Otto-Triin (partially found Estonian children's TV series; 1993-1998)

Otto-Triin itself.

Status: Partially Found

This article has been tagged as NSFW and NSFL due to its mentions of vehicle manslaughter, possession of underage pornography, hold abuse and death, and sexual abuse

Otto-Triin is a character created for Estonian TV station EVTV/RTV (later TV3) by Venno Loosaar and Hindrek Maasik, with Loosaar being the one who msotly wears and is behind the Otto-Triin' mascot. A woolly dinosaur from “Misso-Masso land”, Otto-Triin quickly became one of the most recognizable children’s characters in Estonia during the 1990s, appearing at live events where he would hand out candy and hold contests. The mascot itself also appeared on many dairy products, produced two cassettes, has its own brand of chocolate and a bedtime radio show where he thinly veiled himself as “Mr. Misses-Secret.” His third birthday party at the Club Hollywood in Tallinn alone attracted more than 1600 children, and in 1995, Loosaar even took the character to the United States.

Despite his massive success, the original TV show in which he first appeared remains partially found, aside from some few resurfaced footages, probably due to the fact that TV3 is a private, non-national channel with no archive to preserve its content. It’s especially strange considering not only Otto-Triin’s popularity but also that the series ran for five years from 1993 to 1998. There are no known VHS releases of the show.

Controversies

Notorious events surrounding production of the series may have also led to it being hidden away years after originally airing. Producer Tõnu Paavo was involved in a car accident in 1997, killing two people including a 5-year old child in the accident ensued. His notorious public trial began in 1998 and may have been the catalyst on why the show was quietly discontinued as it had cause a number of controversies and scandals around the producer. In addition, it was apparent and frequently gossiped about that the channel that the show aired on, TV3, erased the show's existence from their catalog from the controversies the show was facing on.

Venno Loosar's Questionable Actions

After Otto-Triin, Venno Loosaar would start a new children-oriented mascot show called "Jälle_see_Jäpe" (transl. "Again this Jäpe") where he plays the sidekick of the titular mascot of the series called "Chick", unlike Otto-Triin however, episodes of the show can be found and are available online. Loosaar, after starring in multiple shows since Jälle_see_Jäpe, have cemented himself as a prominent figure as a child performer and entertainer in Estonia.

On December 20th, 2019, Loosaar finds himself yet again in the forefront of controversy as the Estonian Northern District Attorney's office had accused Loosaar for sexually abusing a 10-year-old girl. Not only that but they had also accused Loosaar for the possession of child pornography. After an intensive search on Loosaar's home and belongings by the Estonian police, they had found an illegally-licensed gun and acquired an external hard drive from Loosaar which contained 19 images and 4 videos of child pornography dating back to May 6th, 2013 when the files were created. In summer of 2021, Loosaar stated the following:

"For 26 years, I've been doing TV shows for kids, running kids' events and concerts, learning how to tune myself in with the kids and doing it well. But I have no sexual interest in children and my soul is pure,"

In December of 2021, Loosaar was found guilty and was subsequently convicted in a 5-year sentence: 4 months in prison and the rest of his sentence will be served in probation..

Status

It is unknown how many episodes were produced or how exactly the show was presented, but based on what little remains of it, it appears to have been a combination human/actor in costume show similar to Sesame Street.

Clips and episodes of the show were aired in 2016 when TV3 had celebrated their 20th anniversary and had aired various old shows from the 90s, with Otto-Triin being one of them. What appears to be a single full-length high-quality episode was upload to TV3's video portal in 2016 for the channel's 20th anniversary, but this appears to have been taken down .

As of November 2022, the only other things remaining of the TV series are two recipes from the show for “pig fillet a la Otto-Triin” and an “Otto-Triin breakfast” and two short clips, one from a guessing game on old TV3 shows for the channel's 20th anniversary and another on TV3’s “Seventh News” from September 15, 2016 (which contains footage from the episode above)

Gallery

Images

• 

  Summary of the November 18, 1995 episode. "As fall is about to hand over its tenure to winter, Otto-Triin is ready to hand over the prizes of the contest "Otto-Triin on Fall's Birthday" to the winners."

• 

  Summary of the January 1, 1996 episode. "Otto-Triin begins with new energy. This year we start a new studio game. The good old shows "Postbag" and "Look at the Food" [presumably segments on the show] will continue as well."

Video

Virtual Carbon's "Unknown And Disturbing Lost Media Vol. 2" that covers Otto-Triin. (0;00 - 8:39)