Pinky Malinky
Pinky Malinky is an American animated television series created and produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio for Netflix. It is based on Chris Garbutt's animated short of the same name produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe, which was released in 2009. It marks the first collaboration between Nickelodeon and Netflix as well as the first Nicktoon to be produced exclusively for Netflix. The series chronicles the adventures of Pinky Malinky, a 12-year-old middle school student who also happens to be an anthropomorphic hot dog and his efforts to climb up the social ladder with his two human friends Babs Byuteman and JJ Jameson.
The series premiered on January 1, 2019. It was renewed for a second part ahead of the series premiere. Part 2 was released on April 22, 2019, and the third and final part was released on July 17, 2019.
Pinky Malinky was nominated for Best Animation Editing for the 2020 Daytime Emmy Awards on May 21, 2020. In 2023, Grabeel reprised his role as Pinky in the Netflix interactive special We Lost Our Human which is also by Garbutt and Asbjoern. In this interactive, Pinky calls himself Panky Malanky and classifies himself as a meatball.
Production
In 2015, the series was greenlit by Nickelodeon for a pickup of 20 episodes. The series was originally set to premiere on Nickelodeon in 2016, but has gone through many delays. On June 21, 2018, it was announced that Pinky Malinky would be released exclusively on Netflix, and that the show was renewed for a second season. The company's See What's Next Twitter account announced an August 17 release date, but the series failed to premiere on that date. On September 16, 2018, Chris Garbutt posted on Instagram that there was a slight delay in the release date, and that it was Netflix's responsibility on when to release it.Season 1 was eventually released on January 1, 2019. A 99-second short focusing on the titular character's New Year's resolutions was released ahead of the series premiere.
Characters
Main
- Pinky Malinky is a 12-year-old anthropomorphic talking hot dog. He is a very intelligent, happy-go-lucky person that has a mission to make people dream big.
- JJ Jameson is one of Pinky's best friends. He is described as the wise mentor of the trio, claiming to know everything. He is a social media geek as well. He carries his phone almost everywhere and uses more modern slang than Pinky and Babs.
- Babs Buttman is one of Pinky's best friends. She likes kitties and cats, and sometimes she acts like them. Babs is Pinky's biggest cheerleader and supports him and his ideas. She is silly, funny and has a "heart of gold".
Recurring
Pinky's family
- Eric Malinky is Pinky's stay-at-home father and Valerie's husband. He is a simple man with a whole lot of drive. He tends to focus on one task at a time, and won't stop until said task is done right.
- Valerie Malinky is Pinky's mother and Eric's wife. Unlike Eric, Valerie is loud and outspoken. She is also the owner of Crumbbells, a bakery and gym that is located in downtown Sackenhack.
Babs's family
- Bob Buttman is Babs's older brother and legal guardian. Bob works as a policeman. He has a friendly, ongoing and naive personality. In the episode "Birthday", it is revealed that Bob loves to party, but when he parties too much, his alter-ego "Party Bob" breaks out.
- Mr. Dog is Babs's and Bob's white old english sheepdog. In the episode "Dog", it is revealed that Mr. Dog is actually a woman and she gave birth to many puppies.
Sackenhack Junior High
Students
- Tina is one of Pinky’s classmates. She is the head cheerleader for SJH’s cheerleading squad, "The SnowBallers". She is also shown to have a crush on Pinky in 'Spirit'.
- Channing is one of Pinky’s classmates and Byron’s best friend. He and Byron were voted "Most Cutest Couple of SJH", and they would often call each other names.
- Grey Griffin as:
- * Dizzy Brentwood, one of Pinky’s classmates who occasionally likes gossip.
- * Zeek Maloney, one of Pinky’s classmates and Aminder’s girlfriend, who owns a fashion website called "Fash Foward", which JJ occasionally looks upon for latest fashions.
- * Byron, one of Pinky’s classmates and Channing’s best friend. He and Byron were voted "Most Cutest Couple of SJH", and they would often call each other names.
- * Suzie, a teen who works everywhere in Sackenhack.
- Aminder is one of Pinky’s classmates and Zeek’s girlfriend. Much like Zeek, she loves clothing. In “Sarcasm”, she is known for being “The Sarcasm Queen”. She was named after Aminder Dhaliwal, who is a writer on the show.
- Perry is one of Pinky’s classmates. He is also a cheerleader for The SnowBallers, and lives with his divorced mother.
Staff
- Principal Pfunne is the hardcore principal of Sackenhack Junior High.
- Nurse Sally is the cynical doctor at Sachenhack Junior High.
Voice cast
- Lucas Grabeel as Pinky Malinky
- Nathan Kress as JJ Jameson
- Diamond White as Babs Buttman
- Retta as Valerie Malinky
- Danny Jacobs as Eric Malinky
- Grey Griffin as Suzie, Dizzy, Zeek, Byron
- Vargus Mason as Bob Buttman
- Angela Malhotra as Aminder
- Jason Alexander as Mayor Hop
- Scott Kreamer as Nurse Sally
- Dee Bradley Baker as Mr. Dog, Peter
- Ben Schwartz as Coach Freebird
- Flula Borg as Byonk
- Carlos Alazraqui as Large Biker Guy
- Fred Tatasciore as Jimmy
- Josh Engel as Mr. Sweetie
- Zehra Fazal as Aisha
- Eric Bauza as Flynn
- Kimberly Brooks as Carl, Sophie
- Stephanie Sheh as Jessie
- Carl Weathers as The Apologizer
- Amy Sedaris as Helga Hilltop
- Lucas Grabeel as Freddy Fistburger
Episodes