Word: lazytown
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...started his one-man-campaign for kids' health in 1991 with the book Go, Go, LazyTown! It became a best-seller in Iceland, and other LazyTown-branded books, stage musicals and a 24-hour radio station soon followed. After 10 years establishing the brand in Iceland and Scandinavia, Scheving decided to approach Nickelodeon with the idea of a TV show. He wowed Nick exec Brown Johnson - now the network's president of animation - with an exhaustingly acrobatic pitch. "Magnus walked into the meeting on his hands. We talked for a while about the show and then he started...
...LazyTown - which is seen in over 110 countries - revolves around city residents who are constantly being tempted with junk food and idle ideas by slothful villain Robbie Rotten. In each episode, Scheving, a former aerobics champion, somersaults to the rescue and outwits the villain with acrobatics and "sports candy" - that's fruit and vegetables to you. The on-screen health battles are accompanied by high-energy Europop, with lyrics that urge young viewers to get active...
...Check out LazyTown...
...healthy-living message is clear - but not too heavy-handed. "A boy watching LazyTown will think it's an action show," says Scheving, "while a girl might think it's a dance program." Fans also love the show's vivid visuals. Shot in Gardabaer, a suburb of Reykjavik, LazyTown blends live action, puppetry and cutting-edge CGI backgrounds. Each 25-minute episode costs $800,000 - four times the average budget of a kids' show. It's a price worth paying. "By 2015, there will be more than 700 million obese people worldwide," says Scheving. "It's vital to motivate families...
...LazyTown has gone on to win millions of young fans around the world, but its impact has been felt strongest in Scheving's native Iceland (pop. 300,000). In 2004, a Sportacus-themed healthy eating drive saw fruit and vegetable sales skyrocket by 22%. The country's Surgeon General has even credited the show with halting the rise of childhood obesity. " LazyTown is the most brilliant tax-saving phenomenon," Iceland's president, Olafur Grimsson, told TIME. "The chance of these children developing obesity-related diseases - which place a burden on the health system - has been greatly reduced...