Peppa Pig is a globally recognised brand that is broadcast to over 180 countries, a character beloved by all. Here at Misirli we’re delighted to have Peppa Pig included in our license portfolio, meaning we can create endless fun designs – for all the family!
Although Peppa Pig is a world-renowned character, little is known about the history of Peppa Pig and how it became one of the highest grossing children’s television shows in the world. Which is why we’ve taken a deep dive into the makings of Peppa Pig…
Who created Peppa Pig?
Peppa Pig was created by Astley Baker Davies; an independent animation studio based in London, owned by Peppa Pig co-creators and producers Neville Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Davies. Astley and Baker wanted to create a children’s animated series that had clear and concise story lines with beginnings, middles and endings. They also wanted to create a main character who was a girl but who was different to the existing portrayals of princesses and ballerinas, so they created four-year-old Peppa who is confident, bright and cheeky.
When did the show first air?
The first ever episode of Peppa Pig aired on the 31st of May in 2004. The show was originally broadcast on Channel 5, but now resides on many different networks from Nick Jr to Netflix.
How many episodes of Peppa Pig have there been?
As of March 2022 there have been 368 episodes of Peppa pig.
Who voiced Peppa Pig?
As the character is based on a young child, Peppa has had many different voices over the years! Starting off with Lily Snowden-Fine, she provided the voice for Peppa Pig from 2004 to 2005, featuring in the entirety of the first series including episodes such as ‘Muddy Puddles’ and ‘Mr Dinosaur is Lost’. She also voiced Peppa in the original pitch pilot of Peppa Pig back in 2002. She has also voiced various other characters in the show, including Melissa, Peppa Clones, Beat Box and Paper Jam Peppa. Lily’s parents Alison Snowden and David Fine are animators who worked on the production of the Peppa Pig animated series, as well as other children’s favourites such as Shaun the Sheep. Lily left the show in 2005 when her voice became too deep to continue to portray Peppa.
Cecily Bloom was the next actress to step into the role as Peppa Pig. She voiced the character for series two in 2006. She also provided the voice for Lizzy Elf in the children’s animated series Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom. Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom is a series about the friendship between fairy princess Holly and Ben Elf. The voice for Wise Old Elf in the series is provided by another Peppa Pig cast member, David Graham, who is also the voice behind our favourite Grandpa Pig!
Harley Bird landed the role of Peppa Pig in 2007 when she took over from Cecily Bloom for the third series of the show. She was just five years old when she first got the role, and she couldn’t read at all. To make sure the actress got all her lines right the crew would feed the lines to Harley, who would then emulate them and repeat the words to be featured. Harley continued to voice Peppa Pig for well over a decade but became accustomed to having her lines fed to her and continued to work in this way until she left the series at 18 years old in 2019. In 2011 Harley Bird won a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA) for her role as Peppa, making her the youngest ever person to be awarded one! She voiced Peppa in the Official BBC Children in Need medley as well as several other projects. When Harley Bird announced she was leaving Peppa Pig in 2019 she said, “Becoming the voice of Peppa Pig at the age of five was the start of an incredible journey, and I’ll never forget my time on the show.”
At just nine years old, Amelie Bea Smith (now 11) took over from Harley Bird as the fourth and current actress to provide the voice of Peppa Pig. Amelie Bea Smith is a British actress who has been a fan of the show since she was a baby herself. In fact, Amelie was such a big fan of the show that her first word was actually “Peppa”. It’s almost like she was born for the role!
How much revenue does Peppa Pig generate?
In 2019, the Peppa Pig brand generated about 1.35 billion U.S. dollars in retail sales worldwide.
If you would like to become a partner with us and have access to Peppa Pig and our extensive licenced portfolio, please email us at:
webenquires@misirli.co.uk
