Puppeteer Paul Ashley controlled his movements, along with those of the "great Mexican catador", called El Squeako Mouse—a takeoff on the idea of a mouse dueling with a cat rather than a bull.

They joined in singing the theme song, proclaiming at the beginning of each show, "Who is the boy who is full of zip and joy?

A regular feature was the "Quiz-a-Rootie", in which audience members received prizes for themselves and home viewers for answering simple questions.

In January 1995, Ira Gallen resurrected the puppet characters for The New Rootie Kazootie TV Show, a series broadcast on Manhattan's Time-Warner cable outlet.

Numerous items of related merchandise, including toys, games, and hand puppets, were produced, many of which are available today as sought-after collectibles.

A half-hour ABC episode from May 29 or 30, 1953, involving the character Poison Zoomack using a "very powerful magnet" has been released in several public-domain compilations and can be viewed at the Internet Archive.