9 June 2014 (2014-06-09) – 12 December 2019 (2019-12-12)
Bing is an animated children's television series based on the books byTed Dewan and produced by Acamar Films. The series follows a pre-school boy bunny named Bing as he experiences everyday issues.
Bing airs onCBeebies in the United Kingdom and Ireland and onS4C dubbed into Welsh. In January 2024, Acamar Films announced that Bing had been requested over one billion times onBBC iPlayer.[1]RAI in Italy premiered the series in 2018 on itsRai YoYo channel.[2] In the United States, the series started airing onCartoon Network'sCartoonito programming block in September 2021[3][4] with an American voice cast, replacing the original British voice cast.[5] The series premiered in France onFrance 5 in January 2023.[6]Bing airs in 130 countries around the world[7] and is available for streaming on YouTube across a network of 25 localized channels.[8][9]
Bing has won numerous awards including anInternational Emmy Kids Award and a Writers' Guild Award.[10] The Peek-a-Boo Bing soft toy has won a 2023 Made For Mums Gold Award.[11]
Every episode starts off with Flop saying "Round the corner not far away". Whatever Bing is doing at the start of the episode. At the end of each episode, Bing summarises what he has learnt, with Flop intoning "It's a Bing thing".[12]
Bing (voiced by Elliot Kerley in series 1 and Rafferty Railton in series 2 of the British English version, Santino Barnard in the American English version) – A three-year-old black anthropomorphic bunny who is the titular protagonist of the series. His favourite toy is Hoppity Voosh, a rabbit superhero. Bing wears a green shirt, red and black chequered dungarees and black and white shoes. Bing loves to hum, whistle, pretend and do untroubling childlike things.
Flop (voiced byMark Rylance in series 1[13] andDavid Threlfall in series 2) – Bing's carer, guiding Bing through his toddler life, entertaining him and soothing him whenever Bing faces a problem. Flop is a short orange-skinned creature and is presumably a stuffed toy rabbit.[14]
Sula (voiced by Eve Bentley in the British English version and Annabelle Chow in the American English version) – A brown anthropomorphic elephant who is one of Bing's best friends. She wears a pink and yellow dress with trousers, magenta socks and golden sparkly shoes. Her favourite toy is Fairy Hippo (as revealed in 'Hearts'), a hippo dressed up as a fairy.[14]
Amma (voiced byAkiya Henry) – Sula's guardian, who runs the créche and park café. The child characters in the series sometimes visit. Amma is a short blue-skinned elephant-like creature and is presumed to be a stuffed toy elephant.
Pando (voiced by Shai Portnoy in series 1 and Noah Hicks in series 2 of the British English version, Micah Gursoy in the American English version) – An anthropomorphicpanda who is Bing's second best friend[14] and lives next door to him. Pando shares his catchphrase, "Hoppity-voosh!" with Bing. Pando wears a white shirt, black shoes and white briefs. He is often seen wearing yellow shorts, before taking them off at the earliest possible opportunity, remaining in his underwear.[15]
Padget (voiced byBryony Hannah in the British English version and Molly Wurwand in the American English version) – Pando's guardian, who runs the corner shop near to where Bing lives. Padget can sometimes be spotted out jogging or driving her yellowtuk-tuk. Padget is a short green-skinned creature, also presumed to be a stuffed animal.
Coco (voiced by Jocelyn Macnab in the British English version and Alivia Clark in the American English version) – A white anthropomorphic bunny who is Bing's cousin and Charlie's older sister, and is a bit of a control freak.[14] Coco is the oldest of the child characters at age 10.
Charlie (voiced by Poppy Hendley) – A white anthropomorphic bunny who is Coco's one-year-old baby brother and Bing's cousin who cannot speak. Charlie puts everything in his mouth, causing the others to say, "Don't chew it, Charlie!".
Molly (voiced bySaffron Jones in season 1 andTamsin Greig in season 2) – Coco and Charlie's carer, who also works as a doctor. Molly is a small red-skinned creature often seen wearing glasses and a white lab coat.She appears briefly in every introduction, seemingly allowing Coco and Charlie to walk along with Bing and Flop, waving goodbye and driving off in her light blue tuk-tuk.[16]
Nicky (voiced by Xavi Nixon) – A small anthropomorphic brown elephant who is Sula's younger cousin. Nicky wears glasses, an orange t-shirt, blue & white sneakers and blue dungarees. Nicky makes his first appearance in series 2.[16] Nicky is often the source of disagreement between Bing and Sula. He didn’t appear in any episode of Series 1, because his debut isn’t Fireworks.
