Minuscule (TV series)

Minuscule
Created by	Hélène Giraud Thomas Szabo
Directed by	Hélène Giraud Thomas Szabo
Country of origin	France
No. of episodes	78
Production
Producers	Phillipe Delarue Jean-Jacques Benhamou
Running time	6 minutes
Production company	Futurikon
Original release
Network	France 2 and France 5 in Zouzous (France) Disney Channel (France) BBC Four (United Kingdom)
Release	October 25, 2006 – present

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". 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. In Season 1 episodes, humans appeared only peripherally (e.g., as mute drivers of intrusive vehicles) and large farm animals were the main reluctant witnesses to the variety of insect, spider and mollusc activities. Some Season 2 episodes depict more explicit interaction with humans. Production of a feature film was commenced in March 2012. The feature film titled Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants, was released on January 29, 2014.

Storylines

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.

Production and distribution

Created by Thomas Szabo and Hélène 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.

Characters

Minuscule portrays an array of eighteen or more recurring characters, usually 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:

• Mosquitoes
• Butterflies
• Caterpillars
• Dung beetles
• Dragonflies
• Cicadas
• Bees
• Wasps

Episodes—Season 1

French

Volume 1

1. La coccinelle
2. Catapulte
3. Bouse de là
4. Deux chenilles
5. Les 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 Bzzz
13. Zzzeplin
14. Un monde de brutes
15. Coup de vent
16. Silence
17. La fourmilière infernale
18. La bonne éducation
19. Rêve de chenille
20. Chewing gum

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. À 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

Region 4 DVD set (English titles)

The region 4 DVD set for season 1 consists of 3 disks. The episodes on each disk are as follows:

Disk 1

1. Ants
2. Love Story
3. Wasp Belle
4. The Caterpillar and the Brook
5. A Snail's Dream
6. Sleeping In
7. Zzzeplin
8. Yellow
9. Caterpillar Dream
10. Picnic
11. The Last Supper
12. Catapult
13. Cowardly Coward
14. Nap Time
15. Cicada's Song
16. The Bridge Over the River Zzzzzeee
17. The Ladybug
18. A Gust of Wind
19. Shell Less
20. The Winter of Our Discontent
21. Windswept
22. Hiccups
23. Halloween Paranoid
24. Ugly
25. No Exit
26. The Right Seed
27. Torpedo
28. Sleepless Night
29. Horsefly
30. Convoy
31. Dinosaur
32. Clothes of the Short
33. Leap Frog Leap

Disk 2

1. Caterpillars in Pairs
2. Dragonflies
3. Shellproof Nut
4. Lettuce
5. A Bee's Night Out
6. The Dung Beetle Battle
7. The Caterpillar Who Wanted to See the Ocean
8. Quiet
9. Rosy
10. The Quest For The Pink Lollipop
11. Ladybugs
12. The Apple Of Concord
13. Narcissus
14. No Luck
15. Noodle Battle
16. O Tannenbaum
17. It Never Rains But It Pours
18. A Cruel World
19. The Wild Bunch
20. United We Stand
21. Chewing Gum
22. Dung Beetle Blues
23. Insect High Velocity
24. Bananas
25. Mother's Day
26. Making Mistakes
27. Chocolate No Head Shake
28. Games

Disk 3

1. On Your Mark, Get Set, Go!
2. Totem
3. City Caterpillar Butterfly Of The Fields
4. Infernal Anthill
5. Cicada Do Brazil
6. A Rolling Snail Gathers No Moss
7. Hyperactive
8. Some Weird Fly
9. Come Christmas
10. Bless You
11. Leech
12. Jump Jump Jump
13. The Persevering One
14. Goofing Off
15. The Zzzzz Patrol
16. King Size Camembert
17. Mad Fly
18. The Good Education
19. The Mosquito
20. The Escapist
21. Interior Cobwebs
22. Out Of A Tin Can
23. Cherry Tomato
24. A Mosquito Day Afternoon
25. Something's Fishy
26. Loud and Soft
27. Toys World

Episodes—Season 2

As of March 2012 the second series was in production.

1. Dans une cheminée
2. Chasse à mouche
3. Saucisse Prédator
4. Comme un boulet de canon
5. La longue route
6. Fille unique
7. 220 volts
8. Histoire vache
9. Ruse à la noix
10. Mouche à miel
11. Saint Valentin
12. Qui sème le vent récolte la tempête
13. Haute voltige
14. Sans abri
15. Plante verte à loyer modéré
16. Glue
17. Assoiffé
18. Chapeau de la méduse
19. Chewing-gum rodéo
20. Deux petits pois deux mesures
21. Un voisin bien gênant
22. Opération merguez
23. Têtue
24. Horizontoile

International broadcast

Country/Region	Channel
France	France 2 Disney Channel (France) France 5
United Kingdom	BBC Four Discovery Channel
Australia	Australian Broadcasting Corporation
India	Nickelodeon India Cartoon Network India
United States	Disney Channel American Broadcasting Company
Singapore Malaysia Indonesia Thailand Cambodia Philippines Vietnam	Disney Channel (Asia)
Canada	BBC Kids VRAK.TV TVOntario
Denmark	Danmarks Radio
Finland	Yle
Italy	Rai 3 Rai YoYo
Norway	NRK
Japan	NHK Educational TV
Netherlands	VPRO
Sweden	Sveriges Television
Brazil	Disney Channel (Brazil) TV Cultura Rede Bandeirantes
Russia	2x2
Thailand	Channel 6
Czech Republic	TV Barrandov
Estonia	Eesti Televisioon (Estonian Television)
Portugal	Canal Panda
Mexico	Canal Once
Argentina	Canal Incaa.tv
Spain	TV3 (Catalonia)

External links

• Official Minuscule Website
• Minuscule at IMDb