Customer Reviews

Meet Pingu

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off I just want to say the my son loves Pingu. The problem I have with this Cd is how poorly packaged this is...

No Menu
No Chapter selection.
It's impossible to choose between eposodes and if you go past the last one it stops the DVD and you have to put up with the stupid FBI/Interpol warnings.

Bottom line: I'd wait until a better edition comes out or start off with "Chillin' with Pingu" (also sold on Amazon) which actually has a menu.

Note: We rented a DVD at Blockbuster called "Introducing Pengu" which was a better deal than this one (more episodes and an actual menu) so hint hint Amazon - sell that version instead.

Shame on Hit Ebntertainment...

Being a penguin fanatic, my sister bought this DVD for me for Christmas. I wasn't for sure what to think of it originally, but came to really enjoy the DVD after watching it.

Pingu is a young penguin and he and everything in his world are created through claymation (the type of animation responsible for WALLACE AND GROMIT, GUMBY, CHICKEN RUN). The stories on the DVD involve Pingu and his friends and family as they go about the daily tasks of their lives. Unlike most claymation shows, there is no literal dialogue: the creatures all speak a type of mumbling that is called Pengeese. There are six episodes on the DVD.

"Pingu Goes Fishing"--in this episode Pingu has his first encounter with a young seal named Robbie who becomes his best friend.

"Pingu Helps to Deliver the Mail"--in this episode Pingu helps his father deliver the mail in their small village.

"Pingu Plays Fish Tennis"--in this episode Pingu and Robbie are bored and end up playing a game of fish tennis.

"Pingu Gets a Bike"--in this episode Pingu's father runs over Pinga's (Pingu's little sister) bike. She cries and cries and cries until Pingu gives her his bike. Good lesson in sharing.

"Pingu at the Nursery"--Pingu takes Pinga to school at the nursery.

"Pingu and the Organ Grinder"--the poor Organ Grinder who lives on the outskirts of town is having a difficult time making a living. No one pays attention to him or his music. Pingu loves his music and decides to help the Organ Grinder.

Overall, I found this DVD to be highly entertaing. The whole DVD is a little over 30 minutes and can be easily watched in one setting. My favorite episode was "Pingu and the Organ Grinder"; I found it to be touching and reminded me of how much I love my grandparents. This is a great DVD to watch with younger children and makes an excellent gift for any penguin or claymation fans.

Pingu is great. I can't say anything beyond that.

My complaint is about the DVD format. It's like they basically dumped a VHS tape onto DVD. No authoring, no menus, just bare bones. Press "play" and off you go.

...Buy the Blockbuster version instead. We LOVE Pingu, but the packaging for this DVD, with its lack of menus & chapters, stinks. Hit Entertainment makes a special Pingu DVD just for Blockbuster, which is called _Introducing Pingu_ (not to be confused with this one, _Meet Pingu_), that you can rent and opt to buy for about $24. That may seem a bit pricey for one children's DVD, but it has all of the shorts from _Meet Pingu,_ PLUS the ones from _Chillin' With Pingu,_ AND it has a decent menu with an episode selection/chapters option. Totally worth a few extra dollars, as far as I'm concerned (it'd be about $18 to buy the two DVDs separately). And depending on how many copies your local Blockbuster has in stock, they'll probably be able to give you the original case, too. Ours did.

Meanwhile, shame on HIT for releasing such a poorly packaged DVD. And, most importantly, why don't we have more than 2 DVDs' worth of Pingu shorts available to us in this country? There are dozens of Pingu DVDs available in other countries... Why not in the US??

Fond memories of my older children enjoying quirky Pingu shorts lead me to search out some for my toddler who is super communicative.

Little did we imagine the emotional roller-coaster Pingu would be with the sensitive baby set! The very first episode in "Meet Pingu" involves Pingu accidentally hurting his mischievous new friend-to-be in a revengeful confrontation after discovering said seal stealing Pingu's fishing bait. When the injured flipper is displayed, tears flow; the seal has an owie, Pingu is remorseful, and another sound of wailing erupts. It is my 18 month old daughter! Only after they make up and become friendly, and after many soothing words and cuddles on our part, does she calm down.

