Pocoyo

Pocoyo ( in Spanish and stylised as POCOYO, ) is an animated interactive preschool comedy television series created by David Cantolla, Luis Gallego, and Guillermo GarcÃÂa CarsÃÂ, that premiered on 7 January 2005 on La 2. Until 2023, the series was produced by the Spanish animation company Zinkia Entertainment. 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.

Five series have been produced, each consisting of 52 seven-minute episodes along with 60 specials produced for YouTube. The series has since been renewed for a sixth season, slated for a 2026 release. English actor and comedian Stephen Fry narrates the English-language version of the first two series of the show, while Stephen Hughes began narrating starting the third series, titled Let's Go Pocoyo. JosÃÂ© MarÃÂa del RÃÂo narrates the Castilian Spanish version of the show.

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

A half-hour special film titled Pocoyo & the Space Circus premiered on 23 November 2008 at Cine Capitol. On 21 December 2008, a one-hour special titled El Show de Pocoyo ("Pocoyo's Show" in English) premiered on La 1 to promote the release of The Space Circus. On 27 August 2009, another musical one-hour special titled Pocoyo's Big Party was released on CD, with a linear premiere on Clan on 31 December 2015. From 2014 to 2016, multiple half-hour specials based on various holidays were released on YouTube and Netflix. A second film titled Pocoyo in Cinemas: Your First Movie which featured the short film, Pocoyo and the League of Extraordinary Super Friends released in cinemas on 11 May 2018 in Mexico, with a Spain release on 23 June.

On June 2021, a spin-off series titled Yanko & Nina was announced by Zinkia to be in development and focus more on Pocoyo's friends, Nina and Yanko. However, the series would later be retooled into another series titled Yanco, Dina and the Dinosaurs in 2022. The series is expected to release in 2027.

In 2023, the franchise was acquired by Animaj. With the use of AI tools, particularly Animaj's proprietary software "Sketch-to-Motion", 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 third feature film will release in 2028 and a seventh series will release between 2029 and 2030.

Overview

Set in a 3D space called Pocoyo World, with a plain white background and usually no backdrops, the series is about Pocoyo, a four-year-old kid who is dressed all in blue, interacting with his animal companions Elly (an elephant), Pato (a duck), Loula (a dog), Pulpo (an octopus), Nina (a girl), Roberto (a robot), Valentina (a caterpillar), Baby Bird, and his mother 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.

Characters

Main

Pocoyo 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 an innocent, happy, and childish character who is very acrobatic and moves at a quick speed. He has a red race car and a shapeshifting bird-like spaceship called Vamoosh. Although he is friendly 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 can be very disobedient; but he tries his hardest to fight his flaws and learn morals, and often shows that he is affectionate and caring towards others.
The Narrator (voiced by Stephen Fry in series 1Ã¢ÂÂ2 & series 5 (part 2), and Stephen Hughes in series 3Ã¢ÂÂ5 (part 1), in English; JosÃÂ© MarÃÂa del RÃÂo in Castilian Spanish) speaks over the entire show and often communicates directly with the characters. The Narrator is sometimes physically involved in the events of the episodes without being seen.
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. 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.
Elly is a pink elephant who loves making biscuits and tea, and having tea parties with her friends. She also has a doll named Daisy whom she cares for very much, and keeps in her backpack when she is not using it. Despite her size, she is graceful and gentle, capable of ballet dancing, and serves as a mother figure to Pocoyo.
Loula is an orange and magenta beagle puppy who is Pocoyo's pet and companion. She is mostly curious and shy, as she can be easily frightened. The character was originally named Lucas, after co-creator and director Guillermo GarcÃÂa Carsi's dog, but was renamed and revamped as female to make sure the series had more female characters.
The Audience (voiced by Grace Foy, Alicia Mahady, and Claudia SÃÂ¡nchez in series 3, and Kai Melogno and Alba Ramos in "The Easter Rabbit" & "Pocoyo's World Sports Games") 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 is another human character who is introduced in the fourth series episode of the same name. She is a young girl similar to Pocoyo who has red hair and wears all green. Like Pato, she greatly loves plants and nature. She normally speaks mostly a form of gibberish with a Japanese accent, but can also speak fluent English.
Roberto is a small, bug-like robot who is Nina's companion. Roberto has the ability to transform into other kinds of useful machines and shrink himself and others.
Bea (voiced by Codiefia Darby) is Pocoyo's little sister who mainly wears yellow. She has a chaotic yet adorable personality which bothers Pocoyo with her antics. Despite this, Pocoyo is protective to her as her big brother.

