Rastamouse

Rastamouse
BBC and Sony Pictures Television Present Rastamouse
Genre	Children's Animated
Created by	Genevieve Webster Michael De Souza
Starring	Reggie Yates Sharon Duncan Brewster William Vanderpuye and Cornell John
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	104
Production
Running time	11 minutes
Production company(s)	Three Stones Media Ltd Dinamo Little Roots DHX Media Sony Pictures Television International
Release
Original network	BBC
Picture format	16:9
Original release	31 January 2011 (2011-01-31) – 15 June 2015 (2015-06-15)

Rastamouse is a British animated stop motion children's TV series created by Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza and produced by Three Stones Media/The Rastamouse Company for CBeebies.

The show follows crime busting mouse reggae band Da Easy Crew, who split their time between making music and solving mysteries for Da President of Mouseland.

The first 26 episodes of the initial series were shown in the afternoon beginning 31 January 2011 on CBeebies, a UK BBC channel. From 7 March 2011, the programme was repeated in the early mornings, on BBC2. The second series, comprising a further 26 episodes, started on 11 July 2011. The third series, comprising the final 26 episodes, began on CBeebies 23 March 2015.

The series features an all-mouse reggae band, Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew who play music at the 'Nuff Song Studio' when they're not solving mysteries for the President of Mouseland. All the characters speak with a Jamaican accent.

Rastamouse first appeared in 2005 in the children's books Rastamouse and the Crucial Plan and Rastamouse Da Bag-a Bling. A third book, Rastamouse and the Double-Crossin' Diva, was published in 2006. The stories were written by co-authors Genevieve Webster, an author and illustrator, and Michael De Souza, who is a Rastafarian swimming instructor. They are written in rhyme and contain a Caribbean accent and some Jamaican Patois terms. A pop song, "Ice Popp", was released in 2011.

Lenny Henry has read two of the stories, The Crucial Plan and Da Bag-a Bling, for the BBC's Jackanory Junior, which was first shown in January 2008.

The stories emphasise the importance of solving problems through mutual understanding, love and respect, and without resorting to punishment. Rastamouse's ethos is redemption and not retribution — "make a bad ting good" — helping wrong-doers to redeem themselves from their mistakes.