Pingu

Theatrical release poster.

***Pingu*** is a 2008 American-British computer-animated fantasy film based on the show with the same name produced by both Studio 4 Animation and HiT Entertainment and released by Paramount Pictures, directed by Micheal Brannon, produced by Bonnie Arnold and written by Tommy Swerdlow, the film stars Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Hayden Panettire and Charlie Day, it revolves around Pingu and their friends learning how to adapt outside the South Pole and the best place to find one is a substitute full with a community of walruses and polar bears in peace.

*Pingu* was released with standard 2D formats, in selected territories with RealD3D and IMAX on July 2, 2008, it received mixed reviews with a continued box office success, but this time going above $100 million with a total of $107 million.

## Plot

At the south pole, Pingu wakes up to a new school day and gets prepared to play ice hockey as a special break-time day, but little did they know, the south pole was about to melt, after the game was over, ice cracks form and the rest of the South Pole starts to melt, panic of the townsfolk broke out, leaving the parents to call for their godfather The Walrus to save the kids, including Robby, the adults then drown and the survivors drift to the walrus community, where they are introduced to other walruses that would protect newcomers and anyone they come across as nice with prejudice.

Pingu requests a tour at a village, which he did so by asking politely, they view the cafe, supermarket and housing, were they were invited to a quiet dinner, which it then turns to a game of chasey, Pingu snaps and storms off, to which an upset Pingi follows him, but out of respect, she leaves him for headspace, after ranting about humans are monsters, he then takes three deep breaths then sees that not all of them are, he then dances with Pingi, which left Pingo jealous, he then argues with his friends, which then reject him, The Walrus then says to not worry, he will make up soon.

Pingo, who wanderers off the group, is then captured by a celebration of polar bears for a ritual, but reveals they are loyal as well, praising seals and strong swimming penguins for saving them in peril, they decide to let Pingo go, but moved to the Walrus community as they seem they are actually a close herd, Pingo is then reunited with the entire community, he then apologises to his friends for his apparent "betrayal".

It seemed liked all of it was fine, until Polly alerts they are trespassers on the ship, but The Walrus knew better, and tells her there are not colonies or pirates, but are tourists, these people stopped at the community port and came to visit and reveals they rescued an already injured penguin stuck in a plastic wrap, revealing Hugo, he dashes to the community safe and sound, leaving Pingu grateful that not all humans are psycho, as told by the Walrus, leaving them in good shape, and all currently live happily ever after, the narrator then reveals himself as a gorilla.

## Voice cast

* Michael Cera as Pingu, an optimistic and kind penguin who hangs out with his colony.
* Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Pingi, Pingu's girlfriend and Pinga's older friend.
* Hayden Panettire as Pinga, Pingu's young sister.
* Charlie Day as Robby, Pingu's best friend.
* Ty Burrell as The Walrus, a loyal gentle giant who would take care of anyone, including children.
* John Goodman as Bajoo, a yeti who joins with Pingu and his friends.
* Bill Hader as The Seagull, a former trickster turned friend who becomes The Walrus
* Zachary Levi as Pingo, Pingu's friend.
* Richard Kind as Pingg, Pingu's friend.
* Wallace Shawn as Pongi, Pingu's friend.
* Martin Short as Pengy, Pingu's friend.
* Josh Gad as Pingj, a green penguin who joins Pingu and his friends for a journey across the ocean.
* Tara Strong as Beige, a shy and insecure walrus afraid of humans, but also admits she's spoiled.
* Jonah Hill as Poogi, a fun-loving walrus who wants to play tag with Robby.
* Holly Hunter as Nanny, a citizen of the Walrus community, being the same animal.
* Elijah Wood as Hobby the Human, the one who rescued Hugo from death.
* Diderich Bader as The Narrator, revealed as a gorilla at the end.
* Bruce Willis as Hugo, a new welcomer.
* Mae Whitman as Polly the Polar Bear, a 15-year-old polar bear who is Bajoo's adoptive daughter.
* Billy West as Freik, another polar bear who praises the seals and penguins out of respect and one of Bajoo's adoptive children.
* Bill Farmer as Bunti, Friek's brother who repeats the same thing and one of Bajoo's adoptive children.
* Antonio Banderas as Nuiku, a black polar bear and is one of Bajoo's adoptive children.
* Ned Beatty as Mr. Peng-Chips, Pingu's teacher.
* Jeremey Piven as Dad, Pingu's father.
* Lacey Chabert as Mom, Pingu's mother.
* Carlo Bonomi as Manager, The Narrator's assistant.

