Pingu

Pingu
Pingu Series 3 and 4 title screen
Genre	Stop motion/Childrens/Comedy
Created by	Otmar Gutmann
Written by	Silvio Mazzola
Starring	Carlo Bonomi (series 1-4) Marcello Magni and David Sant (series 5-6)
Composer(s)	Pygos Group
Country of origin	Switzerland
No. of seasons	Original series: 4 Revived series: 2 6 (total)
No. of episodes	Original series: 105 Revived series: 52 157 (total) (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	Approximately five minutes per episode or 30 for the movie
Production company(s)	Trickfilmstudio Otmar Gutmannn SRG/ZRG/Telepool/Editoy< (1986-1996) The Pygos Group (1998) HiT Entertainment (2003-present) Hot Animation (2004-2006)
Distributor	SF DRS (1986-1998), BBC Two (2003 - 2006 - present)
Broadcast
Original channel	SF DRS (Switzerland) BBC Two CBBC (1986-2002) TCC (1994) CBeebies (2003-present) (United Kingdom)
Original run	May 26, 1986 (1986-05-26) – November 30, 2006 (2006-11-30)
External links
Website

Pingu is a British-Swiss stop-motion claymated television series created by Otmar Gutmann. The series was produced by The Pygos Group and Trickfilmstudio for Swiss television, and centres on a family of anthropomorphic penguins living at the South Pole. The main character is the family's son and title character, Pingu.

The show originally ran for four seasons from 1986 to 1998 on SF DRS. Two episodes, produced in 1998, did not air during the original run. The episodes were run later, in 1999, as part of a Pingu marathon. However, HiT Entertainment's request for more episodes convinced Pygos to bring back the show in 2004, with two more series.

Background

The program is set in Antarctica and centres around penguin families who live and work in igloos. The main character, Pingu, belongs to one such family. He frequently goes on adventures with his little sister, Pinga, and often gets into mischief with his best friend, Robby the Seal.

One reason for Pingu's international success is the mix of Swedish and Swiss human languages. Some dialogue is in a loud honking "penguin language", and was initially retroscripted by Carlo Bonomi, who created all the sound effects for the series. This feature allows people of different linguistic backgrounds to still be able to follow the story.

History

A total of 157 five-minute episodes were originally made, from 1986 to 1998, and then again from 2004 to 2005. The episodes were written by Silvio Mazzola and were directed and animated by Otmar Gutmann using clay animation, at Trickfilmstudio in Russikon, Switzerland.

In 1993, David Hasselhoff released (in Switzerland only) the single "Pingu Dance", a rap song based on the Pingu shorts and featuring samples of Penguinese. A portion of this song is used as the theme to Pingu in international airings, and was also heard in the new version of the "Pingu Looks After the Egg" episode and replaced the "Woodpeckers From Space" song from the original version. The original theme remains in some international airings, including on BBC's Cbeebies.

A special twenty-minute episode, "Pingu at the Wedding Party", was also produced in 1997, and introduced a family of green penguins.

In 2001, HiT Entertainment bought the UK rights to the series, including the original 105 episodes, for £15.9 million and remade all the classic episodes in 2002. The original cartoon title card (series 1 and 2) of the show was replaced with a claymated inspiration (series 3 and 4) of the intro, and the music is half of the Pingu Dance single. Carlo Bonomi reprises his roles, and these versions are the only versions broadcasting today. Later, HiT decided to bring back the show, and produced a further 53 episodes, created at Hot Animation Studios in 2004, continuing in stop motion but using resin casts of the original clay puppets which had deteriorated by this time. Cbeebies airs only the original version of Pingu with the original cartoon title card (series 1 and 2) from 53 episodes, and shows 13 episodes from series 3 with the claymated inspiration intro. Contrary to some sources, there was never any CGI used in these later episodes. When Bonomi's non-English language became a problem, he was replaced with new voice actors Marcello Magni and David Sant. Magni and Sant, Italian and Spanish actors based in London, both have a mime and clowning background and were already aware of the clown language of "Grammelot" on which the penguin language was based. In 2006, after the last episode aired, Pingu finally ended its 20-year run on TV.

