''Pingwings'' is an animated

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

, comprising 18 ten-minute episodes, broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV in three series of six programmes each, between 1961 and 1965. It first aired on

Associated Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

in February 1961. Created by

Oliver Postgate Richard Oliver Postgate (12 April 1925 – 8 December 2008) was an English Animation, animator, puppeteer, and writer. He was the creator and writer of some of Britain's most popular children's television programmes. ''Bagpuss'', ''Pingwings' ...

and

Peter Firmin Peter Arthur Firmin (11 December 1928 – 1 July 2018) was an English artist and puppet maker. He was the founder of Smallfilms, along with Oliver Postgate. Between them they created a number of popular children's TV programmes, '' The Saga of ...

of Smallfilms, it starred a family of

penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

-like creatures who lived at the back of a barn on the fictional Berrydown Farm. The Pingwing characters were knitted by Firmin's sister Gloria Wilson, and the animation was achieved using the

stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

technique. Some of the animated sequences were filmed in the open air. Such sequences were often intercut with live-action sequences, featuring Mr and Mrs Farmer and Gay the Goat. In this way the Pingwing family interacted with their neighbours on the farm. The series was in fact filmed partly "on location": since Peter Firmin and his wife lived in an old farmhouse, and the Smallfilms film studio was located in a disused barn adjacent to it, all the exteriors needed for the series were available literally on their doorstep.Filming ''Pingwings''
/ref> The series was captured on 16mm black-and-white film. All of the voices were provided by Oliver Postgate and Olwen Griffiths. A short sequence of ''Pingwings'' is available on the CD accompanying Oliver Postgate's autobiography, and a DVD of the 18 episodes is also available, from the ''Dragons' Friendly Society''. The music for the series was composed by Vernon Elliot, and performed by him with the oboist Sidney Sutcliffe.

Broadcasts

Series One
Episode 1: "''The Happy Event''"
Episode 2: "''The Ice Cream Tree''"
Episode 3: "''The New House''"
Episode 4: "''Baby Pingwing''"
Episode 5: "''The Sorry Birds''"
Episode 6: "''The Seaside''" Series Two
Episode 7: "''Robinson Pingwing''"
Episode 8: "''The Fish''"
Episode 9: "''Mrs Pingwing''"
Episode 10: "''The Flying Birds''"
Episode 11: "''The Rag Doll''"
Episode 12: "''Visitors''" Series Three
Episode 13: "''A Game of Spoonball''"
Episode 14: "''Moving House''"
Episode 15: "''Buying and Selling''"
Episode 16: "''Ice Cream for Tea''"
Episode 17: "''A Proper Kitchen''"
Episode 18: "''Mrs Pingwing's Entertainment''"

Characters

Mr Pingwing The father figure, portrayed as less than bright but loves his family. Mrs Pingwing The archetypal mother figure, she wears an apron. Paul Pingwing The eldest child. Technically minded and overconfident, he wears a hat. Penny Pingwing Paul's younger sister, she wears an apron. Baby Pingwing Egg laid in episode one, hatched in episode four. Frequently gets into trouble. The Pog A strange, wise pig-like creature Mr. Pingwing often asks for advice in later episodes. Gay the Goat Large role in episode two, remains a background character elsewhere. She is deaf and kindly and a live action character.

References

External links

Toonhound's Pingwings site

* {{Smallfilms 1961 British television series debuts 1965 British television series endings 1960s British animated television series British children's animated television shows British stop-motion animated television series Television series by Smallfilms 1960s British children's television series Animated television series about penguins ITV animated television series Animated television series set on farms