is a

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes ( still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

children's television series co-produced by

Mattel Creations Mattel Television is the television production division of American toy and entertainment company Mattel, originally founded under the name Mattel Creations on March 31, 2016. It is headed by general manager and senior vice president, Frederic So ...

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

NHK Enterprises , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestria ...

, and

Polygon Pictures is a Japanese 3DCG animation studio. Polygon has animated a wide variety of content, from commercials for Shiseido featuring the studio's original penguin characters , to the 3D CG anime television series ''Digital Tokoro-san'' and the 3DCG ani ...

. It is a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

based on the stop-motion television series ''

Pingu ''Pingu'' is a stop-motion children's television series co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. It was originally produced from 1990 to 2000 by Swiss company The Pygos Group (originally called Trickfilmstudio) for SF DRS in Switzerl ...

'' by

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Soph ...

(The Pygos Group). The series first aired on

NHK Educational TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK E, is the second television service of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It is a sister service of NHK General TV, showing programs of a more educational, cultural or intellectual nature, periodically also sh ...

in Japan from October 7, 2017, to March 30, 2019.

Premise

The series was adapted from the famous stop-motion animated series ''

'', which was created in 1986 by

Otmar Gutmann Otmar Gutmann (24 April 1937 – 13 October 1993) was a German filmmaker who specialised in animation. He is known for co-creating the stop-motion television series ''Pingu'' alongside Erika Brueggemann. He started as an amateur in the 1960s. As ...

and Erika Brueggemann for the SRF in Switzerland. In the new series, Pingu and his family move from their home in the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

to a large city, where the inhabitants are all very different. The mischievous and curious Pingu makes a big effort to help the citizens with their jobs, but his attempts to do so often result in trouble.

Production

The series is co-produced by

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

company Mattel Creations and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

companies NHK, NHK Enterprises and Polygon Pictures, with animation produced by DandeLion Animation Studios in the same style as the original stop-motion series through computer-animation. It was directed by Naomi Iwata and written by both Kimeno Ueno and Shigenori Tanabe, with music by Ken Arai. It features voices by Ryota Iwasaki and Fumiya Tanaka, in a similar style to

Carlo Bonomi Carlo Bonomi (12 March 1937 – 6 August 2022) was an Italian voice actor and clown who was best known for his voiceover work as the voice of Mr. Linea in the animated series '' La Linea'' as well as Pingu and various other characters in serie ...

David Sant David Sant (born 1968) is a Spanish mime artist, acrobat, puppeteer, stuntman, director, actor and writer. Early life and career Sant was born in Spain in 1968. He discovered the theatre at the age of seventeen thanks to his literature teach ...

and Marcello Magni, who voiced characters in the original series.

International airings

The series was first screened outside of Japan at the MIPJunior 2017 event at

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

. In Australia, the show premiered on June 4, 2018 on ABC Kids, making that date with Pingu's return to

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

television. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the show was first screened at the Chicago International Television Festival and the 2018

Animation Block Party Animation Block Party is an annual animation film festival in New York City, usually held over three days in late July. History Brooklyn On September 9, 2004, Casey Safron, the event's founder, curated the first Animation Block Party, held in Wi ...

. A second season premiered from October 6, 2018 (which was before the 1st anniversary of the show) to March 30, 2019. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, the show premiered on February 25, 2019 on

ITVBe ITVBe, stylized as itvBe, is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. The channel was first announced on 12 February 2014 and launched on 8 October 2014. ITVBe broadcasts reality and unscri ...

's preschool block LittleBe. In

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, the show premiered in April 2019 through the preschool channel ''Gloobinho''. On

Hop! Channel Hop! Channel (Hebrew: , ''Arutz Hop!'') is an Israeli children's television channel intended entirely for preschool children. The channel caters for children between the ages of zero and seven years old, presenting programs specifically tailored f ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, it premiered in summer 2019.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Home media releases

References

External links

* * * {{Polygon Pictures Pingu Japanese children's animated comedy television series Polygon Pictures NHK original programming 2017 Japanese television series debuts 2019 Japanese television series endings Television series by Mattel Creations Animated television series without speech