LazyTown – Áfram Latibær Explained: 1996

Áfram Latibær opening.

Áfram Latibær! (English: “Go, Go, LazyTown!”) is the first LazyTown theater play, which premiered in Iceland in 1996.

The project contains early ideas and designs of what would later become the TV series that we know today. It was based on a succesful book written by Magnús Scheving in 1991.

Adapted for stage by Magnús and Baltasar Kormákur, Áfram Latibær premiered on a theatre called “Flugfélagið Loftur”. The most famous production, “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ”, debuted years later.

Today, we’ll analyse the original play and how it became well-known in the LazyTown franchise.

Premise

Sportacus talking to Stephanie

The plot of the play and the book are very similar. All the residents from LazyTown (“Latibær” in icelandic) are lazy and weak because they never exercise or eat healthy and nutritious food. They eat candy and watch TV all day. Every resident has a specific problem.

To change this situation, Sportacus arrives in LazyTown and teaches the kids how to have better and healthier lifestyles.

Characters

Here are some of the characters who were featured on the play. Most of them were previously included on the 1991 book.

The personality traits of the characters were heavily modified for the 2004 series.

Mayor Meanswell (Bæjarstórinn)

Played by Magnús Ólafsson

The well meaning mayor of LazyTown. He is very disappointed with the citizens’ lack of energy. He wants everyone to participate on a sports competition, but he struggles to convince them.

Sportacus  (Íþrótaálfurinn)

Played by Magnús Scheving

The energetic and determined elf who arrives in LazyTown to prepare the townspeople for the competition.

Stephanie  (Solla Stirða)

Played by Selma Björnsdóttir

A clumsy girl who has stiff joints due to lack of exercise. She can barely keep her balance to walk or tie her shoelaces. Despite this, she dreams of being a dancer.

Ziggy (Siggi Sæti)

Played by Steinn Ármann Magnússon

A young boy who is obsessed with candy. Despite his laziness and weakness, he dreams of being a hero like Superman.

Pixel (Goggi Mega)

Played by Jón Stefán Kristjánsson

A kid who is obsessed with technology and doesn’t moderate the time he spents with electronics. He owns a lot of devices, including: TVs, video games, VCRs and calculators. His glasses allows him to view ten screens at once.

Jives (Maggi Mjói)

Played by Sigurjón Kjartansson

A lethargic teenager who is weak and defiant due to his unbalanced diet and malnutrition. He only eats cereal, cocoa puffs and oat rings for every meal. He was considered to be included on the LazyTown TV series, but was scrapped.

Stingy (Nenni Níski)

Played by Ólafur Guðmundsson

A greedy and egocentric collector who wants to own more and more things. He claims everything for himself and is unable to share.

Soundtrack

Original soundtrack CD released by Úr söngleik in 1996

The music from Áfram Latibær was composed by Máni Svavarsson and Magnús Scheving. Each character has their own theme song. Here are some of the songs from the play:

Lífið er fúlt í Latabæ (English: “Life Is Dull in LazyTown”)

This is the first song from the theater play and it’s sung by Mayor Meanswell. The lyrics describe how Meanswell is upset with the town’s poor lifestyle. He also sings a similar downbeat song called “Öllu er lokið Latibær” (English: “It’s all over, LazyTown”).

Íþrótaálfurinn (The Sports Elf)

This cheerful song is used to introduce Sportacus to the play. The lyrics explain that all the elves are healthy and active and that Sportacus is the best role model of them. The original melody was adapted as “Welcome To LazyTown“.

“Íþrótaálfurinn” was considered to be Sportacus’ theme. However, the song “Enginn Latur í Latabæ” (“No one’s Lazy in LazyTown”) became frequently associated with him since 1999. In the TV show, many leitmotifs and variations of the melody can be heard whenever Sportacus is on screen.

Solla Stirða (Stephanie Stiff)

 

 This song is about how Stephanie laments that she can’t do simple tasks because she has painfully stiff muscles. A remixed and extended version of “Solla Stirða” was produced by Máni Svavarsson in 1999. This adaptation would later be the basis for the song “I Can Dance” from the LazyTown episode “Dancing Duel”.

Nenni Níski (Nenni the Stinge)

In his musical entrance, Stingy claims to have eighty four action figures, an elephant, a car and everything. He also states that it would be ridiculous if he shared with anyone. In the song, Stingy makes a reference to his dad. This was one of the few times that a character mentioned a parent in the LazyTown franchise.

“Nenni Níski” later evolved as “The Mine Song“, one of the most famous songs from the TV series.

