‘Peppa Pig’ is a children’s animated show that caters to pre-schoolers around the world. Created by Neville Astley and Mark Baker, it first premiered in May 2004 and has over 300 episodes to date. Set in a world of anthropomorphic animals, the story of ‘Peppa Pig’ revolves around the titular character, Peppa (Amelie Bea Smith), and her interactions with her friends and the adults in her life. Each episode is five minutes long and is both entertaining and didactic to children, teaching everything from concepts like morality to traffic safety rules.
Many a time, show creators tend to base people on real-life people. Given the popularity that ‘Peppa Pig’ and its eponymous franchise have garnered over the years, you might be wondering if the British preschool show is truly based on real-life people.
Peppa Pig is a Fictional Cartoon Series
No, ‘Peppa Pig’ is not a true story. The show’s creators, Neville Astley and Mark Baker, along with producer Phil Davies (who all went to Middlesex University), first came up with the idea for an everyday children’s cartoon in a pub after seeing the condition of the industry in the early 2000s. “I was shocked at how poor some children’s animation was. Not just the production values – the stories didn’t even seem to have a beginning, middle, or end. A lot of it was completely incomprehensible and all the girls were either princesses or ballerinas,” producer Phil Davies told The Guardian.
The three of them established their own animation studio, Astley Baker Davies, as well to create the show. Speaking about the storyline and what inspired them, Davies continued, “We’re lucky that all of us came from stable homes: we remember how the world was when we were four. Anything you could think of could be made into an episode – the first one was about jumping in muddy puddles. They all come from simple ideas: her grandparents have a pet parrot called Polly; she goes on a boat trip; she has a pen pal … My daughter is an ice skater and we thought it would be fun to have Peppa go ice skating. I used to be a mad pilot, so aeroplanes turn up in episodes every now and again.”
Adding to it, co-creator Mark Baker said, “When Peppa came out, there were a lot of children’s characters that didn’t really have a family or parents. Our experience was that children don’t like laughing at themselves, but do like laughing at their parents. By having a Mummy and Daddy Pig, we could get [the] humor in without having to laugh at the child character.” Animation has always been a beautiful and gentle form of communication when it comes to children. The same is true for ‘Peppa Pig’ as well, whose characters go through the same things that children go through and think about. That makes it easier for them to relate to it and in turn, learn from it.
While ‘Peppa Pig’ may not be based on a true story, the inspiration that the creators take from their own lives and those around them, especially the children, is the heart and soul of the series. And though it does teach children about good moral values, how all families are both the same and different from one another, basic etiquette, et cetera, there is one thing that ‘Peppa Pig’ emphasizes the most – that it is okay to make mistakes. It is okay to fall down and dirty your clothes because you can simply get up, brush off the dust, and be on your way. Because that’s what life is all about, making mistakes, knowing they can be fixed, and fixing them.
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