The original Pingu voice actor Carlo Bonomi has died, aged 85.
Bonomi, born in Milan, voiced the South Pole emperor penguin and all of the characters on Pingu from 1990 to 2000.
He went on to create the Penguinease language for the children’s claymation show based on the Milan dialect and took inspiration from his work on the Italian animated series, La Linea.
Bonomi was no stranger to children’s entertainment, having previously worked as a clown. He also never used a script for his acting.
The actor’s work resume includes voicing Italian versions of popular cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse and Fred Flintstone.
His voice was also used on the former railway announcements for the central station at Milan and Florence’s Santa Maria Novella stations.
Tributes have since poured in for the legendary voice actor across Twitter.
One fan has said: “Sad to hear of the passing of Pingu voice actor Carlo Bonomi.
“Sure, 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.”
Another fan commented: “Your Noot Noot shall not be forgotten.”
Pingu, co-created by Otmar Gutmann and Erika Brueggeman at a 1987 film festival, was last aired onscreen in 2006. However, a Japanese spin-off, titled Pingu in the City, aired from 2017 to 2019.