Popularity

1996 newspaper article about “Áfram Latibær”

“Áfram Latibær” was the most popular stage play in Iceland between 1996 and 1997. More than 69% of the target public watched the performance and the LazyTown franchise started to become well-known in the country.

Promotional poster made to announce the debut of “Áfram Latibær”.

Sportacus also became a household name in Iceland. Magnús Scheving reprised his role of Íþrótaálfurinn for varied occasions in 1997.

Magnús Scheving (as Sportacus) with the president of Iceland and friends in 1997.

As a result of the success and positive reception of the first play, Magnús started many other projects for the LazyTown franchise, such as: a book called “Latibær í Vandræðum” (English: “LazyTown in Trouble”), a 1998 board game “Latador Hvert í Hoppandi” and an extremely popular stage play “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LazyTown scrapped characters: 1995-1999

Jives (Maggi Mjói) puppet from 1999.

Before LazyTown became a TV series in 2004, the franchise featured some characters who would later be scrapped in the series. This includes characters from the original book series and the Icelandic theater plays.

In this post, we’ll analyse some of the scrapped characters from LazyTown and their origins.

Characters from the book series: 1995-1997

The following LazyTown characters were featured in the original book series, but were scrapped in the Icelandic theater plays. Here are some notable examples:

Gústi Gamli

Gusti Gamli with Mayor Meanswell in the book “Áfram Latibær”: 1995

Gústi Gamli is an old man who appeared in a few pages of the 1995 LazyTown book “Áfram Latibær!“. He is a minor character.

Gústi Gamli was scrapped from the franchise when the first Latibær theater play premiered in 1996. Despite the stage play being based on the original 1995 book, some characters were cut and a few modifications were made on the plot.

Gusti Gamli illustration

Gusti Gamli with Stephanie (Solla Stirða)

Promotional image for the “Áfram Latibær” theater play: 1996

Eiki Eyðslúkló

Eiki Eyðslúkló illustration: 1996

Eiki Eyðslúkló (English: “Eiki Mooch”) is a money-wasting beggar. He was only featured in the second LazyTown book “Latibær á Ólympíuleikum” (“LazyTown at the Olympic Games”) from 1996. He was scrapped from the first play “Áfram Latibær”. However, he inspired “Eyrún Eyðslúkló”, a character who appeared in the stage performance.

Halli Hrekkjúsvin

Halli Hrekkjúsvin illustration from 1997.

Halli Hrekkjúsvin (“Halli Troublemaker”) is Trixie’s twin-sister in the 1997 book “Latibær í Vandræðum” (“LazyTown in Trouble”). She was featured on a few pages of the book, together with Halla (Trixie).

The idea of a twin-sister for Trixie was cut in the successful 1999 play “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ” (“Robbie Rotten in LazyTown”), which was based on “Latibær í Vandræðum”. Halli was scrapped from the LazyTown franchise and Trixie never appeared with a twin-sister since then.

Colorized illustration of Halla and Halli Hrekkjúsvin: 1997

Sportacus’ elf friends

Illustration of Sportacus with Peggí Píla and Eðvarð: 1997

In the plot of “Latibær í Vandræðum”, Sportacus (“Íþróttaálfurinn”) leaves LazyTown to visit his elf friends. Two of his friends were featured in the book: Peggí Píla and Eðvarð. They are minor characters. Sportacus’ friends were scrapped in “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ”. They were not mentioned and didn’t appear in the play.

Sportacus and Peggí Píla sneaking in Robbie Rotten’s room.

Colorized illustration of Sportacus and his friends

Characters included on the theater plays: 1996-1999

The following characters were included on the theater plays, but were scrapped in the 2004 TV series. Here are the most notable examples:

Jives Junkfood

Jives (“Maggi Mjói”) in the theater play “Áfram Latibær”: 1996

Jives is a notable example of a LazyTown scrapped character. He is a lethargic teenager who is weak and defiant due to his unbalanced diet and malnutrition. Out of all the Latibær characters who were cut from the TV series, Jives made the most appearences. He was first featured on the book “Áfram Latibær”:

Illustration of Jives and his house: 1995

Then, he was included on 1996 the theater play of same name. Jives had his own theme song “Maggi Mjói”:

Jives was played by Sigurjón Kjartansson in the first play. He was portrayed as sloppy and arrogant.

A well-known appearence was made by Jives in “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ”. In this stage performance, he was portrayed as a strong, healthy and happy boy. He also displayed some “cool” mannerisms and had catchphrases such as: “Yo!” and “Totally!” (“Þokkalega”). His updated theme song was “Aldrei gleyma því”, sung with Ziggy:

Jives was played by Gunnar Hansson in this play.

