Pocoyo

Pocoyo
Genre	Preschool education
Created by	Guillermo García Carsí David Cantolla Luis Gallego
Written by	Guillermo García Carsí, Andy Yerkes (series 1) Ken Scarborough (series 2)
Directed by	Guillermo García Carsí David Cantolla Alfonso Rodriguez
Narrated by	Stephen Fry (English) José María del Río (Castilian Spanish)
Theme music composer	Daniel Heredero
Country of origin	Spain
Original languages	Spanish (Two versions; one for Spain, the other for Latin America) English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	104
Production
Executive producers	Kathryn Hart Anne Brogan Jonathan Doyle
Producers	Carolina Matas Pilar Cubría
Running time	90 minutes
Production company	Zinkia Entertainment

Pocoyo (Pocoyó in Spanish) is a Spanish pre-school animated television series created by Guillermo García Carsí, Luis Gallego and David Cantolla, and is a co-production between Spanish producer Zinkia Entertainment and Granada International. Two series have been produced, each consisting of 52 seven-minute episodes. British actor and comedian Stephen Fry narrates the English language version, and José María del Río narrates the Castilian Spanish version.

Set in a 3D space, with a plain white background and no backdrops, it is about a young boy dressed in blue, 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. Each character has its own distinctive dance, and most episodes end with the characters dancing. Many episodes also involve parties.

The technical quality in the development of each chapter, along with the original storylines created by Andy Yerkes, Ken Scarborough and Director Guillermo Garcia Carsí, excellent sound and the meticulous animations have made Pocoyo a high quality product and a success all over the world. Although it is targeted at young children, the program has gained a large cult following among older viewers.

In the United Kingdom, it was originally broadcast on CITV, a children's strand on the ITV network. In September, 2007, Five has acquired terrestrial rights in the United Kingdom to the first and second series, making it part of the Milkshake! strand. The show, however, will continue to air on the CITV Channel. Other broadcasters in the English speaking countries include RTÉ in the Republic of Ireland, Nick Jr. in the U.S. nationwide and local station WNYE-TV in the New York City, Treehouse TV in Canada, ABC in Australia and TVNZ in New Zealand.

In Spain, TVE2 broadcast the second series in Spain starting in April 2008. A future third series is on hold as the makers wish to embark upon other projects, one of which may be a Pocoyo movie.

In June 2006, Pocoyo was awarded, at the 30th Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the Cristal Award for the "Best TV Production".

Name

Pocoyo's name was provided by David Cantolla, one of the creators, after his 3 year old daughter used it in her nightly prayers saying "Eres niño poco yo " ("You're a child little me") instead of "Eres niño como yo ("You're a child like me"). "Pocoyó" could roughly be translated to English as "little me", “not much me” or “a little bit me”, though it is a made up construction .

Development

All characters and personalities were designed by Guillermo García Carsí for Zinkia Entertainment.

The show is created with Softimage XSI software.

Main characters

• Pocoyo is the eponymous main character of the series. He is a young boy full of curiosity who loves to play games and discover new things. He is very acrobatic and moves at a quick speed. He is always shown wearing blue clothes and a hat. He is (always) four years old; his "birthday" (when he inevitably turns four again) is October 14. His best friends are Pato, Elly and Loula. He has a vehicle called the Vamoosh which he can use to travel under the water, in the air or through space. Although he is very friendly and sweet and almost always in a good mood, Pocoyo is also highly self-centered, distracted by the simplest things, easily frustrated, frequently jealous of his friends, and disobedient, but tries his hardest to fight his flaws and learn morals. He is voiced by Montana Smedley most of the time, but occasionally, by Alex Marty.
• Stephen Fry is the narrator of the show, and often communicates with the characters. Pocoyo has a good relationship with the narrator, and is always to delighted to see (hear) him. As well as being the narrator, it is also often proven that Stephen is physically involved in the events of the episodes, making him more of an heard-but-not-seen character rather than a narrator.
• Pato is a yellow duck who wears nothing but a small green hat. He has a fondness for gardening, and is often seeing watering plants and flowerbeds. Pato means duck in Spanish, Portuguese, Tagalog, Tok Pisin and Papiamento. He is a favourite amongst the young children due to his enjoyable dancing and the fact that his beak turns 360 degrees. 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 with his beak spinning rapidly. He is used as a jackhammer or missile and can become a helicopter.
• Elly is a pink elephant who always wears a blue back-pack. She loves making biscuits and tea, and she also has a doll that she loves very much. Despite her size, she is graceful and gentle, capable of ballet dancing. She is, however, very bossy and does things her way only. She usually rides around on her pink scooter.
• Loula is Pocoyo's orange-yellow pet puppy and companion. Originally, the character's name was Lucas, in tribute to Creator and Director Guillermo García Carsi's dog, but for the series was lacking female characters so it was changed to Loula.
• Sleepy Bird is 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. The similar sounding Pajarito means "little bird" in Spanish.), and "Pájaro Dormilón" in the Latin American version. Pájaro means bird in Spanish. She can be active from time to time, but it's far more likely she'll be found asleep or snoozing to her content.

