''Curucuru and Friends'' (; also known as ''Tales of Greenery'' or ''The Family of Greenwood'' ()) is a 2006

stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

series animated by Ffango Entertoyment (Now Comma Studios), primarily aimed for

preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary sch ...

ers. It is officially Ffango's first original stop motion animated series, directed by Jung Hye-On and written by both Yi Jeong-Geun and Jang Eun-Ju with character designs by Jin Hyo-Jung. The first season is aired

KBS1 The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, ...

from November 24, 2006 to February 16, 2007, with a total of 13 episodes. A second season, made after the rights transfer, is then produced and aired in China, produced in a joint collaboration between Zhejiang Chinese Cartoon Co. and Beijing Pan Gaowen media Ltd from September 2013 to February 2014, with a total count of 26 episodes. A movie sequel titled ''Curucuru and Friends: The Rainbow Tree Forest'' () was released on Korean theaters on November 19, 2015. A third season of the series was released in 2016.

Story

Season 1

The story is set in a village called Green Forest Village, where is inhabited by friendly animals. The story were focused on 5 special animal friends whose friendship binds them together, Koori: A brown

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

boy and an aspiring inventor, Pinpin: A blue and white giant panda boy and a warm hearted artist, Lalla: a pink

Tabby cat A tabby is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a distinctive 'M'-shaped marking on its forehead; stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail; and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, d ...

girl and an aspiring musician who wishes to be a princess, Toto: a purple

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most ...

boy who wants to be a pilot and fly and lastly; Curucuru, a

brown bear The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is ...

boy who likes to cook. All of them venture through several adventures in the forest and town, making exciting and marvelous stories and also getting in and out of trouble as they learn valuable lessons in life and things around them.

Season 2

Around the second season, the story revolves around the kids trying to foil the troublemaking duo Archie, a gray

jackrabbit Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...

boy and Dangdang, a brown monkey boy who were trying to cause trouble in the Green Forest Village.

The Rainbow Tree Forest

The movie takes place between Seasons 1 and 2. The Green Forest Village hosts a festival in celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the large tree growing in the middle of the village. While Curucuru and his friends are helping in the festival, they learned that tree's vitality is due to a legendary item call the Pingya, which gives it Eternal Love and Life. But in the midst of the festival, a bunch of Pirate Hyenas came to the village and stole the legendary item, causing the tree to wilt. Now it's up to Curucuru and his pals to get it back from the pirates, before things can go worse. But amidst the actual troubles they face, the kids also encounter a strange Tiger child, who is connected to the incident.

Cast

Curucuru () : Voiced by: Choe Mun-Ja (Season 1), Jo Hyeon-jeong (Movie) The series's main protagonist, Curucuru is a

boy who likes to cook but sometimes has tendencies to get hungry and eat anything. Despite being big, he's very lazy, sleepy and sometimes lack courage and tenacity but despite all of these, he is always supportive to all of his friends. He is also a very slow runner and has problems with his weight. He is best friends with Toto. Koori () : Voiced by: Jeon Tae-Yeol (Season 1), Bak Sin-hee (Movie) Koori is a brown

boy who is well known as the town's aspiring inventor. Usually prideful, smart and always brags, his creations were a hit and miss when it comes to success. Somehow he never gives up on inventing and impressing his friends. He has a little sister named Haru and is also the oldest of the two siblings. Lalla () : Voiced by: Hong Yeong-Lan (Season 1), Lee So-eun (Movie) Lalla is a pink

girl and the only female member of the group, who is the village's aspiring singer. She likes to dance and perform but also doesn't want her private stuff to be touched. She's very posh, likes attention and likes to be pretty, but also very kind to her friends. She lives with her mother and shown to collect various types of dolls and cute stuff. Pinpin () : Voiced by: Choe Jeong-Ho Pinpin is a blue and white giant panda boy who likes to paint and draw, considered as the Picasso of the Greenery Forest. He likes to paint and draw, thought sometimes has a hard time finding inspiration. He is very calm and also has a kind heart to everyone, thought also gets rather scared and saddened easily. He lives with his parents and often seeks advise to his grandfather, who lives near the lake. Toto () : Voiced by: Gim Ok-Gyeong (Season 1), Yuri Seo (Movie) Toto is a purple

boy who wishes to fly and also likes to become a pilot. The youngest member of the group, he is very curious, inquisitive and also very adventurous. However, for these traits, he can be very mischievous and sometimes stubborn on things. Despite being a bat, he somehow can't fly due to the lack wings. He is best friends with Curucuru. Archie () : One of the characters debuting in season 2, Archie is a light gray

boy who causes trouble to the children in the Green Forest Village. He is always accompanied by Dandan on their schemes. Dangdang () : Also a character debuting in season 2, Dandan is a brown monkey boy who also causes trouble to the children in the Green Forest Village. He always adores Archie on building up schemes.

