Pong Pagong

Last updated
Pong Pagong
Sesame, Batibot character
First appearance1983
Last appearance1994
Portrayed byDeo Noveno
Voiced byDeo Noveno
In-universe information
SpeciesTurtle
GenderMale

Pong Pagong is a muppet-style character developed by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) for the Filipino children's show Sesame, a co-production between CTW and the Philippine Children's Television Foundation (PCTF) which debuted in 1983. Pong Pagong is an anthropomorphic turtle, similar to Big Bird of Sesame Street , standing over six feet tall and towering over human co-stars and aged to be around six years old. Together with its co-muppet, Kiko Matsing, the characters were custom made in New York for Sesame. [1] Both characters were inspired from a Filipino fable, "The Monkey and the Turtle", which was annotated to English by José Rizal in 1889. [2]

After the cancellation of Sesame in 1984 due to the cancellation by CTW of the co-production venture, both characters appeared in its 1985 replacement show, Batibot , under a license arrangement with CTW. Both characters were returned to CTW in 1994 [3] and never used again.

Related Research Articles

<i>Sesame Street</i> American childrens television show

Sesame Street is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop and was created by Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett. It is known for its images communicated through the use of Jim Henson's Muppets, and includes short films, with humor and cultural references. It premiered on November 10, 1969, to positive reviews, some controversy, and high viewership. It has aired on the United States national public television provider PBS since its debut, with its first run moving to premium channel HBO on January 16, 2016, then its sister streaming service (HBO) Max in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sesame Workshop</span> American nonprofit organization and childrens media producer

Sesame Workshop (SW), originally known as the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), is an American nonprofit organization that has been responsible for the production of several educational children's programs—including its first and best-known, Sesame Street—that have been televised internationally. Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett developed the idea to form an organization to produce the Sesame Street television series. They spent two years, from 1966 to 1968, researching, developing, and raising money for the new series. Cooney was named as the Workshop's first executive director, which was termed "one of the most important television developments of the decade."

History of <i>Sesame Street</i>

The preschool educational television program Sesame Street was first aired on public television stations on November 10, 1969, and reached its 54th season in 2023. The history of Sesame Street has reflected changing attitudes to developmental psychology, early childhood education, and cultural diversity. Featuring Jim Henson's Muppets, animation, live shorts, humor and celebrity appearances, it was the first television program of its kind to base its content and production values on laboratory and formative research, and the first to include a curriculum "detailed or stated in terms of measurable outcomes". Initial responses to the show included adulatory reviews, some controversy and high ratings. By its 40th anniversary in 2009, Sesame Street was broadcast in over 120 countries, and 20 independent international versions had been produced. It has won eleven Grammys and over 150 Emmys in its history—more than any other children's show.

<i>Plaza Sésamo</i> Educational childrens television series for preschoolers

Plaza Sésamo is the first international co-production of the educational children's television series Sesame Street. Its first season premiered in Mexico in 1972, and the last season ended in 2018 during the holiday season and the 50th anniversary of Sesame Street, but the show returned in 2020. It has also aired throughout Latin America, to a potential audience of 25 million children in 34 countries. Unlike some of the earliest co-productions, which consisted of dubbed versions of Sesame Street sketches with local language voice-overs, Plaza Sésamo along with Vila Sésamo were actual co-productions. Half of the show was adapted from the American show, and half was original material, created in Mexico by Mexican writers, performers, and producers. The first season consisted of 130 half-hour episodes. The Plaza Sésamo development process was similar to that of the American show. Its goals were developed by local experts in television, child development, and early education during curriculum seminars in Caracas, Venezuela. Sésamo's goals emphasized problem solving and reasoning, and also included perception, symbolic representation, human diversity, and the child's environment. Other goals included community cooperation, family life, nutrition, health, safety, self-esteem, and expressing emotions. Early reading skills were taught through the whole language method. The show's budget for the first and second seasons was approximately US$1.6 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Clash</span> American puppeteer (born 1960)

Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer, director and producer best known for puppeteering Elmo on Sesame Street from 1985 to 2012. He also performed puppets for Labyrinth, Dinosaurs, Oobi, and various Muppet productions.

Barrio Sésamo is the Spanish co-production of the popular U.S. children's television series Sesame Street produced by Televisión Española and Sesame Workshop from 1979 to 2000, the equivalent of Plaza Sésamo in Latin America. All characters adopted Spanish names while for the title of the series a more appropriate Spanish name was chosen: barrio (Neighborhood) instead of Street (calle).

<i>Iftah Ya Simsim</i> Arabic television series

Iftah Ya Simsim is the first international co-production of the American children's television series Sesame Street created in the Arab world. It premiered in Kuwait on September 14, 1979, and was broadcast in 22 Arabic-speaking countries, running until June 23, 1989, due to the outbreak of the first Gulf War. The program continued to be well-known decades after it went off the air.

