Albert the Fifth Musketeer

Albert the Fifth Musketeer is a French animated series based on the story of the Three Musketeers. It is a France Animation and Cinar, Franco-Canadian co-production, for Ravensburger and Children's BBC in association with France 3 and Canal+.

It centers around the antics of Albert de Parmagnan, a new member of the Musketeers (the series takes place after the conclusion of the book, so D'Artagnan is already the fourth musketeer). While the other four musketeers are portrayed as bumbling and incompetent, Albert is quick-witted and clever, creating many inventions to get the others out of trouble.

He and the other Musketeers have adventures as they fight with the guards of Cardinal Richelieu and attempt to thwart his plans to take over France.

In total there were 26 episodes, the first of which aired in 1994 The show was later translated into English and shown in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Australia. The series was also translated into Dutch as well as being translated into Swedish.

Cast

The characters are all generally broad stereotypes of their traditional portrayals in the original "Musketeers" book and subsequent movies:

*D'Artagnan- brash and impulsive, the self-declared leader of the Musketeers.
*Athos- rarely says anything, but tends to do everything backwards, including riding his horse.
*Porthos- large and fat, Porthos is always thinking of his stomach.
*Aramis- very flirtatious and feminine, often lapses into poetry.
*King Louis XIII- the ruler of France and commissioner of the Musketeers. Childish and moronic, he is easily duped by Richelieu.
*Cardinal Richelieu- the prime minister of France, he seeks to undermine the King's authority at every turn and sends his guards to fight off the meddling Musketeers who threaten to disrupt his plans.
*Anne of Austria- the King's wife. Beautiful, but ditzy. She often confides privately in Albert with instructions.
*M'Lady- Richelieu's cunning female assistant. She has a tattoo of a fleur de lis on her shoulder that turns into a quacking duck.
*The Duke of Buckingham- the love-crazed suitor of Queen Anne.

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/abckids/shows/prog9.htm ABC network]
* [http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Other_Studios/C/CINAR_Animation/Albert_le_5_me_Mousquetaire/more2.html Cartoon Database]