Bing (TV series)

Bing is a British CGI-animated children's television series based on the books by Ted Dewan. It is broadcast on UK TV channel CBeebies; the series follows a pre-school bunny named Bing as he experiences the world around him. It uses small everyday occurrences to demonstrate how he learns new ways to manage situations with the help of his carer, Flop (voiced by Mark Rylance is series 1 and David Threlfall in series 2) and friends. The programme's central phrase is "It's a Bing thing!" which Flop intones at the end of each episode when Bing has successfully conquered a troubling task or enjoyed a new childhood experience. The show is aimed at 2-6 year olds.

For the search engine, see Microsoft Bing.
Bing
Based onBing Bunny by Ted Dewan
Developed byAcamar Films
Voices ofElliot Kerley
Trystan Tomos Thurtle
Mark Rylance
David Threlfall
ComposerJulian Nott
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes104 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Lucy Murphy
  • Philip Bergkvist
  • Howard Litton
ProducerMikael Shields
Running time7 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkCBeebies (UK)
S4C (Wales)
Original release9 June 2014 (2014-06-09) –
present
External links
Website
Production website

Episodes
Main article: List of Bing episodes
SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1789 June 2014 (2014-06-09)20 May 2015 (2015-05-20)
22731 October 2019 (2019-10-31)TBA (TBA)

The 1st series of 78, eight minute episodes show the "mishaps, mess, energy and wonder of being a relatively new human being". The programme focuses on real-life situations experienced by many toddlers and their parents.[1] At the end, Bing summarizes what he has learnt in the episode, with Flop intoning "It's a Bing thing".[2] The second season began airing on Cbeebies on 31 October 2019.

Main characters
An image of the characters featured in Bing.
  • Bing (voiced by Elliot Kerley in series 1 and Rafferty Railton in series 2) is the titular protagonist of the programme. Bing is a 3-year-old black anthropomorphic bunny. His favourite toy is Hoppity Voosh, a rabbit superhero. Bing wears a green shirt, red chequered dungarees and black and white sneakers and Bing loves to hum, whistle, pretend and do untroubling childlike things.
  • Flop (voiced by Mark Rylance, while David Threlfall provides the voice of Flop in the 2nd series)[3] is Bing's carer, guiding Bing through his toddler life, entertaining him and soothing him when Bing faces a problem. Flop is a short orange-skinned creature and is literally a stuffed rabbit toy.[4]
  • Sula (voiced by Eve Bentley) is a 4-year-old female brown anthropomorphic elephant and one of Bing's best friends. Sula wears a pink and yellow shirt with trousers and pink sneakers.[4]
  • Amma (voiced by Akiya Henry), is Sula's guardian. Amma runs the creche and park café which the programme's child characters sometimes visit. Amma is a short blue-skinned elephant-like creature and is literally a stuffed elephant toy.
  • Pando (voiced by Shai Portnoy in series 1 and Noah Hicks in series 2) is a 2 and a half year old anthropomorphic male panda who is also Bing's second best friend,[4] and lives next door to him. Pando shares his catchphrase, "Hoppity-voosh! " with Bing. Pando wears a white shirt that doesn't completely cover his belly, black sneakers and underwear and Pando hums, whistles, pretends and does untroubling childlike things just like Bing. Pando is often seen wearing pants, before taking them off at the earliest possible opportunity, remaining in his underwear.
  • Padget (voiced by Bryony Hannah) is Pando's guardian. Padget runs the corner shop near to where Bing lives. Padget can sometimes be spotted out jogging or else driving her yellow tuk-tuk. Padget is a short green-skinned creature.
  • Coco (voiced by Jocelyn Macnab in series 1 and 2) is a white anthropomorphic bunny who is Bing's cousin and Charlie's older sister.[4] Coco is the oldest of the child characters at age 10.
  • Charlie (voiced by Poppy Hendley), is a white anthropomorphic bunny who is Coco's 1-year-old baby brother and Bing's cousin who cannot talk. Charlie puts everything in his mouth and the others say, "Don't chew it, Charlie!"
  • Molly (voiced by Tamsin Grieg), is Coco and Charlie's carer. Molly also works as a doctor. Molly is a small red-skinned creature often seen wearing glasses and a white lab coat.[5]
  • Nicky (voiced by Xavi Nixon), is a small anthropomorphic brown elephant who is Sula's younger cousin. Nicky wears glasses, an orange t-shirt blue & white sneakers and blue dungarees. Nicky first appears in series 2.[5] Nicky is often the source of disagreement between Bing and Sula.

