBC channels in the UK and Sprout and NBC in the USA. It is set in a miniature magical countryside and village area (Treetopolis) on the top a big tree in a British-type woodland. Many of its characters are anthropomorphised arthropods, and it features species of insect that are raised and controlled like cattle on a ranch: aphids, ladybirds, and a rhinoceros beetle. The program is aimed at two to six-year-olds. 72 episodes were produced across five series, premiering in 2012 and ending in 2016. The character of Twigs was recast from season 3 with David Tennant being replaced by Mark Bonnar.
Premise In each episode, Tom comes out of his house, puts on a power belt, and runs across his lawn towards a crooked tree in the woods protected by a magic shield. Using the power belt, he performs some Tree Fu moves, jumps up, shrinks to insect size as he flies into the tree, and enters the world of Treetopolis. He is skilled in that world's magic, and often gets characters out of scrapes. Some of the characters are four of Tom's friends, Twigs, Squirmtum, Ariela, and Zigzoo. The tree's sap is shown as a glowing orange magic liquid.
At least twice in each episode, Tom has to call on "the big world" for magical help: breaking the fourth wall. As a host, he asks his viewers to make magical moves and say magical words to assist him. The magical power is shown as an orange glow that appears offscreen and flies towards Tom, who uses it to complete the spell.
The movements which the audience are called on to make are particularly beneficial for the development of children with developmental coordination disorder.
The scenario includes magical hoverboards (called "leaf boards"), a sport called Squizzle and many sorts of cakes and snacks that the inhabitants of Treetopolis like to eat.
At the end of each episode, Tom says goodbye to his friends and flies out of the tree's magic field. Back in the normal world, Tom flies up and says to his viewers before he gets back to the surface: "Thanks for helping me in Treetopolis. See you soon for another adventure. Bye for now!" Tom runs out of the woods, across his back lawn, and in through his back door before the credits play.
Purpose The series was developed in conjunction with the Dyspraxia Foundation with the aim of promoting movement. Foundation specialists Dr Sally Payne and Dr Lynda Foulder-Hughes worked with the series creators to develop the movements Tree Fu Tom uses to create magic. Five percent of children have developmental coordination disorder, and these movements are similar to those used by occupational therapists to help child development. It is also hoped that the spells will help get exercise into the lives of young children.
Characters Tom (voiced by Sophie Aldred in the UK and Lucien Dodge in the US, and portrayed in live-action by Adam Henderson) is the main character, and the titular protagonist of the series. He uses a magical belt to transport into Treetopolis and cast spells with help from the 'big world'. Though he is usually the best at spells, he is a kind, optimistic and modest character and often has to turn to his friends for advice when things go wrong. His popular catchphrases are "Time for Tree Fu!", "Tree Fu Go!", "Oh My Trees!" and "Thanks for your help!" where he shows his viewers how to do the 'big world' magic spell segment.
Twigs (voiced by David Tennant in series 1-2, and Mark Bonnar in series 3-5) is a silly and energetic Scottish acorn sprite who is Tom's sidekick and best friend, and frenemy of Chezz, who he usually encounters conflict. His catchphrases are "I am a Genius", "We're Doomed!" and "Wowzers!". He even turns into an acorn when he's hiding.
Zigzoo (voiced by Tim Whitnall in series 1-4 and David Holt in series 5 in the UK, and Matt Hill in the US) is an eccentric tree frog who is the local inventor at Treetopolis, though not all of his inventions work out quite as well as he (or others) hope. Though it has never officially been confessed, certain episodes seem to suggest he may have a crush on Ariela. One of his catchphrases is "Oh Ribbety Roo".
Squirmtum (voiced by Tim Whitnall in series 1-4 and Duncan Wisbey in series 5 in the UK, and Joe Ochman in the US) is a pill woodlouse who is a miner of sap in the caverns and general-purpose workman, and not the most intelligent of creatures. He can curl into a ball, and in that form he can roll fast. He wears a miner's helmet with a firefly called Flicker as his helmet light. In later seasons, he's shown to frequently attend Tree Fu classes with Tom and Twigs, though he hasn't been shown to do the magic since the episode "Super Squirmtum".
Ariela (voiced by Samantha Dakin) is the alpha female character, a beautiful but feisty butterfly in charge of the Branch Ranch at Treetopolis, generally does not accept help from others, is shown to be impatient in some episodes, and likes to get her own way; but she is always there when her friends need her. She is beautiful, sassy, tomboyish and polite. She is highly competitive and rather impatient. She appears to have the closest relationship with Zigzoo – who invents many gadgets for her ranch throughout the episodes. Also, she cares deeply about her ranch animals, mostly consisting of various beetles and ladybirds.
Rickety McGlum (voiced by Tim Whitnall in series 1-4, and Duncan Wisbey in series 5) is an elderly spider of Treetopolis; he used to be thought of as scary, but is now a close friend to Tom and his friends. He is additionally a Squizzle expert and trainer, a former race car driver (the car in question being named the Turborantula) and leader of the Tree Fu Rangers. He is the grandfather of Racquette.
Treetog the Tree Spirit (voiced and live acted by Sharon D. Clarke) is the plump friendly leader of Treetopolis. She acts as the schoolteacher as well, teaching the young sprite creatures and Tom traditional tree fu spells.
The Mushas (Puffy and Stink): sister and brother respectively, forever arguing, and the main antagonists, two naughty animated toadstool-type fungi who cause trouble. They typically use their slime guns (named Stinkifiers) and the Slime Bubbler to spread disgusting slime across Treetopolis. Puffy is the larger, more assertive member, while Stink is the smaller, somewhat more intelligent of the two. Sometimes, however, they're both shown to need saving. Puffy is voiced by Sophie Aldred while Stink is voiced by Tim Whitnall (series 1-4) and Duncan Wisbey (series 5).
