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Freddy (Chinese: 天氣先生, Mr. Weather) is a Hong Kong animated weatherman on TVB's weather forecasts, for both its English (TVB Pearl) and Chinese (TVB Jade) channels. Despite TVB's lack of information on Freddy's origins, it is possible that his design was from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and that TVB still pays a license fee for his use.
Freddy only gives the next day's forecast, as the rest of the forecast is given by a human news presenter.
Appearance
Freddy wears a yellow suit and has a pink face; his design has not changed over the years save in 1993 when he became computer animated.
Freddy may have changed little over the years, but the skyline behind him is regularly updated to keep abreast of the ever-changing skyline of Hong Kong. It appears as if he is walking on the water surface of Victoria Harbour. As of January 2008, in keeping with the HDTV trend, Freddy was upgrade to his third incarnation, with a redder hairdo and paler yellow suit.
Freddy and the weather
Freddy's actions gives a short forecast of the next day's weather:
- In case of rain, he gets burnt;
- In case of lightning, he gets electrocuted and runs away;
- In case of rain, the rainclouds become towels and wring water out;
- In case of heavy rain, his umbrella breaks;
- In case of strong winds, he is blown away;
- In case of extreme chill, he turns to ice; and
- In case of fog, he holds up a lantern for light.
At the same time, there are various sound effects including falling rain, thunder, blowing wind, footsteps, and Freddy's whistling and reactive cries such as "oooh", "aaah" and "awww".
Dispute
During the 1980s weather reports, in case of fine weather Freddy would pick flowers, which was criticised as an example of destroying public property. After receiving complaints, TVB changed this in the 1990s to him walking and whistling merrily.
References
- Toon Town: the city's homegrown comics, HK Magazine No. 585. Retrieved 29 July 2005.