Pororo the Little Penguin

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Pororo the Little Penguin
Pororo the Little Penguin Title Card.png
English Title Card
Korean뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로
GenreChildren
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of seasons7 (8 including the revival)
No. of episodes260 (312 including the revival) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time5 minutes (Seasons 1-3 and the revival) 11 Minutes (Seasons 4-7)
Production companies
Release
Original networkEBS1
Original releaseNovember 27, 2003 (2003-11-27) –
February 16, 2021 (2021-02-16)
External links
https://home.ebs.co.kr/pororo/main Website

Pororo the Little Penguin (Korean: 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로, romanized: Pporongpporong Ppororo) is a South Korean computer-animated television series. The series premiered on EBS 1 in South Korea in 2003 until 2021.

The series revolves around the adventures of a penguin named Pororo, and his friends who live in the snowy hamlet of Porong Porong Forest, who often encounter challenges and learn practical and moral lessons in each episode.

Origin[]

It was created in 2003 Iconix Entertainment Co., Ltd, a company based in Seoul, South Korea. Choi Sang-hyun, who was working at Iconix Entertainment, was given a project of creating a character that represents an animal living in the winter. Choi visited a zoo in order to see those animals and understand how children enjoyed watching them.

Several professional designers joined the project to come up with a character, but Choi's design was chosen as the winner, which then became Pororo.

Characters[]

Main article: List of Pororo the Little Penguin characters

Main characters[]

A Christmas show featuring Pororo at Nex, Singapore
  • Pororo (voiced by Lee Seon), (Maria Darling in UK and Bommie Catherine Han in North America) is a baby little penguin.
  • Crong (voiced by Lee Mi-ja), (Gillie Robic in UK) is a green baby Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur and the youngest of the group and was adopted by Pororo. Unlike other characters, Crong speaks in his own "crong!" language, but sometimes Crong uses actual words when needed.
  • Poby (voiced by Kim Hwan-jin), (Keith Wickham in UK and Matt Anipen in North America) is a white polar bear with a kind and generous personality.
  • Eddy (voiced by Ham Soo-jeong), (Tamsin Heatley in UK and Anna Desmarais in North America) is an orange fox with an invention box.
  • Loopy (voiced by (Hong So-yeong), (Joanna Ruiz in UK and Anna Paik in North America) is a pink female beaver with a love for cooking.
  • Narrator (voiced by Goo Ja-hyeong), (Tim Whitnall in UK and Matt Anipen in North America)
  • Petty (voiced by Chung Misook), (Gillie Robic in UK and Anna Desmarais in North America) is a penguin that joined Pororo and the others in the Porong Porong Forest.
  • Harry (voiced by Kim Seo-yeong), (Melvyn Hayes and Philip Pope in UK; Nancy Kim in North America) is a red-coloured hummingbird and sidekick of Poby.
  • Rody (voiced by Lee Mi-ja), (Josh Schwartzentruber in the North American dub) is a yellow robot invented and loved by Eddy.
  • Tong-tong (voiced by Koo Ja-hyeong), (John Lee in the North American dub) is a magical orange dragon.
  • Popo (voiced by Ham Soo-jeong) is a blue jellyfish.
  • Pipi (voiced by Kim Seo-yeong) is a purple jellyfish.
  • Nyao (voiced by Hong So-yeong) is a brown stuffed cat.
  • Tutu (voiced by Jang Eun-sook), (Maria Darling in UK and Anna Paik in North America) is a red car

Minor characters[]

  • Robots
  • Dragon
  • Steggo
  • Sharks
  • Aliens
  • Whale
  • Fish
  • Santa Claus

Animation history[]

The original Pororo was a blue and white, petite penguin sporting an aviator helmet and goggles, which became popular among children. When it was introduced, it targeted children aged 4–7. Pororo is an adventurous 5-year-old anthropomorphic penguin who dreams of flying and lives on a snowy island with six other fellow animal friends.

