The Admiral Bird on the 1983 Nickelodeon contest poster
The Admiral Bird's puppeteer, Craig Marin
The Admiral Bird is one of the puppet characters from Pinwheel, Nickelodeon's first series. He was designed and performed by Craig Marin.
Looks[]
He is a medium-sized red bird with a yellow beak. He has googly eyes that often spin around and cross. He wears golden shoulder pads, moccasin shoes, and a black pirate's hat with dark green trim and a spiral design on the front.
Description[]
He is a clever, sometimes goofy, prank-loving bird who is known for being very elusive and hard to catch. It is Smitty's dream to capture a picture of the Admiral Bird for his newspaper, The Daily Noodle. Smitty is never successful, but the Admiral Bird is almost always right behind him, playing practical jokes on him. One of the Admiral Bird's best pranks was making a nest out of Smitty's hat.
Despite his cunning nature, the Admiral Bird is actually a good friend to Plus and Minus, and he often visits them by flying into their bedroom. The Admiral Bird can be a bit stubborn when he interacts with Ebenezer. He is a pirate admiral, based on his name and hat, but he never does any sailing or plundering.
Some fans mistakenly claim that the Admiral Bird was never seen by anyone but Plus or Minus, but Sal, Jake, and Ebenezer have all seen and interacted with him. Smitty is the only character who was never able to interact with the Admiral Bird, though there were some very close calls.
The Admiral Bird appears in the show's opening theme song, where he flies up behind Sal and surprises her. He also appears in the ending credit sequence, where he flies down in front of Sal and Smitty's newspaper. He was first introduced in season two of Pinwheel, which was the first season to air nationally.
Trivia[]
- In 1983, the Admiral Bird was featured on a promotional poster for Nickelodeon that was given out as a contest prize.
- His performer, Craig Marin, also played two other roles on Pinwheel: Silas the Snail and Herbert the Hobo Bug.
Gallery[]
| Pinwheelv • t • e | ||
|---|---|---|
| Characters | Puppets | Aurelia • Ebenezer • Luigi • Plus and Minus • Molly • Admiral Bird • Silas • Hobo Bugs • Wonkles • Spiderbelle |
| Humans | Franci • Coco the Mime • Jake • Sal and Smitty • Kim | |
| Cast and crew | Dr. Vivian Horner • Sandy Kavanaugh • Franci Anderson • Caroline Cox • George James • Brad Williams • Jim Jinkins • Arline Miyazaki | |