Penguin Town

Penguin Town is a documentary.  It is a television program about African penguins.  It is set in Simon's Town, South Africa.  It is set from late 2019 through mid-2020.  It aired on Netflix on June 16, 2021.

Patton Oswalt is the narrator of Penguin Town.  He tells the viewer what is happening.  He is also an executive producer. The other executive producers are Brian Armstrong, Shannon Malone-Debenedictis, and Belinda Cherrington.

Style

In some ways, Penguin Town is like other nature shows.  A narrator tells the viewer what is happening while video of penguins plays.  In other ways, Penguin Town is like reality television.  The narrator talks about penguins as if they were human contestants on a reality TV show.  For example, he says "his wife" and "her husband" instead of "his mate" or "her mate."  The narrator names most penguins after where they decide to build nests.  The pair that build a nest in a bougainvillea bush are called Mr. and Mrs. Bougainvillea.  He calls the two who build a nest in a family's back garden Lord and Lady Courtyard.  The opening credits label Mr. and Mrs. Bougainvillea as "the soulmates," Mr. and Mrs. Culvert as "the newlyweds," and a Cape fur seal "the scoundrel." The credits also read "Six hot months," "One wild colony," "No rules" like on a reality TV show. Often, cheerful music plays.

Making

The camera crew from Red Rock Films started out following 80 pairs of penguins.  They later followed only 50 penguins.  Then the team chose a smaller group of penguins to make the story.  The camera crew used tripods, waterproof cameras, drones, other special cameras, and even an antigravity platform.

Place

Penguin Town takes place in a human town full of people.  The penguins walk past cars, streets, houses, and human beings to go to and from the sea and their nests.  The camera does not usually show any human being's face.  The narrator says "giants" instead of "humans."  On Penguin Town, humans from SANCCOB take injured penguins to veterinarians.  They also take lost eggs to raise in incubators.

The narrator says that the penguins build nests near humans because they know no other dangerous animals will come near them.

In the last episodes, the camera shows a beach with no people on it, and a lost medical mask to show that this is happening during the COVID-19 pandemic.  A caracal comes into the town to hunt penguins while the humans are in their houses.

Characters

Mr. and Mrs. Bougainvillea are called "the soulmates" early on the show.  After Mrs. Bougainvillea does not come back from fishing, Mr. Bougainvillea is called "the single dad." They are about 12 years old and have been raising chicks together for seven years.  Their two chicks are called Twig and Petal.

The Car Park Gang are called "the bullies." They are penguins without mates or nests.  They attack other penguins, including chicks.

Mr. and Mrs. Culvert are called "the newlyweds." They are raising a chick for the first time.  They build a nest in a culvert, and both their eggs are washed away by the rain.  Human beings save one egg and take it away for experts to raise.

Junior is called "the misfit." He is a two-year-old penguin.  He is bitten by a seal and the bites become infected.  Human beings take him from the beach to a veterinary clinic and bring him back after he is healed.

Lord and Lady Courtyard start building a nest later than most penguins.

Mr. and Mrs. Wheelbarrow raise four chicks, two at a time.

Episodes
All of the first season aired at the same time on June 16, 2021:

1. Homecoming

2. The Nest Generation

3. Hot and Bothered

4. Lost and Found

5. Close Encounters

6. Weekend Warriors

7. Beyond the Nest

8. Learning to Fly

Response

Dorothy Rabinowitz of The Wall Street Journal called Penguin Town "enchanting." Romey Norton of Ready Steady Cut called Penguin Town "humorous and insightful" and said the fact that it was not as serious as other penguin TV shows made it feel fresh.  Joel Keller of The Decider said the show was sometimes "corny," meaning silly, but he also liked that it was not too serious and told its story well.  He also says that most nature shows about penguins do not usually show them in warm places like Simon's Town or near people.

Stuart Heritage of The Guardian said the penguins had been "anthropomorphized to high heaven," meaning that they were spoken of as if they were human beings.  He said it was good comfort food to watch during the pandemic because every time something bad happened to a penguin on the show, something good happened right after that.

Related pages
March of the Penguins

References 

2021 television series debuts
Documentaries
Television series about animals

Other websites