Pocoyo - Todo termina ahora

For those of you who don't know, Pocoyo is an animated television series produced in Spain, and distributed around the world. Its simple plots and geometric shape-based animation made it extremely popular, and even adults note its charm. However, in 2010, the year when the show finished its original run, a strange episode was found called ' Todo termina ahora '. When translated roughly into English, this means 'It all ends here'. Before you close this webpage and go and do other activities: No, this show didn't feature all the characters screaming while hyper realistic blood flew out of the Television. It simply features a strange interpretation of what growing up is like. The episode begins with Pato, the show's yellow semi-anthropomorphic duck, making a strange expression. His beak is swivelled backwards, which is his expression for anger, but his eyes look scared. The narrator asks him what is wrong, and he responds with his usual series of quacks, again sounding more frightened and confused. The narrator then reveals to the audience that 'Pato is afraid that everything is going to end'. Pato then runs away with sweat dripping from the back of his head. He runs past Pocoyo, who looks confused. Sleepy Bird and his son's tree is shown to have collapsed, and Pocoyo wanders towards it, scratching his head. The narrator then says, in a somewhat ominous fashion: 'Aren't you scared, Pocoyo?' Pocoyo looks at the screen in an unsure fashion, and the narrator speaks again: "You should know the truth. The world which you live in isn't real." Pocoyo begins to cry, as the narrator's pitch increases. "The real world awaits you. It hungers for you. You don't know how much you're loved." The narrator appeared to sigh sadly after saying this. "But, if you go, this world goes with you, understand?" The narrator finishes his speech, as Pocoyo is now sobbing deeply. He then spoke a single word. "Si..." And with that, the episode faded to white, as a strange rumbling noise played. A brief, 10-second shot of an oak tree blowing in the wind plays, and then the episode ended. Although the interpretations of this never-aired episode vary, my interpretation of this episode is that it is a metaphor for the end of an early childhood. In our first few years, we live in a world which is bound only by our own imagination. The presence of the Birds' tree in the episode being collapsed, along with Pato's strange reaction to being told the truth, represents the anger of a child's mind in being forced to accept that reality must be accepted before their life can continue. Pocoyo, the show's eternal image of childhood, is an example of the child who is desperately trying to hang on to a world which is fading from their grip. Thus, by his solemn acceptance of the Narrator's desires, he advances into a new world, but not without trauma. This would explain why at the end of the episode, he is alone - the efforts of the parental narrator have ultimately succeeded. Thus, this episode, although never entered into circulation, provides a healthy and essential lesson: Reality must never be put to one side.