Episodes

Season 1 (2006-2007)

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Season 2 (2013-2014)

Season 3 (2016)

Development

Originating as a pilot film in 2003, the series officially greenlited into an animated series in 2004 The series's development first began back in 2003 after the Ffango animation studio is renamed into Ffango Entertoyment. The series began as a pilot film selected by the

Korea Creative Content Agency The Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) is a South Korean government agency which is affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and is charged with governing cultural content. As part of its partnership the Export-Import Bank ...

and Seoul Movie took interest in the series which got officially greenlited in 2004, with Government Donation and support by the Gyeonggi Digital Content Agency. In 2005, the series became one of KOCCA's Star Project and aired a year later on Korean Broadcasting System in November 24, 2006. The series was also broadcast in mainland China by China Central Television in 2008 under the name ''The Family of Greenwood''. The second season is aired from September 2013 to February 2014 with support from both the

China Film Group China Film Group Corporation (CFGC), is the largest, most influential film enterprise in the People's Republic of China, owned by the Publicity Department of the Chinese Communist Party. According to ''Forbes'', it is a state monopoly that al ...

and Guangdong Alpha Animation & Culture Co., Ltd. The series is animated using customized

ball joint In an automobile, ball joints are spherical bearings that connect the control arms to the steering knuckles, and are used on virtually every automobile made. They bionically resemble the ball-and-socket joints found in most tetrapod animals. ...

ed puppets created by Thinking Hand Creative Studio and Darak Workshop with several expression faces made for each characters. Production took about 3 years total, making the puppets, backgrounds and scripts for each episode. Each scene and episode were shot using 100

Canon EOS-1D Mark II The EOS 1D Mark II is a professional 8.2 megapixel digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR) camera body produced by Canon. The EOS 1D Mark II was the successor of the EOS 1D and was itself replaced by the Canon EOS-1D Mark III in 2007. It was C ...

Stop Motion Control Cameras. An official musical is also made for the series, which run in 2007 to 2011. However, in 2009 due to financial issues and company restructuring, the series rights is sold to

. In 2011, KOCCA stated that a theatrical film is currently in development alongside the second season. JeDae Moon stated that "Investment for the season 2 is ongoing in China and more success is expected. We believe we stepped off on the right foot with KOCCA's support.". This is also the first time that KOCCA's OSMU ( One Source Multi-Use) model has been taken up in a collaborative venture between Korea and China. A second season of the series was in the works in 2012 and aired between September 2013 to February 2014.

Iconix Entertainment Iconix Co, Ltd. ( ko, ㈜아이코닉스) is an entertainment studio based in Seoul, and is a major South Korean entertainment company formed by the merger of Iconix. The company is commonly referred to as simply "Iconix", the same name used in ...

currently handles the worldwide distribution rights of the series while Alpha Group Company distributes the series inside Mainland China after the rights transfer.

Reception

Total Licensing Magazine stated that the series "is not didactic in its approach but, through animation in conveys originality, sociality and propriety in a way to interest the children."

Awards

The First season of the series won Grand Prize in the 2003 Seoul International Cartoon and Animation Festival, won best animation in the Gyeonggi Digital Art Center in 2004 and the 13th Korean Animation Awards for best animation in 2007. The series received the Golden Monkey Award in the 8th China International Animation Festival in 2012.

References

External links

Official KBS Website (Korean)
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081219141924/http://www.kbs.co.kr/2tv/sisa/curucuru/index.html , date=2008-12-19
Curucuru and Friends in the Korean Movie Database
2000s South Korean television series 2013 Chinese television series debuts 2016 Chinese television series endings 2000s animated television series 2010s animated television series Chinese children's animated comedy television series South Korean children's animated comedy television series Stop-motion animated television series Animated preschool education television series 2000s preschool education television series 2010s preschool education television series Korean Broadcasting System original programming Animated television series about bears