Tinga Tinga Tales is a British flash animated children's television series based on African folk tales and aimed at 4 to 6-year-olds. It was commissioned by the BBC for its CBeebies channel, and by Disney Channel for its Disney Junior block. Named after Tingatinga art from Tanzania,[1] Tinga Tinga Tales was produced in Nairobi, Kenya, by Homeboyz Animation,[2] a studio of approximately 50 people.[1] The music is produced by Kenyan singer-songwriter Eric Wainaina.[3] The series comprises 52 episodes and is also available on BBC iPlayer.
The series was first conceived by Claudia Lloyd, head of animation at the London-based Tiger Aspect Productions, while travelling through Africa. The first three episodes premiered on the BBC website in early February 2010. The distribution rights have been bought by Entertainment Rights (which in 2009 merged with Classic Media, then in 2012 it was acquired by DreamWorks Animation and renamed into DreamWorks Classics, and ultimately became the property of Universal Television in 2016).[4]
Dubbing History[]
The American English version of the show, which premiered on Disney Junior in early 2011, redubs some of the characters with American accents (including Red Monkey and Tickbird), while most of the other characters' voices were retained from the original British version.
Cast[]
| Image | Character | Actor | US Dub |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Monkey | Eugene Muchiri | Geoffrey Curtin | |
| Tickbird | Tameka Empson | Elizabeth Curtin | |
| Bat | Prince Abura | Jules de Jongh | |
| Chameleon | Patrick Kayeki | Kerry Shale | |
| Hare | Felix Dexter | John Guerrasio | |
| Vulture | Felix Dexter | Lorelei King | |
| Snake | Johnny Daukes | Dan Russell | |
| Zebra | Eddie Kadi | Dan Russell |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gibson, Owen (26 June 2008). "BBC to tell children why giraffes have long necks in Tinga Tinga Tales". The Guardian/. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/jun/26/tingatinga?gusrc=rss&feed=media.
- ↑ Bynum, Aaron H. (20 November 2009). "Africa Animation in 'Tinga Tinga Tales'". animationinsider.net. Animation Insider. http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=2266.
- ↑ The BBC on Tinga Tinga Tales: Music by Eric Wainaina.
- ↑ The Times on Entertainment Rights