3 questions Peppa Pig animators face after bombshell pregnancy announcement

With children's cartoons, you can usually rely on one thing: the characters don't age significantly, and they don't go through tremendous life changes. But Peppa Pig has flown in the face of this convention by impregnating Mummy Pig, which was announced today via a brilliant 'live stream' on Good Morning Britain.

Peppa Pig is 11 years old (the show itself, not the little piggy), and the family and the community that surrounds them have remained frozen in time since 2014. That means character design, universe design, timeline and plot devices have all been completely consistent in that time. But Mummy Pig's pregnancy will challenge this norm, and raises some questions as to how the animators will handle the changes.

01. How long will Mummy Pig be pregnant for?

As far as character design goes, adding a baby bump may not be the most complex character evolution. But the question is, how long will Mummy Pig be pregnant for? Presumably the animators will keep her pregnant for an amount of time that provides ample storyline opportunities, but it can't be forever. There will now be a blip in the Peppa Pig universe in which Mummy Pig is drawn differently, the only time it will be possible to age the episodes by looking at the visual character design. And Peppa Pig usually doesn't have storylines that cross episodes, so that will be a new plot device as well.

So the animators need to decide how long is the perfect amount of time to keep Mummy Pig at this transcendental stage. Just how long is a pig's gestation anyway?

02. Will the baby be forever a baby?

As Maggie Simpson knows too well, a baby can stay a baby forever. So I assume that after the brief pregnancy interlude, a new character will be created in the Peppa Pig universe. And that baby could be a permanent feature – a great storytelling device for the series, and a relatable series of events for many young children watching. But will the baby stay as a newborn? Or will it progress to a less slug-like, more entertaining stage of life. If so, will we see that progression or will there be a leap in timeline? So many questions, and so many possibilities for the animation team.

03. Will this news affect character design in the Peppa Pig universe?

Peppa has always been four. And her little brother George has always been two. But if Mummy Pig is to go through a pregnancy and the baby is to age even a bit, the ages of the two main pig-tagonists will have to jump forward for the first time. How will this work for their signature characters, and those of their friends? Will they need to graduate from Madame Gazelle's nursery or can they stay put? Actually I've just looked up a pig's gestation and it's three months, three weeks and three days so it's entirely possible the two could stay the same age, meaning no significant character development unless the baby ages significantly. How handy.

For animation inspiration see our list of the best animation styles.