The beloved 90s children’s series Pingu is making a comeback.

First broadcast for a decade starting in 1990, the Swiss-German animated series followed a family of anthropomorphic emperor penguins who live in the South Pole.

The main character, Pingu, frequently goes on adventures with his little sister, Pinga, and often gets into mischief with his best friend Robby and his love interest, Pingi.

It was later revived from 2003 to 2006 in the UK and was nominated for a Bafta in 2005.

This week, it was announced that the series would return as a new stop-motion series co-developed by Mattel and Aardman.

The toy and entertainment giant is teaming up with Wallace, Gromit and Chicken Run Studios for a new 3D animated show aimed at “creating new snow-filled stories about our favorite penguin that are sure to warm the hearts of all. whole world.”

However, when the series aired, it was the subject of some controversy, with several episodes “banned” in various countries.

The creators of the Pygos Group, along with other Pingu rights holders at the time, such as the BBC, decided to remove several episodes from broadcast because they were deemed too frightening, inappropriate, offensive or violent for viewers. children. They included the episodes below.

Hello Pingu

Hello, Pingu showed the main character being hit in the head by his mother Pingg.

Although the scene was originally shown on the BBC, the VHS was cut due to violence concerns.

Pingu takes care of the egg

The second episode of the series also left broadcasters nervous, as it depicted Pingu locked in a cupboard. It was removed from the BBC VHS version.

Pingu runs away

Another season 1 episode that was completely cut from broadcast was Pingu Runs Away, which showed him being spanked by his mother and then leaving the family igloo.

It was also removed from British television in 2005, 15 years after it was first broadcast, and was one of the few episodes removed.

Pingu’s dream

Another 1990 episode was pulled from screens due to scenes with a giant walrus deemed too scary for many young viewers. He was also removed from British television in 2003.

Pingu argues with his mother

The season 3 episode where Pingu was slapped by his mother was also removed by the BBC when it was released on VHS.

This episode was also removed from most American broadcasts.

There were also other episodes of Pingu that were not broadcast or were removed from broadcast in other countries.

One of these was the episode Jealousy, in which Pingu pretended to vomit, while Little Accidents was considered problematic due to the “toilet humor, realistic appearance of urination and references to alcohol.

Meanwhile, Pingu’s First Kiss was removed from US television due to “beak-to-beak contact”, although it is still broadcast in the UK.

From 1990 to 2000, a total of 104 five-minute Pingu episodes were made, while the revival saw the creation of a further 52 episodes.

Aardman chief creative director Sarah Cox said the studio relaunching the series 18 years after the last episode aired was “such a natural and appealing combination”.

“The charm of stop-frame animation, quirky irreverence and character-driven storytelling align perfectly with our creative approach. There are so many stories to tell that we can’t wait to get started,” she said.

Cox added that the series features comedy that “transcends language barriers to speak to audiences around the world.”

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