Pingu Biography

Pingu is a stop-motion children's series co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann. It was originally produced from 1990 to 2000 for Swiss television by Trickfilmstudio (later renamed Pingu Filmstudio) for SF DRS in Switzerland and ZDF in Germany, and was distributed by Editoy AG (later renamed Pingu BV, and then The Pygos Group). It was later revived from 2003 to 2006 for British television channel CBeebies by HIT Entertainment and Hot Animation. The series focuses on a family of anthropomorphic emperor penguins who live in the South Pole; the main character is the family's son and title character, Pingu.

The series originally ran for four series from 7 March 1990 to 9 April 2000 on SF DRS. It was then renewed for two more series from 1 August 2003 to 3 March 2006 on CBeebies. Pingu was also nominated for a BAFTA award in 2005. The pilot episode was made on 28 May 1986.

Characters

Main

Pinguis the main character of the show, a typically playful, curious little penguin. His name comes from the German word for penguin, Pinguin. He is mostly well-behaved but prone to making mischief and throwing occasionally stubborn tantrums.
Pinga is Pingu's little sister. She resembles an emperor penguin chick, as do other baby/toddler penguins throughout the show. Like all toddlers, she is happy and playful but very sensitive and clever and is often a target for Pingu's pranks.
Mr. and Mrs. Penguin are Pingu and Pinga's parents; their actual names are not revealed. Father is a postman who uses a non-smoking pipe in the early episodes, but quits later. He is a short-tempered but loving penguin and has a motorised sledge (snowmobile) to deliver the mail, sometimes with help from Pingu. Mother is a caring, loving and hard-working housewife who spends most of her time cooking and cleaning. Mother sometimes gets help from Pingu and Pinga and she always gives them a cuddle when they have learned a lesson.
Grandfather is Pingu and Pinga's paternal grandfather, who first appeared in the episode "Music Lessons". He is an expert accordionist, as he demonstrates to Pingu in that episode, and is also a former professional weight lifter.
Grandpa is Pingu and Pinga's maternal grandfather who appeared in "Grandpa is ill" and "Pingu Cannot Lose", in the latter of which he is shown to be good at bowling.
Aunts are Mother's sisters and Pingu and Pinga's three maternal aunts. In "Pingu Goes Away", Pingu goes to stay with one of his aunts. In "Pingu the Babysitter", he cares for another aunt's twin chicks whilst she and Mother go out, then in "Pingu Makes a Mistake", he cares for the third aunt's egg, which is due to hatch.
The Twins are Pingu and Pinga's cousins who appear in "Pingu the Babysitter" where they are cared for by Pingu when their mother (Pingu's aunt) goes out with his Mother.

Recurring

Robby is a seal who is Pingu's best friend. His name resembles the German word for seal, Robbe. First appearing in the episode "Pingu Goes Fishing", he is friendly and playful, yet cheeky in a lot of ways. He is blueish-grey in the first four seasons, but coloured light grey in the last two.
Pingo is a somewhat foolhardy penguin. He has a long beak that is essentially flat at the bottom but slightly rounded on the top and a head that is wider and taller. He often persuades Pingu to do wild and silly things with him. He was originally a bully in the first episode but later on he along with Pingg became Pingu's friends.
Pingg is Pingu's other penguin friend. He also has a long beak, but a shorter head than Pingo. Like Pingo he was originally a bully but later on in the series became one of Pingu's friends.
Pongi is a penguin who wears glasses and has a short round beak. He first appeared in the episode "Ice Hockey".
Pengy is a penguin very similar to Adélie penguins and first appears in "Pingu and the School Excursion". In the episode "School Time", Pingu resembles Pengy.
Pingj is a green penguin who appears in Pingu at the Wedding Party; he speaks with an accent that seems to be typical of his breed.
Punki is a penguin who first appeared in the episode "Pingu Delivers The Mail". He has a tuft on his head and wears striped trousers.
Bajoo is Pingu's other non-penguin friend. HIT Entertainment reveals him as a "strange newcomer" to the Antarctic in the appearance of an abominable snowman. He was introduced in 2005 and appeared in the last episode, "Pingu & the Abominable Snowman". He also appeared in the 7–11 music video and The Pingu Show.
Pingi is Pingu's love interest and Pinga's best friend. She has thick, white eyelashes and a somewhat mushed beak. She first appeared in the episode "Pingu's Admirer".
Supporting
The Schoolmaster (Mr. Peng-Chips) 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".
The Doctor is the neighbourhood's doctor. He lives in a nearby igloo clinic and frequently treats Pingu's injuries, as well as aid in the birth of Pinga.
Mr. Peng-Hoven is a poor penguin. He lives in a tattered igloo and gladly accepts Pingu's gifts. He first appeared in "Pingu and the Barrel Organ".

