Pandemic favorite Peppa Pig has American kids playing Britons

The guilty? A very popular English cartoon about a preschool pig named Peppa.

Like 5-year-old Dani, children from the United States have been watching ‘Peppa Pig’ in flurry for the past year. They come out of the pandemic with unusual vocabulary and a British accent just like the namesake character in the series.

The Peppa Effect, as some parents call it, had children who sniffed like pigs and used cheeky Britishness before the pandemic. Then the locks sent the screen time limits out the door, and the kids gorged themselves on the cartoon in a silo away from their usual social interactions, amplifying the effect.

Mr Cavallin, public relations manager in El Cerrito, Calif., Came across the cartoon at the start of the pandemic. He concluded that this was a sweet family spectacle that would keep Dani busy while his wife went to the office and juggled work from home.

“It was almost like a happy accident when I was trying to find a pseudo babysitter at Zoom meetings,” he says. “It was either Peppa Pig or no job.”

As a result, says Cavallin, he went from daddy to “Papa”, said in the British way. His daughter calls the gas station the “gas station” and the cookies “biscuits” and when he is holding a cup of coffee Dani asks him, “Are you having tea now?” He says Dani’s grandparents, immigrants from Argentina who speak mostly Spanish, jokingly say, “We don’t understand her to begin with, and now she speaks British?” ”

Parrot Analytics Ltd., an entertainment consulting company that tracks demand for TV shows based on factors such as how often they are shown and discussed online, said “Peppa Pig” maintains its second cartoon spot. The world’s most requested children’s animated show for the 12 months ending February, after “SpongeBob SquarePants”. Overall, it rose to the 50th most requested show in the world, down from the 103rd the year before. The show was first released in 2004.

“Young Peppa fans see her as a friend… and, as we do with friends we admire, pick up on some of her characteristics,” said Peppa Pig owner, Entertainment One Ltd. in a written statement. “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” he added.

Some parents say the show made their kids more tolerant of younger brothers because Peppa has one too. Many have used the show’s differences as teaching points.

In December, 6-year-old Aurelia insisted on British holiday traditions of wearing a wreath and baking chopped pies for ‘Santa Claus’, her mother, Lauren Ouellette, tells North Scituate, RI. allowed to explore something new. . Is Santa Claus the same guy as Santa Claus? And why is it called that? she says.

Aurélia launches sentences like: “Can we turn on the TV? A reference to the toilet rather than the bathroom initially shook Ms. Ouellette. “I thought, ‘Where did she learn this from? Was she on the Titanic in a previous life? she says. It all became clear when they watched the show together a week later.

Boston-based Tess Darci says her 4-year-old daughter Cecilie looks like “a little lady” thanks to the show. “She says ‘adorable’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ all the time,” says Ms. Darci, who runs a communications agency.

Now Ms. Darci is teaching new things in Peppa lingo. She described the recent Boston power outage as a “power outage,” which Cecilie knew from an episode that referred to it during a thunderstorm.

Ms. Darci loved that the series exposed her daughter to a new culture, especially in a year in which global travel has cracked. “At least with Peppa, they go to Italy, she learns London, she knows the queen.”

Seattle-based Dominique Parr took her now 3-year-old daughter Hazel to a speech-language pathologist last year because she wasn’t forming her own unique sentences. Hazel’s first word was “George,” Peppa’s brother from the show, and all she said was a direct quote from the cartoon. Ms. Parr learned that she was autistic, and because Hazel loved the show so much, her therapist used the show to work on her language skills – playing a role with Peppa’s toys and acting like a pig to keep her engaged.

Ms. Parr struck a chord with parents in August when she posted a TikTok video of Parrot Hazel lines from the show, like “How smart!” It went viral, garnering nearly 10 million views and comments from parents around the world who said their kids have embraced the accent as well. When she was “obsessed with the peak” of Peppa, says Ms. Parr, Hazel called her mama pig.

Hazel now speaks in her own sentences and speaks with an American accent. She also has a new favorite show: “Bluey”, a cartoon about a family of dogs with Australian accents.

Mrs Darci, Cecilie’s mother, thinks she didn’t hear the last time from Peppa. She caught her 16 month old son Arthur watching the show alongside his big sister.

“I was like, ‘Uh oh, here we go again’,” she said.

Write to Preetika Rana at [email protected] and Meghan Bobrowsky at [email protected]