Pingu - Bouncy Fun (DVD)

...Bouncy Fun==

Pingu is a darling little Penguin, aged 5 and full of fun. He lives in an igloo with his nuclear family - mother, father and little baby sister, Pinga. Pingu's best friend is Robbie the seal, and his girlfriend (yes, they start young in Penguin Land), is Pingi, whom Pingu met at school.

Pingu is a plasticine creation. The animations are excellent in that they are fluid and funny too. If you're over 30, ...
...have a naughty gene, as Pingu could teach Morph a thing or too about exploiting plasticinity! Pingu morphs himself not only to get out of trouble, or make it easier to reach things; he also morphs himself to express emotion. When he's happy, his beak protrudes into a trumpet shape and he hoots "Nug Nug!" (according to the website), or if he's excited in the snow he rolls himself into a ball. If he needs something high up, he becomes taller ... more

Pingu Bouncy Fun

Pingu is a darling little Penguin, aged 5 and full of fun. He lives in an igloo with his nuclear family - mother, father and little baby sister, Pinga. Pingu's best friend is Robbie the seal, and his girlfriend (yes, they start young in Penguin Land), is Pingi, whom Pingu met at school.

Pingu is a plasticine creation. The animations are excellent in that they are fluid and funny too. If you're over 30, you might remember Tony Hart's Morph - the plasticine creature that inhabited his art table and caused mayhem whenever Tony wasn't looking. Well, it seems that plasticine animated creatures must have a naughty gene, as Pingu could teach Morph a thing or too about exploiting plasticinity! Pingu morphs himself not only to get out of trouble, or make it easier to reach things; he also morphs himself to express emotion. When he's happy, his beak protrudes into a trumpet shape and he hoots "Nug Nug!" (according to the website), or if he's excited in the snow he rolls himself into a ball. If he needs something high up, he becomes taller and thinner, and likewise can also be splatted down to a pancake if necessary. This is where the animation really comes alive - the comic timing is excellent and the postures so utterly ridiculous I defy you not to laugh at them.

Pingu is really really naughty. This is why kids love him, and adults can't help sniggering too. If there is any trouble to get into - bouncing on beds, getting covered in glue or stealing Pinga's favourite toy bear, Pingu will get stuck right in. Mother and Father are serious but loving penguins, and although they do get a little frustrated at Pingu's antics, they always try to find a fun way to divert Pingu's attention towards something less destructive. Pinga is a very cute little baby penguin, who still has the colouring of a baby. I have to admit I couldn't tell whether she was supposed to be a boy or a girl, so I had to check on the Pingu website to be sure! Robbie is Pingu's sidekick. He's got loads of energy and leads Pingu all over the place into trouble. He's pretty good at catching fish, being a seal, and is just a typical boy - he likes barging around and getting into trouble but has a heart of gold. Actually Pingu and Robbie are very similar in character, which is unusual seeing as one is a bird and one is a fish. Pingu's granddad also features quite heavily. He lives down the road and is a lovely old chap who really likes to aid and abet Pingu in his devilishness.

In "Pingu Bouncy Fun!" we get 9 short episodes of Pingu. Each episode only lasts about 5 minutes, so they are very good for toddlers with short attention spans. Pingu is an animation without speech, although the animals do talk to each other. They use each other's names, and they speak their own language, which some people reckon is Icelandic but which is, in fact, gibberish. It doesn't matter - you don't need any words to understand the stories, which is another reason why it's good entertainment for very small kids (although not educational in any way, shape or form!)

Here are the episodes. I won't divulge any spoilers here; the titles are pretty much self-explanatory really.

1) Pingu's Bouncy Fun. Pingu wants to bounce up and down on his bed, but Mother is not too pleased!
2) Pingu Finishes the Job. Pingu makes a coffee table, with a little help from Father.
3) Pingu Digs a Hole. It's been snowing heavily, so Pingu decides to dig into the snow.
4) Pingu's Valentine Card. Pingu makes a card for his girlfriend, but baby sis does most of the work!
5) Pingu Wants to Fly. Pingu and Robbie attempt to get air-borne.
6) Pingu's Windy Day. Pingu tries to catch what the wind blows away.
7) Pinga's Lost Rabbit. Heroic Pingu tries to save the day, but Pinga isn't interested.
8) Pingu's Moon Adventure. Pingu, Robbie and Granddad travel to the moon, kinda.
9) Pinga Sleepwalks. Heroic Pingu tries to get Pinga back to bed.

Rather annoyingly, the DVD box quite clearly states "10 Fantastic Stories", whereas in fact there are only 9. Bit of a cheat that. The DVD box itself is quite cool though. Made of solid blue plastic, it also features a carry handle, so you can, um, carry it somewhere. You might think this rather pointless, but my daughter actually does love to carry it around. But she is two.

There are no hidden extras on the DVD. You can choose either to watch the whole DVD or pick an episode, but there are no bonuses. Then again, it is dirt cheap, so what do you expect!

If you get really into Pingu, you might want to search for more videos on YouTube, but I advise doing so without your children in the room. I was quite shocked to find episodes with Pingu weeing all over the bathroom floor and hallucinating on drugs! Since my daughter delights in copying most of Pingu's antics, I was quick to hit the stop button! The Pingu website (www.pingu.net) is pretty neat for kids though. You enter your name for a personalised treat and can read about the Pingu clan, play some silly games and watch some highlights.

Available from Amazon form £1.13. Universal Viewing. 

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