''Les Shadoks'' () is an animated television series created by French

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

Jacques Rouxel (26 February 1931 – 25 April 2004) which caused a sensation in France when it was first broadcast in 1968–1974.

Synopsis

The Shadoks were bird-like in appearance (in the tradition of cartoon birds they had beaks with teeth), were characterised by ruthlessness and stupidity and inhabited a two dimensional planet. This planet was of irregular shape, which was continuously changing - causing major earthquakes - hence their desire to find a new home world. There was a series of caves on the Shadok planet, known as the "Gulp" which was essentially a prison for undesirables. One Shadok who stood apart from the others was the pirate - who was habitually drunk - and instead of the popular hobby of putting ships into bottles - he liked to put bottles into his ship. Another set of creatures in the Shadok canon are the

Gibis Compendium is a computer program and social science tool that facilitates the mapping and management of ideas and arguments. The software provides a visual environment that allows people to structure and record collaboration as they discuss and w ...

, who are the opposite to the Shadoks in that they are intelligent but vulnerable and also inhabit a two-dimensional planet. The Gibis were polite, always greeted each other formally, and kept their brains inside their bowler hats. The Gibi planet was a flat disc, finely balanced that if one Gibi went to one end of the planet; another would have to go to the far end to keep the planet balanced. Thus, the Gibis also wanted to find a new home world. Ultimately, both saw the Earth as their ideal home - and both began to construct rockets to reach it. The Shadoks were eventually able to leave their world thanks to the improved intelligence of one of their number; who happened to find a hat which one of the Gibis had lost. Once both races reached Earth, much mayhem followed and they eventually realised it was not the ideal home they first thought.

Production

Rouxel claims that the term Shadok obtains some derivation from

Captain Haddock Captain Archibald Haddock (French: ''Capitaine Archibald Haddock'') is a character in the comic book series ''The Adventures of Tintin''. He is Tintin (character), Tintin's best friend, a seafaring captain in the Merchant Navy or Merchant Mar ...

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...

's ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' ( ) is a series of 24 comic albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a c ...

'' and the Gibis (who wear

Bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a Coke hat, billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849 and commissioned by ...

s, which unlike their heads, contain their brains) are essentially GBs (Great Britons).

Legacy

The Shadoks were a significant literary, cultural and philosophical phenomenon in France. Even today, the French occasionally use satirical comparisons with the Shadoks for policies and attitudes that they consider absurd. The Shadoks were noted for mottos such as: * "Why do it the easy way when you can do it the hard way?" * "When one tries continuously, one ends up succeeding. Thus, the more one fails, the greater the chance that it will work." * "If there is no solution, it is because there is no problem." * "To reduce the numbers of unhappy people, always beat up the same individuals." * "Every advantage has its disadvantages and vice versa." * "If there is one chance out of a 1000 to succeed, rush failing the 999 first tries." * "And the shadoks pumped, pumped, pumped..."

About the Shadoks

The Shadoks have four monosyllabic words in their language: "Ga", "Bu", "Zo", "Meu" (French spelling). But their brain have only four cells, so if they had to learn a new word (e.g. "Ni"), they would only remember the last four ones heard. The Shadoks were also noted for their seemingly useless and endless pumping — as the Shadok say: "Better to pump even if nothing happens than to risk something worse happening by not pumping" and "When the Shadoks pumped, nothing happened; and the more they pumped, the more nothing happened."

Broadcast

In 1973, The Shadoks appeared on

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

, London's ITV company (later replaced by

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Tele ...

), in the early evening. Kenneth Robinson provided the narration in English. His narration to The Shadoks is very fondly remembered by those who heard it. On 18 September 2007, Les Shadoks was shown on

Gulli Gulli (; stylised as gulli) is a French free-to-air television channel focused on kids' programming for those aged 3 to 14. It was created as a result of a partnership between Lagardère Active and state-owned broadcaster France Télévisions. ...

's flagship retro block, "Télégrenadine".

Google Doodle

On April 29, 2016, four animated

Google Doodles Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bur ...

were shown on the Google.fr homepage for Les Shadok's 48th anniversary.

Filmography

* 1968: Les Shadoks (first season) * 1969: French people write to the Shadoks. * 1970: Les Shadoks (second season) * 1974: Les Shadoks (third season) * 1999: Les Shadoks et le Big Blank (produced by Canal +, aaa and Cartoon Network Europe)