Just like the other LazyTown characters, a puppet of Jives was built by Wit Puppets in 1999. His puppet was included on the introductory video made by Wit in the same year:

 

Jives Junkfood puppet: 1999

Also in 1999, the Icelandic company “Krakkabanki” made a CGI model and an illustration of Jives:

Maggi Mjói illustrated: 1999

Maggi CGI model

In the same year, a book called “Maggi Mjói: Borðar Ekki Mat” (English: “Maggi Thin: He Doesn’t Eat His Food”) was published as part of a collection:

Cover of “Maggi Mjói: Borðar Ekki Mat”.

In 2000, the puppet of Jives was used on a TV commercial for “Íslenskt Grænmeti” (“Icelandic Vegetables”).

 

Jives was also a character in the 2001 radio play “Jól í Latabæ” (“Christmas in LazyTown”). He sung the songs “Jólin Koma” and “Jólin Biða Eftir Þér“.

The last appearence of Jives was on a LazyTown screen test from 2002. He would be scrapped from the franchise shortly before the production of the unaired pilot episode.

 

Eyrún Eyðslúkló

Eyrún in “Áfram Latibær”

Eyrún Eyðslúkló (“Penny Pestella”) is a money obsessed girl who begs people into giving her money, to immediately spend it. She evolved from “Eiki”, a recurring character from the original book series. She was only featured in “Áfram Latibær”.

Here’s a scene with Eyrún singing her theme song:

 

Haninn

“Haninn” puppet from 1999.

Haninn (“Cock-A-Little-Do” or “The Rooster”) is a rooster who acts as a narrator in the second theater play. He is the first puppet character to appear in LazyTown. He was played by Guðmundur Þór Kárason, who would later be the puppet performer and voice for Ziggy in the TV series.

Haninn was also included in promotional videos for Wit Puppets. He was considered to be featured in the 2004 TV series, but was scrapped when a younger audience started watching the show.

Other scrapped characters:

Officer Obtuse illustration: 1997

The LazyTown post officer: 1996

MayhemTown gang as seen in the second stage performance: 1999

Other LazyTown scrapped characters include: “Officer Obtuse” (“Lolli Lögga”), “Post Officer” (“Pósturinn”) and “MayhemTown Gang” (“Glaumbæjargengið”).

LazyTown’s first website – Krakkabanki explained: 1999-2003

Image from the old LazyTown website made in collaboration with Krakkabanki, in 2000. The image features the original CGI models of LazyTown characters.

The collaboration of LazyTown and the Icelandic company Krakkabanki (English: “Children’s Bank”) was an achievement for the franchise. Krakkabanki was responsable for promoving the Latibær franchise all over Iceland with inumerous products since 1999. Krakkabanki also organized many LazyTown events from the late 90s to early 2000s, such as “Lató Hagkerfi” (English: “Lazy Economy”) and the LazyTown Summer Olympics. This Icelandic organization was probably best known for creating the very first LazyTown website, which was active between early 2000 and late 2004. The website had many designs through the years.

In this post, we’ll analyse the origins of Krakkabanki and how it was important for LazyTown.

History of the company

Búnaðarbankinn logo from 2001.

Krakkabanki was affiliated with “Búnaðarbankinn”, a bank agency founded in 1930. It was also very succesful from 1997 to 2002. Krakkabanki started in the 90s and proposed to encourage children to save money. The company became extremely popular in 2000, when it involved with Latibær.

Krakkabanki logo from 2001.

Collaboration with LazyTown: 1999

Sportacus CGI model created by Krakkabanki in 1999.

Goggi Mega illustration from 1999.

Krakkabanki started promoting the Latibær franchise in 1999. At the time, the company had created CGI models and illustrations for the LazyTown characters. The original CGI was used to illustrate the cover of the “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ” (English: “Robbie Rotten in LazyTown”) CD from 1999:

Cover of the soundtrack CD “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ”: 1999

The LazyTown website: 2000

The Krakkabanki/Latibaer website design from May 2000.

CGI models of the LazyTown characters featured on the original website.

In 2000, the very first LazyTown website was created with Krakkabanki’s support. It included a brief description of the company, a session called “Latabæ skólanum” (“LazyTown school”) with interactive games, a quiz, puzzles, images to color and print, and more. According to the description, the website is for children 11 years old and younger.

“And here at the Krakkabanki you can learn a lot about money. It’s a game to learn almost everything about money.”

Promotional banner for the “Lazy Economy” event, from 2001.

Banner promoting the “Golf Day” event: 2001

Sportacus’ CGI icon: 2000

Animation, products and many more: Late 2000 and early 2001

Design from December 2000.

Krakkabanki website design from October 2001.