Bing was based on theBing Bunny book series, written and illustrated byTed Dewan.[17][18] Acamar Films acquired the rights toBing Bunny[19] and produced the programme in conjunction with Brown Bag Films and Tandem Films.[14][17] Acamar Films CEO, Mikael Shields selectedBing for development because he believed that the stories withinBing had potential to support young-children and help them to develop life-long resilience.[20] The series was developed forCBeebies though initial episodes were viewable atMIPTV.[21]
Acamar Films CEO Mikael Shields was voice director for the series[22][23] and served as a writer on the programme.[24]
23 external writers, five internal writers, threeMontessori teachers, American educators, and English language development experts were involved in the production of each series.[25]
DVDs of the series are released byStudioCanal in the UK.[35][36] The first DVD "Swing... and other episodes" was released on 31 March 2015 and features 10 episodes - Bye Bye, Swing, Blocks, Ducks, Smoothie, Frog, Car Park, Shadow, Musical Statues, and Voo Voo. A second DVD was released on 15 June of the same year and is titled "Storytime... and other episodes", featuring a further 10 episodes - Storytime, Growing, Atchoo, Hide & Seek, Bake, Train, Say Goodbye, Lost, Picnic, and Balloon.
The Bing app, "Bing: Watch, Play, Learn" was first released in September 2014. Available on iOS, Android, and Amazon platforms, the app features full episodes as well as games, audio and activities. Certain features may be restricted due to location and existing distribution rights. The app has been downloaded 2.8 million times since launch.[37]
HarperCollins Children's Books signed a deal with Acamar and The Licensing Company to re-publish the stories to link with the TV programme.[38][39][40] The books were re-issued in 2013–14.[21] Approximately 5.2 millionBing books have been sold worldwide with over 70Bing books published in the UK.[41] HarperCollins and Acamar Films renewed their publishing agreement in 2023.[42]
Fisher-Price initially developed a range ofBing toys, which were released in July 2015, including "play sets, figurines, role play items, ride-ons, musical toys, wooden toys, and soft toys".[43] At some point, Fisher-Price lost the license and now toys are currently manufactured byGolden Bear Toys who produce a variety of Bing toys including soft toys as well as plastic play sets.[44]
Costume characters of Bing and Flop have been present in CBeebies Land at theAlton Towers theme park since 2018.[45] Specially-decorated Bing rooms were launched in the CBeebies Hotel at Alton Towers in 2022.[46] Bing and Flop costume characters also appear regularly at theGulliver's Land theme park inMilton Keynes[47] andRotherham[48] and take part in various limited-time appearances at venues across the UK includingChester Zoo,[49]London Zoo,[50] andWoburn Safari Park.[51] Bing has also appeared at the UK's Gloworm[52] andCarFest[53] summer festivals. In Italy, Bing and Flop form part of the entertainment at theLeolandia theme park since 2019.[54]
An English-language theatre show, 'Bing Live' toured across 50 locations in the UK in 2018.[55] Inthe Netherlands, a Dutch-language touring theatre show, 'Bing is jarig' ('Bing's Birthday') premiered in October 2021 with many performances selling out.[56] A Polish-language version of the show began touringPoland in November 2023.[57]
In November 2022, a limited-time Bing store was opened in theGlasgow Fort shopping centre. The Bing Store Pop-Up sold a range of Bing products while also offering free storytelling sessions, craft activities and meet and greets with the Bing and Flop costume characters.[58]
Acamar Films has produced four Bing cinema packages. The first, 'Bing at the Cinema' debuted across 83 cinemas in the United Kingdom in 2019.[59] In 2023, 'Bing's Christmas and Other Stories' was distributed across 118 UK cinemas.[60] Bing cinema packages have premiered in local languages in UK, the Netherlands, Poland and Italy.[59]
^"2020 Nominees".Rockie Awards. Brunico Communications Ltd. Retrieved13 March 2021.
^"PSIAF 2020 Official Selections".Palm Springs International Animation. Palm Springs International Animation Festival & Expo. Archived fromthe original on 23 January 2021. Retrieved13 March 2021.