Secondary characters

• Aliens are sweet little green beings that Pocoyo finds in space in search of his toy plane.
• Baby Bird is the small, always active (he has not inherited his mother's fondness of sleeping) and loud baby of Sleepy Bird, who gets into tricky situations from which he is rescued by Pocoyo. He is best friends with Caterpillar. Named "Pajarito" in Spanish version ('little bird')
• Ball Orchestra is a group of three ball-like creatures who play the trumpet, drums and cymbals.
• Butterfly is a very hungry butterfly which Pocoyo occasionally catches.
• Caterpillar (named "Valentina" in Spanish) is a yellow caterpillar with a blue bow on top of her head. She speaks in gibberish and has the ability to change into a butterfly and back when she wants. She is best friends with Baby Bird.
• (Fred the) Octopus is an lunatic red octopus (although shown with only 4 legs, as to make animation rendering simpler) who speaks in gibberish like Caterpillar, and is very fond of opera singing. He appears in random episodes, sometimes as a major character, sometimes in passing. As of Season Two, he is sometimes referred to as 'Fred'.
• Finbar the Horse is a giddy horse who loves to dance.
• Music Flower & The Band are musical characters who play music that Pocoyo likes.
• Whale is a huge white whale with red cheeks who Pocoyo meets under the sea.

Episode list

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

Series 1 (2005)

1. Hush
2. Pocoyo Dance
3. Drum Roll Please
4. Umbrella, Umbrella
5. A Mystery Most Puzzling
6. A Present For Elly
7. The Big Sneeze
8. Double Bubble
9. Sleepy Bird's Surprise
10. Swept Away
11. Who's On the Phone?
12. Fetch Loula Fetch
13. A Little Cloud
14. Table for Fun
15. Keep Going, Pocoyo!
16. Where's Pocoyo?
17. Drummer Boy
18. The Great Race
19. Don't Touch
20. Mystery Footprints
21. Magical Watering Can
22. Twinkle Twinkle
23. Hiccup
24. Pato's Postal Service
25. Puppy Love
26. Bat and Ball
27. Elly Spots
28. Up Up and Away
29. A Surprise for Pocoyo
30. Having a Ball
31. Super Pocoyo
32. Let's Go Camping
33. The Key to It All
34. Fussy Duck
35. Whale's Birthday
36. Elly's Big Chase
37. Bedtime
38. Juggling Balls
39. Pocoyo's Little Friend
40. Pocoyo Pocoyo
41. Picture This
42. Musical Blocks
43. Paint Me a Picture
44. Elly's Doll
45. Giggle Bug
46. Pocoyo Gets It Right
47. A Dog's Life
48. What's In The Box
49. Pocoyo-lympics
50. Colour My World
51. A Little Something Between Friends
52. Wackily Ever After

Series 2 (2007)

1. Pocoyo's Present
2. Mad Mix Machine
3. Big Scary Slide
4. Elly's Ballet Class
5. Guess What?
6. Mr Big Duck
7. The Messy Guest
8. Pocoyo's Balloon
9. Who's Calling Me Now?
10. Band of Friends
11. Upside Down
12. New on the Planet
13. All for One
14. Elly's Shoes
15. Duck Stuck
16. Scary Noises
17. Not in my Backyard
18. Vamoosh on the Loosh
19. Detective Pocoyo
20. Scooter Madness
21. Lost in Space
22. Boo!
23. Party Pooper
24. My Pato!
25. Baby Bird Bother
26. Dirty Dog
27. The Seed
28. Runaway Hat
29. Invisible Pocoyo
30. Noise to my Ears
31. Baby Bird Sitting
32. Everyone's Present
33. Picnic Puzzle
34. Dance Off!
35. Pato's Egg
36. Pocoyo's Puppet Show
37. Get Lost Loula
38. Sneaky Shoes
39. Magic Act
40. Shutterbug
41. Angry Alien
42. Pato Underwater
43. Pato's Paintings
44. Monster Mystery
45. Poczilla
46. Elly on Ice
47. Farewell Friends
48. Double Trouble
49. Horse!
50. Elly's Tea Party
51. Talent Show
52. Remember When...

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: Best Bumper (Episodes 1.40-1.12)
• Pocoyo: Vol. 5 - Scooter Madness (Episodes 2.14-2.26)

Pocoyo Friendy Fun Episodes 1.41-1.13

Region 1 (US/Canada)

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

External links

• Official website
• Official Pocoyo blog
• Pocoyo at IMDb
• Guillermo García Carsi