The ‘inappropriate’ Pingu episodes banned in UK as 90s children’s TV classic returns

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

First running for a decade from 1990, the Swiss-German animated series followed 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 then revived from 2003 until 2006 in the United Kingdom and was nominated for a Bafta in 2005.

This week it was announced the show was returning as a new stop-motion series co-developed by Mattel and Aardman.

The toy and entertainment giant are teaming up with the Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run studio on a new 3D animated show to ‘create fresh snow-filled stories about our favourite penguin that are sure to warm hearts worldwide’.

However, when the show aired it did face some controversy, with several episodes ‘banned’ in various countries.

Creators The Pygos Group, along with other rights holders for the Pingu at the time like the BBC, decided to pull several episodes from the broadcast because they were either deemed too frightening, inappropriate, offensive, or violent for children. They included the below episodes.

Hello, Pingu showed the title character being smacked on the head by his mother Pingg.

Although the scene originally aired on the BBC, in the VHS it was cut out due to violence concerns.

The second episode of the series also left broadcasters on edge, due to the fact it portrayed Pingu being stuffed inside a cupboard. It was removed from the BBC’s VHS release.

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

It was also removed from British television in 2005, 15 years after it first aired.

Another 1990 episode titled Pingu’s Dream was pulled from screens because as you can see in the picture above it was absolutely terrifying.

That giant walrus is the stuff of nightmares and wouldn’t be out of place in a horror movie for adults. It was subsequently removed from British television in 2003.

The season 3 episode where Pingu was slapped in the face by his mum was also edited out by the BBC when released on VHS.

This episode was also removed from most American airings as well.

There were also other Pingu episodes that didn’t air or were pulled from broadcast in other countries.

One was the episode Jealousy, which saw Pingu pretending to throw up, while Little Accidents was seen as an issue due to ‘toilet humour, the realistic appearance of urination, and alcoholic references’.

Meanwhile Pingu’s First Kiss was removed from American TV due to the ‘beak-to-beak contact’, although it still aired in the U.K.

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

Aardman’s chief creative director Sarah Cox said the studio reviving the series 18 years after the last episode aired was ‘such a natural and enticing combination’.

‘The charm of the stop frame animation along with the quirky irreverence and character driven storytelling aligns perfectly with our creative approach. There are so many stories yet to tell, we can’t wait to get started,’ she said.

Cox added that the show had comedy that ‘transcends language barriers to speak to audiences everywhere’.