Pinky Dinky Doo is a girl who lives in Great Big City with her parents, her little brother, Tyler, and their house pet, Mr. Guinea Pig. When a problem arises, Pinky says, "That gives me an idea" and Tyler says, "Pinky, are you going to make up a story?" and Pinky will say, "Yeserooni positooni!", dancing to a cardboard box, her Storytelling Box, with Tyler and Mr. Guinea Pig. Using chalk and her imagination, she tells a story. In season 2, Pinky uses the Story Pad, a notebook in which Pinky draws pictures for her newer made-up stories, whenever the Story Box is not available. During the made-up story, Pinky must "Think Big", at which point her head swells and she comes up with an often wacky solution to the problem while singing "If I have a problem, don't know which way to go, I think and think and think and think, and suddenly I know!". In Big Blob of Talk, instead of thinking big, Pinky listens big instead. In Back to School Is Cool, Pinky's hair swells instead of her entire head due to her having a bad hair day. In Tyler Dinky Doo to the Rescue, Two Wheel Dreams, Go to Bed Tyler!, and Tyler's Big Idea, Tyler thinks big instead of Pinky. In Shrinky Pinky, Mr. Guinea Pig does the thinking.
Description
The show helps viewers increase their vocabularies with its Great Big Fancy Word, which is featured several times during the episode. It also addresses problem-solving skills as well as the basics of narrative stories—character, dialogue, plot, details, main idea and sequence of events. After Pinky tells her story and solves the problem of the day, kids are invited to play an interactive game on the Cheese Sandwich toy, where they review details about the story. At the end of each episode, Pinky says, "I love to make up stories. I'll bet you can make up a story too." In each episode, there is also a "Great Big Fancy Word", which varies with each episode, but when somebody is about to say the word, Mr. Guinea Pig will blow a trumpet and then the character says the word. In In The Dark, Tyler blows the trumpet instead of Mr. Guinea pig. In Come Home Little Guinea Pig, both Pinky and Mr. Guinea Pig blow the trumpet. In Tyler Dinky Doo's Big Boo, Go To Bed Tyler, Pinky Dinky Doo and the Missing Dinosaurs, The Mystery Planet, Tyler and the 4Ms, Loch Mess Lobster, and Tyler's Silly Shirt, Mr. Guinea uses a different instrument when someone is going to say the great big fancy word. This series was created by Jim Jinkins, who originally made up Pinky's adventures as bedtime tales for his children. The executive producers are Jinkins and David Campbell. It is a production of Sesame Workshop, Cartoon Pizza, Keyframe Digital, and Abrams Gentile Entertainment. According to Noggin, Pinky Dinky Doo is the network’s second series dedicated to enhancing early literacy. The original American version was initially shown on CBeebies in the UK, but more recently the show has been redubbed and broadcast with British English voices. From April 5, 2008, to September 3, 2011, Pinky Dinky Doo also aired episodes in Spanish on Planeta U, a programming block on Spanish language television network Univision.
Games
After Pinky tells her story and solves the problem of the day, kids are invited to play an interactive game on the Cheese Sandwich toy, where they review details about the story. These games are guided by both Pinky and Tyler in order to obtain the correct answer.
Cast and characters
Main
Pinky Dinky Doo
Tyler Dinky Doo
Mr. Guinea Pig
Supporting
Mrs. Dinky Doo, Pinky's mother
Mr. Dinky Doo, Pinky's father
School characters
*Nicholas Biscuit
*Bobby Boom
*Daffinee Toilette
*Miss McGanza
Additional voices
Jim Jinkins
Juan Van Michaelangelo
Background and production
The series was produced by Sesame Workshop and Cartoon Pizza, in association with CBC, Noggin, CBeebies, and Discovery Kids Latin America, with the companies Keyframe Digital Productions and Abrams Gentile Entertainment also producing season 2. Season 1 used flash animation, while Season 2 used computer animation. Pinky Dinky Doo began in 2000 as bedtime stories spun by Cartoon Pizza's Jim Jinkins for his then four-year-old daughter. "It wasn't pre-meditated as a kid's show," admits Jinkins. Like the eponymous star of his first hit series Doug, Pinky simply popped out of her creator's imagination. With the help of Sesame Workshop, the pink-haired Pinky appeared in a series of children's books before making the move into animation. "The Workshop was a beautiful partner," Jinkins beams. "They didn't overhaul it, but saw it as natural literacy project." Pinky Dinky Doo started as a web series. In 2002, two episodes were available as TV episodes and was in production at that time with a scheduled availability for 2003 from Sesame Workshop and Cartoon Pizza.
Episodes
Broadcast
Pinky Dinky Doo first premiered in the United States on Noggin on April 10, 2006. It continued to air following the channel's rebranding as Nick Jr. until February 8, 2012. Presently, it was broadcast in French Canada on TFO in 2016. It also aired on CBC, TVO, Knowledge Network in Canada, Discovery Kids in Latin America, TV Cultura in Brazil and CBeebies in the United Kingdom. The series also aired on Rai Yoyo, Baraem in Arabic, and Hop! Channel in Israeli. As of 2016, the series is reran on HBO Kids as part of HBO's deal with Sesame Workshop.