Sprites include Chezz, Bertie, Hazel, Lavender, Sweetpea and Goose throughout the first series. These were only background characters, but they began to make more frequent appearances in the latter series. Chezz (voiced by Tim Whitnall in series 1-4, and David Holt in series 5) in particular is a very arrogant, badge-obsessed conker sprite with rhoticism, who likes to show off. Despite having mild respect for Tom, Chezz is usually arguing or attempting to compete with Twigs – often teasing him over his smaller size.
Muru (voiced by David Holt) is an enigmatic, Spanish, praying mantis introduced as part of the new 2016 (or season 5) cast, red magic teacher and friend of Tom. He has a magical stick that is able to rewind and fast forward time. He uses an extension of tree fu magic (red magic) that allows the user to take on attributes of a big-world animal such as the speed of a cheetah or strength of an elephant. He uses a magic red crystal (where red magic gets its name from) which has all the animal spells upon it. He also has the ability to teleport.
Racquette (voiced by Sophie Aldred) is a troublesome female spiderling with a strong northern accent like Rickety, and is Rickety's granddaughter. Although she loves and respects her granddad, she wishes he would allow her to adventure, believing him to be dull and overly cautious. She can be quite headstrong, though she usually realises when she makes a mistake. When bored or upset, she begins to spin webs in her hands. Spiders in this scenario appear to have a web spinning method similar to Spider-Man, where it comes from their wrists.
Rootle and Shade: shy brother and sister dark sprites that live in the deep root caverns. They were afraid that the light would turn them to jelly. Unlike the normal sprites, they lack wings and have snail shells on their heads. Their ears and eyes are much larger than those of the other sprites. Rootle has an odd impediment where he switches the first letters of characters names around (Twom and Tigs, Pink and Stuffy, though he does not do this with Shade).
Episodes
Series 1 (5 March - 21 March 2012) Spells that appeared: Build-A-Wall, Mega Attractor, Grow Grow Grow, Super Powers Go, Super Shrinko, Blow-A-Bubble, Power Lasso, Super Squeeze, Super Lifto, Chompa Chompa Chew, Magic Go Back, Super Net Go, Blow Blow Blow, Go Slow, Lifting Wind, Water To Jelly, Helping Hand, Fireflies Unite, Super Speed, Super Clean Go, Dizzy Wind, Giant Shield Episode 1: "May the Best Berry Win": the episode is about the Biggest Chuckleberry in Treetopolis contest. Spells: Build-A-Wall, Mega Attractor Episode 2: "Squizzle Quest": a game projectile goes astray when Twigs accidentally uses the mega triple wing throw which makes the squizzle fall into Rickety McGlum's Yard. Spells: Grow Grow Grow, Super Powers Go Episode 3: "Zigzoo the Zero": Zigzoo gets tired of inventions failing. Spells: Super Shrinko, Grow Grow Grow Episode 4: "So Long Greenhorns": Tom and Twigs swap Spell School for running Ariela's ranch, and vice versa. Spells: Blow-A-Bubble, Power Lasso Episode 5: "Hide and Squeak": a game of hide and seek; Squirmtum's fear of the dark gets better for him. Spells: Super Squeeze, Super Lifto Episode 6: "Wishful Thinking": the Mushas get hold of a magic pebble. Spells: Chompa Chompa Chew, Magic Go Back Episode 7: "Zigzoo's Robot": Zigzoo builds a robot of himself that causes other problems than it solves. Spells: Super Net Go, Power Lasso Episode 8: "With Friends Like These": some go off to play Squizzle when they are supposed to be helping Squirmtuum. Puffy and Stink see a chance. Spells: Super Squeeze, Blow Blow Blow Episode 9: "Buzzworthy": bees get into the ranch. Spells: Go Slow, Lifting Wind Episode 10: "Winging It": Squirmtum tries to fly using a jetpack with wings. Spells: Water To Jelly, Helping Hand Episode 11: "Crystal Catastrophe": Treetog's casting crystal gets broken. Spells: Fireflies Unite, Super Speed Episode 12: "Fungus Among Us": the Mushas trick Tom and Twigs into making a mess of Treetog's castle. Spells: Super Lifto, Super Clean Go Episode 13: "The Big Ranch Rodeo": trouble organising a rodeo. Spells: Dizzy Wind, Giant Shield
Series 2 (3 September – 28 November 2012) Spells that appeared: Mega Mover, Super Freeze, Super Squeeze, Giant Shield, Protecto Tunnel, Super Lifto, Helping Hand, Super Shrinko, Mega Power Boost, Super Pull, Mega Push, Magic Stop, Blow Blow Blow, Super Roll, Build-A-Bridge, Power Smash, Grow Grow Grow, Super Powers Go, Super Arrow, Super Net Go Episode 14: "One for All!": Tom leads his under-performing team on a quest to find the enchanted Spells: Mega Mover, Super Freeze Episode 15: "Treefle Tom": Tom and his friends' greed for tasty treats leads to trouble. Spells: Super Squeeze, Giant Shield Episode 16: "The Great Journey": Tom and Twigs get a crash course in being ranchers as they lead an epic baby beetle drive. Spells: Protecto Tunnel, Super Lifto Episode 17: "Not So Fast": Ariela's impatience causes trouble for Tom and Treetopolis. Spells: Helping Hand, Super Shrinko Episode 18: "Hovering Humblebugs": Tom's attempts to attain perfection cause problems for the humblebugs. Spells: Mega Power Boost, Super Pull Episode 19: "Treasure Hunt": Treelings and Mushas are thrown together to compete in Treetopolis' annual treasure hunt. Spells: Giant Shield, Mega Push