Tinga Tinga Tales: Why Monkeys Swing in the Trees

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Based on the traditional tales from Africa, the show relies on the stories of why animals have gained abilities. An example is like "Why do flamingos stand on one leg?" or "Why does the lion roar?", etc. Produced on location in Kenya by Tiger Aspect Productions in conjunction with Homeboyz Entertainment, the show draws upon the inspiring talent of local artists and musicians and is expertly computer-animated using beautiful, hand-painted imagery. Red Monkey (voiced by Eugene Muchiri (UK)/Geoffrey Curtin (US)): Red Monkey is the narrator of all of the episodes.

Tinga Tinga Tales was also broadcast in the United States. Some characters are dubbed in Disney Character Voices International to give them American accents. The series had its first U.S. premiere on The Disney Channel. Although the series aired on The Disney Channel, the series ended its run on September 2011. The series also aired reruns on Disney Junior: The Channel. However, the series ended its airing on May 2014. Michael Carrington, Controller of CBeebies, said: "When Claudia Lloyd first approached me with the idea for Tinga Tinga Tales I knew it would be perfect for CBeebies. The series is a unique, beautiful production capturing a flavour of Africa and some extraordinarily tall tales. Storytelling is at the heart of what we do, engaging children with characters and tales that will stay with them forever, and Tinga Tinga Tales continues that tradition on CBeebies." Notes to Editors In the "Skunk" episode, Baboon gives some "smelly fruit" to Skunk as a prank, which gives him a stinky fart.From the producer of the multi award-winning Charlie And Lola, Tiger Aspect's Claudia Lloyd, this vibrant, new animated series (52 x 11-minute episodes), for children aged three to six years, brings to life the traditional art of storytelling with tall tales of how all your favourite animals came to be the way they are today. Furry Confusion: The flies and termites are non-sapient, despite other insects, such as ants, bees, mosquitos and even fleas all being sapient. Once an Episode: Monkey talking with Lion at the end of the episode appears in every single episode. (At least the US dub) Expository Theme Tune: The theme song explains how the land of Tinga Tinga has alot of stories to share. It takes nine months to complete an episode from storyboard to final music. Each animator produces approximately 30 seconds a week.

Somewhere, a Mammalogist Is Crying: A little forgivable given that the series is based on old fairy tales, but can still crop up. It's odd that an elephant was given the role as Dumb Muscle (claiming to have a "tiny brain") given they're among the most intelligent animals. Likewise, some of the animals living in Tinga Tinga do not actually live in Africa, like moles (it's possible she's meant to be a golden mole, but it's unlikely given that she's purple.) You may think you know the reason why Elephant has a long trunk, or why Tortoise has a broken shell... but as brand new pre-school series, Tinga Tinga Tales, is soon to reveal – the reason for each is a whole other story! Lion often uses his roar to calm things down or attract the attention of the other animals, often in Swahili, followed by English. If Lion is called in to help out with a problem, it must be serious. Lion shares his wisdom but he gets annoyed when animals have behaved badly and done things at odds with nature's way.

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Never Smile at a Crocodile: Crocodile. But since this is a show for little children, he is portrayed as The Bully rather than an actual killer. Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: The animals fear Puff Adder because of his nasty bite. Despite this, Puff Adder is really a Nice Guy who will only ever bite if he feels frightened. Mischief-Making Monkey: Baboon is quite a prankster. The other Monkeys not so much, although they also have their moments. Every Episode Ending: Each episode ends with Monkey Red saying "And [event that was pivotal to episode but not the main focus of it]? Well, that's a whole other story!".