That is, until Pingu's father delivers a letter to an elderly penguin that has sad news. When Pingu sees the old man crying, he also begins to cry. So begins another deluge from our baby.

And so it goes with the episode of Pinga and her father driving over her doll buggy (!) there was non-stop crying throughout the entire episode.

By the last episode we were drained.

That was it for me, and I decided that it was too much for her. Only annoying Ruby and Max or Classical Baby from now on. But my daughter would not forget Pingu. "Pee-oo?" she would query daily several times. She remembered!! Reluctantly I tried it again with similar results and vowed to keep it under wraps, but she calls for it when Ruby and Max come out. Eventually I caved in again.

After several viewings, our daughter knows what is coming. She is still upset by the same episodes, but is more toned down in her expression of upset. She also talks about the incidents as they occur looking for our reassurance which we continue to give. Babies understand a lot more than we give them credit for and so we encourage her "look! the seal's flipper is better! see! he's happy! they're friends" etc. etc. ad nauseum.

In summary, we love Pingu and if this dvd had only come with an episode selection we could have safely shown the fish tennis match, Pinga at nursery, and...oh! wait! Pingu does cry when the fish gets stuck on his head!...and there is a tense scene when Pinga trips on the way to her desk...

I remember first seeing this on Tv when my children were 6 and 2 in the state of Washington. We have since moved to Louisiana, and I haven't seen it on TV at all. My children are now 11 and 7. I went to Walmart and looked at the special DVD's on sale and by chance saw this DVD. I purchased it yesterday, and since then the children have watched it at least 10 times. Of course, I couldn't help watching the antics of this funny creature, and remember now how fun it was to watch. I am now trying to find out where to buy more DVD's from Pingu. One can do a search and find a couple of sites where info is available on products about Pingu. Unfortunately, nothing much is available here in the USA, but if you want to, one can get Pingu Dvd's for a hefty price (due to s&h)from overseas in the UK.

For anybody who wants something refreshing for good entertainment for kids from 1 to 100, Pingu is the one to watch!! You can't go wrong with this one!!

D. Tolbert

My kids love it and I love it. Would like to see more available in US.

Pingu comes from Switzerland and has been loved in Europe for many many years. I am delighted it has now come to the US and I can now buy a DVD instead of using my old dual video recorder! Pingu is delightful and is sometimes very naughty! The great thing is kids and adults can relate to it. My father loves Pingu and all my children do to! Enjoy all of the episodes!

It's highly unlikely that the Pygos Group intended this stop-frame claymation series to be an exercise in surrealism, but the world of Pingu is a fine introductory example of abstract logic. Taking place in the Antarctic, the adventures of Pingu center around a young penguin who lives in a small village with his family. Often accompanied by his best friend -- a somewhat sadistic seal named Robbie -- Pingu finds himself in a series of germane situations that are cosmopolitan enough to apply to any of us, which makes us feel all the better whenever he eventually triumphs. One particularly notable detail of the series is that there is no literary component whatsoever; all of the characters speak in a sort of complex gibberish known as Penguinese, which relies on expressiveness and context more than phonetics. This 30 minute "best of" is a delightfully entertaining addition to any video collection, and it's sheer absurdity will drive even the most stoic and sardonic of grown-ups into fits of uncontrollable laughter.

Pingu? What in the world is a Pingu? Pingu is a claymation style animated series about a little penguin and his antics. You cannot help but to fall in love with this show.

My son loves Pingu so much, he has worn out the 2 different dvd's available to the US. We are purchasing another set of dvd's so that we can all continue with our Pingu Addiction.

Pingu not only has great story lines but you can actually have your child fill in his own words to flesh out the story. This teaches your children how to not only use their own imagination but to also express themselves through the art of storytelling.

My son is now 4 but we found these dvd's when he was approximately 18months old and he is an old pro at telling his story. Each time he watches the dvd's he adds more and more to the story and the dialogue.

There are great little life lessons in each and every episode, that you do not even consciously realize your children are picking up on. They will learn about compassion, family values, forgiveness, and even responsibility. There are so many more lessons also that will be taken away from these shows. Powerful stuff for a show that does not even have a true dialogue.

I recommend Pingu to anyone and enjoy!

Tanya D. Doran