Pingu

Pingu is the main character of the TV show of the same name and Pingu in the City. He was created by Swiss filmmaker Otmar Gutmann in 1986.
Pingu lives in the South Pole with his parents and younger sister Pinga. He also has two grandfathers, several aunts, and two cousins.

Pingu has caught some attention from a female penguin named Pingi. When Pingi was first introduced at South Pole Public School, Mr. Peng-Chips greets her, and he finds a place for her to sit. Unlike his friends, Pingu did not want anything to do with her. He spreads out his things all over his desk and puts his legs wide apart to make it seem as though there is no room at his desk. He is infuriated when Mr. Peng-Chips picks his seat anyway. Pingo offers Pingi a lollipop, which she takes and offers to Pingu, but he refuses, so she gives it back to Pingo. She then draws a heart shape and offers that to Pingu, and he snaps at her, earning himself a reprimand from the schoolmaster, who firmly orders him to be nice to her.

On their way home after school, Pingi follows Pingu and wants a hug, however, when Pingu lets her have a piece of his mind, she cries. Pingu walks away, and Pingi throws a snowball at him. He throws one back in retaliation, but it goes through the window of a nearby igloo. Pingu and Pingi both hide in a barrel to escape the wrath of the igloo's irate owner, and they end up falling in love and they eventually start a relationship.

Pingu eventually moved to the city, when or how this happened has never been explained, it's possible that Pingu's family decided to move somewhere different.
Personality: Pingu is a cheery fun-loving penguin who lives with his family in the South Pole. He sometimes helps his mother and father out with chores, and he often takes care of Pinga when Mother and Father are busy.

Like any child, he's constantly pushing boundaries so even the most routine activities transform into the unexpected when Pingu gets involved. Luckily, Pingu is as good at getting out of trouble as he is good at getting into it and he usually manages to win everyone over with his playful nature.

Despite a genuine caring nature, Pingu can be very troublesome and mischevious as most kids are. There is a recurring gag in the series where Pingu refuses to eat or misbehaves at the dinner table. It was part of the plot in Pingu Runs Away. When Pinga is born in The New Arrival, Pingu becomes upset that he couldn't see the birth, and tries as much as he could to get to Pinga. In the episode Jealousy, Mother wants Pingu to stop behaving badly while she looks after Pinga and Pingu becomes upset and hides in a toy box.

As the series progressed, Pingu became a much more mature and responsible penguin. He later has a crush on Pingi. He hangs out with his friends more and takes responsibility, as seen in Pingu and Pinga at the Kindergarten. This new trait carried over to Pingu in the City, where he took on several jobs in the show.
Appearance: Pingu is a black and white round penguin with orange/yellow feet and a red beak. Although he can change his appearance by changing his size or turning into a ball for many purposes. Very rarely, he can detach his head as seen in Pingu Looks After the Egg.
Appearances: Pingu's catchphrase is "Nug, Nug!", most commonly known as "Noot Noot!". In doing this, his beak becomes a sort of trumpet shape. He uses this to show affection, anger, happiness and other emotions or even to attract attention. It has become characteristic of Pingu and is recognized by people all around the globe.
Trivia: His name comes from the German word for penguin (Pinguin).
Pingu was originally going to be called Hugo.
When Pingu walks, the sound he makes when his flippers slap against the ground is really the sound artist slapping the top of his other hand during the recording session.
It's unknown what type of penguin he is, though the Cartoon Network Japan website says that Pingu is an emperor penguin. This is probably true as his sister Pinga's appearance shows a similar resemblance to an emperor penguin chick. A documentary on the show however claims he is a King Penguin as evidenced by the yellow lining on his stomach.
In the pilot episode and early episodes of Season 1, he has a slightly different head.
In 2009, Pingu appeared in Peter Kay's Animated All Star Band music video on "Children in Need".
He also appeared in the 1998 Perth ABC Concert, speaking English.
In 2016, two models of Pingu from the TV series were displayed at the "Plot in Plastilin" exhibition in Gewerbemuseum, Winterthur.
Pingu is able to roll into a ball, as can his sister. No other penguins seem to show this ability for some reason.

