For me Patton Oswalt is a good narrator and I enjoyed him in this series. As a South African I am aware of the penguins in Simon's Town, but this is the 1st time I was able to follow their journey inside the town.
33 Reviews
I enjoyed the narrator
dbotes17 June 2021
Great all around
robertsig18 June 2021
really interesting
That_1_guy18 June 2021
Absolutely Amazing!!!
candynunu18 June 2021
Heartfelt, educational and adorable!
racheldavidson020 June 2021
Absolutely loved this little show. This documentary is done very differently to most - it follows the penguins of Simon's Town around while narrating in the cutest (but informative) way. It teaches you a lot, but it's also like a mini adventure that you follow along with the penguins. As a South African, it was amazing to see Simon's Town in its glory and I am so happy this documentary was made. I really hope it gets another season! We utterly adored it.
Funny, unique documentary on African Penguins
jabodenheimer19 June 2021
This is definitely one of the most entertaining documentaries I've ever seen! The format is almost like a reality show, with the intro and the way the penguins are described. The show is extremely funny and there's plenty of suspense to make you want to binge every episode in a night! This is definitely worth the watch, cute penguins and funny situations are in every episode!
I adore Patton Oswalt.
pfpgssx28 June 2021
Oswalt is always a good narrator. Very informative and fun to watch, until real life rears it's ugly head. Truth is there are always predators and bad weather conditions to tend with. Many of the close calls turn out well, thankfully. I have to take a break for now. I can't handle any more potentially sad circumstances. This world has so many beautiful creatures, but life is always so hard.
Great film footage...terrible narration.
planktonrules7 March 2024
"Penguin Town" is a show worth seeing. It follows penguins throughout the year in southern Cape Town, South Africa. I've been there myself and they are truly adorable creatures.
On the plus side, I am really amazed at the cinematography...it must have taken a LOT of work to get all this great footage.
On the minus, the narration is often awful. I don't blame Patton Oswalt....he's just reading a script. But that script is annoying. Instead of sounding scientific, they go the opposite direction, such as referring to one penguin as 'Mrs. C', calling the penguins husband as well as wife, and trying to humanize these birds.
My advice is to watch the show...and if the narration annoys you, turn off the sound and keep watching!
On the plus side, I am really amazed at the cinematography...it must have taken a LOT of work to get all this great footage.
On the minus, the narration is often awful. I don't blame Patton Oswalt....he's just reading a script. But that script is annoying. Instead of sounding scientific, they go the opposite direction, such as referring to one penguin as 'Mrs. C', calling the penguins husband as well as wife, and trying to humanize these birds.
My advice is to watch the show...and if the narration annoys you, turn off the sound and keep watching!
Best ever watched serial
emkaxp18 June 2021
I was in love watching absolutely each serie; a series that impressed me to the fullest and that allowed me to see another world of these super cute animals; I have never seen penguins in reality as I am from the Republic of Moldova, and at the moment I live in England so I discovered today that it's on Netflix so I watched all season
when I decided to watch this series I thought I would just watch penguins and ... that's about it
but in fact the whole team of this series created a true story based on the true moments of these penguins to whom they gave beautiful and funny &cute names and managed perfectly to present their lives, their relationships between them, that they can love, suffer and how hard is to raise a family and the daily fight survive on earth and in water ;
I was very impressed and you would have seen how I called my husband to watch with me, when that gang in the arcade was waiting to attack the little chicks or to eat their eggs.
Absolutely gorgeous serial, I watched a lot serials on Netflix (about humans) but this one was completely different.
I followed this serial with all my heart thanks for creating this series and showing about their life and how hard is for them to survive ; And especially thanks to people who come in that town or live there and don't kill or don't attack them; I really was impressed to see how the little penguins were passing through the house or the drivers were driving carefully ; And need to thank that there is organisations that are watching and keep tracking pinguins life and are helping, saving them as Junior or founding eggs; Guys so happy that I watched this serial you can't imagine.
Absolutely gorgeous serial, I watched a lot serials on Netflix (about humans) but this one was completely different.
I followed this serial with all my heart thanks for creating this series and showing about their life and how hard is for them to survive ; And especially thanks to people who come in that town or live there and don't kill or don't attack them; I really was impressed to see how the little penguins were passing through the house or the drivers were driving carefully ; And need to thank that there is organisations that are watching and keep tracking pinguins life and are helping, saving them as Junior or founding eggs; Guys so happy that I watched this serial you can't imagine.
very cute and fun to watch
suego-492934 January 2022
I love how it follows the lives of several specific penguins, pairs and families. Very well done. The only thing that ruins it for me is Patton Oswalt narrating it. Had they chosen someone else, this could have been a solid 9. He ruins an otherwise fantastic show.
Give me more penguins!!!
aishikaangel26 June 2021
When it comes to documentaries, especially those about animals often tend to be boring. However, this was a tear jerker and a emotional ride as we saw the penguins nest, have their troubles, and finally the chicks were able to graduate. The narration is top class and it helps to retain your interest throughout the series. Mr. Bougainvillea is the best dad ever!! Go watch it guys.
