Pororo the Little Penguin

Pororo the Little Penguin (Korean: 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로, romanized: Pporongpporong Ppororo) is a Korean computer-animated television series created by Iconix Entertainment and Ocon with the animation done by Studio Gail and rendered by Seoul Animation Center (formerly with the North Korean company Samchŏlli in Kaesong from season 1~2). Production began in 2002 and the program began airing in South Korea on EBS in 2003. The show also airs on CITV in the United Kingdom.

Pororo the Little Penguin
English Title Card
Korean뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로
GenreChildren
Country of origin
South Korea[2]
Original languagesKorean
English
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes286 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time5 minutes
(Season 1-3 and NEW S1)
11 minutes per episode
(Season 4 – present)
Production companies
Release
Original networkEBS1, Disney Junior, Netflix, Hulu
Original releaseNovember 27, 2003 (2003-11-27) –
present
External links
https://home.ebs.co.kr/pororo/main Website

The series revolves around the adventures of 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 by Iconix Entertainment Co., Ltd, a company based in Seoul, South Korea.[3] 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

Season 1 – present
  • Pororo (voiced by Lee Seon) (Maria Darling in UK) is a blue baby penguin.
  • Crong (voiced by Lee Mi-ja) (Gillie Robic in UK) is a green baby 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 human words when needed.
  • Poby (voiced by Kim Hwan-jin) (Wayne Forester in UK) is a white polar bear with a kind and generous personality.
  • Eddy (voiced by Ham Soo-jeong) (Tamsin Heatley in UK) is an orange fox with an invention box.
  • Loopy (voiced by (Hong So-yeong) (Joanna Ruiz in UK) is a pink female beaver with a love for cooking.
  • Goo Ja-hyeong as narrator (Tim Whitnall in UK)

Season 2 – present
  • Petty (voiced by Chung Misook), (Gillie Robic in UK) 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) is a ruby-coloured hummingbird and sidekick of Poby.

Season 3 – present
  • Lee Mi-ja as Rody is a yellow robot invented and loved by Eddy.
  • Hannah Grace as Tong-tong is a magical orange dragon.
  • Ham Soo-jeong as Popo is a blue jellyfish.
  • Kim Seo-yeong as Pipi is a purple jellyfish.
  • Hong So-yeong as Nyao is a brown stuffed cat.

Season 4 – present
  • Jang Eun-sook as Tu-tu is a red car.

Minor characters
  • Robots
  • Dragon
  • Steggo
  • Shark
  • Aliens
  • Whale
  • Fish

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 instead of bowing or nodding to each other.

Acquisitions

In 2011, The Walt Disney Company (through Disney Junior) offered 1 trillion won to acquire all the rights of Pororo, but the original author refused.[4] But in 2004, ViacomCBS Networks International (through Nick Jr.) also acquire all the rights of Pororo, but The Walt Disney Company chose the language Spanish.

Awards and honors

In 2003, Pororo received numerous awards from the South Korean government, including the award by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. In 2006, Pororo got the President's award for best animation characters. In 2013, Pororo got the award for Creative Brands. In 2014, 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)[5]
  • Season 2: 52 x 5' (2005)[6]
  • 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 1 HD: 52 x 5' (2017)

Films

Spin-offs
  • Pororo Sing-A-Long: 14 x 3' (2006)[7]
  • 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: 4 x 5'

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

Opening/ending theme songs

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 speed up a little bit with different instrumentation.
  • Season 3: Hello Friends
  • Season 4: Hello Friends
  • Season 5: Hello Everyone
  • Season 6: Hello Everyone
  • Season New 1: Hello Everyone — This is same song but it includes different instrumentations.

Ending theme songs
  • Season 1: We Are the Best of Friends[8]
  • Season 2: We are all friends
  • Season 3: We Are All good friends
  • Season 4: We Are All good Friends
  • Season 5: We are all good friends

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 coloring 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.[9]

References
  1. "Iconic South Korean penguin character actually half-North Korean". Reuters. 2011-05-16.
  2. Editorial, Reuters (2011-05-16). "Iconic South Korean penguin character actually half-North Korean". Reuters. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  3. "Iconic South Korean penguin character actually half-North Korean". Reuters. 2011-05-16.
  4. "뽀로로, 디즈니社 1조원 제안 걷어찼다". 아시아경제 (in Korean). 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-15. Retrieved 2012-05-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Episode Guide Season 1
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2012-05-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Episode Guide Season 2
  7. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE81F0AD3149C3767 Originally 14 episodes, additional 12.
  8. Credits of the first season
  9. Ulsan Maeil. "코엑스몰서 '뽀로로 카니발' 개최". 2016-05-08. Retrieved 2016-05-07.
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