This summer is the big dive into our TV memories. First shocks, first tears, first laughter… The cartoons of our childhood were able to awaken our emotions. Because we owe them that, we are going for the next two weeks to meet the parents of the heroes of our afternoons.
Of the Mysterious Cities of Gold until Sat Sat, this podcast aims to be a great generational crossing to meet French designers, directors and producers whose works often precede their names. All of us will tell the story of their cartoons… and theirs.
On the occasion of this third episode, we wanted to meet the man who knew how to push the boundaries of French cartoons: Marc du Pontavice. Thanks to his company Xilam, we owe him the production of dozens of series of animated films and cartoons broadcast around the world. Among them, a blue cat chased by three unfortunate cockroaches, which became cult for children of the 1990-2000 generation. Present in more than 150 countries thanks to its presence on the platforms, Oggy and the Cockroaches embodies the success of the French cartoon.
The slapstick made in France
In this episode, Marc du Pontavice gives us the recipe for his success. When he launched into cartoons, Marc du Pontavice looked at the United States and observed that, since the 1970s, the Americans had stopped producing what used to be the delight of comic short films: the slap stick. Rough translation: baton that strikes. Think Tom, Jerry and their wild rides.
Then a young French producer, Marc du Pontavice decided to take up the codes of the genre to imagine animated series which, he said, were steeped in “irreverence”. This will first give Space Goofs Then Oggy and the Cockroaches. “Our cockroaches are our daily annoyances,” explains Marc du Pontavice. And finally Oggy is the myth of Sisyphus: when you fall, you can always get up. »