Pingu first aired in the United States on Cartoon Network's Sunday morning omnibus program Small World, which featured various cartoon shorts produced internationally, from 1996 until the show's discontinuation in 2001. The show returned to America in 2005, when episodes began to air on PBS Kids Sprout. On April 11, 2010, HiT Entertainment removed Pingu from the Sprout schedule due to low ratings.^{[citation needed]}

Pingu has also been a mainstay of the children's programming blocks on TVOntario since the mid-1990s.

In 2006, Pingu was featured in a music video for Eskimo Disco's first single, "7-11". Also in 2006, pop icon Madonna told Swedish talk show host Kristian Luuk that she considered Pingu, and television in general, to be a bad influence on children.

In India, Pingu was aired by Doordarshan in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since 2000, it is aired by Hugama TV and Animax.

In Japan, Pingu currently airs as part of NHK's children's program Nyanchu's World, and also on Cartoon Network Japan. Toys in the likeness of Pingu characters also featured in Japanese KFC restaurants as part of their Kids' Meal.

In the UK, Pingu was featured in the Children In Need 2009 video by Peter Kay, which contained many other popular characters. This was shown on live television across the UK, and then sold on both CD and DVD.

A Japan-only game made for the Nintendo DS , Pingu no Waku Waku Carnival ("Pingu's Wonderful Carnival") was made by Square Enix and released in November 2008. This game is a series of mini games starring Pingu and his friends, including one in which Pingu's mother and father bake a heart-shaped cake, with the gameplay style resemblant to that of Cooking Mama.

Another game for the Nintendo DS is [Fun Fun Pingu]. Little is known about the storyboard, though.

Pingu aired in New Zealand on TV3 from 1997 to 2006, and on Four beginning in 2011.

In Canada, the show aired between programs during lunchtime hours on YTV from 2004 until 2006. It can still be seen on TV in that country since APTN airs "The Pingu Show" as part of its morning children's programming block "APTN Kids", and the show is available in English and French language versions. Some of the controversial episodes, such as "Pingu Quarrels With His Mom" and "Little Accidents", have aired uncut on APTN Kids.

Episode lists

• Alphabetic list of Pingu episode titles (includes alternative titles)
• Lists of Pingu episodes with synopses - series 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • Pingu at the Wedding Party

Notes

• Derivation of episode titles

No official episode title appears on screen, so the lists were initially created from the titles used on various official DVD releases. The main episode titles for series 1 to 4 were taken from the official Japanese DVD releases and the alternative titles from the official European DVD releases. Episode titles for series 5 and 6 were taken from the European DVD releases.

Changes have subsequently been made to these titles to bring them more into line with English usage and practice (e.g. to correct spelling and grammar) and to relate them to the titles used on UK DVDs produced by HIT Entertainment. Alternative titles have also been appropriately added, amended, etc. Title data have also been supplemented with information from other sources, such as the titles used by the BBC for television broadcasts and on video tapes.

• BBC broadcasts

In the UK, the BBC appears never to have broadcast any of the normal 5-minute episodes from the latter half of series 3 (3.14 – 3.26) or from series 4 (4.1 – 4.26). However, all the episodes from the latter half of series 3 (3.14 - 3.26) have been featured on BBC produced videos. Of the episodes that have been broadcast, all have been broadcast since September 4, 2006 inclusive.

Since 2007, in addition to standalone episodes the BBC and APTN in Canada have been showing The Pingu Show ("Pingu welcomes viewers to his secret whale-shaped funhouse for a show packed with brand new sketches, two classic episodes, narrated by Marc Silk and the chance to learn more about the amazing world of penguins in Penguin Facts").

DVD and VHS releases

Main article: List of Pingu DVD and VHS releases

Characters

These are some of the characters appearing in Pingu.

• Pingu is the title character of the series. In the beginning of the series, he was five years old,^{[citation needed]} and is six years old by the end of the series.^{[citation needed]}. His catchphrase is "Nug, Nug!!" if he makes a megaphone shaped like beak sound to indicate anger, happiness, frustration or to get attention. Pingu can also change his shape (for instance, he can morph into a ball) and increase his height.

• Pinga is Pingu's baby sister. She first appeared in the episode "The New Arrival". In all of series 1 and early series 2 episodes she appears as a baby. In series 3 and early in series 4 she is two years old, however, as series 4 progresses, she becomes three years old. It has been shown in some episodes that she can also roll into a ball. Regardless of her age, her movement differs between walking upright and crawling.

