Batibot

Batibot
Genre Educational
Puppetry
Animation
Opening theme Batibot theme song
Country of origin Philippines
Original language(s) Filipino (main)
English (secondary)
No. of seasons At least 6
Production
Producer(s) Children's Television Workshop (1984)
Philippine Children's Television Foundation[1]
Production company(s) Philippine Children's Television Foundation
Release
Original network RPN
GMA Network
TV5
Original release 1984 (1984)–1998 (1998)
November 27, 2010 (2010-11-27) – 2013 (2013) (TV5's series)

Batibot was a Philippine children's television series produced by PCTV and based on Sesame Street. It first aired in 1984 on RPN as Sesame! and co-produced by Children's Television Workshop (now known as Sesame Workshop) but the partnership broke up. Sesame! later aired as Batibot in 1985, a full Filipino language series. It aired until 1998 and was aired in at least four television networks. TV5 later revived the show and aired it from 2010-2013. A mobile app based on the series was released in 2015.

History

Conception and the first Batibot

Batibot was conceptualized and produced by Feny Bautista, a teacher from the Community of Learners Foundation and writer Rene Villanueva. The show was inspired after American children's show, Sesame Street which educates preschoolers through dance, song, and role play.educational skills through songs, dance, and role-play.[2]

First aired in the 1984, it debuted as Sesame!.[3] It stars Pong Pagong and Kiko Matsing which the characters were based on one of the Filipino stories, The Monkey and the Turtle popularized by the country's national hero, José Rizal. In the first year of its airing, the children's show was co-produced by the Philippine Children's Television Foundation and Children's Television Workshop with the support of then First Lady Imelda Marcos. Government support did not last long and ended within 1984 and the co-production deal was cancelled.[4] The Philippine producers went on to produce a show based on Sesame Street in February 1985.[5]

Batibot was then done wholly in Filipino and featured stories in a Philippine-context. At least in 1985, the series consistently ranked among the top 10 daytime shows in the Philippines outdoing its performance in 1984 when it was still a co-produced series and wholly American produced Sesame Street which first aired in the country in 1970.[5]

By February 1989, Batibot was airing its sixth season. However the producers of the series was experiencing financial constraints which placed uncertainty regarding the future airing of the show.[4]

Batibot was first aired in RPN, then it was later aired by ABS-CBN, then by GMA. After its airing in GMA, it was aired in RPN again. Batibot ceased airing in 1998[6] due to several factors among which is poor ratings.[2]

TV5's Batibot (2010–2013)

TV5 announced in 2010 that it would revive the Batibot series that first aired in the 1980s. TV5's version of Batibot featured a different set of characters than the prior series–Ate Maya and Kuya Fidel, and Koko Kwik Kwak. Instead of a Monday–Friday broadcast format, the new series was broadcast aired Saturday at 8:30 a.m.[7] The airing of the series lasted until 2013[3]

Cast and characters

Batibot featured characters portrayed by puppets as well as human characters. The puppets used for the show were mostly locally made. Kiko Matsing and Pong Pagong who were among the main characters of the first Batibot were relatively more sophisticated and was crafted in New York.[5]

Sesame!

Human characters

Original Batibot

Human characters
Puppets

* – from Sesame!

2010 Batibot

Batibot as introduced by TV5 in 2010 featured a different cast from the original Batibot

Human characters
Puppets

* – from the original Batibot

Mobile App

Batibot Games

Batibot Games icon
Developer(s) OrangeFix
Platform(s) Android
Release date(s)

Android

  • WW August 14, 2015 (2015-08-14)
Genre(s) Educational

In August 14, 2015, Smart Communications launched a mobile app for Android devices based from the children's show series.Smart together with the Community of Learners Foundation commissioned OrangeFix to develop the app.[2] The development of the app content costed around ₱1 million.[3]

The Batibot app is specifically targeted to children from kindergarten to Grade 3. It is aligned with the Department of Education's kindergarten curriculum and is in Filipino. An iOS version of the app is also panned to be released.[3]

References

  1. ↑ JTVKatigbak (20 April 2012). "Batibot directors speak on educational TV production". The College of Development Communication - University of the Philippines Los Baños. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Salazar, Marlet (27 August 2015). "‘Batibot’ reincarnates as mobile app". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Smart launches ‘Batibot’ app, the first learning app". Manila Bulletin. 14 August 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  4. 1 2 Abbugao, Martin (12 February 1989). "Filipino Sesame Street facing tough times". United Press International. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 Lohr, Steve (24 July 1985). "Home Grown Values Replace Kermit in Filipino Version of "Sesame Street"". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Carballo, Bibsy (7 March 2012). "Batibot & little kids in need of a boost". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. 1 2 Carballo, Bibsy (4 July 2012). "Batibot's problems on a Saturday morning". Live Feed (The Philippine Star). Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 http://8list.ph/watn-batibot-cast/
  9. ↑ http://www.interaksyon.com/entertainment/actor-junix-inocian-dies-in-the-uk-at-64/
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