Minuscule

"Insects" (Insects, Little) (French Minuscule) - French animated television series of the Futurikon studio, consisting of two seasons. The first season consists of four parts, including 78 episodes lasting approximately 5 minutes each. The second season was released in 2011 and consists of 6 parts, including 98 series. The series was broadcast on France 5. The main characters of the series are various insects, the action of the series usually takes place in the countryside.

In 2013, based on the animated series, a full-length cartoon "Insects, Adventure in the Valley of Ants".

In February 2017, the filming of the second full-length cartoon MINUSCULE 2: LES MANDIBULES DU BOUT DU MONDE was announced. The release is scheduled for early 2019.

Characters

• The bee is small and furry, very hardworking.
• Moth is a nocturnal creature, blind, but flies perfectly, focusing on hearing.
• Ladybug - on the official website it is presented as "Little Devil" and the definition corresponds to it. A hyperactive creature that cannot sit still. It flies very fast. His favorite pastime is to tease other insects (most often flies) and then very skillfully flee. However, at the same time, she is always ready to help anyone who is in an unpleasant situation.
• The fly is in no hurry, the main goal in life is to eat well and tasty. The object of hunting spiders and mockery of a ladybug.
• There are a lot of ants, there are a lot of them and they are everywhere. They live in forests and in human homes. They are divided into black and red. The former are engaged in useful affairs, collecting all kinds of objects, and the latter are hunted by robbery, robbing not only their black counterparts, but also other insects.
• Wasps - move in groups, and with the speed of sound. In one of the series flew into space.
• Cicadas - they like to sit in the sun and play music.
• Butterfly - a reborn caterpillar. Elegant and aristocratic.
• Dragonflies - fly like wasps, in groups and terrorize others.
• Red spider - weaves a large web and tries in vain to catch someone. Absolutely phlegmatic creature.
• Grasshopper - can jump long distances. Ladybug rival in mockery. Compared with her, she is more inventive in this direction, but, alas, she always becomes a victim of her own tricks.
• A plum caterpillar - before becoming a butterfly, it is a living stomach, and if it does not sleep, it eats.
• Dung beetle - always trying to grab a larger ball, suffers from narcissism.
• The centipede is a cowardly creature, but witty. Like black ants, likes to pick up different objects.
• Mosquito - a big loser, can not help but get into trouble. Everywhere seeks to stick his nose in the truest sense of the word.
• The black spider is always cold-blooded and stubborn, prefers to live in houses, always unsuccessfully trying to catch a fly. More savvy than his red-headed brother.
• Snails - like rain and cabbage.
• Green caterpillar - lives in fruits, but is also found in cabbage. He loves and knows how to travel long distances. According to a number of characteristics, it is not much inferior to the plum caterpillar, differing from it only in size.

Features

A feature of the footage is 3D animation, superimposed directly on the field shooting. The complete absence of dialogue in the series makes it accessible to any audience without translation or duplication. There are no violent scenes in cartoons (with the exception of accidents occurring mainly due to the fault of the characters themselves).

In cartoons, city noise sounds like abracadabra, without being tied to any language. Inscriptions on packs, bottles, etc., are also mostly meaningless. The ending of each episode is accompanied by a small musical composition.

Only the names of the series (and credits) are written in French (the language of the country of production) or in English (for foreign rental).

Content

The animation series consists of a mixture of nature shots, mostly the background, and 3D animations. The plot revolves around the daily life of insects and other small animals. The series completely dispenses with language. The simple actions are underlined by gestures or melodies. Especially in fast flights and crashes of insects are often underlined sounds of aircraft, helicopters or motorcycles.

Animation Movies

Two animated feature films in the series have been released in the cinema: Tiny: The Valley of the Lost Ants (2014) and Tiny 2: The Mandibles of the End of the World (2019), both directed by Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo. They take back some of the recurring characters in the series (the ladybug, the black ants and the red ants).

Technique

The environments are real, that is taken live, on the same are added the insects recreated in computer graphics, which have the body "almost" real (that is, faithfully reproduced) but with some detail from cartoon, for example the eyes.

Another peculiarity: the episodes are "silent", there is not even the narrative voice and only the sound of the "environmental" sound and the "verses" of the insects can be heard.

Humans are almost absent in the series, although several episodes are shot in a house or in the city, if a human being appears, his face never appears but is part of the environment (taken up in live action).

The ending of each episode is accompanied by a musical motif, which emphasizes the "moral" of the episode.

Production

Futurikon, a French television company, is producing the series, the premiere took place on France 2 on October 25, 2006. At the end of May 2008, 78 episodes were released, each of which is an independent work with its own plot.

The series also has the full-length film "Insects. Adventure in the Valley of Ants" (2013). The premiere in the Russian Federation took place on May 1, 2014. The film tells about how black ants deliver a found box of sugar to an ant hill, simultaneously defending it from a detachment of red ants. The conflict escalates into a full-scale war and a siege of the anthill, but the ladybug, which the ants found in the box and quickly made friends with, helps to solve the problem.

The authors of the series are Helen Giraud and Tom Szabo, Philippe Delarue - producer of the series. Composer - Herve Lavandier.

Releases

March 22, 2007 in France, 3 DVDs with cartoon series appeared on sale. The fourth disc went on sale September 4, 2007.