• Mother and Father are Pingu and Pinga's parents. Father is a postman who smokes a pipe in early episodes, but quits later on. He has a Snowcat to deliver the mail with help from Pingu. Mother spends most of her time cooking and does all the work in the home. Mother sometimes gets help from Pingu and Pinga, and she always gives them a cuddle. Mother and Father's given names are never revealed.

• Grandfather is Pingu and Pinga's paternal grandfather. He is an expert accordionist, as demonstrated in the episode "Pingu & the Braces". He is also a former professional weight lifter and political activist from 1938.^{[citation needed]} He first appeared in the episode "Music Lessons".

• Bruce is a homeless man who owns a barrel organ who is occasionally helped by neighbors, or by Pingu. He first appeared in "Pingu and the Barrel Organ", and "Pingu the Chef".

• Robby is Pingu's best friend. His name is a pun; "Robbe" is German for "Seal". In the first four series, he is mixed blue and gray but in the last two series he is light gray in color. He first appeared in the episode "Pingu Goes Fishing", in which Pingu and Robby fight over the fish Pingu is trying to catch, but make up by end of the episode.

• Pingo is a friend of Pingu. He has a long beak, essentially flat at the bottom but slightly rounded on the top, and his head is wider and taller. He is a bit of a daredevil and often persuades Pingu to do wild and silly things with him.

• Pingg(also known as Pinge) is a friend of Pingu. He also has a long beak, but a shorter head than Pingo. In some episodes he is also with Pingo, except in the episodes "Pingu's Disadvantage" and "Green Eyed Pingu".

• Pongi is a friend of Pingu who wears glasses and has a short round beak. He first appeared in the episode "Ice Hockey".

• Punki(also known as Punky) is also one of Pingu's friends. He first appeared in the episode "Pingu Delivers The Mail". He has a tuft on his head and wears striped trousers. He appears in only a handful of episodes.

• Bajoo is also one of Pingu's friends. He is revealed by HiT Entertainment as a "strange newcomer to the Antarctic in the appearance of an abominable snowman!" He debuted in 2005, and appeared in the last Pingu episode, "Pingu & the Abominable Snowman". He also appeared in the music video and in "The Pingu Show", which is a broadcasting device and not an episode by itself.

• The Schoolmaster is Pingu's teacher. He lives in a nearby school and rings the bell when it is time for school to begin or end. He first appeared in the episode "School Time" and he appears primarily in episodes involving Pingu at school.

• Pingi is Pingu's love interest and Pinga's friend. She has thick, white eyelashes and a somewhat mushed beak. She first appeared in the episode "Pingu's Admirer". Pinga is sometimes jealous of Pingi because Pingu pays more attention to Pingi than to her.

• Seagull is the mischievous seagull that first appeared in the episode "Pingu and the Seagull". It steals fish from Pingu in the episode "Pingu and the Strangers". In a later episode, "Pingu and the Mother Bird", Pingu helps it feed its children. It sometimes annoys Pingu by squawking at him.

• Pengy is Pingu's classmate that most notably appears in the season 2 episode "Pingu on the School Excursion". He is Pingg/Pinge's best friend and he also appears in other episodes involving Pingu at school. "Pengy" is an unofficial name, given to the character by fans of the series.

• Inflatable Chair is Pingu's chair full of air that appears in "Pingu and the Barrel Orgain", "Pingu Finishes the Job", and "Pingu and the New Scooter". It has patches that keep the chair inflated.

• Giant Walrus/Leapord seal is the creature that tried to capture Pingu in "Pingu's Dream". It tried putting the igloo on and off, stretching and squashing Pingu and eating his mattress like a chocolate bar, only to have Pingu and his bed run away. "Pingu's" Dream was banned due to the walrus/leapord seal because it had a frightening design, voice and moustache. Its only appearance is in "Pingu's Dream".

Awards

• 1987 Berlin Film Festival (Kleinan Baren)
• 1989 International Children's Festival (Best short film)
• 1991 Prix Jeunesse (Best children's show, Runner-up)
• 1998 BMG Video International (Video sales +1 mil.)
• 2005 Stinky Pingu at Indies (Best animation)
• 2005 Pingu & the Band NY International Children's Film Festival (Audience Award)
• 2005 Stinky Pingu Prix danube (Adult mention)
• 2006 Stop-motion shows that rocked your world (Audience award)

External links

• Official website
• Toonopedia article
• Pingu at the Internet Movie Database
• Pingu at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Pingu at the Open Directory Project