Yo Gabba Gabba Origins!

Last night, loyal fans of Yo Gabba Gabba packed the Cinefamily Theater in Los Angeles to witness a phenomenal show titled "Yo Gabba Gabba Origins". Hosted and organized by Kevin Sukho Lee and Lance Robertson (DJ Lance Rock), fans were treated to an inside peek of the roots of Yo Gabba Gabba that possibly only close family members of the show's creators might have known about.

As the audience packed into the sold out theater, we enjoyed watching many of the Yo Gabba Gabba cast and crew show up to support the presentation. DJ Lance was instantly approached by fans for pictures and autographs, and he very cheerfully obliged. In fact, all of the cast and crew were extremely friendly and accessible, lingering in the crowd before the show. It was fun to watch them greet and hug each other, because it only cements the feeling you get that Yo Gabba Gabba is created by people who consider each other family. In fact, I recall a time when those of us behind Gabbafriends.com were invited to the set of Yo Gabba Gabba. During the lunch time festivities, Gabbafriends Admin Mike said, "Wow, do you realize these people are at WORK?! Like, this is what they do all day." A thoughtful commentary regarding the truly tangible camaraderie among the cast and crew of Yo Gabba Gabba.

The show began with a brief intro by Lee and Robertson, followed by a clip show featuring several children's television programs from the 1970's and 1980's such as Today's Special and New Zoo Revue. While watching the clip show, one could not help but pick out many similarities to Yo Gabba Gabba. Christian Jacobs pointed out after the clip show that the shows from that era were "rich with culture and heritage" that today's children's programming is lacking, and that he wanted to bring that back to the consciousness of children today.

From l to r: Scott Schultz, Christian Jacobs, Lance Robertson, Kevin Sukho Lee

We were then treated to the story about exactly how Yo Gabba Gabba came to be, from the forming of Scott Schultz's and Christian Jacobs' friendship at age 16, to the very first crude demo of Yo Gabba Gabba, to (now Executive Producer) Jon Berrett viewing the demo and believing in it, to the pilot going viral on YouTube, to Nickelodeon eventually picking up the series. It was the real guts of Yo Gabba Gabba... a very enlightening insight to this brilliant series.

I could barely wait one minute more to view the original demo reel, and though the audience was asked very politely not to publish any pictures from the demo reel (it will all come to light in due time, don't worry!), all I can say is that it made my jaw drop at the sight of the original characters and to realize how far they have come in such a short time. Believe me when I tell you that the people who work in production at Yo Gabba Gabba are without a doubt some of the most talented in the industry.

We also got to see several unaired clips from season three and reminisce with clips from season one and two. It was interesting to learn that "Try It, You'll Like It" was the first ever Yo Gabba Gabba song, among many other fun little facts!

The show wrapped up with a question and answer segment, and boy did I bring back some interesting information for you!

First off, if you're wondering about the touring dates for Yo Gabba Gabba Live!, it has been confirmed that there is a minimum of 60 dates to begin this fall!

The other bit of news I wanted to bring back for you is about how Yo Gabba Gabba casts children. This is one of the top questions people ask us at Gabbafriends.com. Before Yo Gabba Gabba became the huge hit that it is, they cast children of family and friends. Now they use formal auditions, but mainly to see if your children will be able to perform in front of cameras. The creators of the show pointed out that sometimes children will want to be on the show, but will freeze when cameras and strangers look on. So it's not a scary audition, in other words, they're not reciting Hamlet!

After the show, the cast and crew stuck around for pictures and autographs.

Julia Vickerman (Storyboard Artist) and Jarond Gibbs (Musician)

Tyler Jacobs (Creative Design Consultant), Adolfo Moffo (Production Assistant), and Kevin Sukho Lee (Animation Producer)

Co-Creator, Scott Schultz, signs autographs.

Rebecca Richards aka "Mombat" (proud mom of Christian, Parker, and Tyler Jacobs), Parker Jacobs (Art Director), and Joel Fox (Visual Effects)

Anna Hundtoft (Foofa actress), David Crespin (Muno actor), Charme Morales (Toodee actress)

Big thanks to Kevin Sukho Lee and Lance Robertson for putting on such an amazing program! We hope there will be more like this to come!

If you are in Los Angeles and want to be in attendance to some of the other shows within the Big Blue Marble Series, check the schedule by clicking HERE and don't miss out! Surely you'll get to high five Lance Robertson and Kevin Sukho Lee, too!