Pocoyo
Genre	Preschool education Comedy
Created by	David Cantolla Luis Gallego Guillermo Garcia Colman Lopez
Developed by	Andy Yerkes
Written by	Guillermo García Carsí Andy Yerkes (series 1) Ken Scarborough (series 2)
Directed by	Guillermo García Carsí David Cantolla Alfonso Rodriguez
Narrated by	Stephen Fry (English, series 1–2; series 5 part 2–present)[1][2] Stephen Hughes (English, series 3–5 part 1) José María del Río (Castilian Spanish)
Theme music composer	Daniel Heredero
Country of origin	Spain United Kingdom (series 1–2)
Original languages	English (series 1–2) Spanish (series 3–present)
No. of series	5 (+ Specials)
No. of episodes	295
Production
Executive producers	Kathryn Hart Anne Brogan Jonathan Doyle
Producers	Carolina Matas Pilar Cubría
Editor	Catherine Williams
Running time	7 minutes 9 minutes (Crazy Inventions) 10–11 minutes (Easter Eggs, Pocoyo and Nina’s Terror Show, Pocoyo and the Haunted House) 17 minutes (Pocoyo’s Christmas Carol)
Production companies	Zinkia Entertainment (2002–23) Animaj (2023–present) Granada Kids (series 1–2) Cosgrove Hall Films (series 1) Koyi Talent (2019–23)
Original release
Network	La 2 (Spain series 1–2) La 1 (Spain series 3) CITV (UK series 1–2) Nick Jr. (UK series 3)
Release	10 May 2005 (2005-05-10) – 27 November 2010 (2010-11-27)
Network	Clan TVE (Spain series 4–present) ITVX (UK series 4–present)
Release	16 November 2016 (2016-11-16) – present

Pocoyo (Pocoyó in Spanish and stylised as POCOYO) is an animated interactive preschool comedy television series created by David Cantolla, Luis Gallego, and Guillermo García Carsí, and is produced by the Spanish animation company Zinkia Entertainment, with the first two series were co-productions with Granada Kids, and the first series was a co-production of Cosgrove Hall Films, both in the United Kingdom. In 2019, Pocoyo was a co-production of Koyi Talent.

Four series have been produced, each consisting of 52 seven-minute episodes^[a] along with 60 specials produced for YouTube.^[3] The show is currently in its fifth series. English actor and comedian Stephen Fry narrates the English-language version^[4] of the first two series of the show, while Stephen Hughes narrates the third series, titled Let's Go Pocoyo, and the fourth and fifth series along with the specials. José María del Río narrates the Castilian Spanish version of the show. A feature film titled Pocoyo and the Space Circus premiered on 23 November 2008 at Cine Capitol followed by a sequel film, Pocoyo in Cinemas: Your First Movie featuring the short film, Pocoyo and the League of Extraordinary Super Friends releasing in theaters on 11 May 2018 in Mexico with a Spain release on 23 June 2018. On 21 December 2008, a one-hour special titled The Pocoyo Show premiered on La 1. On 27 August 2009, a musical one-hour special titled Pocoyo’s Big Party was released on DVD with a linear premiere on Clan TVE on 31 December 2015.

The fifth series was released on 22 July 2024 with the first 13 episodes on Max (formerly known as HBO Max) for select countries and aired on Cartoonito in Latin America.

In 2023, the franchise was acquired by Animaj.^[5] With the use of AI tools, a new series will release every 12 to 18 months for traditional television and premium streaming services.

As of 2024, it has been confirmed that a sixth series is set to release in 2026, a third feature film will release in 2028, and a seventh series will release between 2029–30.^[6]

Set in a 3D space called Pocoyo World, with a plain white background and usually no backdrops, it is about Pocoyo, a four-year-old kid who is dressed all in blue, interacting with his animal companions Elly (the elephant), Pato (the duck), Nina (girl), Fred (the octopus), Loula (the dog), Roberto (the robot), Baby Bird, Caterpillar and Sleepy Bird. Viewers are encouraged to recognize situations that Pocoyo is in, and things that are going on with or around him. The Narrator usually speaks explicitly to the viewers and to the characters as well. Each character has its own distinctive dance and also a specific sound (usually from a musical instrument), and most episodes end with the characters dancing.

