Boohzone

The main setting of Boohbah is the Boohzone, a giant, colourful area full of bubbles and spirals which is where the Boohbahs live.

Information

After visiting two or three countries at the beginning of the show, the Boohball lands on a hill and forms the Boohzone. The Boohbahs can usually be found here, dancing and exercising at the bottom centre of the zone or flying all over the area.

Appearance and locations

The Boohzone is located on a grassy hill and is decorated with many colourful bubbles, some of which have the ability to light up and some of which are surrounded by fibre optic rings. Many of the bubbles high above ground level float in-between the curls of a magic spiral winding around the perimeter of the zone.

The Pit

In the centre of the zone is a modestly shallow pit, which is connected to a candy-like path which spirals down into the pit. When the Boohbahs are in the zone, the pit becomes an area where they can play and move around in; otherwise, the bottom of the pit is occupied by a rainbow swirl. This swirl often looks, and seems to behave, like an actual pool of water or a water fountain (as seen in the present giving segment).

When the Boohbahs do a warm-up here, the entire area is mostly white in colour (although the background does take on either a pale blue or pink tint). In most of the dance sequences, the background is blue and the pit remains mostly white; occasionally, the area will take on a different colour scheme, such as orange, purple, pink, etc.

If the Boohbahs aren't around, then children can walk down the path, place a "present for the Storypeople" into the pit, and send it to them via letting a massive beam of light lift the present up into the Boohball.

The rainbow swirl in the pit

The Boohbahs in their pit

The pit is awash in a swirly rainbow shower when it's time for the Boohbahs to leave

Boohball

Suspended at the very top of the zone is the Boohball, the glowing ball the Boohbahs use to travel. The ball is also the place where the present the children give the Storypeople, who are introduced not long afterward, ends up.

The Boohbahs flying out of the Boohball into the zone...

...and later out of the zone into the Boohball

Trivia

• Like the Boohball, the zone has a floor, but no actual walls or ceiling (in some shots taken above-ground, the "real" world and the sky can be seen outside).
• The Boohball always floats in place at the top of the zone (unless it's closing time), because it controls, forms, and is responsible for the zone (the zone is never around without the Boohball, because it would suddenly disappear right away if the ball wasn't on top).
• When the Boohball builds the zone and when the zone disappears as the ball resumes travelling the world, the hoops around the perimeter of the zone are multicoloured, but when the zone has been fully formed, they are more bluer in hue.
• Most shots of the main body of the Boohzone as well as the swirl that appears as it forms are rendered in CGI, but the warm-up, present giving, and dance segments are all shot on physical live-action sets. Two such sets were made: one of the zone's pit (built to scale with the Boohbahs) and one of the zone itself (built to scale with the live people who appear in the present giving sequences).

Behind the Scenes

Both of the Boohzone sets were designed by a crew of freelance set builders, and were primarily made out of plastic platforms. Shots that would have been too hard to achieve using only live-action were instead achieved via CGI backgrounds and chroma key.

After all the Boohbah sequences were shot, a model of one of the Boohzone sets (presumably used as a reference when building the full-scale equivalent) was put on display in the Ragdoll Shop in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. It remained there for a short period of time before the shop shut down in 2005.