Not many characters were mentioned, nor appear in the film except for Pingu's grandparents given that they are past tense before the film took place, and it was mentioned the other characters migrated somewhere else.

## Additional voices

* Michael Bird
* David Cowgill
* Newell Alexander
* Jack Angel

## Production

After the Pingu reboot finished making new episodes, in March 2006, it was reported that Brannon's company Studio 4 were working with HiT Entertainment to create the film adaptation, with storyboards, script and writing in place, they completed all in just five months.

The animation was also given a stylistic approach to make it look like Claymation and the real world blended together with already rendered pictures moving in each scene, like in the main Studio 4 logo, which was animated on ones, but with most of the film, it was still on ones, but in specific parts, on twos, and some stages, in painted pictures, it was given digitally traditional styled background, characters in paintings used in scenes have also been given this type, and for lip-syncs for characters, uses references of each episode from the show.

Unlike most Pingu productions, the characters were given to speak fluent English, whilst keeping a bit of penguinese.

Animation production commenced on April 6, 2007, and wrapped up on February 26, 2008.

Josh Gad was casted as the green penguin "Pingj" because the director thought his voice matched his appearance.

They were originally going to include a villain called "Mr. Hicklestein", he plans to capture Pingu's little sister Pinga, but he was left unused in the film because the crew thought he was too unnecessary, as they were aiming for a slice-of-life genre, unlike most films produced by Studio 4.

Pingu was the first film from the studio and the only one from HiT Entertainment to be produced in a stereoscopic 3D format, being screened in typical standard 2D, 3D technology with RealD3D and IMAX.

### Marketing

The teaser trailer was released with *Cloverfield* on January 18, 2008, the official trailer was released with *The Spiderwick Chronicles* on February 14, 2008, and its final trailer with *Kung Fu Panda* on June 6, 2008.

Studio 4 Animation and HiT Entertainment had invested $60 million in producing promotional material across TV, and struck partnerships with McDonald's, HP, Walmart and with Fujitsu with its air-conditioning adverts.

### Soundtrack

Pingu: The Motion Picture Score is the soundtrack of the film released on July 1, 2008, and was scored by Henry Jackman and Michael Giacchino.

## Release

### Theatrical

*Pingu* premiered widely on July 2, 2008, in the US and Canada by Paramount Pictures worldwide except Australia, presented in RealD3D, IMAX and standard 2D formats, being followed by other releases including July 4, 2008, in Japan, a limited release in Australia on July 10, 2008, and officially on September 11 later the same year by Roadshow Film Distributors, because the TV show with the same name aired on ABC Kids, July 25, 2008, in the UK and July 30, 2008, in Iceland.

### Home media

Pingu was released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 7, 2008, by Paramount Home Entertainment with HiT Entertainment coupled with the traditional 2D format and with a 3D version, it also came with glasses, since then, 3.4 million units have been sold.

The film was also released to DVD and Blu-ray in Australia by Roadshow Entertainment on December 17, 2008, featuring a trailer to Igor.

The film was released on Netflix on March 21, 2014, and Shout Factory! Re-released the film on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on May 12, 2020.

## Reception

### Critical response

*Pingu* has received generally a mixed reception from critics and audiences, On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 113 reviews, The site's critical consensus read, "A standard film that teaches us about that humans are the real monsters but not all of them are and all characters speak perfect English but is redeemable with its timeless story with a unique, but average animation style." Shortly with an average rating of 5.6/10. Metacritic gives the film a score of 42 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".

### Box office

*Pingu* grossed $39.9 million in the United States and Canada and $67.4 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $107.3 million.

*Pingu* was released along with *Hancock* and *Tell No One*, the film was projected to gross $20 million on its opening weekend, made $12 million on its first day, and $4 million on its second and $2.4 million, the film marks its way to debut at $18.4 million, on its second weekend, made $5 million and heading to its third, went above the $30 million budget making $31.1 million.

By September 2008, the film broke above $100 million on its worldwide gross.

*Pingu* rained successful in Japan, grossing around $30.2 million in the country, this was attributed to how much Japanese girls loved the character and the incorporation of elements that resonated with Japanese audiences.