• Pocoyo (voiced by Alex Marty in series 1, Montana Smedley in series 2, Isabella Foy in series 3, Gigi Hatt in series 4, and Kai Melogno in series 5; Carys Doyle in Pocoyo and the Space Circus, Karen Martín Prince in 2008–09 productions, Xoren Montgomery in 2017–19 productions, and Kai Melogno in 2020 productions onwards^{[citation needed]}) is the title character of the series. He is a 4-year-old kid who is full of curiosity and loves to play games and discover new things. He is very acrobatic and moves at a quick speed. Pocoyo is a very innocent, happy, and childish character who is always depicted wearing a blue three-flap hat, a blue jacket with a yellow zipper, and a pair of blue pants and shoes. His best friends are Pato, Elly, Loula, Sleepy Bird, and Baby Bird. He has a red race car and a shapeshifting bird-like spaceship called Vamoosh. Although he is very friendly and sweet and almost always in a good mood, Pocoyo is also highly self-centered, distracted by the simplest things, easily frustrated, frequently jealous of his friends, and he can be very disobedient but tries his hardest to fight his flaws and learn morals and he is also very affectionate and caring towards others and shows it often.
• The Narrator (voiced by Stephen Fry in series 1–2; series 5p2 onwards,^[1][2] & Stephen Hughes in series 3–5p1, in English; José María del Río in Castilian Spanish^{[citation needed]}) speaks over the entire show and often communicates directly with the characters. Pocoyo has a good relationship with him and is always really delighted to see (hear) him. The narrator is also at times physically involved in the events of the episodes, making him more of a heard-but-not-seen character rather than a strict narrator.
• Pato is a yellow duck who wears nothing but a small green top hat. He has a fondness for gardening and is often seen watering plants and flowerbeds. "Pato" means duck in Spanish. He is a favorite amongst the show's target audience due to his enjoyable dancing and the fact that his bill turns 360 degrees. Although friendly, Pato is the most fastidious and impatient character (indicated by his bill that bends in an angle when disappointed or shocked); on occasion he completely loses his temper, jumping up and down and quacking furiously with his bill spinning rapidly. He is used as a jackhammer or missile and can become a helicopter. In the 2002 pilot episode, he was first called Ducky but the name was later changed to Pato.
• Elly is a pink elephant who always wears a blue backpack. She loves making biscuits and tea and has a doll that she loves very much. Despite her size, she is graceful and gentle, capable of ballet dancing, and as a big sister to Pocoyo, being forgiving and always takes care of him. She is, however, can be very bossy and generally does things her way. She usually rides around on her pink scooter.
• Loula is an orange and magenta beagle puppy who is Pocoyo's pet and companion. She also strictly walks on all four of her legs. She sometimes hops as she is walking. Originally, the character's name was Lucas, in tribute to creator and director Guillermo García Carsi's dog, but due to a shortage of female characters, the character was renamed Loula.
• The Audience are a group of children who, like The Narrator, speak over the show, answering questions asked by The Narrator in order to assist Pocoyo in solving a problem or to let Pocoyo in on what's going on.
• Nina (voiced by Noel Rodriguez in 2016–17 productions, Nico Stevenson in 2017–20 productions, and Alba Ramos in 2020 productions onwards^{[citation needed]}) is another human character who is introduced in the fourth series episode of the same name. She is a young girl similar to Pocoyo (likely younger than him) who has red hair, wears a lime green hoodie with two antennas, lime green shorts, and lime green shoes. Like Pato, She greatly loves plants and nature. She naturally speaks mostly a form of gibberish with a Japanese accent, but can also speak fluent English, though not as much as Pocoyo. Her name resembles "niña", Spanish for "girl". Thanks to her robotic pet called Roberto (pronounced Roh-bear-toe), it has the ability to shrink where anyone can be shrunk as well.
• Bea is an upcoming character for the fifth series of Pocoyo. She is Pocoyo's little sister who mainly wears yellow with her hair of the same color similarly shaped as a hat with two ears on top. A blue flower is shown in her hair as an accessory. She has a chaotic yet adorable personality which bothers Pocoyo with her antics. But despite that, Pocoyo is protective to her as her big brother. Bea’s name was originally Pocoyina when series 5 was announced.

