The original voice actor for Pingu who coined the penguin's iconic "noot noot" phase has died aged 85.
Carlo Bonomi, from Milan, was the voice of the playful emperor penguin on the popular children's show from 1990 to 2000.
The TV star passed away on Saturday. No cause of death has been announced.
Tributes flooded in for the Italian star from fans who around the world who had grown up watching Pingu.
One wrote: "I just wanna leave a thank you to Carlo Bonomi for literally making my childhood. Those who are close to me know how important the show Pingu is to me."
Another fan added: "Pingu fan here, super sad about Carlo bonomi. I told everyone about how he was an Italian clown & if you listen to the dialect he was throwing in some Italian in that penguinese. RIP buddy, Pinga and Pingu will never be the same."
"RIP Carlo Bonomi, thank you for your service in children's entertainment and for giving my childhood some light to shine in the dark," a third chimed.
"That programme was cute and funny to me as a child, but considering we never understood a word being said, the empathy I would feel for those animated animals was remarkable and I have this gentleman to thank", said a fourth fan of the show.
The actor voiced all the characters on Pingu without a script, with the unique language originally intended to be a parody of the Milanese dialect.
The fictional language named 'Penguinese' was inspired by his earlier work on Italian animated series La Linea.
In 2003, Carlo was replaced by London-based voiced actors David Sant and Marcello Magni after HIT Entertainment required the show's rights.
The actor went on to provide his voice in Italian radio dramas and also the Italian voice for cartoon characters Mickey Mouse and Fred Flintstone.
Pingu was co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggemann.
The show became an instant hit, due to its lack of a real spoken language, with Carlo's Penguinese entertaining viewers as they watched the little penguin babble, mutter and honk "noot noot".
