Kikoriki

Kikoriki, known in the United States as GoGoRiki and in Russia as Smeshariki (Russian: Смеша́рики), is a Russian animated television series consisting of 209 episodes of 6 minutes and 30 seconds each, aimed at children of 3 to 8 years.[1] The first episode premiered in Russia on May 17, 2004. The Smeshariki are stylized rounded animals. The series includes complex themes and specific cultural references.[2] The series is aired in 60 countries, is translated to 15 languages and has an everyday audience of 50 million people. The audience in China surpasses the audience in Russia.[3]

For an animated film, see Kikoriki. Team Invincible.

Kikoriki
Logo (in Russian) and characters. Back row, L to R: Barry, Olga, Dokko, Chiko, Krash, Carlin. Front row, L to R: Rosa, Wally, Pin.
Also known as
  • Smeshariki
  • GoGoRiki
GenreComedy
Directed byDenis Chernov
Voices of(See article)
Composer(s)Marina Landa
Sergey Vasilyev
Country of origin Russia
Original language(s)Russian
No. of episodes273 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)Ilya Popov
Running time6 min. 30 sec
Release
Original networkCTC and Russia 1
Original releaseMay 17, 2004 (2004-05-17) –
February 29, 2012 (2012-02-29)
Chronology
Related showsBabyRiki
External links
Website

In May 2019, in Beijing as part of the talks between Asian civilizations, Russian and Chinese animators have made two agreements regarding cooperation, one of which involves the joint creation of the cartoon entitled Панда и Смешарики, 'Panda and Smeshariki'. The Chinese side of this project will be represented by the animation division of the Central Television Agency of China.[4] After 8 years of break, the show has been renewed for official 3rd season, which serves as a continuation for the original 2D animated series; it has been sponsored by Yandex and the new 52 episodes will be available exclusively on a streaming service Kinopoisk HD.[5]

Distribution

English-language distribution rights to the series were acquired by 4Kids Entertainment from worldwide distributor Fun Game Media, Munich[6] and began airing as part of The CW4Kids block on The CW on September 13, 2008, under the name GoGoRiki.[7] GoGoRiki began its second season in the United States on August 22, 2009. Fun Game Media was also producing a European version, which began airing on KI.KA on December 8, 2008.[8][9] Since February 2017, all rights to Kikoriki and PinCode outside of the CIS territories, including Kikoriki episodes in all languages other than Russian, are owned by FUN Union.[10]

Episodes
Main article: List of Kikoriki episodes
Season Episodes Aired
1 104 (107) 2008–2009
2 104 (101) 2010–2012
3 52 2020

Characters
Kikoriki premiere in Moscow, charity box, featuring a statue of Krash
  • Krash (Russian: Крош, romanized: Krosh) a.k.a. Pogoriki[11] an sky blue-colored rabbit who is eager to jump into new adventures.[12] Voice: Anton Vinogradov (Russian) / Dan Green (English)
  • Chiko (Russian: Ёжик, romanized: Yozhik, lit. 'hedgehog'), a.k.a. Chikoriki,[13] a magenta-colored hedgehog, Chiko is Krash's best friend with a shy and cautious personality.[12] While Krash is the brawn, Chiko is the brain. Voice: Vladimir Postnikov (Russian) / Jason Griffith (English)
  • Wally (Russian: Бараш, romanized: Barash), a.k.a. Wolliriki[14] a lavender-colored ram. He writes poetry and has an unrequited love for Rosa.[12] Voice: Vadim Bochanov (Russian) / Wayne Grayson (English)
  • Rosa (Russian: Нюша, romanized: Nyusha), a.k.a. Rosariki[15] a light pink-colored pig, described as a fashionista.[12] Voice: Svetlana Pismichenko (Russian) / Bella Hudson (English)
  • Carlin (Russian: Кар Карыч, romanized: Kar Karych) a.k.a. Bigoriki[16] a dark blue-colored crow who is Olga's friend. He is a retired traveler with aristocratic mannerisms.[12] Voice: Sergey Mardar (Russian) / Mike Pollock (English)
  • Olga (Russian: Совунья, romanized: Sovun'ya), a.k.a. Olgariki[17] a purple-colored owl who often helps with useful advice and her wisdom.[12] Acts like a caring grandma. Voice: Sergey Mardar (Russian) / Jessica Calvello (English)
  • Pin (Russian: Пин, romanized: Pin), a.k.a. Ottoriki[18] a black-and-white penguin of a German origin, who is a self-taught inventor.[12] Voice: Michail Chernyak (Russian), Darren Dunstan (English)
  • Dokko (Russian: Лосяш, romanized: Losyash), a.k.a. Docoriki[19] a golden yellow-colored moose who is an eccentric and nerdy scientist. Voice: Michail Chernyak (Russian), David Wills (English)
  • Barry (Russian: Копатыч, romanized: Kopatych) a.k.a. Boboriki[20] a orange-colored bear who lives as a farmer. Voice: Michail Chernyak (Russian), David Willis (English)

