3-2-1 Penguins!

:"Not to be confused with Penguins!."

"3-2-1 Penguins!" is a series of Christian animated videos (on VHS and DVD) for all ages. The series is produced by Big Idea Productions, the makers of "VeggieTales", and teaches practical life lessons inspired by the Bible, generally applying a verse from the book of Proverbs to a realistic situation children face.

Stories

The stories center on the exploits of Jason and Michelle, twin children who are staying with their eccentric grandmother for the summer. At her cottage, they discover a toy spaceship and four penguin figures. The penguins (named Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel and Kevin) take the twins on trips around the universe, "inadvertently" teaching them valuable life lessons along the way.

The series followed a pattern of one episode featuring an adventure with Jason followed by an episode featuring Michelle until the penguins used Jason's help in episodes five and six. Grandma's face is only shown in "Moon Menace on Planet Tell-A-Lie!". When Midgel prepares to start the ship, he trims a plant (a pun on "banzai", which the crew shouts, and bonsai). In (almost) every episode, Midgel has a new plant which makes a direct reference to the previous episode.

Each episode begins with Grandma clicking on a radio. The song plays the show's theme that ends with the "eight little words": "Zidgel, Midgel, Fidgel, Kevin, 3 (three), 2 (two), 1 (one), and "Penguins!"

Production

The show was originally animated by Big Idea in their Lombard, Illinois location at Yorktown Mall. All of the staff working on the show were housed in one large room that had originally been reserved as a place to install a Big Idea Store for mall shoppers, akin to a Disney Store. Once space became scarce in Big Idea's location the plans for a store were scrapped and instead Ikea desks and wiring were added to allow for a dedicated staff to set up and produce the show.

Cash-flow issues in 2003, after production of Big Idea's "" prevented continuation of this and the "Cartoon Adventures of Larryboy!" series.

The series began to air in the qubo children's television block on NBC, Telemundo, and ION.

In March 2007, Entertainment Rights, the new owner of Big Idea Inc., announced production on 20 new half-hour episodes of the series. [http://www.entertainmentrights.com/news/article_687.asp Press release on 27 March 2007]

These new episodes began airing on qubo on October 5th, 2007 on ION, and October 6th, 2007 on NBC and Telemundo.

Big Idea announced the next new set of 3-2-1 Penguins episodes will begin airing on October 2nd, 2008. [http://www.ceganmo.com/2008/10/press-release-brand-new-3-2-1-penguins.html Press release on 1 October 2008]

Episodes

Season 1 - Original Series (2001-2003)

* Trouble on Planet Wait-Your-Turn! (2000)
* The Cheating Scales of Bullamanka (2001)
** with Fair and Square
* The Amazing Carnival of Complaining (2001)
** with The Shinin' Star Swing
* Runaway Pride at Lightstation Kilowatt! (2002)
** with Space Surfin' Superstar
* The Doom Funnel Rescue! (2002)
** with Spaceship Drivin' Man
* Moon Menace on Planet Tell-a-Lie! (2003)
** with The Legend Of Galaxy Gus

Season 2 - New Series (2007 - present)

* I Scream, You Scream (2007) Jason and Michelle must contend with the consequences of a broken galeezel device.
* The Green-Eyed Monsters (2007) The Penguins visit a small planet divided by a picket fence round the equator and populated by two factions of sheep, each of whom want to conquer the other side.
* Lazy Daze (2007) Jason and Michelle discover that has been trashed. The ants that live on the planet love to clean up.
* More is More (2007) Mission to Planet Gutt to investigate a problem in their gravitational field.
* Give and Let Give (2007) Mission to a drought stricken planet whose inhabitants are feuding over water rights.
* Practical Hoax (2008) Jason and Midgel play pranks.
* Comedy of Errors (2008) Jason is a stand-up comedian while the Ventril-O-Matic and Rusty are broken.
* Compassion Crashin' (2008) Michelle is sad because she misses her friend Claire, and Jason must show Michelle some compassion.
* Wiki Tiki (2008)
* Invasion of the Body Swappers (2008)
* Git Along Little Doggies (2008) The music can be heard from Little Joe and it's the same background on Moe.
* Wise Guys (2008) The music can be heard from Esther and it's the same background from Daniel and the Lion's Den.
* Hogs and Kisses (2008)
* 12 Angry Hens (2008)
* Kennel Club Blues (2008)
* Oh,Mercy! (2008)
* Promises,Promises,Promises (2008)
* Do Unto Brothers (2008)
* Between An Asteroid And a Hard Place (2008)
* In the Big Place (2008)

Characters

* Jason T. Conrad - Michelle's brother. His best friend is Trevor. Voiced by Mark Martin(now by Quinn Lord).
* Michelle Francis Conrad - Jason's sister. Her doll's name is Miss Pretty Pretty. Voiced by Melissa Peterson.
* Grandmum - Jason and Michelle's British grandmother. Voiced by Pamela Thomas.
* Captain Zidgel - The captain of the Penguin crew. Elvis Presley impersonator. Voiced by Ron Wells
* Engineer Midgel - The pilot of the Penguin crew. Voiced by Greg Mills
* Doctor Fidgel - The scientist of the Penguin crew. Voiced by Page H. Hearn
* Kevin - No specific job, although he is a member of the Penguin crew. Voiced by Ron Smith.

DVD Releases

All the episodes of the original series have been released on DVD.

The first DVD release featuring episodes from the new series was released on August 30th, 2008. It's titled "Save the Planets!" and features 3 episodes from the new series. [http://www.ceganmo.com/2008/08/new-3-2-1-penguins-dvd-coming-soon.html CEGAnMo.com: New New 3-2-1 Penguins DVD Now Available]

External links

* [http://bigidea.com/products/shows/shows_by_cats.aspx?catid=11 3-2-1 Penguins!] at [http://www.bigidea.com BigIdea.com]
* [http://www.ceganmo.com/2008/07/3-2-1-penguins.html 3-2-1 Penguins!] at [http://www.ceganmo.com CEGAnMo.com]
* [http://www.qubo.com/321_show.asp 3-2-1 Penguins!] at [http://www.qubo.com Qubo.com]
* [http://www.bigideafun.com/penguins/default.htm 3-2-1 Penguins! Online Games at www.bigideafun.com]

References