We caught an episode of the Swiss claymation show "Pingu" as a bonus feature on one of the kids' DVDs floating around our house, and I was at first surprised by Z's total infatuation with it - she wanted to watch the same silly cartoon over and over again rather than whatever the main event video was (can't remember at the moment). Then I realized she had tuned into something amazing about this show - how well and humorously it communicates without comprehensible language, how well it reflects a child's natural responses to challenges and difficulty (with much frustration, impulsive behavior, and creativity), and how fluidly it manipulates its characters, much in the manner of classic cartoons.

Like many postwar animation projects, Pingu has an international story. The original production company and animators were Swiss, voice actors were native Italians (although perhaps Swiss citizens) and the show was produced for airing on the BBC, with 104 five-minute episodes in the first batch beginning in 1986. Then in 2001, HiT Entertainment bought out the UK rights to the existing series and launched a new set of 52 episodes. The series is still shown on PBS Kids Sprout.

Here's a great episode from this very funny show.



Here's another one - not as good image quality, but a fabulous storyline. Hint: Pingu is dreaming.



There are a lot of passionate reviewers discussing which video does the series justice. Chillin' with Pingu gets high marks.

Incidentally, the nonsensical penguin language was voiced by Carlo Bonomi, the man who also brought us the nonsensical voice of the character in the fabulous series La Linea:



- Jeremiah