''Ratz'' is a French-Canadian animated

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

television series created by Richard Zielenkiewicz. The show stars two rats, Rapido and Razmo, aboard the ''S.S. Wanderer'', a cheese-filled ship without an actual destination. The focus of the series is on the adventures of the two rats, including guarding the cheese, interacting with other stowaways and various ill-fated encounters with the crew. The rats themselves live in the hull of the ship in a lavish two-bedroom apartment. The French version features the voices of the comedy duo Éric et Ramzy, while the English version features the voices of Terrence Scammell as Rapido and Rick Jones as Razmo. The show premiered its first episode, "Cheese Connection" on March 7, 2003, on

Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...

, and the series finale episode, "Tomo the Sumo" aired on November 11, 2003. A previously unaired episode, "The Little Orphan", premiered on January 17, 2004. It can be streamed online since March 25, 2020 on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

, released in French first. ''Ratz'' was originally titled ''Rapido'' (in an unaired pilot) and featured a chunkier animation style. Also of interest is the pure blend of

traditional animation Traditional animation (or classical animation, cel animation, or hand-drawn animation) is an animation technique in which each frame is drawing, drawn by hand. The technique was the dominant form of animation of the 20th century, until there wa ...

and

3D animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Modern ...

, and the eclectic soundtrack by Hervé Lavandier.

Plot

''Ratz'' mainly focuses on a duo of the eponymous rats, Rapido and Razmo, whose contrasting personalities often have them butt heads with each other. The only thing they both share is their love of cheese and live on board the S.S. Wanderer for that very reason. As they have occasional encounters with the ship's crewmates, or even get involved, the duo have all sorts of wacky misadventures. Some of the episodes also involve the rats having to deal with new one-shot characters.

Characters

The series' titular duo are composed of two pitch-black rats, Rapido and Razmo, wearing helmets (with goggles attached) and outfits akin to a modern-day pilot (in red and blue, respectively), with elongated ears, lavender eyemask patterns and long snouts. Razmo is erroneously called "Ratz" on the blurb for the show in Sky program guides. *Rapido is a

jet set The jet set is a social group of wealthy and fashionable people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term was introduced in 1949 and replaced " café society"; it reflected a style of life ...

-wannabe with a huge ego to maintain. To get over his large self-doubts and low self-esteem, he acts condescendingly and often boasts having personal connections to various celebrities. Rapido is also a hypocrite, scolding Razmo sharply for engaging in an activity, then secretly pursuing the same later on. Rapido only has interest in himself and will not aide Razmo at all, unless the situation adversely affects himself. His interests include ratboard racing, celebrity magazines, fashion,

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

, feeling important and wooing women. He is voiced by Terence Scammell, but was voiced by

Ron Pardo Ron Pardo is a Canadian actor and comedian. He has performed roles in over 90 animated series. On ''Paw Patrol'', Pardo has voiced Cap'n Turbot since the first episode, and later voiced the breakout villain Mayor Humdinger as well as various ot ...

in the pilot. *Razmo is the shorter and stouter rat. He is a highly productive genius and mechanic, having invented the ratboard and being responsible for all mechanical and electrical issues. He is also forced to perform all chores as Rapido never lends a hand. This has led Razmo to become depressed, emotionally scarred and obsessive-compulsive. Razmo is also childish, sometimes speaking to a

plush toy A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys ...

. His interests include playing stringed bass, jazz, counting the cheese, inventing and making friends. In the original ''Rapido'' short, Razmo had a

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion of the Southern United States. The term is used to describe the states which were most economically dependent on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States, plant ...

accent; his voice was changed to have a slight

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

accent. He is voiced by Rick Jones, but in the pilot, he was voiced by

Scott McCord Scott McCord is a Canadian actor. He has performed on film, television, animation and on stage. He is a member of ''The Actors Studio''. On television he has appeared in series regular, recurring and guest starring roles. Career He plays the m ...

. The rats themselves also have a means of transport (animated using

cel-shaded Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a Color gradient, shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often us ...

