| 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 | 6 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Futurikon |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | France 2 and Disney Channel |
| Original airing | October 25, 2006 |
Minuscule—the private life of insects is a French-made series of short video animations giving "a bird's eye view of insects' day to day existence, distorted through a burlesque, yet poetic lens".[1] The characters are computer-modelled in 3D and set against natural scenery. Each animation has a self-contained and usually humorous storyline. The audio is a combination of genuine insect and ambient recordings with artificial sound effects. The various protagonist insects often perform anthropomorphic activities, displaying ironically portrayed intelligence, enjoyment and, sometimes, pathos. The background settings are generally of rural France, and include farm houses, fences, cars, road surfaces, drains, gutters and garbage bins. Humans appear only peripherally (e.g., as mute drivers of intrusive vehicles) and large farm animals are the main reluctant witnesses to the variety of insect, spider and mollusc activities.
Contents |
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. 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.
Created by Thomas Szabo and Helene Giraud, Minuscule is produced by Phillipe Delarue. Although made in France, its generalized country settings and avoidance of spoken dialogue enable universal accessibility and appeal. The series has been sold to more than 70 countries on television and 30 countries on video.[1]
Minuscule portrays an array of eighteen or more recurring characters, limited to one or two in each episode, each displaying distinctive personality and behaviour. Among the more commonly recurring insect characters are:
Ladybugs
Grasshoppers
Flies
Ants
Spiders (two varieties)
Snails
Other occasional insect characters include: