A puppet journalist investigates a missing fruit vendor in 80s Greece. Yes, really.
Season 3 • Episode 18
LatestChildren's series with dolls which is the television adaptation of the comic of the same name (1983) by the writer Evgenios Trivizas and the cartoonist Nikos Maroulakis. The series is about the adventures of journalist Pikos Apikos, who travels to the distant land of Fruitopia to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Manolis of Manavis. The comic was also transferred to television in 1985, by the Sofianou family, visualized with puppets and achieving great success. The series began airing on November 8,1985, on the ERT channel and now also plays on ERTFLIX. Despite the fact that the finale of Fruitopia never aired, due to cutbacks in the programming zone in which the series aired, with a total of 48 episodes, were aired several times in the following years.
Practical Effects
Handcrafted puppets with distinct, memorable personalities
Writing
Trivizas' satirical edge hidden in children's adventure format
Production
Sofianou family studio's ambitious DIY television craftsmanship
Creator
Evgenios Trivizas
Kostas Skokos
Αφηγητής
Dimitris Piatas
Πίκος Απίκος
Anna Panagiotopoulou
Μάτα, η ντομάτα
Tasos Kostis
Αστυνόμος Κρυψίβουλος/Όσκαρ
Pavlos Kontoyannidis
Μανώλης, ο μανάβης
Thanos Papadopoulos
Διευθυντής
Dina Consta
Πιπεριά, η φαρμακόγλωσσα
Pavlos Haikalis
Σωτήρης το καρπούζι/Φόντας, το σκληρό καρύδι/Ζουπηχτός
Vasia Trifylli
Βεατρίκη, το σπαράγγι/Ντεσιμπέλ
Joyce Evidi
Παρουσιάστρια
Stavros Xenidis
Φραγκίσκος, το φραγκόσυκο
Christos Doxaras
Ανανίας το Πεπόνι
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The missing finale has become Greek television's great white whale—fans still petition ERT to produce it nearly 40 years later.
Fruitopia pioneered Greek children's television that respected young audiences' intelligence, influencing generations of local animators and writers.
GR
