Editing Plonsters

{{Short description|German children's television program}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| director             = [[Alexander Zapletal]]
| music                = Petar Vanek
| country              = German
| num_seasons          = 2
| num_episodes         = 61
| executive_producer   = [[Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack]]<br>Christian Lehmann
| animator             = [[Axel Nicolai]]<br>[[Isolde Bayer]]
| company              = Anima Studio für Film & Grafik GmbH
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1987||}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1997||}}
}}
'''''Plonsters''''' is a German animated children's television program produced by Anima Studio für Film & Grafik GmbH in [[Hamburg]], [[Germany]], and Bettina Matthaei for [[Egmont (media group)|Egmont Imagination]]. Each episode is about 3 minutes and 30 seconds long and is produced using [[stop motion]] animation done with [[plasticine]], also called [[claymation]]. The title is a [[portmanteau]] of "plasticine" and "monsters".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Batkin |first=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ki8lDwAAQBAJ&dq=Plonsters&pg=PA165 |title=Identity in Animation: A Journey into Self, Difference, Culture and the Body |date=2017-02-17 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-317-53325-2 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Crump |first=William D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7C6NDwAAQBAJ&dq=Plonsters&pg=PA60 |title=Happy Holidays--Animated!: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film |date=2019-04-18 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-7293-9 |language=en}}</ref> The characters also appeared in educational books.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baumann |first=Christa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y03xPQAACAAJ |title=Schreiben und Lesen einfach mit den Plonsters: Kl. 3 |date=2000 |publisher=Augustus-Verlag |isbn=978-3-8043-4136-4 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Grimm |first1=Petra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XeXnnuw6gKIC&dq=Plonsters&pg=PA84 |title=Kinderfernsehen und Wertekompetenz |last2=Horstmeyer |first2=Sandra |last3=Weiss |first3=Jutta |last4=Calmbach |first4=Marc |date=2003 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |isbn=978-3-515-08365-2 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ftEAQAAIAAJ&q=Plonsters |title=Buch Journal |date=2001 |publisher=Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels |language=de}}</ref>

== Plot ==
The show features three little clay [[monsters]], the  Plonsters. They are '''Plif''' (the green plonster), who likes to play [[practical joke]]s, '''Plops''' (the blue plonster) who is the cranky one and '''Plummy''' (the orange plonster) who is the cheerful one. They can morph themselves into anything, and their language is some kind of [[gibberish]]. 

The plot of the show is usually that Plif and Plops [[bully]] Plummy by ruining everything he does (as well as excluding him from some activities whenever possible), but he gets back at them every time, and every episode ends with the three of them playing together peacefully.

== Episodes ==
=== Season 1 (1987–1993) ===
# "The Cottage"
# "The Butterfly"
# "The Rocket"
# "The Wilde West"
# "The bee"
# "The Tiny red balloon "
# "The record"
# "The meeting"
# "Pudding"
# "Empathy"
# "Box of bricks"
# "Privacy"
# "The Cookies"
# "Fishing"
# "The Robot"
# "Blind"
# "The Kiosk"
# "Coin"
# "Clowns"
# "The Frogs"
# "Music"
# "Grapes"
# "The Machine"
# "The Cookies"
# "Means of Transport"
# "Bowling Ball"
# "The Sleeping Beauty"
# "The Hiccups"
# "The Wall"
# "The Sack"
# "No Fear of Large Animals"
# "Limbo"
# "The Carpet"
# "The Simulant"
# "The Pretzels"
# "First Aid"
# "The Dog"
# "The Meeting"
# "The Snowman"
# "The Pipe"
# "The Automobile"
# "The Birthday"
# "The Thistle"

=== Season 2 (1993–1997) ===
# "Snow Hunt"
# "The Beautiful Garden"
# "Gone Fishin'"
# "The Lonely Island"
# "Home Sweet Home"
# "Chaos at the Museum"
# "Fata Morgana"
# "Fashion Show"
# "Checkmate"
# "The Fruit Market"
# "Going to Sleep"
# "Feeding the Ducks"
# "Safari"
# "At the Fairground"
# "Paddling"
# "Running Up That Hill"
# "Baking Cookies"
# "The Treasure Hunter"
# "At the Supermarket"
# "Camping Adventure"
# "Chaos and Untidiness "
# "The Plonsters Fire Brigade"
# "The Snake Charmers"
# "Gold Diggers"
# "Sports Weekend"
# "The Dinner Party"
# "On Thin Ice"
# "Racecar Drivers"
# "Honey Honey"
# "Chemical Experiments"
# "The Sculpture Comes Alive"
# "At the Circus"
# "At the Hospital"
# "Bewitched Scarecrow"
# "The Raspberry Bush"
# "Playground Attractions"
# "Dance with Plonsters"
# "Surfing with Plonsters"
# "Miniature Golf"
# "Arctic Adventure"
# "The Haunting Of Knight's Castle"
# "Goin to Venice"
# "Merry Plonsters-Mas"
# "Picnic At The Beach"
# "Plonsters Of The Caribbean"
# "The Pear Tree"
# "The Cuckoo Eggs"
# "How The West Was Really Won"
# "I Want To Ride My Bike"
# "In Outer Space"
# "Collecting Shells"