Pinga

Pinga is Pingu's younger sister.
Bio: Pinga lives in the South Pole with her parents and brother Pingu. She also has two grandfathers, several aunts, and two cousins.

Pinga loves her big brother and always tags along when he is around. Although potty trained, she is not yet old enough to be fully independent and looks to her big brother to include her in his games and adventures.

Pinga eventually moved to the city, when or how this happened has never been explained, it's possible that Pinga's family decided to move somewhere different.
Personality: Pinga is a cute and pretty playful penguin. She always follows her big brother around and always likes to play with her toys and dolls, especially her little rabbit toy. She is also very sensitive and sometimes cries because of Pingu's unfair actions.
Appearance: Pinga is a black, grey and white round penguin (an appearance similar to an emperor penguin chick) with orange feet and a red beak. Like Pingu, Pinga has the ability to turn into a ball for many purposes.

Pingi

Pingi is Pingu's love interest, but Pingu was not so keen on her to start with.
Bio: She first appeared in Pingu's Admirer. When she was first introduced at South Pole Public School, Mr. Peng-Chips greets her, and he finds a place for her to sit. Pingu was not interested in her, as he spread out his things all over his desk and puts his legs wide apart to make it seem as though there is no room at his desk. Mr. Peng-Chips picks his seat anyway, much to his disdain. Pingo offers Pingi a lollipop, which she takes and offers to Pingu, but he refuses, so she gives it back to Pingo. She then draws a heart shape and offers that to Pingu, and he snaps at her, earning himself a reprimand from the schoolmaster, who firmly orders him to be nice to her.

On their way home after school, Pingi follows Pingu and wants a hug, however, when Pingu lets her have a piece of his mind, she cries. Pingu walks away, and Pingi throws a snowball at him. He throws one back in retaliation, but it goes through the window of a nearby igloo. Pingu and Pingi both hide in a barrel to escape the wrath of the igloo's irate owner, and they end up falling in love and they eventually start a relationship.
Personality: Pingi is one of the kinder penguins, she is a kind lover and isn't very naughty. Pingi is not as adventurous as Pingu and she will only get herself into trouble or discover new things if Pingu has dragged her into it. When Pingu is around, she is happy to take a backseat in the action, but has a tough nature and an ability to stand up for herself if she needs to.

Robby

Robby is Pingu's best friend, he and Robby first met in Pingu goes Fishing. He also appeared to have tagged along with Pingu when he moved to the city.
Bio: Not so much is known about Robby's background.

Robby first met Pingu whilst he out fishing, but, they did not at first get along. Robby kept stealing and eating the bait Pingu was using to fish and tricked him into thinking he was collecting lots of fish when it was the same one. Eventually, Pingu catches Robby and pursues him and stops him from escaping back into the sea by covering up the two holes in the ice. Robby tries to escape, but he hurts his flipper and Pingu felt regretful so he comforts him, which causes Robby's flipper to heal.

Recognizing the goodness in Pingu's soul, Robby returns his fishing pole and rewards his sensitivity with a large fish. Pingu, in return, gives Robby a piece of his bait to eat and the two of them became best friends.
Personality: Robby is full of energy and enthusiasm for whatever he does and is always eager to inspire Pingu to join in with his activities. Robby can also be a bit of a prankster and can sometimes cause trouble, which means "double trouble" when he is with Pingu. He can get himself in comical situations.

Pingo

Pingo is one of Pingu's friends.
Bio: His first appearance was in Hello, Pingu. Pingu goes outside with his ball, but while getting back in to blow his nose, he and Pingg came along and stole the ball. Pingu soon returns and a big fight ensues to rescue his ball: Pingu chased Pingo and Pingg around his house, trying to interfere with Pingo and Pingg tossing the ball back and forth to each other, causing Pingo to trip Pingu that lead to Pingu deflating his own ball. Pingu eventually gets his deflated ball back not before getting pummeled by snowballs thrown by Pingo and Pingg; he returns inside the house with a hurt head.
Personality: Pingo is shown to be a good friend to Pingu, he often plays with Pingu and often tags along with Pingu on some occasions. They do however argue sometimes.

