Imagination Movers: Disney’s new stars

• By MICHAEL J. FARRAR
• Special to 2theadvocate.com
• Published: Oct 6, 2008 - UPDATED: 3:44 p.m.

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When Dave Poche began watching kids TV programs as a parent a few years ago, he thought something was missing -- living, breathing people. So, he and three other musician friends came together in New Orleans to create "Imagination Movers," which is now a Disney Channel TV series.

"When we started having children, we saw animated shows and puppets and 3-D graphics. There didn't seem to be a lot of live human actors out there. There didn't seem to be people you could relate to as a role model, especially male role models," said Baton Rouge-native Poche, who plays Mover Dave in the series.

The "Imagination Movers" is a four-man band that plays energetic live musical-comedy shows their Web site describes as "alt rock for kids, Beastie Boys meet Mr. Rogers, Red Hot Chili Peppers meet Captain Kangaroo."

Members include Poche (bass and vocals), Rich Collins/Mover Rich (guitar and vocals), Scott Durbin/Mover Scott (vocals and mandolin) and Scott Smith/Mover Smitty (guitar and vocals).

While the Imagination Movers may have drawn some inspiration from national children programs including "The Electric Company" and "Sesame Street," smaller home town kid shows were important to them.

In fact, they modeled "Imagination Movers" after a few early morning local shows that they watched as children.

The Imagination Movers have crafted a high-energy, fun-filled show that’s guaranteed to get any audience on it’s feet.

"When we play live, we try to get everybody up and dancing and get them involved in the show, and so for the kids it a great interactive experience." Poche said.

However, the group also aims to keep adults entertained right alongside the tikes dancing in the aisles.

"For the parents it's a little more rock concert than your usual kids show, so I think that by combining those two we're able to get everybody involved," Poche said.

A major part of the broad appeal is the music, which has definite New Orleans influences, according to Smith, who loves performing in his trademark cowboy hat.

"To lay down some funky songs and then have kids really get into it, not knowing that maybe that has a lot to do with the Meters or the Nevilles, or some ’80s stuff like the Clash or Big Audio Dynamite -- I think that's a lot of fun." Smitty said.

The band has plenty of songs about kid and family interests, including "I Want My Mommy," "Please and Thank You," "Clean My Room" and "Warehouse Mouse," which is also the name of a lovable puppet that is part of the act.