The Pygos Group

Credits

Descriptions by
Mariofan88 and loveslogos

Captures by
graaaaagh, iheartparamount, ExclaimEntertainment and Henrynguye5

Editions by
iheartparamount, hfmbears, ExclaimEntertainment, Michael Kenchington and others

Background

Pingu Filmstudio (formerly Trickfilmstudio) was an animation company based in Switzerland that was formed by Otmar Gutmann. The only known show they have produced is Pingu.

The show's international distribution rights were handled by Netherlands-based firm Editoy AG. Editoy was renamed to Pingu BV in 1996, and assumed its current name of The Pygos Group in 2001 after being acquired by a Texas-based firm called Joker, Inc., shortly before the company was bought out by British-based entertainment company HIT Entertainment.

As of 2017, the studio exists as an in-name-only unit of Mattel used to market properties and productions associated with the Pingu library.

Trickfilmstudio

(March 7, 1990-December 20, 1994, August 1, 2003-March 4, 2006)

• 
  First half of Series 1 ("Hello Pingu" to "Pingu Goes Skiing")
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  Second half of Series 1 ("Pingu Runs Away" to "Pingu's Dream")
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  Series 2 ("Pingu at the Doctors" and "Pingu's Admirer")
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  Series 2 ("Pingu and the Seagull" to "Pingu the Chef")
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  Series 2 ("Pingu's Family Celebrates Christmas")
• 
  Series 2 ("Pingu Goes Away" to "Pingu Cannot Lose")
• 
  Series 2 ("Pingu and the Game of Fish" to "Pingu Builds a Snowman")

Logo: On a blue background, we see the classic Pingu logo (Featuring the titular character holding his trademark knapsack, with "PINGU" in yellow font with a black online over a white circle). Like the original intro sequence, this is hand-drawn as opposed to stop-motion. After 3 seconds, it slowly fades out to black.

Byline:

• Starting with the 1990 episode "Pingu Runs Away" (this can depend on the print featured), chyroned copyright information would appear. The text "Trickfilmstudio" (the studio that produced Pingu) and "Otmar Gutmann" (the creator of Pingu) appears on the Pingu logo itself. Below the circle is a copyright date that credits SRG and ZDF (the original networks that broadcast the show), along with Telepool (who held the show's license in German-speaking territories). The text frequently changes font and appearance depending on when the episode was produced.
• Beginning with Season 2 in 1991, Editoy AG was added to the copyright date.
• For episodes produced in 1992, the copyright date is bigger, with the year date below the company text, on the Pingu circle.
• Following the death of Otmar Gutmann in 1993, the "Trickfilmstudio Otmar Gutmann" byline was replaced with "Pingu Filmstudio" in 1994.

Variants:

• On some UK BBC Video VHS releases (Pingu 2: Building Igloos, one episode on Pingu 3: Hide and Seek, except for "Pingu's Circus", and Pingu 4: Pingu the Chef), a still of the end of the opening sequence (where Pingu looks at the audience) is used. This was made to plaster the copyright information used on the standard logo)
• On a Japanese Pingu VHS, the logo fades in from the montage from the end of the credits and stays on screen longer.
• This logo appeared as an in-credit still on seasons 5-6.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: The closing theme of the show, which is a slight rearrangement of some of the notes from the original intro sequence.

Music/Sounds Variant: On the aforementioned Japanese VHS, the closing theme is not heard. Instead, Pingu's "Noot Noot" is heard a few seconds after the logo fades in, and a section of the song "SEEDS OF HAPPINESS" can be heard when the logo fades in (interestingly, that song was used during the montage).

Availability: Extremely rare.

• It was seen on the first two seasons of Pingu. It was last seen on UK television in 2012, when the series last aired on CBeebies (The BBC retained the old master prints of the series well after the HIT remastering) It can also be seen on many VHS tapes (Mainly in the UK and Australia), and most likely on the Japanese DVD sets released in 2000.
• This logo is extinct in the US, as the last time a non-remastered version of Pingu aired was sometime in 2001 on Cartoon Network as Sprout airings and US DVD and VHS releases of the show use the remastered versions (Cartoon Network sometimes aired the remastered versions).
• The redubbed and remastered versions of Seasons 1-2 use The Pygos Group's logo.

Pingu Filmstudio

(June 17, 1995-April 9, 2000?)

Logo: Same basic concept as the previous logo, but in stop motion rather than hand-drawn animation. The chyroned text "PINGU Filmstudio Switzerland" appears on the bottom in white.

Technique: None.

Music/Sounds: A section of the song "Pingu Dance" which was used as the opening and closing theme to the show for seasons 3 and 4, as well as the remastered versions of Seasons 1 and 2.

Music/Sounds Trivia: The "Pingu Dance" was released as a single by David Hasselhoff in Switzerland only, due to his love of Pingu.

Availability: Like with the last variant, this one is also extremely rare.

• This logo is seen on original versions of season three (and possibly four) episodes of Pingu. As with the last logo, as the BBC kept using their own master prints well after the remastering for CBeebies, it was last seen on UK television in 2012. It can also be seen on many VHS tapes (mainly in the UK and Australia).
• It plasters the last logo on the Australian video releases of Hello Pingu! and Pingu and his Friends.
• Most international video releases use the next logo, and the remastered versions of course use the next logo as well.

The Pygos Group

(1997?-2006?)

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• 
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Logo: On a white background, we see a close-up of Pingu holding a stick (which could be his trademark knapsack), who states his catchphrase "Noot, Noot" before turning to face the viewer and winking. The Pingu logo and a copyright date then fade in below.

Byline:

• Originally when the logo debuted, the copyright information said "Production and all rights, © PINGU BV, NL".
• After the rebranding of Pingu BV to The Pygos Group and the purchase of the company from HIT Entertainment, the copyright date was changed to "© The Pygos Group 2002". this is usually followed by the 2000 HIT Entertainment logo.

Trivia: This logo was used as the intro for the U.S. Pingu VHS/DVD Meet Pingu. Meet Pingu itself was the first Pingu home video in the U.S.

Variants:

• The Pingu release above had the Pingu logo changed to the text "Meet Pingu" in the font sported on the DVD/VHS cover and the copyright notice was removed.
• On the U.S. Pingu DVD Antarctic Antics, a completely different copyright notice is used.

Technique: Stop-motion animation.

Music/Sounds: Same as the later variant of the last logo, but with an extra section of the song at the beginning, and Pingu's "Noot, Noot" sound as well.

Availability: Common.

• The Pingu BV variant replaces the first logo on the 1997 redubbed versions of Seasons 1 and 2. It also plasters the last logo on Australian VHS releases of Seasons 3 and 4.
• The Pygos Group version replaces the previous two logos on the 2002 remasters of the first four seasons of the show as well as the DVD release and 2010 airings of the 1997 TV special Pingu at the Wedding Party (which may have used the second logo when first aired on Swiss TV in 1997). This is the most common variant of the logo.
• The Meet Pingu variant was only seen at the beginning of its VHS/DVD releases, as well as the digital release of it.