Recurring

Scarlet "Sleepy" Bird is a teal-coloured songbird. She does little but sleep, and usually flies with her eyes halfway open.
Baby Bird is the small, always active and loud-mouthed baby of Sleepy Bird, who gets into tricky situations from which he is rescued by Pocoyo.
Valentina is a yellow-coloured 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 at will.
Pulpo is a hyperactive but stubborn red octopus who speaks in gibberish like Valentina, and is very fond of opera singing. He can also be a comedian and can easily make his friends laugh with his jokes.
Whale is a sperm whale who sometimes plays with Fred along with Pocoyo and his friends.
The Ball Orchestra is a group of three ball-like creatures who play the trumpet, drums, and cymbals.
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.
Green Alien is the main alien Pocoyo and his friends hang out with. He first appeared in the series 2 episode "New on the Planet". Unlike the other aliens, Green Alien lives on his own planet that has many cool things like drum-like craters and a button that changes the colour of other planets. He is also shown to be shy and easily scared.
Strange Alien is an orange alien and Pato's brief love interest. In Pocoyo World, he works various jobs such as a postman.
Angry Alien is an evil green Martian who usually attempts to take over Pocoyo World. He first appeared in the series 2 episode of the same name. In Pocoyo & the Space Circus and "Pocoyo's Restaurant", Angry Alien is revealed to have many identical family members. He is also Valentina's love interest.
The Martian Brothers are a group of acrobatic Martians who love to host circuses. They first appear in the short film Pocoyo & the Space Circus.
Tori-Doris are a musical band of sentient shapes that Pocoyo and Pato befriend in the series 2 episode "Band of Friends".
Baby Spider is a small blue spider that hatched out of an egg that Pato found in the series 2 episode "Pato's Egg". Despite being kind-hearted and sweet, in his first appearance, he used to unintentionally frighten Pocoyo and Elly due to their fear of spiders, but later learn that he is not as scary as they thought.
The Dinosaur and the Ant are a pair of best friends who appear in the "Pocoyo's Fairy Tales" segments in certain series 3 episodes. The Dinosaur and the Ant are shown doing activities like playing in the beach and shopping in a supermarket together. In the series 3 episode "Picnic", it is revealed that the Ant's name is Harold, though the Dinosaur's name remains unknown.
Los Hermanos Chihuahua (Spanish for "The Chihuahua Brothers") are a music band of skeletons who play mariachi music.
Yanko is a friendly yeti first befriended by Pocoyo and Loula introduced in the series 4 special episode "A Very Special Guest". Despite his large size, he has a big heart and cares about everyone.
The Giant is a humongous robot-like character introduced in series 5. He lives on a treetop in Pocoyo World.
Priszilla is a giant red sea monster introduced in series 5. She dreams of causing destruction in a city and battling a robot, which Pocoyo and his friends help her with in her debut episode of the same name.

Development and production

Pocoyo's name was coined by David Cantolla, one of the creators, after his then two-year-old daughter used it in her nightly "Dear Child Jesus ()" prayers saying "Eres niÃÂ±o poco yo" ("You're a child little me"), but not "Eres niÃÂ±o 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. The show is animated with Softimage XSI software. While most modern 3D shows rely on complex, fluid movement, early Pocoyo was built on a very specific "Pose-to-Pose" logic.

The show was first announced to be in development in March 2003. 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.

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.

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

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.

In November 2016, YouTube and YouTube Kids announced that the fourth series would be released exclusively on those platforms. Zinkia CEO Alberto Delgado stated "In that time [10 years] Pocoyo has developed a truly global fanbase, so premiering the fourth season exclusively on YouTube and the YouTube Kids app seemed like the best way to celebrate such an exciting milestone."

