Mattel Television Studios and Aardman Animation have confirmed that they are collaborating on a reboot of the children's television show Pingu.
The BAFTA-nominated stop-motion series centres around a young penguin living in the South Pole with his family. Each episode sees Pingu embark on an adventure, sometimes accompanied by his little sister Pinga or best friend Robby the Seal.
In the original run, Pingu and all of the supporting characters were voiced by Italian actor Carlo Bonomi. Furthermore, all the dialogue is delivered in the fictional grammelot ‘Penguinese.'
The series first aired for four seasons on Swiss television from 1990 until 2000. It was also shown in the United Kingdom by the BBC, which later produced and aired two revival seasons. A Japanese continuation of the show, titled Pingu in the City, aired from 2017 to 2019.
Josh Silverman, Chief Franchise Officer of Mattel, confirmed news of the revival during the MIPCOM Cannes event. He told The Hollywood Reporter “We are overjoyed about the project. It's going to be really, really special. Pingu just continues to, organically, have a tremendous amount of affection and attention.”
Similarly to the original series, the reboot will also be a clay-based stop-motion animation.
Additionally, Pingu is a popular figure in online culture. In 2012, animator Lee Hardcastle released Pingu's The Thing, a cross between the show and John Carpenter's horror film The Thing.
Mattel acquired the rights to Pingu in 2011. Their television division has also produced content for the Minecraft, Barbie, and Monster High franchises.
Aardman is best known for the ongoing Wallace & Gromit collection of short & feature films. Their latest picture, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, will premiere over Christmas in the UK. The studio's other titles include Chicken Run (2000) and its sequel Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023).