In the United Kingdom, it was originally broadcast on CITV, a children's strand on the ITV network. In September, 2007, Five 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.[1] 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,[2] 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 the Cristal Award for the "Best TV Production" at the 30th Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
Name
Pocoyo's name was provided by David Cantolla, one of the creators, after his three-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.
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.
The (nameless) narrator (del Rio or Fry) speaks over the entire show, and often communicates directly with the characters. Pocoyo has a good relationship with him, and is always to delighted to see (hear) him. The narrator is also at times physically involved in the events of the episodes, making him more of an heard-but-not-seen character rather than a strict 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 generally does things her way. 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.
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 more often is 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 a 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.
Taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocoyo
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