Cartoons (band)

Cartoons, also known as Cartoons DK, are a Danish Eurodance band, best known for their song "DooDah" and their cover of the 1958 novelty song "Witch Doctor", both hits released in 1998.

Cartoons
Also known as	Cartoons DK The Scooters (late 1980s–1997)
Origin	Denmark
Genres	Eurodance
Years active	1997–2001, 2005–2006, 2018–present
Labels	FLEX (1997–99) EMI Denmark (2000–06)
Members	Toonie (Peter Asferg Bernhard) Sponge (Jesper Dukholt) Shooter (Carsten Arndt-Larsson) Buzz (Thomas Rene Clausen) Puddy (Sofie Lerstrup) Boop (Ines Bukic)
Past members	Toonie (Martin Østengaard) Shooter (Erling Jensen) Buzz (Dave Stevens) Puddy (Natasja Skov) Boop (Karina Jensen)
Website	cartoons-world.com

The group wears outlandish plastic costumes and wigs in live performances as caricatures of 1950s American rock and roll stars.

History

Cartoons started out as the Scooters in the late 1980s, playing rockabilly music from the 50s and 60s. In 1994, the Scooters released the album Live at Woodstock, and in 1997, they changed their name to Cartoons. Their musical style switched from rockabilly to "technobilly", their own expression of rock and roll mixed with Eurodance; many of their songs are remakes of old rockabilly hits that they covered as the Scooters. The group was first signed to FLEX Records, moving later to EMI Denmark.

Their most notable single to date is their cover version of Ross Bagdasarian's novelty song "Witch Doctor", which reached No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.^[1] It features a combination of the original's "oo-ee-oo-ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla, bing-bang" chorus (albeit lacking the record's double-speed playback of the chorus), driving dance beat and occasional guitar breaks. The group had further success in the UK with the Top 10 hit "DooDah" (a cover version of the American folk song "Camptown Races", albeit with completely different lyrics), the Top 20 hit "Aisy Waisy", which was performed on Jim Davidson's Generation Game, and a Top 20 debut album, Toonage (later rereleased with extra tracks as More Toonage).^{[citation needed]}

The group's second album, Toontastic, did not match the success of its predecessor, but several notable hits were released from it, including "Diddley-Dee", "Little Red Ridinghood", "Big Coconuts", Lally Stott's "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep" and a reworked cover of Les Humphries Singers' "Mama Loo".^[2] The group was one of several artists to contribute to the soundtrack of the 2000 animated film Help! I'm a Fish, with the track "Wobble-Di-Bubble-Di-Doo".^[3]

Cartoons disbanded in 2001, with the reasons remaining initially unclear. Toonie and Sponge later revealed in a Danish TV interview that the group had planned a US tour, but these plans were cancelled following the September 11 attacks. The group briefly reunited in 2005 to promote their Greatest Toons album, released by CMC Entertainment, which featured three new tracks, including the single "Day Oh". They performed a number of shows throughout Europe, including appearances at Bonbonland and the Jelling Musikfestival.

In July 2016, Karina Jensen died of cancer, which she had been diagnosed with in 2012. She was survived by her husband and two children.^[4] In 2018, the group returned once again to perform at the "We Love the 90s" festival in Aalborg, Denmark. The following year, another compilation album, De Bedste, was released by Warner Music Group and X5 Music Group; it included a remix of their cover version of the Police's "De Do Do Do De Da Da Da" by Sponge. In April 2019, Erling Jensen died of lymphoma; he was 50 years old.^[5]

In 2020, the group returned to the studio with original producer Kenneth Bager to record a new single, "Shots", which was released in 2023. Later that year, they collaborated with Marnage to produce a faster version of "DooDah", titled "DooDah 2K23". As of 2024, Jesper Dukholt is the sole original member.

Members

True to their name, the personnel of Cartoons has cartoon-inspired nicknames. The line-up is:

• Toonie – lead vocals and backing vocals
• Sponge – saxophone, keyboards and bass vocals
• Shooter – lead guitar and backing vocals
• Buzz – double bass and occasional backing vocals
• Puddy – backing vocals
• Boop – backing vocals

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions									Certifications
		BEL [6]	DEN [7][8]	NLD [9]	NOR [10]	SPA [11]	SWE [12]	POR [13]	ITA [14]	UK [1]
Toonage	Released: 24 September 1998[15] Label: FLEX Formats: CD cassette Rereleased in 1999 with extra tracks as More Toonage	25	2	24	14	8	12	10	6	17	IFPI DEN: 2× Platinum[16] UK BPI: Gold[17]
Toontastic	Released: 2 May 2001[18] Label: FLEX Formats: CD cassette	—	7	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Compilation albums

List of albums, with selected chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		DEN [19]
Greatest Toons	Released: 2005 Label: CMC Formats: CD	20
De Bedste	Released: 2019 Labels: Warner Music Group X5 Music Group Formats: Digital download	—
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

Singles

As main artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing release year and album name

Year	Title	Peak chart positions													Certifications	Album
		AUS [20]	BEL [6]	DEN [21]	FRA [22]	IRE [23]	ITA [24]	NLD [9]	NZ [25]	SWE [12]	SPA [26]	GER [27]	UK [28]	EUR
1998	"DooDah"	31	5	3	—	21	9	56	31	10	19	—	7	15		Toonage
	"Witch Doctor"	—	9	—	22	2	—	12	31	13	—	68	2	11	UK BPI: Platinum[29]
	"Yoko"	—	41	—	—	—	—	—	—	51	—	—	—	—
	"Let's Go Childish"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	"Aisy Waisy"	—	—	—	—	—	—	34	—	—	—	—	16	54
	"The X-Mas Single"	—	—	9	—	—	—	—	—	43	—	—	—	—		More Toonage
2000	"Diddley-Dee"	—	—	—	—	—	40	—	—	46	—	—	—	—		Toontastic
	"Mama Loo"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2001	"Big Coconuts"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005	"Day Oh"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Greatest Toons
2023	"Shots"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album single
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.

As featured artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing release year and album name

Year	Title	Peak chart positions	Album
		DEN
1999	"Selv en dråbe" (as part of a charity single in aid of Kosovo)	1	Grænseløs Greatest
2023	"DooDah 2K23" (as part of a collaboration with Marnage)	—	Non-album single
"—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart.