Everyone’s favourite cheeky penguin is coming back to our TV screens! I loved Pingu while growing up, he was and still is a 90’s legend, and thanks to a team up between Aardman & Mattel, he’s making a comeback for modern audiences to experience his South Pole shenanigans once more. His mum, dad, and sister all are coming along for the ride too, along with his seal pals and many more.
The new series is going to be made using 3D stop-motion animation. I’m hoping that it stays true to the old style and feel of Pingu and doesn’t go down the same route as Fireman Sam or Thomas the Tank engine and go too modern. Pingu’s charm was in the stop-motion animated action and it’ll be nice for younger audiences to experience that magic all over again.
For those of you who didn’t even know that Mattel owned Pingu, they acquired the frozen little trickster when they bought HIT Entertainment back in 2011. Speaking on the Aardman website, Mattel’s Chief Franchise Officer Josh Silverman said that ‘When we set out to bring Pingu back, partnering with the top-tier creative team at Aardman was a must. With Aardman’s stop motion magic and Pingu’s universal charm that has made him a social media hit, we are excited to create fresh snow-filled stories about our favorite penguin that are sure to warm hearts worldwide.’
Aardman’s Chief Creative Director Sarah Cox said that the company loves ‘collaborating with IP that shares our commitment to humour, charm and great storytelling.’ She also commented that ‘Aardman and Pingu is such a natural and enticing combination. The charm of the stop frame animation along with the quirky irreverence and character driven storytelling aligns perfectly with our creative approach’.
With Sarah at the helm, Pingu’s return looks to be in great hands. I can’t wait for people to start shouting ‘NOOT NOOT’ at each other once more! Pingu, like the Muppets, Wallace and Gromit, and other 90s characters that were huge through the 90s still have a global appeal today and are still incredibly popular on social media, even with fans who didn’t watch them on TV or VHS the first time around. I’m excited to see what Mattel and Aardman come up with for this new Pingu television series and will keep you guys up to date with release dates and progress as I find out about it!
