15 February 2010 (2010-02-15)– 31 March 2011 (2011-03-31)
Tinga Tinga Tales is an animated children's television series based on African folk tales and aimed generally at 4 to 6-year-olds that ran for two seasons (2011–2012). It was commissioned by the BBC for its CBeebies channel. Named after Tingatinga art from Tanzania,[2]Tinga Tinga Tales was produced in Nairobi, Kenya, by Homeboyz Animation and its music produced by Kenyan singer-songwriter Eric Wainaina.[3] The series comprises 55 episodes.
The series was first conceived by Claudia Lloyd, head of the animation division at the London-based Tiger Aspect Productions, while travelling through Africa. The first three episodes premiered on the BBC website in February 2010. The distribution rights were bought by Entertainment Rights, which in 2009 merged with Classic Media. In 2012 Classic Media was acquired by DreamWorks Animation and renamed DreamWorks Classics).[4]
Synopsis
Tinga Tinga Tales is centred around various animated animals, and employs music, dialogue and colourful imagery to tell African folk tales about the origins of animals, each narrated by Red Monkey, and answer questions such as "Why do monkeys swing in the trees?" and "Why do flamingos stand on one leg?"[5]
Characters
Main characters
Red Monkey (voiced by Eugene Muchiri (UK)/Geoffrey Curtin (US)): Red Monkey is the narrator of all of the episodes.
Elephant (voiced by Lenny Henry): Elephant has a trunk that cleans his friends.
Lion (voiced by Patrice Naiambana): Lion is the king of Tinga Tinga.
Tortoise (voiced by Shaun Parkes): Tortoise is the genius.
Hippo (voiced by Johnnie Fiori): Hippo lives in a water hole.
Tickbird (voiced by Tameka Empson (UK)/Elizabeth Curtin (US)): Tickbird is the smallest main character.
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