Creators

The series was created as part of the cultural-educational project "World Without Violence" within the Russian federal program "Forming bulwarks of tolerance and preventing extremism in Russian society". It is made with the help of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and with the participation of the company "Master-Film" at the computer animation studio "Peterburg", which was created in March 2000 specifically for Smeshariki.

  • Artistic supervisor: Anatoliy Prokhorov
  • General producer: Ilya Popov
  • Co-producers: Aleksandr Gerasimov, Vyacheslav Mayasov
  • Leading director: Denis Chernov
  • Leading writer: Aleksey Lebedev
  • Art director: Salavat Shaykhinurov

Films
Main article: Kikoriki. Team Invincible

On January 24, 2007, it was announced that a Smeshariki feature film was to be made by the St. Petersburg company "Marmelad-media" (which owns the brand) to be released in December 2011. This movie was shot in 3D CGI, unlike the 2D Flash-animated series. An initial budget of $1 million was given to produce a "test film" to show to international partners. According to Marmelad-media's general director Ilya Popov, the final budget would depend on a number of factors, such as whether it will be sold internationally (in which case the budget would be up to $15 million) or limited to Russia (in which case it will cost around $3–4 million). Popov considered spending anything over $5 million to be unprofitable (the highest-grossing Russian animated film to date, Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber, cost $2.5 million and made just under $10 million;[21] since around half of the profits usually go to the distributors, if it had cost over $5 million it would not have been profitable). The film was released domestically in December 2011, but received a limited release in the UK in early 2012. The film is considered a well thought-through prequel, its plot explaining events that brought the nine animal characters together in the first place.[2]

Two other films, titled Kikoriki: Legend of the Golden Dragon and Kikoriki: Deja Vu were released on March 17, 2016 and April 26, 2018.

Spin-offs of Kikoriki

The ABCs of Safety (2006–2012)

"The ABCs of Safety of the Kikoriki" (Russian: Азбука безопасности Смешариков) — a series of instructional and educational short cartoons. A total of 73 episodes were issued, lasting either one minute and thirty seconds, or the conventional six minutes and thirty seconds. Each episode was part of several categories: traffic safety, Fundamentals of safety and life, health, morals, reading skills, children's rights, etc.

After a long hiatus, in August 2017, a new category of episodes, titled "ABCs of the Internet" debuted, where the characters are taught to work on the Internet.[22]

New Adventures

"Kikoriki. New Adventures" (Russian: Смешарики. Новые приключения) — a series of 3D CGI shorts starring the original characters, designed as a continuation of the original 2D shorts.[23] It was broadcast from October 27, 2012 to December 28, 2013, consisting of 57 episodes. This series was scheduled for November 11, 2011,[23] but the actual premiere on the "Channel One" was held on October 27, 2012.

Sport

A continuation of "Kikoriki. New Adventures" which also uses 3D CG graphics. The premiere is dated September 1, 2017 and took place on the official YouTube channel of this animated series.

