Peppa Pig

Original title: Peppa Pig Characters: Peppa Pig, George Pig, Daddy Pig, Mom Pig, Grandpa Pig, Grandma Pig, Aunt Dotty, Mrs. Rabbit, Rebecca rabbit, Richard rabbit, Suzy sheep, Danny dog, Zoe zebra, Candy cat, Pedro pony, Emily elephant, Freddy fox, Kylie kangaroo, Wendy wolf Authors: Neville Astley, Mark Baker Production: Phil Davies Directed by: Neville Astley, Mark Baker, Phillip Hall, Joris Van Hulzen

Country: UK Year: 31 May 2004 Broadcast in Italy: 2005 Gender: Musical comedy Episodes: 156 Duration: 5 minutes Recommended age: Children from 0 to 5 years old

A cheerful little family who lives in a house on a hill greets their father from the threshold as he has to go to work. The two children and in particular Peppa, the eldest, would like Dad to be able to take a vacation today because it's his birthday, but it's not possible, but he promises to arrive soon.
While waiting for her return, Mom invites both little George and Peppa to assist her as she prepares a delicious chocolate cake for Dad. The two children have fun mixing the dough, and once the cake is baked, they get permission from their mother to clean up the spoon and bowl.
Peppa can't wait for her father to come back from work, but in the meantime she calls him at the office to send him his wishes and colleagues who are listening to the conversation join the girl to say "Happy birthday".
Meanwhile, preparations are underway at home to celebrate. Mom wants to prepare a surprise for Dad, decorates the trees in the garden with colorful balloons and then also prepares two buckets of water. What will they be used for?
Finally dad returns from work and his loved ones proudly present him the beautiful chocolate cake with many, many candles to blow out with a single blow, then his mother gives him her gift. In the colorful package there is a nice pair of red boots very suitable for mud and while the father is wearing them everyone hurries to put on theirs and run in the garden.
There is a small puddle and Dad enters it, but it is really very small, for him, it would take much more water and Mom takes care of this by pouring on the ground the two buckets she had previously prepared. Now there is a big puddle and the whole family can jump happily in the mud.

Peppa Pig and her family Neville Astley and Mark Baker / Phil Davies

Until almost the end of this story, the story told could have happened in a very normal family, but the fact that at the end everyone jumps happily in the mud can leave you amazed, but we should not be surprised because the narrated plot refers to an episode of the cartoon "Peppa Pig "which has a pig and her family as its protagonist.
The Pig family (pig in English) is made up of anthropomorphic pigs who live in a house, work, play as humans do, but every now and then they emit grunts and above all they do not forget how pleasant it is to jump in the mud.
Peppa is the eldest daughter of an approximate age of 5/6 years, then there is her little brother George who articulates only a few words and who does not skimp when something happens that he does not like. The parents, Mamma Pig and Papa Pig, fulfill the same tasks as human parents, they work, cook and when appropriate they scold their children; then there is no shortage of grandparents and even friends.
The strange world of Peppa, however, is not inhabited only by pigs, there are a bit of all the animals, in fact, among dad's colleagues there are a rabbit and a dog and the girl boasts among her playmates elephants, foxes, cats , zebras, in short, a real zoo.

Peppa Pig's class is Neville Astley and Mark Baker / Phil Davies

The cartoon, drawn with linear lines and with rather bare backgrounds, is intended for younger children, under the age of 6, both for the shortness of the episodes (about four minutes), and for the topics covered which usually concern small events of the everyday life, like an afternoon spent at the playground, an invitation to lunch at the grandparents, a little breakdown in mom's computer.
Even with such simplicity, some easy notions are introduced that have an educational purpose.

In the episode "A Lunch of Vegetables" for example, Peppa with her little brother, mom and dad
she is invited to lunch by her grandparents. While waiting to sit at the table, the two children are sent to the garden where their grandfather is picking some of the vegetables he grows to prepare a nice mixed salad. Show Peppa and George the tomatoes, but the child doesn't love them and the same goes for lettuce and cucumbers, in truth little Pig says he only likes the chocolate cake. Grandpa is sorry he doesn't eat the vegetables, but hopes that once the salad is prepared, George will decide to try it. Unfortunately, however, when lunch is served the child devours his slice of pizza, but all the vegetables remain on his plate.
Despite being asked by adults to try at least to taste he refuses.
Then grandpa has an idea.
He chops the vegetables on George's plate a little and arranges them so that they take the shape of a dinosaur, he knows that the child is fond of these lizards and his favorite puppet is indeed a dinosaur. The baby's face lights up and he begins to eat vegetables disguised as a prehistoric reptile with gusto. He gorges himself on it and repeatedly says he is full, but when the chocolate cake arrives on the table, George devours it in a moment amid the laughter of the family.

Peppa Pig and Polly the parrot Neville Astley and Mark Baker / Phil Davies

"Peppa Pig" also tries to provide children with very simple notions about the world around them.
In "Work in progress" the Pig family decides to go to the playground by car, but the traffic is stopped and a long queue forms because there is construction going on on the road.
Amid the clamor of George who absolutely wants to get to his friends, the foreman approaches, who explains that there has been a leak of water in the pipes that pass underground. The workers will have to drill a hole in the asphalt to replace the damaged pipe and an excavator immediately gets to work while a crane also arrives carrying the new pipe. Little Pig, thrilled by those mighty work vehicles, follows all the phases carefully and when he reaches the park he repeats the same gestures seen at the road construction site with his toys.

Sometimes the cartoon instead maintains a playful aspect to entertain its very young audience. In one episode, for example, we witness Peppa and George's attempts to make the parrot Polly, belonging to friends, talk. It is known that these birds tend to repeat everything they hear and so the little girl after making him say some trivial phrases enjoys grunting laughing at how well Polly imitates her.
When the owner of the animal arrives, proud she would like to make everyone feel like her Polly is good at talking, pity that she instead continues to repeat the grunts heard by Peppa and the episode ends with general laughter.

All characters and images are copyright Neville Astley and Mark Baker / Phil Davies and right holders. they are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.

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