Genre Children's Television Theme music composer Eric Wainaina Country of origin United KingdomKenya | Starring Lenny Henry Opening theme "Tinga Tinga Tinga" | |
Voices of Eugene MuchiriShaun ParkesJohnnie FioriLenny HenryPatrice NaiambanaMiriam Margolyes | ||
Tinga Tinga Tales is a British–Kenyan children's television series, based on African folk tales and aimed at 4 to 6-year-olds. It was commissioned by the BBC for its CBeebies channel, and by Disney Channel for its Disney Junior block. Named after Tingatinga art from Tanzania, Tinga Tinga Tales was produced in Nairobi, Kenya by Homeboyz Animation, a studio of approximately 50 people. The music is produced by Kenyan singer-songwriter Eric Wainaina. The series comprises 52 episodes.
Contents
- Synopsis
- Main characters
- African characters
- North American characters
- Asian characters
- Ocean characters
- Mysterious characters
- Episodes
- References
The series was first conceived by Claudia Lloyd, head of animation at the London-based Tiger Aspect Productions, while travelling through Africa. The first three episodes premiered on the BBC website in early February 2010. The distribution rights have been bought by Entertainment Rights (which in 2009 merged with Classic Media, then in 2012 it was acquired by DreamWorks Animation and renamed into DreamWorks Classics, and ultimately became the property of Universal Television in 2016).
Synopsis
Tinga Tinga Tales is centered on various animated animals and employs music, dialogue, and colorful imagery to tell African folk tales about the origins of animals, and to answer questions such as, "why do monkeys swing in the trees and flamingos stand on one leg?"