Anthropomorphism
sdetlef20 June 2021
The dramatized narratives constructed seem very anthropomorphic. It's a penguin soap opera. Each episode ends in the worst ever "to be continued" drama cliff hanger. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with animal education intermixed with a heavily dramatized story lines. Will infusing these penguins with human dramatization/narration help these endangered species? Making them named celebrities isn't exactly the same thing as conservation. Feels more like exploitation. Do the penguins get royalties?
I think young children would find the heavy dramatization scary. There's always penguin is going to die scenarios with scary music. Be careful with little kiddos.
I think young children would find the heavy dramatization scary. There's always penguin is going to die scenarios with scary music. Be careful with little kiddos.
Great content about penguins with a funny style!
djacker-8065619 June 2021
This TV show has great documentation of some penguins in Africa. It's funny because it is set up to be similar to a reality show, but since it is penguins it is really cute. The narration is great and the cameras are able to catch a lot of intense and cute moments. Highly recommend watching if you like penguins!
So cute
toniaglasgow-3798320 June 2021
I am in love with Penguin Town!
savina_rey26 June 2021
Love the way this serie is produced, how they give character and humanized the penguins. They explain the pinguin's world like it was a real life human story, it is a must watch for the whole family. I wish they make a 2nd season with the same colony or maybe choose different animals. I learned a lot about penguins and enjoyed it a lot and wanted to aee more. I am going to miss watching it with my kids. This is a win win!
One of a kind!
BabeBear426 June 2021
Joyful.
edwin-wks2 July 2021
Humans could learn a thing or two from the African penguins about shared parenting and gender equality. Mr B, the super dad, was inspirational. The world would be a better place if every human child received the level of dedication from their parents that Petal and Twig got. The penguin parents wanted nothing more from their offspring than for them to survive, become independent and continue the species. The giants' clever editing made for some tense moments and Oswalt's voice was the perfect accompaniment to the penguins' adorable waddle.
Badly researched and poorly executed.
memrskinny1 August 2021
Didn't even make it to the third episode. While just about enjoyable, this show should not be in the science and nature documentary category, it's misleading. I get that the show is (hopefully) not trying to be a scientific series but if the producers intend on anthropomorphising animals then it should be listed in the correct category - that being the reality tv category.
The show's narrative feels forced, not very cleverly thought out and it's clear there was not a whole load of research and pre-production that went into writing this series. In fact I doubt there was any writing involved in pre-production. It just feels like a team turned up with some cameras and got whatever quick and bare minimum footage they could to assemble some sort of loose narrative.
As a filmmaker and someone who wrote a dissertation on this penguin species, the unforgivable mistake and proof that the series was hastily thought out is that (as has been mentioned) the penguins' black chest spots - which are unique to each bird - keep changing between shots of the same penguins. This is a real shame as it makes the whole series fall flat in terms of trying to maintain a narrative where there clearly isn't one.
The show's narrative feels forced, not very cleverly thought out and it's clear there was not a whole load of research and pre-production that went into writing this series. In fact I doubt there was any writing involved in pre-production. It just feels like a team turned up with some cameras and got whatever quick and bare minimum footage they could to assemble some sort of loose narrative.
As a filmmaker and someone who wrote a dissertation on this penguin species, the unforgivable mistake and proof that the series was hastily thought out is that (as has been mentioned) the penguins' black chest spots - which are unique to each bird - keep changing between shots of the same penguins. This is a real shame as it makes the whole series fall flat in terms of trying to maintain a narrative where there clearly isn't one.
Sure cure for pandemic blues!
blkruse5 July 2021
Brilliant! Love, Love, Love!!!
rthequeen14 July 2021
great for the whole family
iamjamalwhite12 October 2021
Amazing show!
Trilby1610 November 2021
I just loved this show. Some of the time I was watching, I was also marveling over "How did they do this?" Capture great moments and critical moments, and follow particular "stars" through their mating and chick-rearing rituals.
Yes, the narrator is a bit intrusive, and personally I prefer my animal shows' commentary to be delivered in a British accent, but I have to admit, his patter made LOL a few times.
These penguin-people are so darn cute, waddling around a human town, having a place in it. Just amazing. Who knew?
Yes, the narrator is a bit intrusive, and personally I prefer my animal shows' commentary to be delivered in a British accent, but I have to admit, his patter made LOL a few times.
These penguin-people are so darn cute, waddling around a human town, having a place in it. Just amazing. Who knew?
Making nature shows fun
johncg254 July 2021
I don't often watch them as they are too serious, but Patton Oswalt as the narrator makes this pretty light and funny, and easily watchable. It has beautiful cinematography of the animals and setting in South Africa, and does have serious moments too. You learn a lot about the penguins, and it deals with a lot of the behaviors of the animals, and follows penguin "characters" and family's which also keeps it more entertaining as opposed to the unattached style of most nature shows where there is no character to root for.
So basically the penguins need to spend some months on land in this town in South Africa, for mating and nesting purposes so there is a fair amount of humor, and wonder, with penguins wandering around a town. It then gets into the obstacles they face and gets you engaged and wanting to see what happens next, so a very enjoyable and informative watch.
So basically the penguins need to spend some months on land in this town in South Africa, for mating and nesting purposes so there is a fair amount of humor, and wonder, with penguins wandering around a town. It then gets into the obstacles they face and gets you engaged and wanting to see what happens next, so a very enjoyable and informative watch.
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