Pingu
A penguin who speaks only in honks and babbling.
Pingu is a stop motion animated children's television series originally produced in Switzerland, co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. The series centers on the titular anthropomorphic emperor penguin and his family, who live in the South Pole, and is notable for its invented 'penguin language' that enabled broad international appeal.
- First aired
- 7 March 1990
- Last aired (original run)
- 9 April 2000
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Creator(s)
- Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann
- Language
- Invented grammelot 'Penguinese' or 'Pinguish'
- Production company
- Pingu Filmstudio
- IP owner
- Joker, Inc. (trading as The Pygos Group)
Lore & Background
The series was developed after Erika Brueggemann, working at Schweizer Fernsehen, was introduced to animator Otmar Gutmann in 1984. Gutmann initially pitched a clay animation show about sea lions, but Brueggemann preferred his clay penguins and suggested the main character walk upright like a human. A seven-minute pilot, 'Pingu: Eine Geschichte Für Kinder Im Vorschulalter', was finished in 1986 and won the Kleiner Baer award at the 1987 Berlin Film Festival, leading to a full series commission. The original 104 five-minute episodes and one 25-minute special were animated at Trickfilmstudio in Russikon, Switzerland, with all voices performed by Italian voice actor Carlo Bonomi using a language of sounds he had previously developed for Osvaldo Cavandoli's La Linea.
Reader's Guide
Pingu achieved significant popularity outside Switzerland, particularly in the United Kingdom and Japan, largely due to its lack of a real spoken language. After English children's company HIT Entertainment purchased Pingu BV in 2001, they produced a revival run of two additional series in the UK through Hot Animation, which aired on CBeebies from 2003 to 2006 and was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2005. A computer-animated spin-off, Pingu in the City, aired in Japan from 2017 to 2019, and a second stop-motion revival is under development at Mattel Studios and Aardman Animations. The IP rights are currently held by Joker, Inc., trading as The Pygos Group. The series' invented 'Penguinese' language, featuring the character's characteristic 'Noot noot!' honk, allowed it to transcend language barriers and become a globally recognized children's property.
Did You Know?
- The character's name comes from the German word for penguin, 'Pinguin'.
- All characters in the first four series were voiced by Italian voice actor Carlo Bonomi.
- David Hasselhoff released a single titled 'Pingu Dance' in Switzerland in 1993, based on the series.
- A second revival series, animated in stop-motion, is currently under development at Mattel Studios and Aardman Animations.
More in Animated television series without speech 1-24
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