In July 2022, it was announced that the series as renewed for a fifth series, along with a big shift with the development of the series. It was also revealed that Pocoyo would be getting a little sister in the new series, named Pocoyina.

In May 2023, Zinkia announced the sale of the franchise to French children's investment firm Animaj for an undisclosed 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. The deal was closed on 20 September 2023.

In 2025, it was revealed that Stephen Fry, the original narrator of the first two series, would return to narrate the show's fifth series after 15 years. It was also confirmed that Pocoyo's sister, Pocoyina would be renamed Bea in the new series.

Episodes

Series overview

Five series have been produced, each consisting of 52 seven-minute episodes along with 60 specials produced for YouTube. The show was renewed for a sixth series. There is also an unreleased pilot episode entitled "The See-Saw". This pilot was only released in the DVD version of "El Show de Pocoyo" during 2009.

The third series was known as Let's Go Pocoyo, with episodes that have different segments. The 1st segment relates to the topic of the story, while the 2nd segment involves premises like counting, exercising, and learning about shapes. At the end of every episode (before the end credits), there is a music video titled "Let's Sing", recapping the story and remembering all the objects that were in the story. The segments include:

1st segments

Surfing the Net with Elly: Pocoyo asks Elly to search for videos (clips from the first two series) on her computer, with each video focusing on a specific topic in the episode. For example, in "Pocoyo's Band", Pocoyo tells Elly to search for a video that is loud and Elly shows him a scene in the series 2 episode "Baby Bird Sitting", where Baby Bird throws a fit on not wanting to get cake and then he and Caterpillar yell at Pato in his face. At the end, Pocoyo and the Narrator thank Elly for researching the topic.
Pocoyo's Fairy Tales: Pocoyo shares with the Narrator and the Audience a story of a dinosaur and an ant, the main characters and a pair of best friends. Each story follows the Dinosaur and the Ant enduring in fun activities, similar to the plot of the episode.
A Quiet Moment with Sleepy Bird: While Sleepy Bird sleeps, Pocoyo shows pictures of objects (relating to the topic of the episode) and he and the Audience yell it out loud, thus waking up Sleepy Bird much to her and the Narrator's dismay. On the last object, Pocoyo shows Sleepy Bird it quietly and then yell it out loud with the audience while the Narrator bids Sleepy Bird good night to end the segment.
The Martian Brothers' Show: While on their planet in space, the Martian Brothers usually discover an object (relating to the topic of the episode) and the Narrator and the Audience tell them what it is. Some variations of the segment sometimes ends with the blue martian taking a bite out of the object, with the others looking confused. A slideshow of all the objects are shown at the end.
Professor Pato: Pato becomes a professor and teaches his students (Baby Bird, Caterpillar, and Angry Alien) about the difference between things (relating to the topic of the episode). Some variations of the segment end with either one of the students (Angry Alien (mostly) or Baby Bird (once)) yelling an answer at Pato's face, causing him to fall over or the chalkboard to fall on him. The Narrator ends the segment with the class on a diploma with a tag with Pato's face on it and saying "Lesson approved by Professor Pato."

2nd segments

Shape Shuffle: Pocoyo plays a game with the Narrator where he must guess what object Pocoyo has made using 3 select shapes. At the end, Pocoyo combines the objects together and the Narrator recaps each shape.
Wheel of Colours: Pocoyo, Pato, and Elly participate in a challenge to take a picture of an object based on the colour they are challenged to find. At the end, for their second thing, they have a mystery character and once they found out who it is, the Narrator ends the segment with "Hooray for (name of colour)!"
Fred Says: A parody of Simon Says, Fred plays a game where Pocoyo, Pato, and Elly must do whatever he says. At the end, the water fills back up with the Narrator saying "Fred Says: That's all!"
Animals: Dot to Dot: When Pocoyo does not what animal the picture is about, the Narrator helps him by connecting the dots. At the end, the picture is finished and the animal gives their animal noise.
Number Menu: Pato and Strange Alien go out on a dinner together at Pocoyo and Elly's restaurant and order a specific number of food. However, just as Pato gets ready to eat, Strange Alien eats all the food, including the table. She then gives Pato a specific number of hearts, making him overjoyed.