• Sleepy Bird is a teal-coloured songbird. She does little but sleep, and usually flies with her eyes closed. She is named "Pajaroto" in the Spanish version (reportedly named after a Zinkia employee nicknamed "Maroto", and bearing a strong resemblance to him).^{[citation needed]} The character is also known as "Pajaro Dormilon" in the Latin American Spanish version. For the episodes where Nina is present (excluding her debut appearance and the episodes where she's absent), she was digitally removed from the title sequence to make room for Nina.
• Baby Bird is the small, always active (he has not inherited his mother's fondness of sleeping) and loud baby of Sleepy Bird, who gets into tricky situations from which he is rescued by Pocoyo. He is also a songbird. He is best friends with Caterpillar. Named "Pajarito" in the Spanish version ('little bird').
• Caterpillar is a yellow-colored caterpillar with a blue bow on top of her head. She speaks in gibberish and has the ability to change into a butterfly and back when she wants. She is best friends with Baby Bird and is in love with Angry Alien. When overjoyed or frustrated, she tends to slam her face forward into the ground repeatedly.
• Fred (previously named Octopus in series 1) is a hyperactive and wacky but stubborn red octopus (although he is shown with only 4 legs to make animation rendering simpler) who speaks in gibberish like Caterpillar, and is very fond of opera singing. He appears in random episodes, sometimes as a major character, sometimes in passing. As of series 2, he is referred to as 'Fred'.
• Whale is a huge light gray sperm whale with red cheeks who lives under the sea.
• The Ball Orchestra is a group of three ball-like creatures who play the trumpet, drums, and cymbals. In the series 4 episode "Space Postal Service", it's revealed that they live in a planet filled with instruments.
• Daisy is Elly’s favorite doll and is usually in her backpack. Elly is usually talking to Daisy at her tea parties. In the series 3 episode "Elly’s New Doll", Elly got a new doll but later starting using her old doll again as of Series 4.
• Aliens are a family of small tripodal one-eyed alien creatures that Pocoyo and his friends usually find whenever they go to space. They communicate with one another using staccato 'clicking' noises.
• The Musical Flower is a magical flower that plays music anytime it is watered. As revealed in the debut episode "Magical Watering Can", Pocoyo is the only person in Pocoyo World to own a musical flower.
• Tori-Doris (Doris pronounced daw-reez) are a musical band of sentient shapes that Pocoyo and Pato befriend in the series 2 episode "Band of Friends". In the series 4 episode "Space Postal Service", it was revealed that the members of the Tori-Doris live in a townhouse in space.
• Strange Alien (sometimes referred to as Orange Alien) is an orange alien and Pato’s love interest who appeared in the series 2 episode "Scary Noises". Unlike the other aliens, there is only one of Strange Alien and she has a drawer-like mouth.
• Baby Spider is a small blue spider that hatched out of an egg that Pato found in the episode "Pato's Egg".
• Angry Alien is an evil green martian who usually attempts to take over Pocoyo World. He appeared in the series 2 episode of the same name. Despite his efforts, his plans are usually thwarted when he learns the true meaning of having fun but usually becomes Pocoyo’s nemesis shortly after. He is Caterpillar’s love interest.
• The Dinosaur & the Ant are a pair of best friends who appear in the "Pocoyo’s Fairy Tales" segments in certain series 3 episodes. The Dinosaur & the Ant usually do fun stuff together like playing in the beach or buying in a supermarket together. In the series 3 episode "Picnic", it was revealed that The Ant’s real name is Harold, though The Dinosaur’s real name is unknown.
• The Three Chicks are a pair of chicks that Pato takes care of in the series 4 episode "Chicks Dig Me". The chicks were first found by Pocoyo when they first hatched out of their eggs with their mother no where to be found.
• Daddy Alien is a green martian and Angry Alien’s long-lost father. Daddy Alien disappeared one Christmas morning when Angry Alien was a baby and his disappearance was the reason behind Angry Alien’s nature. It was revealed in the story within a story short "The Secret Mission" that Daddy Alien left to work for Santa Claus and deliver the presents every year.
• Los Hermanos Chihuahua (Spanish for "The Chihuahua Brothers") are a music band of skeletons that play mariachi music. When they are not performing music, they hang out with Pocoyo and his friends usually on Halloween.
• Yanko is a friendly snow yeti first befriended by Pocoyo and Loula introduced in the 2019 Christmas special "A Very Special Guest".

Pocoyo's name was provided by David Cantolla, one of the creators, after his then two-year-old daughter used it in her nightly "Dear Child Jesus (Jesusito de mi vida [es])" prayers saying "Eres niño poco yo" ("You're a child little me"), but not "Eres niño como yo" ("You're a child like me"). "Pocoyo" could roughly be translated to English as "little me", though it is a made-up construction.^[7] The show is animated with Softimage XSI software.^[8]

The show was first announced to be in development in March 2003.^[9] In October, it was announced that Carlton International would co-produce and distribute the series, and that production delivery on the first half of the first series would begin in September 2004.