Pin-Code

"Pin-Code" (Russian: Пин-код) — an educational spin-off designed to develop interest in inventing, programming and science in children from 4 to 14 years old. Initially, it was supposed to be done in flash-animation (such as the pilot episode "Rescuing the Departing"), but later this idea was abandoned and production began in 3D computer animation instead.[24] The show airs on Channel One on Sundays at 8:45 at Moscow time.[25] From January 18, 2015 to February 7, 2016, the new season of the series aired under the title "Leap to the Future".

In the first season, the characters travel on Sharolyot, a ship invented by Pin, which can travel through the air, under the water, underground, and even in space. The adventures of the heroes are accompanied by stories of Losyash and Pin about the world around them. Each episode of the season, having the subtitle "Nobel Season", ends with information about Nobel Prize winners (narrated by Andrei Levin).

The plot of the second season "Jump to the Future" is built around time travel, in which the characters are sent using the unique invention, the "Sharoscope-3000" (Russian: Шароскоп-3000), capable of answering any scientific questions. Pin thinks that it is impossible to interfere with the opening of the future, and Losyash, on the contrary, is obsessed with the idea of knowing everything. Now all the Smeshariki are used to the Sharoscope and they learn about the inventions of the future. September 1, 2017 marked the premiere of the new, third season of the "Pin-Code". It is planned to create 6 seasons, 182 episodes.

BabyRiki
Main article: BabyRiki

A pre-school version of this series was created with the same company named BabyRiki[26]

Merchandise

Character stickers on bananas depicting a Kikoriki character holding a peeled banana have been used by Russian company Navkus (Навкус) and a banana sticker promoting the show has the line “Попробуй Мультик на вкус” (Try Cartoon on taste).[27]

Video Game

A video game based on the series was released titled "Шарарам" in Russian.[28]

References
  1. Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 212. ISBN 9781476672939.
  2. Morris, Jeremy (2012). "Smeshariki—The Beginning". KinoKultura. No. 38. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  3. Мостовщиков, Егор. (2014-04-15). Смешарики по-пекински. Как Крош, Нюша и Кар-Карыч завоёвывают Поднебесную (in Russian). Русский репортёр. Retrieved April 29, 2019.
  4. "Мультипликаторы РФ и КНР заключили в Пекине два соглашения о сотрудничестве". yandex.ru (in Russian). May 15, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  5. "Новый сезон "Смешариков" выйдет на КиноПоиск HD 18 мая". kinopoisk.ru (in Russian). May 18, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  6. "GoGoRiki confirmed for fall 2008". Archived from the original on 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
  7. "4Kids announces fall 2008 Lineups for Fox and The CW". Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  8. Fun Game Media: News. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  9. KI.KA. Sendungen von A-Z. "KIKORIKI" Archived 2012-09-04 at Archive.today. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
  10. "Riki Group Announces Strategic Asian Partnership". AWN. 2017-02-13.
  11. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Pogoriki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  12. "The Riki Group - Licensing". www.riki-group.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  13. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Chikoriki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  14. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Wolliriki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  15. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Rosariki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  16. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Bigoriki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  17. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Olgariki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  18. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Ottoriki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  19. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Docoriki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  20. "Gogoriki : GogoWiki: Boboriki Video Episode". 4Kids TV. 14 January 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-01-14. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  21. (in Russian)Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber profile at Kinoafisha.ru. Accessed on: November 20, 2008.
  22. "Kikoriki will teach children the "ABCs of the Internet"". Tlum HD. 2017-08-30. (discover). Retrieved 2017-10-02.
  23. will go to the 3D dimension
  24. "Kikoriki" launched a new brand - animated series "Pin-code" (Russian)
  25. Kikoriki. Pin-code — Canal One
  26. Hobson, Jane. "FUN Union expands Riki brand in UK, North America". Retrieved 2019-03-21.
  27. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-01-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  28. "Official Website" (in Russian). Retrieved July 27, 2019.
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