Pingu™
Pingu is a unique and quirky show conceived in 1986 by Swiss animators Otmar Gutman and Harald Muecke. The show follows the adventures of the sometimes mischievous and clumsy Pingu as he plays and interacts with his family and friends. Pingu lives in the Antarctic and does all the things you might do if you were a young penguin in the Antarctic, such as discover vast musical ice caves, play fish tennis, misplace your sister, find a treasure map and periodically enrage most of the local penguin population in one way or another. Pingu is a penguin of emotional extremes -- he's full of energy, life and love. Exceptionally expressive, Pingu's special 'Penguinese' language is fun and imaginative.
Pingu™: Timeline
"The March of the Pengiun"
1986
- Trick film artist Otmar Gutmann developed the experimental short film Pingu - From the South Pole
1987
- Pingu - From the South Pole debuts for the first time at the 37th Berlin Film Festival and is awarded the "Kleinen Bären" (little bear) award, which marks the start of the success story
- Swiss Broadcaster, SF/DRS commissions Gutmann to produce the first 26 episode series
1989
- David Hasselhoff releases (in Switzerland only) the single "Pingu Dance", a rap song based on the Pingu shorts and featuring a number of samples in Penguinese
1992
- More than 150 countries broadcast Pingu
1993
- Sony Creative Products of Japan begins to produce and sell the first Pingu consumer products 1993
1994
- Pingu begins airing in Japan
- Production begins on the third series of Pingu
1997
- UNICEF and Trickfilm Studios produce a 23 minute Pingu film
1998
- Production begins on the fourth series of Pingu
2004
- HIT Entertainment buys the rights to Pingu, including the original 105 episodes, and begins production on 52 more episodes at HIT's animation studio HOT Animation
2005
- Pingu launches in the US on digital cable channel, PBS KIDS Sprout
2006
- Pingu takes part in the Cbeebies Live show
- Pingu Boogaloo is released on DVD. With a supporting online campaign with the famous UK Band, Eskimo Disco, the video was downloaded more than 80,000 times
- Pingu teams up with Eskimo Disco once again to star in a music video for their debut single 7-11. The video goes on to become a smash hit on YouTube.com with more than 200,000 views in the first month