In March 2004, Novel Entertainment joined in production as co-producer with Carlton and Zinkia. However, nothing else was known about this initial announcement otherwise.^[10][11]

The show was showcased by Granada International at MIP TV in April 2005, with a broadcast window for CITV announced for the autumn. It was also announced that Stephen Fry would narrate the series in the United Kingdom.^[12]

The series was renewed for a second series on May 12, 2006.^[13] The makers also wish to embark upon other projects, one of which may be a Pocoyo movie.^[14] In June 2006, Pocoyo was awarded the Cristal Award for the "Best TV Production" at the 30th Annecy International Animated Film Festival.^[15]

In April 2011, Zinkia and ITV Global Entertainment announced they would end their co-distribution partnership on the series and that Zinkia would now hold worldwide distribution of the series.^[16]

In May 2023, Zinkia announced the sale of the franchise to French children's investment firm Animaj for an indisclosed amount. The sale would include all IP rights, distribution, and licensing to the franchise but would exclude the educational portions, which Zinkia would retain. In exchange for the deal, Zinkia would acquire a 7.99% in Animaj.^[17] The deal was closed on September 20, 2023.^[18]

Four series have been produced with 52 episodes along with 60 specials produced for YouTube. The show is currently in its fifth series. There is also an unreleased pilot episode entitled "The See-Saw".^[20] This pilot was only released in the DVD version of "The Pocoyo Show" during 2009.

Series 3 is known as Let's Go Pocoyo, with episodes that have different segments. The 1st segment contains one relating to the story and the 2nd part involves stuff like counting, exercising, and learning about shapes. In the end, there is a music video recapping the story.

Series 4 consists of episodes similar to the first two series, but now with less audience engagement from the narrator and introduces another human character Nina and her Robot friend, Roberto as the main characters. Originally on YouTube, the first half produced 26 episodes and it became successful.^[21][22] Because of its success, the second half with 26 episodes was produced exclusively on the Spanish children's channel Clan TVE, ABC Kids in Australia, and exclusively in the Pocoyo Party game for the PlayStation 4 and the Nintendo Switch.^[23]

Since 2016, there are specials in relation with the holidays each year with few relating to sports. Following the success of series 4, there are episodes produced as a web series, and both series are exclusively online in YouTube. In "A Very Special Guest", a Christmas Special for 2019, Yanko, a giant snow yeti is introduced.

Series 5 released its first 13 episodes exclusively on Max in select countries on 22 July 2024. When the second batch releases in Q2 2025, the series will feature more new characters like Pocoyo's little sister, Bea along with new locations expanding Pocoyo World. It will also feature the return of British actor and comedian Stephen Fry who narrated the first 2 series of Pocoyo as well with Pocoyo speaking in full sentences with his friends, adding more depth for the story and appeal fans in a new way.^[1][2] Similar to the series 4 episode "Dragon Island", five of the episodes will be mixed into live action.^[19]

On September 11, 2007, Granada International pre-sold the first and second series to Five's Milkshake! strand. This deal meant that while the CITV Channel could still air the series, they could not air it within Milkshake!'s airtime.^[24]

In June 2006, TVE2 and Boomerang acquired free and pay-TV rights respectively to the series from Zinkia.^[25] The first series premiered on TVE2 in October 2006.^[26] The second series premiered on the network in April 2008.^[27] The third series, Let's Go Pocoyo began airing in 2010.

In October 2017, Clan acquired the TV rights to the fourth series.^[28]

In April 2005, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation became the first international broadcaster to acquire the series.^[29] In October, Granada pre-sold the series to Treehouse TV (Canada), Disney Channel (Southeast Asia), TVNZ (New Zealand), CYBC (Cyprus) Gulf DTH/Showtime and MBC (Middle East), IBC (Iceland), EBS (South Korea), Alter Channel (Greece), RTFBH (Bosnia), RTV (Slovenia), BabyTV (Israel) and the ABC (Australia). At the time, deals were current underway for Germany, Japan, Finland, Sweden, France and Hong Kong.^[30]

In March 2006, Nickelodeon acquired French broadcast rights.^[31] This was followed up in May with Granada pre-selling the series to KiKA (Germany), Discovery Kids (Latin America), WOWOW (Japan) and MNET (South Africa), and Zinkia selling Portuguese rights to RTP in June.^[32] In October, Granada pre-sold the pay TV rights to the series to Disney Channel Scandivania, while Yle acquired free-TV rights to the first series in Finland.^[33]

In April 2008, Zinkia pre-sold Mexican broadcast rights to Grupo Televisa.