== Credits ==
* Idea and characters (creator): Bettina Matthaei
* Animators: Isolde Bayer, Axel Nicolai
* Model makers: Katja Calvasova, Eva Galova, Beate Bojanowska, Anke Greß, Sandra Schießl, Lene Markusen
* Production coordinators: Torben Köster, Astrid Olthoff, Kerstin Sprenger
* Editor: Marco Rönnau
* Voices: Ralph Thiekötter
* Music: Petar Vanek
* Sound recording: STUDIO FUNK NG, Christoph Welsche, STUDIO NAMU PRAHA, Adam Memens, Jiři Jahl
* Executive producers: Ulla Brockenhuus-Schack, Christian Lehmann
* Director: Alexander Zapletal

== International distribution ==
The show aired in [[Australia]] on [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] (9 April 2001 - 31 October 2014)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plonsters |url=https://iview.abc.net.au/show/plonsters |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=ABC iview |language=en}}</ref> and in [[Norway]] on [[TV3 (Norway)|TV3]]. It has also aired on [[Malaysia]] [[narrowcasting|narrowcaster]] Asia Media TransNet, showing in [[RapidKL]] coaches.The show also aired in [[Canada]] on [[YTV (TV channel)|YTV]] between the late 1990s and the early 2000s.  The shorts were also shown on ''[[Eureeka's Castle]]'' under the title ''Plastinots''. In [[Brazil]], the show aired on [[TV Cultura]] during the 90s on the Glub Glub program under the title ''Plastinots'' and in Portugal as ''Pollsters.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Portugal |first=Rádio e Televisão de |title=PLONSTERS - Infantis e Juvenis - RTP |url=https://www.rtp.pt/programa/tv/p18514 |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=www.rtp.pt}}</ref> In [[Italy]], the show aired on [[Rai 3]] sometimes during 2000s/2010s. In [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], the show aired on [[RTÉ]] as an integral part of the Bosco show sometimes during 1980s/1990s. In [[Japan]], the show aired on [[Fuji TV]] as part of ''Hirake! Ponkikki''. In [[Norway]], it is known as ''Plipp, plopp og plomma''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=plonsters |url=https://play.tv2.no/oiii/oiii-serier/plonsters |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=play.tv2.no}}</ref> In [[Slovenia]], the show aired on [[TV Slovenia]] under the title, ''Plastelinca''.

== Reception ==
The three monsters are remembered as part of the German collective imagination.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brose |first=Franziska |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HpeZDAAAQBAJ&dq=Plonsters&pg=PA3 |title=Gestaltung und Produktion eines Stop-Motion-Films |date=2016-05-09 |publisher=GRIN Verlag |isbn=978-3-668-21276-3 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Reinwarth |first=Alexandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4XZRAwAAQBAJ&dq=Plonsters&pg=PA13 |title=Das Fitnessprojekt: Wie ich (fast) jeden Scheiß ausprobierte, um in Form zu kommen |date=2012-02-10 |publisher=MVG Verlag |isbn=978-3-86415-270-2 |language=de}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20180821184644/http://www.bettina-matthaei.de/ Bettina Matthaei]
*[http://www.abc.net.au/abcforkids/shows/s2989110.htm ''Plonsters'' on ABC 4 Kids]
*{{IMDb title|3557422}}

[[Category:1987 German television series debuts]]
[[Category:1987 animated television series debuts]]
[[Category:1988 German television series endings]]
[[Category:Television series about bullying]]
[[Category:Nick Jr. original programming]]
[[Category:Claymation television series]]
[[Category:German children's animated television series]]
[[Category:1980s animated television series]]
[[Category:1980s preschool education television series]]
[[Category:Animated preschool education television series]]
[[Category:Animated television series about monsters]]
[[Category:Animated television series about shapeshifting]]
[[Category:Animated television series without speech]]