Minuscule (TV series)

Minuscule (TV series)
Minuscule
Format Animation
Created by Hélène Giraud
Thomas Szabo
Directed by Hélène Giraud
Thomas Szabo
Country of origin France
Production
Producer(s) Phillipe Delarue
Jean-Jacques Benhamou
Running time 5 minutes, approx.
Production company(s) Futurikon
Broadcast
Original channel Disney Channel
Original run October 25, 2006 – 2008

Minuscule is a growing collection of short animations that follow the day-to-day existence of anthropomorphic insects. The characters are modelled on computer in 3D and are then set against real scenery. Each animation has a short, self-contained and often humorous storyline. The audio is a combination of genuine insect and ambient recordings, and sound effects such as car or helicopter or aircraft engines, synthesized buzzings etc. Throughout each episode, no (human) words are ever spoken; nevertheless, anthropogenic 'insect-like words' are often trumpeted by the various protagonist insects. The background settings are mostly of rural France, and include farm houses, fences, cars, road surfaces, drains, gutters and garbage bins. Humans themselves appear only peripherally (if at all) and the only consistent peripheral witnesses to many of the goings-on are cows that appear as uninterested bystanders. It aired on Disney Channel from 2006 to 2008.

Contents

Storyline

The series has an overall feel very much like that of the 1996 movie "Microcosmos: Le peuple de l'herbe" with the same European country farm setting (for most episodes), similar camera angles and shots, and an almost identical musical score consisting largely of open-ended, repeated piano phrases. In fact the official website itself states that Minuscule might be called "a cross between Tex Avery and Microcosmos, or grassroots slapstick"[1]. The creators also cite the Warner Bros. cartoons of the 1950s as a model for the series, and they are aimed at both young and old alike. Episodes tend to follow one or more insect characters through a specific situation and have involved storylines such as multi-insect races reminiscent of the pod race sequence in Star Wars:The Phantom Menace, a spider becoming trapped on a helium balloon, and a grasshopper maliciously launching other unsuspecting insects from a catapult made from a blade of grass.

Broadcasting

It is the brainchild of creators Thomas Szabo and Helene Giraud, and is produced by Phillipe Delarue. Although made in France, its lack of spoken dialogue and the generalized country settings mean the episodes are meant to be viewed more universally, and not specific to one nation. Minuscule has a universal popularity that is reflected in the number of television stations across the world, such as the American Disney Channel and Australia's Free to Air ABC1, that are telecasting the series. Minuscule is also being popularized via online video sites such as Youtube or Metacafe. Episodes are around four to five minutes long.

Characters

Although each episode is largely self-contained, there are recurring characters and jokes (such as views through the eyes of spiders, with accompanying submarine-like sound effects). Each of these regulars has a specific personality that is outlined on the official website. Among the more commonly recurring insect characters are:

Ladybug
Grasshopper
Fly
Ant
Spider
Snail

Other occasional insect characters include:


The storyboards from Minuscule contain eighteen "main" characters. E.g. there are two distinct different spiders 9: one black and wooly and one yellow-brown with very long legs. Also two different caterpillars are present. And the butterfly (also two distinct ones) are not mentioned.

Episodes

volume 1

  1. La coccinelle
  2. Catapulte
  3. Bouse de là
  4. Deux chenilles
  5. Fourmis
  6. Prisonnière
  7. Rêve d'escargot
  8. Love story
  9. Grasse matinée
  10. Top guêpe
  11. La nouille
  12. Le pont de la rivière Bzz
  13. ZZZeplin
  14. Une bonne éducation
  15. Rêve de chenille
  16. Chewing gum
  17. Un monde de brutes
  18. Coup de vent
  19. Silence
  20. La fourmilière infernale

volume 2

  1. Libellules
  2. Cigale do brazil
  3. Hoquet
  4. Tomate cerise
  5. Sans coquille
  6. Bananes
  7. Les vers sont dans la pomme
  8. Le convoi
  9. Bouse au carré
  10. Fourmis à la noix
  11. Hyperactive
  12. Le moustique
  13. Salade
  14. Il pleut il mouille c'est la fête à l'escargouille
  15. A fond la caisse
  16. Pique nique
  17. Une nuit dehors
  18. Tire au flanc
  19. Ventilo
  20. La chenille qui voulait voir la mer

volume 3

  1. La bonne graine
  2. La chenille et le ruisseau
  3. Un radiateur pour deux
  4. Patrouille de bzzz
  5. Le chant des cigales
  6. Petit trouillard
  7. Escargot qui roule n'amasse pas mousse
  8. L'attaque de la sucette rose
  9. L'heure de la sieste
  10. Moche
  11. Petit repas entre mouches
  12. Narcisso
  13. Coccinelles
  14. Le Totem
  15. L'évasion
  16. Tenace
  17. Pas de chance
  18. King size camembert
  19. Chenille des villes papillon des champs

volume 4

  1. À tes souhaits
  2. Mon beau Sapin
  3. Top départ
  4. Mouche bizarre
  5. Torpedo
  6. Toiles d’intérieur
  7. L’union fait la force
  8. Un après-midi de moustique
  9. Grosse mouche bleue
  10. Pot de colle
  11. La conserve
  12. Nuit blanche
  13. Mouche folle
  14. Poule mouillée
  15. La horde sauvage
  16. Halloween parano
  17. Hop
  18. Fourmi rose
  19. C’est noël

External links

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