Series 4 consists of episodes similar to the first two series, but now with less audience engagement from the Narrator. Originally on YouTube, the first half produced 26 episodes and it became successful. 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. Later in mid-2024, the second half of series 4 would begin to be uploaded to YouTube.

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.

Series 5 released its first 13 episodes exclusively on Max in Latin America on 22 July 2024. When the second batch released on 14 July 2025, the series featured more new characters like Pocoyo's little sister, Bea along with new locations expanding Pocoyo World. It also featured 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. Similar to the series 4 episode "Dragon Island", five episodes of the series were planned to be mixed into live action. However, this idea was possibly scrapped as none of the series 5 episodes feature any live-action scenes.

Broadcast

United Kingdom

In 2006, the series started airing on ITV1. On 11 September 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. On 24 April 2012, Nick Jr. acquired rights to all three series to air on the network, as well as Nick Jr. Too. As of January 2026, all 5 series are currently streaming on ITVX.

Spain

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

In October 2017, Clan acquired the TV rights to the fourth series. In October 2024, the fifth series started airing on the network.

Other

In April 2005, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation became the first international broadcaster to acquire the series. 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, Hop!, LuliTV (Israel) and the ABC (Australia). At the time, deals were current underway for Germany, Japan, Finland, Sweden, France and Hong Kong.

In March 2006, Nickelodeon acquired French broadcast rights. 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. In October, Granada pre-sold the pay TV rights to the series to Disney Channel Scandinavia, while Yle acquired free-TV rights to the first series in Finland.

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 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 23 July 2011, to 1 January 2015. Episodes of the show were made available on the Noggin app. Episodes of "Pocoyo Planet", a compilation spin-off series were also available on the app as well. In end of same year, the series also broadcast on Indonesia and aired by RCTI with Indonesian languages, then it will soon be aired on Mentari TV (a sister channel of Indosiar) in 2024.

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, when it was picked up by PBS Kids 24/7 Channel.

In 2021, the series moved to US commercial broadcast on Cartoon Network on 13 September 2021, as part of their preschool block Cartoonito. The show was removed from Cartoonito's lineup on 23 September 2022, and was removed from HBO Max on 30 September 2022. The broadcast of the series on PBS Kids came to an end on 26 December 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.

On 12 September 2022, the series was added to Disney+ in multiple European countries.

In 2024, the first 13 episodes of series 5 released on Max on 22 July 2024 in Latin America, and started airing on Cartoonito in that region.

Accolades

In other media

Specials/Movies

Pocoyo & the Space Circus (2008)

Pocoyo & the Space Circus had its world premiere at Cine Capitol on 23 November 2008, as part of a charity. The special later had its linear premiere on La 1 on 21 December 2008, as part of the stand-alone special El Show de Pocoyo.

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

The special centers on the Martian Brothers, a pack of 5 aliens from outer space that arrive in Pocoyo World to host a circus. Pocoyo, Elly, Pato, Loula and more join in as well.

Pocoyo and the League of Extraordinary Super Friends (Pocoyo in Cinemas: Your First Movie) (2018)

Pocoyo in Cinemas: Your First Movie released in Mexican cinemas on 11 May 2018. It released in Spain cinemas on 23 June 2018, and worldwide on 24 June 2018.

In Spain, the film grossed $28,000 in 40 cinemas and $34,000 worldwide.

The film includes a 15-minute short where Angry Alien is destroying the city using his U.F.O. So Pocoyo, as a superhero, and his team of his super friends (Pato, Elly, Nina, & Roberto including Elly's doll) join forces 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.

Untitled third feature film (2028)

A third feature film of Pocoyo was confirmed to release in 2028.

Video games

Console games

Hello, Pocoyo!

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.

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 colouring pictures and drawing objects.

Pocoyo Racing

Pocoyo Racing was released for the Nintendo DS and Wii on 18 November 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

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

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.