<i>Sesam stasjon</i> 1991 Norwegian TV series or program

Sesam stasjon was a 1990s Norwegian children's television series that ran on NRK1 based on Sesame Street. It quickly became the most popular children's show in Norway after its début in 1991, and 198 episodes were made until 1999. Unlike their predecessors from all over the world it is set in a railway station near a town instead of the traditional Sesame Street neighbourhood. Each episode is 30 minutes, of which 15–20 are from the Norwegian production and 10–15 are dubbed from Sesame Street.

1, rue Sésame is a French children's television series based on the popular U.S. children's program Sesame Street. The show first aired on 3 April 1978, at 6:00 a.m. on TF1. Its musical director was Roger Elcourt, composer Jean Morlier. The series was executive produced by Michel Berthier from TF1 and Lutrelle Horne from CTW. The show ran for a total of 82 episodes and ceased production in June 1982.

Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting is a 1989 television special celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Sesame Street. Hosted by Bill Cosby, the special aired on Friday, April 7, 1989, on NBC.

The Philippine Children's Television Foundation is a non-profit organization that pioneered educational television in the Philippines. It was initially formed to partner with Sesame Workshop to create Sesame!, later known as Batibot.

Sesame Street international co-productions are adaptations of the American educational children's television series Sesame Street but tailored to the countries in which they are produced. Shortly after the debut of Sesame Street in the United States in 1969, television producers, teachers, and officials of several countries approached the show's producers and the executives of the Children's Television Workshop (CTW), renamed Sesame Workshop (SW) in 2000, about the possibility of airing international versions of Sesame Street. Creator Joan Ganz Cooney hired former CBS executive Michael Dann to field offers to produce versions of the show in other countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce</span> Unreleased episode of Sesame Street

"Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce" is the name of an episode on the children's television program Sesame Street. Produced in 1992, it never aired because tests revealed several unintended negative effects. Sesame Street has a history of addressing difficult topics as part of its affective curriculum goals, including death, marriage, childbirth, and disaster. Extensive research was conducted before these episodes were written and produced to determine their focus, and after they aired, to analyze their impact on viewers. This was the case for "Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce." The show's producers had expressed a desire to produce the episode as early as 1989, and they were convinced that it was a topic they should address after the US Census Bureau reported that 40% of American children had experienced divorce.

Luisito "Bodjie" Fernandez-Pascua is a Filipino stage and film & TV actor and former children's television host. He is best known as "Kuya Bodjie", the iconic character he portrayed on the children's educational television program Batibot.

<i>Street Gang</i> Non-fiction book by Michael Davis

Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street is a non-fiction book chronicling the history of the children's television program Sesame Street. Street Gang is journalist and writer Michael Davis's first book, published by Viking Press in 2008. On bookshelves in time for the show's 40th anniversary in 2009, the book developed out of a TV Guide article Davis wrote to commemorate the show's 35th anniversary in 2004. Davis spent five years researching and writing the book, and conducted hundreds of interviews with the show's creators, cast, and crew.

The children's television program Sesame Street premiered in 1969 to high ratings, positive reviews, and some controversy, which have continued during its history. Even though the show aired on only 67% of American televisions at the time of its premiere, it earned a 3.3 Nielsen rating, or 1.9 million households. By its tenth anniversary in 1979, 9 million American children under the age of six were watching Sesame Street daily. Its ratings declined in the 1990s, due to societal changes. A survey conducted in 1996 found that by the age of three, 95% of all American children had watched it. By its fortieth anniversary in 2009, it was ranked the fifteenth most popular children's show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Turtle and the Monkey</span> Filipino fable

The Turtle and the Monkey also known as The Monkey and the Turtle is a Philippine fable. It involves the tortoise outwitting a monkey over a banana tree. The story was popularized by Jose Rizal, who made a publication of the story in English in the July 1889 issue of Trübner's Oriental Record in England, which is considered to be the formal beginning of Philippine children's literature.

<i>Batibot</i> Philippine television educational show

Batibot is a Philippine television educational show produced by the Philippine Children's Television Foundation (PCTF). It debuted in 1984 as the replacement of Sesame, a co-production of PCTV and the Children's Television Workshop (CTW) from 1983 to 1984.

Sesame! was the Filipino co-production of the American children's television program, Sesame Street. It ran for a single season in 1983, after which it was replaced by Batibot.

References

  1. Lohr, Steve (23 July 1985). "HOME-GROWN VALUES REPLACE KERMIT IN FILIPINO VERSION OF 'SESAME STREET'". New York Times . Retrieved 10 October 2017.
  2. Limos, Mario (July 21, 2020). "The history of Jose Rizal's "The Monkey and the Turtle"". Esquire Philippines. Retrieved June 12, 2021.
  3. "How Batibot's Pong Pagong and Kiko Matsing Became Part of Talks on U.S. Military Bases in the Philippines". Esquire Philippines. September 7, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2021.