Yo Gabba Gabba! is back! Get ready to venture to Yo Gabba Gabbaland! to rejoin old friends Muno, Foofa, Plex, Brobee and Toodee, and meet a brand new friend, magician Kammy Kam.
13-year-old actress and dancer Kamryn Smith joins the fun in a new imagining of the magic of Yo Gabba Gabba!, with an expanded terrain packed with even more music, dances, and fun for preschoolers that gets the whole family off their feet and moving while guiding the littlest among us to their early childhood milestones and through challenges and concepts like sharing, taking turns, and being a good friend.
The original, Daytime Emmy Award-winning Yo Gabba Gabba! has amassed immense popularity since its premiere in 2007, and has grown to a fanbase that has garnered over 1.2 billion views on YouTube in recent years. With a fresh update, a new younger host, and even more original songs and dances, the new iteration is sure to woo a new generation of children into a world of fantasy, friendship, and fun.
We caught up with Kamryn Smith just ahead of the premiere of Yo Gabba Gabbaland! on Apple TV+ to talk all things Gabba magic.
ESSENCE: Congratulations on your new show! How did you become the new face of the Yo Gabba Gabba! universe?
SMITH: We were working on job out in Arizona and the co-creators of Yo Gabba Gabba! [Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz] happened to be on the set. And one of them comes up to my mom and he’s like, “is this your daughter? She’s amazing, and I think she’d be a good fit for Yo Gabba Gabba!“And my mom was like, “wait, that’s crazy,” because me and my brother used to watch that show when we were little.
So like many children, you grew up with the original songs, dancey-dances, and fun of Yo Gabba Gabba! How does it feel to fill the shoes of DJ Lance Rock for a new generation of fans in Yo Gabba Gabbaland?
SMITH: It’s so weird seeing myself as a character that I’ve known [since youth]. I love tapping into a younger side of myself, creating Gabba magic, and just being with the Gabba family.
For those who watched between 2007 and 2015 and are now about to watch your version of the adventures of Tootie, Brobee, Foofa, Muno, and Plex, what is different from then to now?
I think some things that are different are new host, new adventures we’re going on, new ways we’re getting there. We’re trying to just show kids that they can do anything, but it’s still very silly and not so serious. For instance, sometimes Toodee will have temper tantrums, and we show ways how you fix those things.
I feel like this shows kids how to be different. It means more to me, because I wasn’t always a “normal” kid. I wouldn’t always fit in. I was always different and I would always have friends that would judge me and all that. So I want to show kids that it’s okay. You’ll find friends that will love you. And even if they don’t like “okay, bye.”
Do you have a favorite episode from this first season?
This is kind of hard! I love all of them, but I really love “Make It Up,” because it’s when the characters are making their own things and going with the flow to make their own little science experiments. And then that’s also the episode when I perform my song that I like. It’s my rap song and it’s pretty fun.
Of course, the Yo Gabba Gabba! universe is known for its celebrity guests. Are there any particular guests that you were really excited to work with during season one?
I would definitely say Thundercat! He was really cool.
Yo Gabba Gabbaland! premieres on Apple TV+ on August 9th. Check out a clip from the first episode, featuring an original guest song from Anderson.Paak below: