Tiny Planets Explained
Tiny Planets is an animated children's television series produced by Sesame Workshop, World of Wonder (which also behind Takeover TV), and Pepper's Ghost Productions. The concept was designed and developed by Ed Taylor. The television series consists of 65 five-minute,[3] dialogue-free (and later narrated by Kim Goody, the singer of the theme song) episodes featuring two white-furred extraterrestrials travelling their universe and solving a specific problem each episode.[4]
Plot
Deep in the heart of the Tiny Universe lies the North Planet where the main characters, Bing and Bong, make their home. These two explorers are catapulted to the surrounding worlds in their solar system on a flying white couch where they explore, learn about the inhabitants, develop friendships and have fun.
Characters
- Bing (voiced by Dashiell Tate) is older and much larger than Bong. His enormous appetite for exploring is dwarfed only by the endless supply of useful gadgets in an ever-present pouch. Wise and determined, he often takes the lead in adventures. Patient and thoughtful, he loves nothing more than a problem to be solved or a job to be done. He likes to help others and has an optimistic approach to life and its problems. He does not speak, but communicates with body language, expressive eyebrows, and humming sounds.
- Bong (voiced by Kim Goody, the singer of the theme song) the younger and smaller one, is Bing's appealing, coy, impulsive, and a bundle lover of energy. Impish, playful, gregarious and incredibly compassionate apprentice and a spider-dog like alien known as a "boing", she is especially miserable when on bad terms with Bing. She loves to join in games and be the centre of attention. She does not speak but has an expressive face and a body, a high-pitched sound (which is cross between a grunt and a squeak), and a multi-decibel cry of joy.
- Halley (also voiced by Kim Goody, the singer of the theme song) is a small wide-eyed insect who is named after the comet who provides a running commentary from her flying saucer and "films" the action with a remote camera to provide a summary at the end of the episode. Halley was not featured in some versions of the show, but she was featured in the Australian version on ABC Kids, and the U.S. version that aired on the Noggin channel.
- Flockers live on each of the Tiny Planets, each with its own distinctive population. More often than not, it is these social creatures that Bing & Bong are helping out of a jam. Whether it is cleaning out-of-reach windows or fortifying a house to withstand wind, Flockers are a perpetual source of problems begging to be solved. They do not speak, but communicate with body language and call sounds. Their design varies depending on the planet; they have either one or two heads and either one or two legs. Only a few have arms.
- Locals are smaller inhabitants of the planets and can appear in greater numbers than the Flockers but are just as dim. They are mostly globular in shape with blinking eyes and little antennae on top of their heads. They do not speak, but they communicate by bouncing, blinking and squeaking. On certain planets, the Locals are geometric shapes: squares, circles and triangles. Locals are always colourful, appealing and friendly.
- Robots are segmented spherical creatures with mechanical arms and either wheels or helicopter rotors. Found mostly on the Tiny Planet of Technology, like all robots, they are linear thinkers attempting to multitask. They are there to help but do not always take instructions well. Thus, they are a challenge and Bing and Bong learn to work with them to get the best out of them.
Settings
There are six Tiny Planets that Bing and Bong travel to, in addition to their Home Planet.
- Home Planet – Bing and Bong live inside the Home Planet. From here they set out every morning on a new adventure. It is an icy world, covered in snow-capped ice floes. Inside a giant crystal is Bing and Bong's home, decorated in a steampunk idiom, with much brass work. The main and most notable feature is the fuzzy white couch that doubles as both their bed and their means of intergalactic travel. Tethered to the Home Planet by a bungee cord it is launched into space by a monstrous catapult.
- Tiny Planet of Nature – Bing and Bong discover weather, plants and animals, the power of wind and the way rain turns to snow. This is a verdant and lush world, with trees, lakes, mountains and flowers. The seasons there are much like a temperate part of the Globe, with snow in winter, hot sun in summer and falling leaves in autumn.
- Tiny Planet of Technology – Bing and Bong design gadgets to discover the properties of springs, wheels, levers, pulleys, balance, forces, gears and structures. The planet consists of a massive detailed brass sphere, with four tethered satellites: two cubes and two spheres. The action takes place inside this planet, with an emphasis on structures and principles of physics.
- Tiny Planet of Self – Bing and Bong encounter fitness, cleanliness and healthy eating and learn more about themselves and others. This is a loose cluster of outcrops floating in a sunny atmosphere, linked by rows of stepping-stones. There are pagoda-like pavilions and a sports arena here, and local transport is by sky-boat. Lessons of health, feelings, and good manners are learned here.
- Tiny Planet of Sound – Bing and Bong join bands, play tubas, beat on drums and experiment with rhythm, harmony, pitch and acoustics. This is a rocky desert, with odd flora such as Pitch-Plants (extendible flutes that can be blown), maraca leaves and self-playing Tom-tom trees. Flockers and Locals often hold concerts here. The planet is blue from orbit, and is surrounded by a swarm of small asteroids which spiral from pole to pole.
