Tatayet () is a Belgian

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

, operated by Belgian

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

Michel Dejeneffe since 15 December 1975. Dejeneffe performed the character on stage in theater shows for more than 40 years and recorded comedy records with him.

TV show

In the 1980s Tatayet became more prominent in Walloon media thanks to the popular children's TV show ''Le Tatayet Show'' (1986-1992), which was broadcast on the

RTBF The ("Belgian Radio-television of the French Community"), shortened to RTBF (branded as rtbf.be), is a public broadcasting, public service broadcaster for the French Community of Belgium, French-speaking Community of Belgium. Its counterpart i ...

. They even had a minor hit dance single called ''Tous au Cimetière'' (1986).

Media adaptations

In 1990 two comic books albums, ''C'est pas moi, c'est lui'' (1990) and ''C'est pas lui c'est moi'' were made about the TV series, written by

Raoul Cauvin Raoul Cauvin (; 26 September 1938 – 19 August 2021) was a Belgian comics author and one of the most popular in the humorist field. Biography Raoul Cauvin was born in Antoing, Belgium in 1938.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Raoul Cauvin". In België ...

and drawn by Olivier Saive.

Retirement

In 2017 Dejeneffe announced he would retire the character, as well as quit performing on stage.

Sources

Fictional beavers Anthropomorphic beavers Puppets Belgian children's television shows Belgian comedy television shows 1986 Belgian television series debuts 1992 Belgian television series endings Belgian television shows featuring puppetry Television shows adapted into comics French-language television programming in Belgium Fictional characters introduced in 1975 Children's television series about talking animals Belgian comics 1990 comics debuts 1990 comics endings Comics based on television series Comics about anthropomorphic beavers {{Puppet-stub