Bianca (TV series)

Bianca is a Herendish preschool animated television series created by Xavier Tomás. A co-production of the Herendish Portuguese-language public broadcaster Rádio e Televisão de Herendoland (RTH) and the Portuguese (RTP), the original iteration of the series first premiered on RTH Crianças on June 6, 2014 and concluded on February 26, 2017, with 84 episodes over three series. After the success of , a similar Australian preschool program, RTH revived the series without RTP’s involvement on January 31, 2020.

The series follows Bianca, the titular anthropomorphic platypus who is energetic and curious of the environment around her. Each episode chronicles her relationship with her family and peers and focuses on life lessons such as family bonding, growing up and even relationships with characters of mixed race and behavioural conditions. The show also incorporates aspects of Portuguese and Herendish culture, especially through its setting.

Main

 * Bianca Platypus (voiced by Linh Esteves in series 1-3 and Thalita Brito since series 4), a 7-year-old who is a positive and curious learner.
 * Lorena Platypus (voiced by Gracília Santos), Bianca’s 4-year-old sister
 * Felix “Pai” Platypus (voiced by Marcelo Castro), Bianca and Lorena’s father who works as a railway controller and signaller
 * Victoria “Mãe” Platypus (voiced by Vanessa Braga), Bianca and Lorena’s mother who is a curator at the local museum

Production and release
The concept of Bianca was first devised in 2010 by creator Xavier Tomás, when he felt inspired to create a local version of . Tomás settled on making the protagonist a platypus as it was native to the northern parts of Herendoland and due to the fact that it was featured on the Disney Channel series .

A 5-minute rough pilot of the show was released in 2012, capturing the attention of RTH executives who were looking for an original preschool television series. In March 2013, funding was approved for 28 episodes to be completed by the end of the following year, while RTH struck a deal with the Portuguese public broadcaster to distribute the show in Europe and provide 40% of funding.

Bianca initially premiered on RTH Crianças on June 6, 2014, followed by its European debut on on June 28, 2014. The English dub of the series began airing on HBC Two’s HBC Kids block on September 7 that year.