Tinga Tinga Tales

Tinga Tinga Tales
GenreChildren's Television
Written byJudy Kibinge
Anna Starkey
Claudia Lloyd
Voices ofEugene Muchiri
Shaun Parkes
Johnnie Fiori
Lenny Henry
Patrice Naiambana
Miriam Margolyes
Theme music composerEric Wainaina
Aaron Rimbui
Opening theme"Tinga Tinga Tinga"
Country of origin
  • United Kingdom
  • Kenya
Original languagesEnglish, Swahili
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes52[1]
Production
Running time11 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkCBeebies
Release15 February 2010 (2010-02-15) –
31 March 2011 (2011-03-31)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Tinga Tinga Tales is an animated children's television series based on African folk tales and aimed generally at 4 to 6-year-olds that ran for two seasons (2011–2012). It was commissioned by the BBC for its CBeebies channel. Named after Tingatinga art from Tanzania,[2] Tinga Tinga Tales was produced in Nairobi, Kenya, by Homeboyz Animation and its music produced by Kenyan singer-songwriter Eric Wainaina.[3] The series comprises 55 episodes.

The series was first conceived by Claudia Lloyd, head of the animation division at the London-based Tiger Aspect Productions, while travelling through Africa. The first three episodes premiered on the BBC website in February 2010. The distribution rights were bought by Entertainment Rights, which in 2009 merged with Classic Media. In 2012 Classic Media was acquired by DreamWorks Animation and renamed DreamWorks Classics).[4]

  1. ^ Chonghaile, Clar Ni (8 July 2010). "Tinga Tinga puts Kenyan animation on the map". The Africa Report. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
  2. ^ Gibson, Owen (26 June 2008). "BBC to tell children why giraffes have long necks in Tinga Tinga Tales". The Guardian/. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  3. ^ The BBC Archived 4 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine on Tinga Tinga Tales: Music by Eric Wainaina.
  4. ^ The Times Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine on Entertainment Rights