In 2010, the series entered Italy when Zinkia sold broadcast rights to Rai 2 in March^[34] and the United States in April when ITV Global Entertainment sold the series to the Nick Jr. Channel for broadcast within the spring. In the US, the series was originally shown as 7-minute segments between shows before being expanded to a half-hour show from July 23, 2011, to January 1, 2015. Currently, episodes of the show were made available on the Noggin app. Episodes of "Pocoyo Planet" are also currently on the app as well. In end of same year, the series also broadcast on Indonesia and aired by RCTI with Indonesian languages,^[35] then it will soon be aired on Mentari TV (a sister channel of Indosiar) in 2024.^[36]

Pocoyo aired alongside Peep and the Big Wide World in a shared half-hour timeslot on public television in the US from 2010 to 2021. It was distributed to local PBS stations through American Public Television from January 2010 until January 2018,^[37] when it was picked up by PBS Kids 24/7 Channel.

In 2021, the series moved to US commercial broadcast on Cartoon Network on September 13, 2021, as part of their preschool block Cartoonito.^[38][39] The show was removed from Cartoonito's lineup on September 23, 2022, and was removed from HBO Max on September 30, 2022. The broadcast of the series on PBS Kids came to an end on December 26, 2021, and it, along with the show it aired with, was replaced with reruns of Dinosaur Train to the 7:30 a.m. weekend morning time slot instead.

In 2024, the first 13 episodes of series 5 released on Max on July 22, 2024 in select countries and started airing on Cartoonito (Latin America) on August 2, 2024.

Pocoyo & the Space Circus had its world premiere at Cine Capitol on November 23, 2008 as part of a charity.^[40]

The special later had its linear premiere on La 1 on December 21, 2008 as part of the stand-alone special El Show de Pocoyo^[41]

It was announced for international distribution by Zinkia and ITV Global Entertainment in March 2009.^[42]

The special centers on The Martian Brothers, a pack of 5 aliens from outer space that arrive in Pocoyo's World, hosting a circus. Pocoyo, Elly, and Pato along with Loula join in as well.

Pocoyo in Cinemas: Your First Movie released in Mexican theaters on May 11, 2018.^[43] It released in Spain theaters on June 23, 2018 and worldwide on June 24, 2018.^[44]

In Spain, the film grossed $28,000 in 40 theaters and $34,000 worldwide.^[45]

The film includes a 15 minute short where Angry Alien is back and is destroying the city using his U.F.O. So Pocoyo as a super hero and his team of his super friends (Pato, Elly, Nina, & Roberto including Elly's doll) join forces as they have to stop Angry Alien from his evil schemes. The film also includes episodes from the series like Ready, Set, Go!, Crazy Inventions and Easter Eggs, plus Super Pocoyo shorts and Let’s Go Pocoyo songs.

A third feature film of Pocoyo was announced to release in 2028.^[6]

In October 2007, Zinkia signed a video game publishing deal with Virgin Play for the video game Hello, Pocoyo!, planned for a release on the Nintendo DS in 2008. The game was developed in-house at Zinkia.^[46][47] The game released in Europe on November 17, 2008.^{[citation needed]}

In Hello, Pocoyo!, Baby Spider finds a magic felt-tip pen and whatever he draws come to life so he draws a disco floor which flips over and all of Pocoyo’s friends disappear. The player will play the role as Pocoyo and search for his friends by using clues like coloring pictures and drawing objects.

Pocoyo Racing was released for the Nintendo DS and Wii in November 18, 2011 being published by Zinkia Entertainment and exclusive to Europe only.

In Pocoyo Racing, Pocoyo and all of his friends have a car race around Pocoyo World. The player is able to play the role as various characters including Pocoyo, Pato, or Elly and race against other characters in multiple worlds.

Pocoyo Party was released for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on April 15, 2021 and published by RECOTechnology.^[48]

In Pocoyo Party, following the events of the episode, “The Videogame Party”, Pocoyo writes invitations to his party but Angry Alien (disguised as a mailman) steals the invitations but accidentally drops each of them in different locations. The player will play the role as Pocoyo and play multiple mini games to try and retrieve the invitations before the party starts.

Alongside those games various app games have been released based on the franchise.

• Official website
• Official Pocoyo blog
• Pocoyo at IMDb
• Guillermo García Carsi
• Pocoyo's channel on YouTube (Spanish)
• Pocoyo's channel on YouTube (English)