Save the Penguin

Save the Penguin is the second segment of the second episode (third in production order) of Wonder Pets! from season one. It is the first episode ever produced.

Characters[]

Linny
Tuck (debut in production order)
Ming-Ming (debut in production order)
Penguins

Summary[]

The Wonder Pets travel to Antarctica to save a penguin chick who is stranded in the middle of the ocean on a block of ice!

Recap[]

The episode starts out with the preschool students off-screen, leaving school at the end of the day. They say goodbye to the classroom pets. The classroom is decorated with student artwork and other items that involve penguins and the South Pole. Once the classroom is vacant, the phone with a purple pencil and a light blue popsicle stick with a snowflake on top starts ringing. One by one, the classroom pets wordlessly notice the ringing phone (Linny is eating celery, Ming-Ming is shaking with her feathers ruffling, and Tuck is climbing a rock). The Wonder Pets get dressed and make their way towards the phone while singing their opening verses. They answer the phone and find out that there's an animal in trouble somewhere. Linny explains the situation to the other two: a baby penguin caught on an iceberg. They all jump into a box filled with fabric scraps and jump back out, wearing the wrong clothes. They all laugh and jump back into the box and emerge in their Wonder Pets capes. Once dressed, they assemble a flying toy sailboat called "The Flyboat" from classroom objects: a red Frisbee for a body, purple magic marker caps as rocket exhausts, a marble, blue and yellow wheels, blue Erector pieces for a mast, and a sheet of paper for the sail, but three of the wheels are missing. Then Ming-Ming found a wheel up on that shelf. She flies to get it. Tuck spots a wheel inside the fish tank, so he jumps and gets the wheel because he's a good swimmer. Then Linny found a wheel in the water table. She knows how to row. Then the pets get their wheels and finish the Flyboat. They take off and exit through the cubbyhole covered by a red cardboard chicken up into the air and sing the theme song.

They arrived at the South Pole in Antarctica, where they saw two whales (a whale and a baby whale) and six seals. They land and find the baby penguin. Tuck spotted tracks in the snow. Those led to the baby penguin. They tip-toe - Linny thinks the baby penguin must've crossed a patch of ice. They skate on the ice. The ice is slippery! They have to try and keep their balance. Linny skates a figure, and Tuck and Ming-Ming join her. They skate by standing on each other's shoulders. Ming-Ming tries to make a triple Lutz, but she slips and falls down. She was saved by her feathery bottom. Tuck spots more tracks. The Wonder Pets exit the ice patch. They tip-toe again. Ming-Ming asked Linny where the tracks went again. Linny answered that the baby penguin walked to the edge of the ice, and then a big piece of ice broke off and floated away. A big piece of ice is called an iceberg. Ming-Ming spotted the baby penguin caught on the iceberg. They lifted and jumped onto a rowboat to get across. The wind is blowing hard. Linny's not sure they can make it. Ming-Ming says, "This is SE-WIOUS!". They know what to do. Linny rows the boat, Ming-Ming flies harder, and Tuck kicks his feet in the water because he's a good swimmer. They work together to row the boat faster. The iceberg breaks, and Linny picks up the penguin. The penguin is all right. The Wonder Pets and the baby penguin head back to shore.

The mother and father penguin came to reunite with their baby, then the Wonder Pets celebrated with some celery, said goodbye to the penguins, and then flew back into the classroom, singing the reprise version of the theme song. Upon arrival, they wordlessly return to their cages. Ming-Ming flies back into her cage, and Tuck jumps into his cage. The Flyboat smoothly disassembles, and Linny parachutes to her cage, with her cap & cape coming off magically, then she takes a bite out of her celery and winks, as the episode ends.

Cast[]

Song(s)[]

Wonder Pets Theme Song
Penguin song

Animal/Creature(s) That Needs to be Saved[]

Penguin

Vehicle[]

Flyboat

Trivia[]

A wallpaper featuring Linny, Tuck, Ming-Ming and the penguin chick based on this episode is available on NickJr.com.
The penguin chick is also shown in A Job Well Done! in a home movie created by Linny.
This is a part of the Save The Day game, along with Save the Dolphin and Save the Pigeon!.
In the cloth box gag, Ming-Ming wore a sailor suit, Linny was dressed as a clown foreshowing Join the Circus! from season 2, and Tuck was dressed as Little Bo Peep also foreshowing a future episode: Help Little Bo Peep! from season 3.
This episode became one of the most famous episodes in Nick Jr. history and became a very popular meme on social medias such as YouTube, TikTok, etc, because of the line "A baby penguin, caught on an iceberg".
The song "The Wonder Pets!" from this episode is also used in the album.
- The song also became really popular on the social media app TikTok.
This episode and Save the Panda! are the first episodes ever produced according to https://kidscreen.com/2004/02/01/granada-20040201/, these episodes were produced in early 2004. Although in airing order, Save the Dolphin and Save the Chimp are the first episodes.
- We can tell this is a pilot because the Wonder Pets sound younger, and there's no extra additions according to the place they're visiting to save the animal, like how there's no added topping or form to the celery at the end of the episode.
- However, in the parts that the Wonder Pets get the wheels, and skate on the ice, and when they sing lines namedropping their team name, they sound more like most episodes from season 1, like Save the Dolphin and Save the Tree!. Presumably, these were added in later in production to keep both the running time and the lines more consistent, possibly due to their early lines probably have their old team name Power Pets in it.
- Interestingly, when the Wonder Pets sang “To help a baby penguin and save the day” on their ending song, it zooms in to Linny. This is the only episode where this happens (if you don't count Save the Duckling!). In theory, maybe Linny was meant to say, “to help a baby animal and save the day!”

Although this episode was created in early 2004 and aired on March 3, 2006, on Nickelodeon and Noggin as the series premiere, it was produced in 2005 according to the end credits.
Since this was the first episode created, this is technically Tuck, Ming-Ming and the Flyboat's ACTUAL first appearance.
This is also technically Linny’s first appearance outside of the pilot episodes.
The animation of the Wonder Pets eating celery is later reused in Save the Kangaroo but mirrored.

Goofs/Errors[]

When the Wonder Pets arrived at the South Pole and looked at two whales and six seals, Linny has her older look from the two pilot episodes: Linny the Guinea Pig in Space and Linny the Guinea Pig Under the Ocean.
When the Wonder Pets finished the Flyboat, the marble is spinning even before Linny turns it on.
The W on the sail is noticeably smaller when the Flyboat was built.
Tuck's hat is bigger than usual throughout the episode.
The inside of the phone is bright red and very different.
When Tuck hops back into his terrarium, his hat disappears for a frame.
When Ming-Ming tries to find the baby penguin herself, Linny’s mouth disappears.
When Tuck says, "A baby penguin, caught on an iceberg!", his mouth is smaller than usual.
- This goof will later happen in a few more episodes during Season 1, like Save the Sea Lions! and Save the Swan!.
In the Hungarian dub, the kids don’t chant the opening.

Quotes[]

For more quotes, see the episode's transcript.

(penguin squawking)
Linny: Listen! 🎵 It's a baby penguin! He's caught on an iceberg! 🎵
(cold wind blowing)
Tuck: Ooh! 🎵 A baby penguin... 🎵
Ming-Ming: 🎵 ...caught on an iceberg! 🎵
Tuck: 🎵 What's a penguin? 🎵
Ming-Ming: 🎵 What's an iceberg? 🎵
Linny: Look!
(penguin squawks again)
Linny: 🎵 A penguin is a kind of bird, and an iceberg is a big piece of ice. 🎵