In the design, Pororo in most animations has a neutral background, so that the animation could be popular to children worldwide. Pororo's design inspirations include Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty. The creators picked the colours blue, pink and white to ensure familiarity for children as well as representing both genders.

When making episodes, producers focused to details that could be biased to certain cultural codes or give a historical reference that is sensitive to viewers in certain parts of the world. For example, they ensured that the characters wave rather than bowing or nodding to each other.

Telecast[]

The series premiered on EBS 1 in South Korea in 2003 until 2021.

In the USA, the show was dubbed in Spanish and aired on V-me in the late 2000s and currently aired on V-me Kids.

On October 5, 2015, it was broadcast in Brazil through TV Cultura and later on October 12 through TV Rá-Tim-Bum.

In Italy, the show was aired on Rai 2.

In 2010, the series was purchased by the NPO for Zappelin in the Netherlands.

In Poland, the show was aired on MiniMini+ under the title "Mały pingwinek Popolo".

Awards and honours[]

In 2007, Pororo received numerous awards from the South Korean government, including the award by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In 2010, Pororo got the President's award for best animation characters. In 2014, Pororo got the award for Creative Brands. In 2015, Pororo was chosen as the mascot for mass transportation in Seoul.

Formats[]

Seasons[]

Main article: List of Pororo the Little Penguin episodes
  • Season 1: 52 x 5' (2003-2004)[1]
  • Season 2: 52 x 5' (2005-2006)[2]
  • Season 3: 52 x 5' (2009)
  • Season 4: 26 x 11' (2012)
  • Season 5: 26 x 11' (2014)
  • Season 6: 26 x 11' (2016)
  • Season New 1: 52 x 5' (2017)
  • Season 7: 26 x 11 (2020-2021)

Films[]

Others[]

Spin-offs[]

  • Pororo Sing-A-Long: 14 x 3' (2006)[3]
  • Eddy The Clever Fox: 13 x 5' (2010)
  • Loopy, The Cooking Princess: 6 x 5' (2012)
  • Pororo's English Show: 13 x 5' (2013)
  • Pororo's Adventure to Korea: 13 x 5'

Shorts[]

  • Netflix New Year's Eve Countdown 2018 (2017)

Opening/ending theme songs and credits[]

Opening theme songs[]

  • Season 1: Always Happy as Can Be
  • Season 2: Always Happy as Can Be — The song is the same, but it is slightly sped up with different instrumentation.
  • Seasons 3 and 4: Hello Friends
  • Season 5-7: Hello Everyone
  • Revival: Hello Everyone.

Ending theme songs[]

  • Season 1: We Are the Best of Friends[4]
  • Season 2: We Are All Friends
  • Seasons 3-7: We Are All Good Friends
  • Revival: We Are the Best of Friends

Credits[]

  • English translation by Ani100
  • English voice director: Anna Paik
  • Pororo/Monkey #1 - Bommie Catherine Han
  • Eddy/Petty - Anna Desmarais
  • Harry/Monkey #3 - Nancy Kim
  • Loopy/Tutu/Monkey #2 - Anna Paik
  • Poby/Narrator/Wall Clock - Matt Anipen
  • Rody/Fuzzy Wuzzy - Josh Schwartzentruber
  • Tong-tong/Yeti - John Lee

Social impact[]

Initially, Pororo was created solely for entertainment. Later, parents suggested to Choi Jung-il of Iconix Entertainment that new episodes with educational value be included. Producers have received many requests, ranging from what the characters should eat and how to play in episodes to what they can do for society.

Korean Air also provides Pororo-related merchandise for children including a doodle book, a colouring book and a plush toy of the character.

In the summer of 2016, a Pororo theme park opened at Seoul COEX Mall featuring rides and a parade of Pororo characters.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2012-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Episode Guide Season 1
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2012-05-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Episode Guide Season 2
  3. ^ "뽀로로와 노래해요 1기 - Originally 14 episodes, additional 12". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Credits of the first season
  5. ^ Ulsan Maeil. "코엑스몰서 '뽀로로 카니발' 개최". 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2016-05-07.

External links[]

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