Pocoyo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pocoyo
Format	Animation
Created by	David Cantolla, Luis Gallego, Guillermo Garcia
Narrated by	Stephen Fry, José María del Río
Country of origin	Spain United Kingdom
Production
Producer(s)	Zinkia Entertainment
Running time	7 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV, CITV Channel, Five

Pocoyo (Pocoyó in Spanish) is a pre-school animated cartoon series about a young boy who dresses in blue and who is full of curiosity. Viewers are encouraged to recognise situations that Pocoyo is in, and things that are going on with or around him. Pocoyo's world is set in a 3D space, with a plain white background and has no backdrops.

Two series (or seasons, to use the North American term) have been produced, each consisting of 52 seven-minute episodes. A future third series is on hold as the makers wish to embark upon other projects, one of which may be a Pocoyo movie.^[1]

In June 2006, Pocoyo was awarded, at the 30th International Festival of Annecy, the Cristal Award for the "Best TV Production".^[2]

The show is created with Softimage XSI software.^[3]

The British actor and comedian Stephen Fry narrates the English language version, which is broadcast within the United Kingdom on CITV,^[4] and within Canada on Treehouse TV.^[3] José María del Río narrates the Castillian Spanish version.

Channel Five has acquired the terrestrial rights to the first and second series, making it part of the Milkshake! strand. The show, which is a co-production between Spanish producer Zinkia Entertainment and Granada International, will continue to air on the CITV Channel. ^[5]

Contents 1 Characters 2 Other characters 3 Episode guide 3.1 Series 1 (2005) 3.2 Series 2 (2007) 4 DVD Releases 5 Credits 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Characters

• Pocoyo: The eponymous main character of the series. He is a young boy who is full of curiosity and loves to play games, as well as discover new things. He is always shown wearing blue clothes and a hat. Pato, Elly and Loula are his friends. He is (always) four years old; his "birthday" (when he inevitably turns four again) is October 14.^[6] Pocoyo's name was provided by David Cantolla, one of the creators, after his daughter used it in her nightly prayers. "Pocoyo" roughly translates to English as "like myself".^[7]
• Pato: Pato is a yellow duck who wears nothing but a small green hat. Pato means duck in Spanish, Portuguese, Tagalog, and Papiamento. A favourite amongst the young children due to his enjoyable dancing. Although friendly, Pato is the most fussy and impatient character (indicated by his beak that bends in an angle when disappointed or shocked); on occasion he completely loses his temper, jumping up and down and quacking furiously.
• Elly: A pink elephant who always wears a blue back-pack, but despite her size she is a graceful and gentle character, capable of ballet dancing. She usually rides around on her scooter.
• Loula: Pocoyo's orange-yellow pet puppy and companion.
• Sleepy Bird: A teal-coloured bird. She does little but sleep, and usually flies with her eyes closed. Named "Pajaroto" in the Spanish version (reportedly named after a Zinkia employee nicknamed "Maroto", and bearing a strong resemblance to him), and "Pájaro Dormilón" in the Latin American version.

Each character has its own distinctive dance, and most episodes end with the characters dancing.

[edit] Other characters

• Whale: A huge whale who Pocoyo meets under the sea.
• (Fred the) Octopus: A red octopus (although with only 4 legs) who gibbers, and is very fond of singing. He appears in the episodes "Bat and Ball" and "Juggling Balls". As of Season Two, is sometimes referred to as 'Fred'.
• Baby Bird: The small, screaming baby of Sleepy Bird, who gets into sticky situations from which he is rescued by Pocoyo.
• Music Flower & The Band: Both play music which Pocoyo likes.
• Butterfly: A very hungry butterfly which Pocoyo occasionally catches.
• Aliens: Sweet little green beings that Pocoyo finds in space in search of his toy plane.
• Ball Orchestra: A group of three ball-like creatures who play the trumpet, drums and cymbals.
• Caterpillar: A yellow caterpillar with a blue bow on top of her head. Speaks in gibberish like Octopus and has the ability to change into a butterfly and back when she wants.

[edit] Episode guide

To date two series have been produced, each with 52 episodes. There is also an unreleased episode entitled "The See-Saw".^[8]

[edit] DVD Releases

Region 2 (UK)

• Pocoyo: Series 1 (Episodes 1.01-1.13)
• Pocoyo: Series 1 - Explore and Discover (Episodes 1.14-1.26)
• Pocoyo: Vol. 3 - Fun and Adventures (Episodes 1.27-1.39)
• Pocoyo: Bumper Fun! (Episodes 1.40-1.52 and 2.01-2.13)
• Pocoyo: Vol. 5 - Scooter Madness (Episodes 2.14-2.26)

Region 1 (US/Canada)

• Pocoyo: Meet Pocoyo (Episodes 1.03-1.05 and 1.07-1.10)
• Pocoyo: Pocoyo and Friends

[edit] Credits

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Pocoyo website
  • Pocoyo Blog
• Zinkia Entertainment, production company
• Pocoyo at the Internet Movie Database
• Bandai - makers of the official range of toys