Pinky Malinky

Pinky Malinky is an animated television series created and produced by Netflix. It is based on Chris Garbutt's animated short of the same name produced by Cartoon Network Studios Europe (now Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe), which was released in 2009. It marks the first collaboration between Nickelodeon and Netflix as well as the first Nicktoon to be produced exclusively for Netflix. The series chronicles the adventures of Pinky Malinky (voiced by Lucas Grabeel), a 12-year-old middle school student who also happens to be an anthropomorphic hot dog and his efforts to climb up the social ladder with his two human friends Babs Byuteman (Diamond White) and JJ Jameson (Nathan Kress).

The series premiered on January 1, 2019. It was renewed for a second season ahead of the series premiere. Season 2 was released on April 22, 2019, and the third and final season was released on July 17, 2019.

Pinky Malinky was nominated for Best Animation Editing for the 2020 Daytime Emmy Awards on May 21, 2020. In 2023, Grabeel reprised his role as Pinky in the Netflix interactive special We Lost Our Human which is also by Garbutt and Asbjoern. In this interactive, Pinky calls himself Panky Malanky and classifies himself as a meatball.

Production
In 2015, the series was greenlit by Nickelodeon for a pickup of 20 episodes. The series was originally set to premiere on Nickelodeon in 2016, but has gone through many delays. On June 21, 2018, it was announced that Pinky Malinky would be released exclusively on Netflix, and that the show was renewed for a second season. The company's See What's Next Twitter account announced an August 17 release date, but the series failed to premiere on that date. On September 16, 2018, Chris Garbutt posted on Instagram that there was a slight delay in the release date, and that it was Netflix's responsibility on when to release it.

Season 1 was eventually released on January 1, 2019. A 99-second short focusing on the titular character's New Year's resolutions was released ahead of the series premiere.

Main

 * Pinky Malinky (voiced by Lucas Grabeel) is a 12-year-old anthropomorphic talking hot dog. He is a very intelligent, happy-go-lucky person that has a mission to make people dream big.
 * JJ Jameson (voiced by Nathan Kress) is one of Pinky's best friends. He is described as the wise mentor of the trio, claiming to know everything. He is a social media geek as well. He carries his phone almost everywhere and uses more modern slang than Pinky and Babs.
 * Babs Buttman (voiced by Diamond White) is one of Pinky's best friends. She likes kitties and cats, and sometimes she acts like them. Babs is Pinky's biggest cheerleader and supports him and his ideas. She is silly, funny and has a "heart of gold".

Pinky's family

 * Eric Malinky (voiced by Danny Jacobs) is Pinky's stay-at-home father and Valarie's husband. He is a simple man with a whole lot of drive. He tends to focus on one task at a time, and won't stop until said task is done right.
 * Valerie Malinky (voiced by Retta) is Pinky's mother and Eric's wife. Unlike Eric, Valerie is loud and outspoken. She is also the owner of Crumbbells, a bakery and gym that is located in downtown Sackenhack.

Babs's family

 * Bob Buttman (voiced by Vargus Mason) is Babs's older brother and legal guardian. Bob works as a policeman. He has a friendly, ongoing and naive (sometimes even blunt) personality. In the episode "Birthday", it is revealed that Bob loves to party, but when he parties too much, his alter-ego "Party Bob" breaks out.
 * Mr. Dog (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker) is Babs's and Bob's Old English Sheepdog. In the episode "Dog", it is revealed that Mr. Dog is actually a woman and she gave birth to many puppies.

Sackenhack Junior High students

 * Tina (voiced by Lauren Tom) is one of Pinky’s classmates. Tina is the head cheerleader for SJH’s cheerleading squad, "The SnowBallers". She is also shown for having a secret crush on Pinky.
 * Channing (voiced by Robbie Daymond) is one of Pinky’s classmates and Byron’s best friend. He and Byron were voted "Most Cutest Couple of SJH", and they would often call each other names ("baby", "pumpkin", etc.).
 * Grey DeLisle as:
 * Dizzy Brentwood, one of Pinky’s classmates who occasionally likes gossip.
 * Zeek Maloney, one of Pinky’s classmates who owns a fashion website called "Fash Foward", which JJ occasionally looks upon for latest fashions.
 * Grey Griffin as Suzie, Dizzy, Zeek, Byron
 * Vargus Mason as Bob Buttman
 * Colleen Smith as Principal Pfunne
 * Angela Malhotra as Aminder
 * Jason Alexander as Mayor Hop
 * Scott Kramer as Nurse Sally
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Peter
 * Ben Schwartz as Coach Freebird
 * Flula Borg as Byonk
 * Carlos Alazraqui as Large Biker Guy
 * Fred Tatasciore as Jimmy
 * Josh Engel as Mr. Sweetie
 * Zehra Fazal as Aisha
 * Eric Bauza as Flynn
 * Kimberly Brooks as Carl, Sophie
 * Stephanie Sheh as Jessie
 * Carl Weathers as The Apologizer
 * Amy Sedaris as Helga Hilltop
 * Ben Schwartz as Freddy Fistburger