Despite this though, there are some occasions where he can be a bit harsh to Pingu, such as in Pingu, Hello, Pingu, and Pingu and the Paper Plane, but he is still a good friend regardless.

Giant Walrus

The Giant Walrus is a mysterious character, who only appeared in the episode "Pingu's Dream".
Bio: He appeared in one of Pingu's dreams, first seen following Pingu and eventually he frightened and caught him. The walrus squeezed and stretched Pingu a few times, while laughing, causing Pingu to try run away. The walrus then ate the mattress of the bed, allowing Pingu and the bed to escape. It is possible that Pingu's dream about the giant walrus was brought on by the story his mother was reading to him.
Personality: He is very playful, but because of his enormous size, this playfulness scares poor Pingu. The walrus is mostly silent but has a characteristic deep laugh which he often makes whenever he appears.
Trivia: Before Pingu's Dream, the walrus first appeared in a black background probably speaking in either Swiss German or German in one of Gutmann's showreel.
Strangely, it lacks tusks and instead has human-shaped teeth.

Pingu's Father

Pingu and Pinga's father also known as Papa is a main character of Pingu.
Bio: He works to deliver the mail.

In Pingu Delivers the Mail, his son helped him to deliver the mail and was even allowed to wear his postman's hat. They picked up the mail from the post office and then delivered it around the town.
Personality: As a father, he cares and loves his family very much. He can be a bit grumpy sometimes, but loves having fun with his children.
Trivia: In the earlier episodes of Pingu, he used to smoke on some occasions, but he stopped in The New Arrival shortly after Pinga was born, though there were still some occurrences where he smokes.

Pingu's Mother

Pingu and Pinga's Mother, also known as Maman or Mama, is a main character of Pingu.
Bio: She is usually at home in the igloo, taking care of her children, cleaning, or cooking. Although Pingu's antics can sometimes make her cross, she is always there to give him a hug when he needs one.
Personality: She is a caring, kind, hard working mother. She cares a lot about her family. She does the cleaning, cooks, and takes care of her children.

History

In 1984, Erika Brueggemann was working at Schweizer Fernsehen when she was introduced to animator Otmar Gutmann. Gutmann pitched a clay animation show starring sea lions who crawled around in a funny way. Erika Brueggemann liked the idea of a clay cartoon character, but she preferred the clay penguins that Gutmann had made. She suggested that the main character should walk upright like a human and asked, "Why not a penguin?".

Brueggemann's colleague, Guido Steiger, agreed with her idea. Otmar Gutmann was not immediately convinced, since he had already created many sea lion characters out of plasticine, but he eventually pushed forward with the penguin idea too. According to Erika Brueggemann, she gave "countless demonstrations on my part about how 'my' penguin had to move and act." From this framework, Brueggemann, Gutmann, and their team created a 7-minute pilot called "Pingu: Eine Geschichte Für Kinder Im Vorschulalter," which was finished in 1986.

The pilot was eventually screened at the 1987 Berlin Film Festival, where it won the Kleiner Baer award. The positive reception to this pilot persuaded the director of Schweizer Fernsehen, Ulrich Kündig, to commission an entire series of the Pingu cartoons.

The first production year from 1988 and starting broadcast with 1990–2000 created 104 five-minute episodes and one special 25-minute episode. The original stories were written by Erika Brueggemann and Guido Steiger, and some of the later stories were written by Silvio Mazzola. These episodes were animated at Trickfilmstudio in Russikon, Switzerland. In the style of voices, a retroscript was chosen, and all voices were performed by Italian voice actor Carlo Bonomi without a script, using a language of noises that he had already developed and used for Osvaldo Cavandoli's La Linea. This feature enables people of diverse linguistic backgrounds to be able to follow the story.

In 1993, David Hasselhoff released a single titled "Pingu Dance", a rap song (in Switzerland only) 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 re-dubbed version of the "Pingu Looks After the Egg (retitled Pingu Helps with Incubating)" episode, replacing the "Woodpeckers from Space" song from the original version.

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

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