Kids accessing the Krakkabanki website on computers. Solla Stirða can be seen in the picture.

Between late 2000 and early 2001, Krakkabanki became a household name in Iceland. The website was accessed by many children on computers and became successful and popular. The LazyTown franchise enjoyed popularity, as well. As a result, Krakkabanki created inumerous products, organized varied events and made more animation and illustrations to promote Latibær. Here are some examples:

Sportacus (Íþróttaálfurinn) animation and new illustrations: 2000

This animation of Sportacus, then-known as “Íþróttaálfurinn” (“The Athletic Elf”), and his airship was first included on the website in December 2000. It was used as an introduction for the site’s homepage.

Some updated illustrations of the LazyTown characters were made. Here are some pictures:

Pixel (“Goggi Mega”) illustration

Stephanie (“Solla Stirða”)

Trixie (“Halla Hrekkjúsvin”)

LazyTown “money”: 2000-2002

LazyTown money (“Lató”), which was used on events from 2000 to 2002.

In 2000, Krakkabanki created the LazyTown “money”, which kids could collect to acquire healthy products. The Latibær “money” were featured on the “Lazy Economy” campaign from 2001. In addition, two Sportacus piggy banks were manufactured and sold in 2002.

LazyTown “money”: Goggi Mega edition

Sportacus backpacks: 2001

Two Sportacus backpacks were sold in 2001. The backpack was a gift that Búnaðarbankinn and Krakkabanki clients could receive it.

LazyTown bank campaign: 2001-2002

Latibær promotional image: 2001

Between 2001 and 2002, an event called “Lató Hagkerfi” (English: “Lazy Economy”) was organized. The main proposal was to inspire children to save money. In the event, kids went on a tour in Iceland, used the LazyTown money to receive healthy products and were entertained by Magnús Scheving, reprising his role of Sportacus. Some actors from the 1999 LazyTown play (“Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ”) participated on the campaing, such as: Linda Ásgeirsdóttir, who played the role of Stephanie (“Solla Stirða”). The original Ziggy puppet, built by Wit Puppets, was also featured.

Solla Stirða and Halla Hrekkjúsvin in the Lazy Economy event.

Sportacus entertaining children in the campaign.

The same campaign returned in 2003. In the same year, to celebrate the success of the event, a festival was made.

LazyTown radio program, Sportacus piggy bank and new song: 2002 and 2003

Útvarp Latibær logo from 2002.

LazyTown radio program ad with the Wit Puppets.

Promotional banner for “Radio LazyTown”: 2003

In 2002, LazyTown Entertainment launched a radio program called “Útvarp Latibær” (“Radio LazyTown”) in Iceland, which broadcasted songs from the theater plays (Áfram Latibær! and Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ) and featured educational content. It aired on FM 102.2 until early 2004.

The radio was also available online on the Krakkabanki website:

LazyTown online radio

Also in 2002, two Sportacus piggy banks were sold. The piggy banks were a huge success and were well-received by the public.

Two models of Íþróttaálfurinn piggy banks: 2002

In the same year, a TV commercial to promote the product was made:

In 2003, a song featuring Linda Ásgeirsdóttir in the role of Stephanie was created in collaboration with Krakkabanki. The song is called “Dönsum” (English: “Dancing”) and was first performed by Linda in an episode of the Icelandic TV show “Orkuboltaþættinum”.

Image made to promote the song: early 2000s.

“Dönsum” was a huge hit in the early 2000s. It was later adapted for the LazyTown TV series as “We’re Dancing” in 2004.

Here’s the original version from 2003:

 

The decline of Krakkabanki: 2004-2009

Krakkabanki design from 2006.

As Krakkabanki stopped collaborating with LazyTown, the company started other projects. The website was closed in 2009. At the time, both Krakkabanki and Búnaðarbankinn were inactive. Búnaðarbankinn evolved into a new company called “Arion Banki”. The Arion Banki website was launched in November 2009.

Arion Banki logo used since 2009.

 

 

 

The original LazyTown book series explained: 1995-1997

A collection of icelandic LazyTown books from 1999.

LazyTown (“Latibær”) started as a book series in 1995, with the publication of “Áfram Latibær!” (English: “Go, Go, LazyTown!”). The original book series was extremely popular in Iceland between 1995 and 2001. As a result, the franchise became well-known in Iceland due to the public’s interest in the books and the inumerous products that were created to promote Latibær. The succesful theater plays and the events were also responsable for the popularity.

In this post, we’ll focus on the original book series until 1997.

The first LazyTown book: 1995

Book cover of “Áfram Latibær!” from 1995.