3D). An integral part of ''Ratz'' is the ratboard, a device resembling a

mousetrap A mousetrap is a specialized type of animal trap designed primarily to catch and, usually, kill Mouse, mice. Mousetraps are usually set in an indoor location where there is a suspected infestation of rodents. Larger traps are designed to catch ...

with a

jet engine A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...

strapped to the back. The ratboard provides the rats with speedy travel in and around the ship. Rapido is very fond of his ratboard and enjoys challenging Razmo to races, often winning. Ratboards are also used to reach otherwise inaccessible places, provide speedy rescues, move things by

tether A tether is a cord, fixture, or flexible attachment that characteristically anchors something movable to something fixed; it also may be used to connect two movable objects, such as an item being towed by its tow. Applications for tethers incl ...

or simply to impress guests. In spite of the ratboard's peculiar design choice, the rats humorously enough do not recognize an actual mousetrap, as seen in the episode "The Rat Exterminator". It is also seen in another episode that other rats can also ride on their own ratboards. The crew of the S.S. Wanderer consists of three personnel: Benny the chef, Svetlana the engineer and The Captain. They aren't intended as the villains of the show, though, Benny is the one most enraged by the rats. The crew will usually return to their normal duties after brushing shoulders with Rapido and/or Razmo. Humorously enough, the crew's diet consists mostly of cheese (their cargo), which Svetlana hates and Benny is allergic to (although said allergies are not seen or discussed within the show). *The Captain is a Scottish seaman and veteran of the seas. He is the only person who knows the final destination of the cheese in the cargo hold. Over the years, he has gone from a rather serious captain to a rather goofy one, often falling into reverie or suggesting absurd courses of action during crises. All of his orders are directed towards the other two crew members. The Captain is voiced by Tony Robinow. *Svetlana, the Russian engineer. She is responsible for keeping the S.S. Wanderer afloat and is usually found in situations requiring her massive size and strength. Despite her role on the ship, Svetlana attempts to act feminine whenever possible, which isn't very often. She is often talking to or conspiring with Benny. Sveltana is voiced by Sonja Ball. *Benny, the Japanese chef. Benny is the only one that will give chase to the rats. Despite having five years of culinary arts under his belt, Benny is usually preparing

soufflé A soufflé () is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word ''soufflé'' is the past participle of the Fr ...

s or

sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made with , typically seasoned with sugar and salt, and combined with a variety of , such as seafood, vegetables, or meat: raw seafood is the most common, although some may be cooked. While sushi comes in n ...

for the rest of the crew. He is usually interrupted by Rapido and Razmo when he brings aboard a live animal to be slaughtered. Benny is voiced by Arthur Holden.

Episodes

Reception

The series has no notable reviews and thus holds no

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

score. While being targeted at young children in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the series has gained a small

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

of older ages in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, due to its late-night timeslot. The show is also notable for its positive portrayal of

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

s, unusual for

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n cultures, which often give its fictional rats selfish, antagonizing and evil characteristics. The show is also fondly remembered in

, where it aired on

France 3 France 3 () is a French free-to-air Public broadcasting, public television network. The second flagship network of France Télévisions, it broadcasts a wide range of general and specialized programming. France 3 is structured as a Region ...

in 2003,

Canal J Canal J (stylised as canal J, ) is a French pay television channel dedicated to children's programming. It is aimed at children aged 7 to 12. On 1 February 2019, M6 Group entered negotiations to acquire the television unit of Lagardère Ac ...

in 2004, Boing in 2012 and

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. ...

in 2008.

Merchandise

* ''Ratz'' has Region 2

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

volumes out in France and Belgium, released by France Télévisions and Warner Home Video, containing eight episodes per DVD. * A few albums, ''A fond les bananes !'' and ''Pas de panique à bord'' , featuring Éric et Ramzy, has also been released in France. The show's theme song "Pas de panique à bord", the record's opening track, was a minor hit in France. * In Fall 2004, Smoby Toys released the toy line based on the show such as velvet furred dolls, real working play sets and plushies just like the show of the same name. But as of 2006, Smoby has discontinued the show's toy line. *''Ratz'' had CGI-animated music videos that were released on the

Sparx Animation Studios Sparx* Studios (stylized as SPARX*) is a French-Vietnamese visual effects, 3D art, game and animation studio. Originally founded as Sparx Animation Studios in 1995, it initially worked primarily on animated feature films. In 2011, Virtuos purcha ...

website, along with

, with eight songs based from the album of the same name.

References

External links

Official site (in French)

*

{{Xilam Canadian children's animated comedy television series French children's animated comedy television series French children's animated adventure television series Canadian children's animated adventure television series Xilam 2003 Canadian television series debuts 2004 Canadian television series endings Teletoon original programming France 3 original programming Animated television series about mice and rats 2000s Canadian animated comedy television series 2000s Canadian children's television series 2003 French television series debuts 2004 French television series endings 2000s Canadian animated television series 2000s French animated television series Canadian English-language television shows France Télévisions children's television series Children's television series about talking animals