Pocoyo

Pocoyo (Pocoyó in Spanish) is a Spanish-British-American pre-school comedy animated television series created by Guillermo García Carsí, Colman López, Luis Gallego and David Cantolla, and is a co-production between Spanish producer Zinkia Entertainment, Cosgrove-Hall Films and Granada International. Two series have been produced, each consisting of 52 seven-minute episodes. English actor and comedian Stephen Fry narrates the English-language version and José María del Río narrates the Castilian Spanish version of the first two seasons, while Stephen Hughes narrates the third season, called Let's Go Pocoyo. In 2016, a new spin-off show called "Pocoyo Planet" was created. Set in a 3D space, with a plain white background and usually no backdrops, it is about Pocoyo, a 4-year-old boy, interacting with his friends Pato (a duck), Elly (an elephant) and Loula (a dog). Viewers are encouraged to recognize situations that Pocoyo is in, and things that are going on with or around him. The narrator usually speaks explicitly to the viewers and to the characters as well. Each character has its own distinctive dance and also a specific sound (usually from a musical instrument), and most episodes end with the characters dancing. In the United Kingdom, it was originally broadcast on CITV, a children's strand on the ITV network. In September 2005, Channel 5 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, Syndication and on Univision in LATAM Spanish, Treehouse TV in Canada, ABC in Australia, Playhouse Disney in Asia and TVNZ in New Zealand. The show aired on HBO Family from 2005 to 2009, and PBS Kids from 2009 to 2010. In 2010, the show premiered on Nick Jr.; like Tiny Planets and Peppa Pig, it was originally shown as 7-minute segments between shows before being expanded to a half-hour show on July 19, 2011. On January 2, 2015, it was removed along with Ni Hao, Kai-Lan and Olivia; two months later, episodes of the show were made available on the Noggin app. Episodes of "Pocoyo Planet" are currently on the app as well. In Spain, TVE2 started broadcasting the second series in April 2007. The third season began airing in 2010 under the title Let's Go Pocoyo and was designed to teach English to Spanish preschoolers. The makers also 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.