The first book from the series is “Áfram Latibær!“, which is also the very first LazyTown material. It was written by Magnús Scheving in 1991. The most popular edition of this book was published by Æskan in 1995. The book contains the earliest designs of what would later evolve into the LazyTown TV series.

Origins of “Áfram Latibær”

Magnús Scheving (the creator of the LazyTown franchise) reprising the role of Sportacus (“Íþróttaálfurinn”) in 1997.

Magnús Scheving’s career started in his 20s, when he made a bet with a friend, Fjölnir Þorgeirsson, that each could become professional in a sport of the other’s choosing. Magnús chose snooker for Fjölnir and Fjölnir chose aerobic gymnastics for Magnús. Magnús became a champion in aerobics, just as Fjölnir became a champion in snooker.

In the early 90s, Magnús became a well-known athlete in Iceland and won many championships. In 1992, he became the Icelandic Men’s Individual Champion in aerobic gymnastics. In 1993, he became the Scandinavian champion, and also won the European championships in 1994 and 1995. He was voted Athlete of the Year in Iceland, as well. As a result of Magnús’ popularity, he was a guest in many Icelandic TV shows in the 90s. He was featured in the famous show “Á Tali hjá Hemma Gunn” between 1991 and 1993 and appeared in a cleaning product commercial in 1995. Magnús also hosted his own radio program in Iceland, with a format where parents could ask him questions about exercise and nutrition for children. As a response, Magnús wrote the book “Áfram Latibær” in 1991. Then, the LazyTown franchise was created.

The proposal of the book is to inspire children to have healthy lifestyles.

Special CD

The “Áfram Latibær” CD from 1995. The very first LazyTown CD.

“Áfram Latibær” was sold together with an exercise CD, which has two tracks (“The Wake-Up Routine” and “Station Routines”) narrated by Magnús. The tracks also include music composed by Máni Svavarsson, who previously composed background music for Magnús’ aerobics performances. Since then, Máni would be responsable for the soundtrack of LazyTown.

Characters of “Áfram Latibær”

Some characters from the 1995 book were scrapped in the later LazyTown franchise. The characters of the original book include Sportacus (The Athletic Elf), Stephanie (Solla Stiff), Ziggy (Siggi Sweet), Trixie (Halla Troublemaker), Pixel (Goggi Mega), Jives (Maggi Thin), Stingy (Nenni Stinge), Mayor Meanswell, Bessie (Stína Telephone) and Gusti Gamli. Here are some illustrations from the book:

Sportacus (Íþróttaálfurinn)

Stephanie (Solla Stirða)

Ziggy (Siggi Sæti)

Pixel (Goggi Mega)

Stingy (Nenni Níski)

Additional Information

According to the LazyTown website from 2003, “Áfram Latibær” is a book for children from 4 to 8 years old.

Popularity

Opening scene from “Áfram Latibær”: 1996

When “Áfram Latibær” was published by Æskan in 1995, the book became the best-selling children’s book and the sixth best-selling book in all categories in Iceland. The idea of the book was well-received by the public and the Latibær started to become popular. In 1996, Magnús wrote a sequel called “Latibær á Ólympíuleikum” (“LazyTown at the Olympic Games”), with a similar plot.

Book cover of “Latibær á Ólympíuleikum” from 1996.

“Áfram Latibær” was adapted for theater play by Baltasar Kormákur in the same year. Some characters from the original 1995 book such as “Gusti Gamli” (an old man) were scrapped in the stage play.

Cover of the “Áfram Latibær” VHS: 1996

Other LazyTown books

Latibær í Vandræðum: 1997

Book cover of “Latibær í Vandræðum” from 1997.

In 1997, the third LazyTown book, “Latibær í Vandræðum” (English: “LazyTown in Trouble”), was published. Two versions of the book were sold: The first version is intended for reading for children from 3 to 7 years old and is accompained with a coloring book. The other appeals to kids from 7 to 12 years old and is accompained with a sports book, which describes 40 exercises.

The earliest version of Robbie Rotten, also known as Glanni Glæpur, was featured on this book. This was an achievement for the LazyTown franchise. Here is an illustration of Robbie from the 1997 book:

Robbie Rotten (Glanni Glæpur)

“Latibær í Vandræðum” was also well-received by the public. It was the fourth best-selling book in 1997, and number one on the children’s list. It was also adapted for theater play in 1999, under the title “Glanni Glæpur í Latabæ” (English: “Robbie Rotten in LazyTown”). This stage play was responsable for the extreme popularity and stardom of the LazyTown franchise in Iceland.

Robbie Rotten (played by Stéfan Karl) also made a well-known appearence in the theater play, singing the song “Versti Fantur”: