Pingu: A Story for Preschool Children (German: Pingu: Eine Geschichte Für Kinder Im Vorschulalter) is the pilot episode of the series. It was produced in May 28, 1986 and contains plot points which were later used in two episodes of Season 1. It was first shown at the Berlin Film Festival in 1987.[1]
Plot[]
Pingu is playing with a red rubber ball but while playing with it, he accidentally throws it on the top of his igloo, then in an attempt to get it, it lands on his skis and gets impaled. He then goes to get a ball from Pingo and Pingg, causing them to tease him, then when he tries to grab the ball, he bounces on it and Pingg puts a nail on the ground and it impales the ball. Pingo and Pingg try to throw snowballs at Pingu, but he makes a decoy of himself by painting a portrait of him on an Ice Mound, which fools them very well. He then goes home, where his mother assigns him to babysit their egg. Later, he starts dancing to the song Woodpeckers from Space, only to make the egg start dancing, which goes into a frenzy. Pingu's father then sees this and goes inside, stops the record player and is shocked to see Pingu tangled in yarn and the egg on the wall. He grabs the egg, and then Pingu's mother comes in and Pingu gives her a hug. Finally, Pingu and his father clean up, then Pingu's mother knits him a nest.
Characters[]
- Pingu
- Pingu's Mother
- Pingu's Father
- Pingo
- Pingg
- Pinga (egg only)
Trivia[]
- This pilot contains elements which were later reanimated in Hello, Pingu and Pingu Looks After the Egg.
- This pilot is included as a bonus feature on the Japanese DVD of the third season.
- A completely different model was used in the close up shots of Pingu; it had a longer and more triangular beak, as well as larger eyes. The practice of using different models for close ups were abandoned following the pilot, as the regular models were used instead in all subsequent examples after this episode.
- Pingu's "noot-noot" sounds are made by a kazoo.
- Pingu's mother's model is similar to the penguin who later fell into water in Pingu and the Barrel Organ.
- Pingu's father's model is similar to Mr. Peng-Chips.
- Pingu is voiced by Otmar Gutmann himself in this pilot.
Goofs[]
- Possibly due to this being a pilot, there are many scenes where a character speaks, but for a few seconds no dialogue is heard.
- When the egg jumps on Pingu, a penguin's foot appears out of nowhere.
Gallery[]