- Tiny Planet of Light and Colour – Bing and Bong discover rainbows, shadows, animation and colour mixing. This is an environment where Bing and Bong discovers optical phenomena. Around the planet there is a wide, circular, semi-transparent band inlaid with parallel strips of ever-changing colours. The landscape is similar to a desert, and the most notable features are the bullet-shaped rock pillars with paint coloured spots on them.
- Tiny Planet of Stuff – Bing and Bong explore groups of things and what they're made of. They play with patterns and numbers and sort things by colour, shape and sound. The planet is shaped like a gigantic Möbius strip and patterned like pink-and-blue graph paper; hence, this is where Bing and Bong solve problems involving arithmetic, logic and geometry.
Episodes
Nature:
- Seasons Machine
- Snow Problem
- Gone With the Wind
- It's Raining Bongs
- Winter Warm-Ups
- On the Right Track
- Blown Away
- Egg-stra Large
- Body Talk
- Big and Small
Technology:
- Tip the Scales
- Spring Cleaning
- Tools, Glorious Tools
- Free Wheeling
- Slippery Slope
- Pedal Meddle
- Pivotal Points
- The Right Angle
- The Fisher Bing
- Strength in Girders
Self:
- Tuba Trouble
- Night Light, Sleep Tight
- Shower Power
- That's What Friends are For
- Flockercise
- Sweet Temptations
- Odd Bing Out
- Box of Tricks
- Keep Your Head
- Easy Rider
- Moving and Grooving
- Birthday Build-Up
- Be a Sport
- Love is All You Need
- Pooling Resources
- Everyone's a Winner
Sound:
- Highs and Lows
- Flower Power
- Jammin' Session
- A Chorus Line
- Desperately Seeking Silence
- Hear My Song
- Bing Bong Bell
- Found Sounds Orchestra
- Rhythm and Moods
Light and Colour:
- Shadow Showdown
- True Colours
- Making Rainbows
- Flocker Flicker
- Contrasting Views
- The Light Fantastic
- 3D or Not 3D?
Stuff:
- Patterns on Parade
- Picnic Poser
- Suits You
- Give Me Five
- Shapes Alive
- Magnificent Seven
- Shapes and Ladders
- Mirror Magic
- A Place for Everything
- Road Block
- What's Cooking?
- Colour Clues
- Ramping Up
Broadcast
Tiny Planets was shown on ITV in the United Kingdom. On December 1, 2002, the original version with English graphics premiered on Noggin in the United States as 5-minute segments between other shows. It was expanded to a 30-minute show in early June 2004, and was shown on Noggin until April 9, 2006.[5] It also aired on ABC in Australia, K-T.V. World in South Africa, BFBS in Germany as well as Belize, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and Bosnia and Herzegovina, TV3 in New Zealand, Kids Central in Singapore, JimJam in Malta, e-Junior in the Emirates, TVB Pearl in Hong Kong as well as Macau, Family Channel and CBC in Canada. Localized versions were aired on Super RTL in Germany, NRK in Norway, HRT in Croatia, NHK in Japan, UBC Kids in Thailand, SBS in Korea, Astro Ria in Malaysia, Spacetoon in Indonesia, Italia 1 in Italy, Discovery Kids in Latin America, Televisa in Mexico and Minika Çocuk in Turkey.[6] [7]
Awards and nominations
The programme was nominated for several BAFTA awards. It won the 2002 BAFTA Interactive Children's Entertainment Award[8] and was nominated for the 2001 BAFTA Interactive Award for Online Learning[9] and the 2003 BAFTA Pre-school Animation Award.[10] Additionally, a website based on the series was awarded the 2001 BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Website Award.[11]
Notes and References
- Web site: Tiny Planets go worldwide. BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation. 8 April 2002.
- Web site: Ed Taylor Animations. EdTaylor.co.uk. Taylor. Ed.
- Web site: Tiny Planets. IMDb.
- Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 852–853.
- Web site: The Tiny Planets Hour | the Gilbert Dennis Website.
- Web site: Tiny Planets licensed throughout Europe and Japan. C21Media.net. C21 Media. Fraser. Fiona. 19 April 2002.
- Web site: Tiny Planets Gets Big TV Marathon, Home Vid Bow. Animation Magazine. Ball. Ryan. 10 September 2003.
- Web site: BAFTA Children's Interactive in 2002. BAFTA.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2002.
- Web site: BAFTA Interactive Online Learning in 2001. BAFTA.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2001.
- Web site: BAFTA Children's Pre-school Animation in 2003. BAFTA.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2003.
- Web site: BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Website in 2001. BAFTA.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2001.