Production

Bing was based on a series of books called "Bing Bunny" written and illustrated by Ted Dewan.[6] Acamar Films acquired the rights to Bing Bunny[7] and produced the program in conjunction with Brown Bag Films and Tandem Films.[4][6] The series was developed for CBeebies though initial episodes were viewable at MIPTV.[1]

HarperCollins Children's Books signed a deal with Acamar and The Licensing Company to re-publish the stories to link with the TV programme.[8][9][10] The books were re-issued in 2013–14.[1]

The 70-minute DVDs are released by Studio Canal.[11][12] The first DVD "Swing... and other episodes" was released on 31 March 2015 and features 10 episodes - Bye Bye, Swing, Blocks, Ducks, Smoothie, Frog, Car Park, Shadow, Musical Statues, and Voo Voo. A second DVD was released on 15 June 2015 and is titled "Storytime... and other episodes", featuring a further 10 episodes - Storytime, Growing, Atchoo, Hide & Seek, Bake, Train, Say Goodbye, Lost, Picnic, and Balloon.

Fisher Price have developed a range of Bing toys, which were released in July 2015, including "play sets, figurines, role play items, ride-ons, musical toys, wooden toys, and soft toys".[13]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominee Result Refs
2014 BAFTA Pre-School Animation Bing Nominated [14]
2015 Annecy International Animated Film Festival TV Series For episode "Bye Bye" Nominated [15]
2015 Pulcinella Award TV Series for PreSchool Bing Nominated [16][17]
2015 Writers Guild Award Best Children's TV Episode Denise Cassar & the Bing Writing Team
(for episode "Bye Bye")		 Won
2016 International Emmy Kids Award Pre-School Bing Won

References
  1. Wolfe, Jennifer (6 February 2014). "Acamar Partners with Brown Bag Films and Tandem Films on 'Bing Bunny'". Animation World Network (AWN). Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  2. Brown, Maggie (27 May 2014). "Mark Rylance voices CBeebies cartoon Bing". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  3. Fletcher, Harry (27 May 2014). "Mark Rylance to star in new CBeebies show Bing". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  4. "Life - it's a Bing Thing! Bing comes to CBeebies with voice talent from Mark Rylance". BBC News. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  5. "Acamar & CBeebies Get Hopping on New Series of 'Bing'". Animation Magazine. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  6. "Mark Rylance joins CBeebies show Bing". BBC - Ariel. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  7. "Acamar Films Develops Animated 'Bing Bunny' Series". Animation Magazine. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  8. "Bing Bunny Books Head to TV". License. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  9. Farrington, Joshua (8 November 2012). "HC to publish Bing Bunny TV tie-ins". The Book Seller. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  10. Maybury, David (7 February 2014). "Bing Bunny is in Production #NewShow". Brown Bag Films. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  11. Milligan, Mercedes (26 March 2015). "StudioCanal Bringing Acamar's 'Bing' to DVD". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  12. "BOUNDS OUT ON DVD WITH STUDIOCANAL". Show me the animation. 26 March 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  13. "Fisher-Price to Develop 'Bing' Toys". LicenseMag. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  14. "Children's Pre-School Animation in 2014". BAFTA. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  15. "TV films in competition". Annecy. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  16. "Nominations". Cartoons Bay. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  17. Wolfe, Jennifer (14 April 2015). "Cartoons on the Bay Unveils 2015 Pulcinella Award Nominees". Animation World Network. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
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