Oobi: Dasdasi

The main characters are a family of five: a boy and a girl, their parents, and their grandfather.[2] The kids are mischievous and like to play tricks on their parents and each other; they are impressionable, easily amused, and known for frequently daydreaming. However, they are also genuinely curious about the world. They often ask their parents about science topics, like perception and the four seasons. Other times, they are interested in sillier things, like how to buy ice cream or play a mimicking game. No matter the episode's topic, the kids always learn about it in an awkward and humorous way.

The stories are eight minutes each with two or three intermissions. The intermissions are transition scenes in which a duo of puppets, called the Palms, have short adventures that relate to the episode's topic.[3] They are sometimes joined by their friend Finger.

• Amir Soltan Ahmadi
• Negar Estakhr
• Bahador Maleki
• Banafsheh Samadi
• Isa Yousefipour

Negar Estakhr produced the series and Amir Soltan Ahmadi directed it.[4] After watching the original American version of Oobi, Estakhr pitched the idea of an Iranian version to IRIB TV2; she explained, "I accidentally saw a program called Oobi and I really enjoyed it... Of course, on Oobi, the hands had no coverings, but we designed clothes for the hands."[1] Estakhr's pitch focused on how Oobi had been successful with audiences in America and other international markets.[5] IRIB told them to move forward with the show and the production team arranged sets and props. The Iranian crew added distinctive clothing, like Arab garments for the adult characters, to localize the puppet costumes.

Estakhr and Ahmadi hired veteran puppeteers from Kolah Ghermezi, one of Iran's longest-running puppet series.[6] They cast male puppeteers with wide hands for the father and grandfather puppets, and female puppeteers with small hands for the children and women puppets.[5] After assembling the cast, the actors held an impromptu photo shoot with their hand puppets to develop an understanding of their characters. Amirali Razaghi was hired to produce the show's music; he is a film score composer who previously worked as a music teacher at the Tehran University of Art.[7]

The five main characters are represented by bare-hand puppets with eyes and accessories. The Palms characters are represented by upright hands with faces on the palms. The Finger character is represented by a male little finger with a brown wig.

The series was first announced in January 2012 when IRIB added it to the upcoming series section of its website.[8] During filming, the writers worked closely with a think tank of IRIB staff members who ensured that each episode included the right blend of family-friendly humor.[1] Production started on 21 May 2012 and ended on 20 September.[9]

The first episode aired on 22 September.[9] From then until 20 December, a new episode premiered once per day from Saturday to Thursday each week.[10] Premieres were aired at 10:00 am, with an encore at 5:30 pm. Episodes were not broadcast on Fridays because Friday is a non-working day in Iran and the IRIB's children's block does not run. Reruns have continued to air in these time slots, but they are no longer played every weekday.

In July 2013, the series was screened and pitched to international broadcasters at a conference held by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union.[11] The Japanese station NHK obtained distribution rights for the series in Japan.[11] It also aired in several Southeast Asian territories: Kuwait, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.[12][13]

• Oobi: Dasdasi at IMDb