Zigby | |
---|---|
Country of origin | Australia Canada |
No. of episodes | 52 |
Production | |
Running time | 7 mins. |
Production company(s) | Yoram Gross |
Release | |
Original network | Treehouse TV |
Picture format | 480i (4:3 SDTV) |
Original release | April 2009 – March 2015 |
Zigby the zebra is an anthropomorphic children's fictional character created by Scottish-born English author Brian Paterson. Zigby appears in a series of picture books and board books as well as in a 3D animated television series. The show currently airs on Treehouse TV, and was previously aired on Playhouse Disney and CBeebies.
Zigby lives in a tree house in Mudwater Creek, on a lush tropical island. In a typical book or episode, the enthusiastic zebra "trots into trouble" through his slightly eccentric behaviour. He is followed by his friends McMeer the meerkat and Bertie Bird the anxious guinea fowl.
The following picture books for ages approximately 2–5 years were published by HarperCollins:
Four board books (Go-Kart, The Picnic, The Birthday Party, Toy Box) appeared in 2004 with the same publisher. As of early 2005, 350,000 copies had been sold in 15 countries.
The development of an animated series based on the character was announced in 2005. 52 3D animated episodes of 11 minutes each were coproduced by companies in Australia, Singapore and Canada. The series specifically targets 4 to 5 year olds with a wider target audience of 3 to 6 year olds. The series shown on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (25 March 2009 - 3 January 2015) and Canadian Treehouse TV. It was also acquired by German ZDF,BBC-produced CBeebies and by France 5 also Univision's Planeta U. It was produced by Yoram Gross' Flying Bark Productions and Thunderbird Films.