Robin (TV series)

Robin
Genre	Animated cartoon
Created by	Magnus Carlsson
Directed by	Magnus Carlsson
Narrated by	Dave Avellone
Theme music composer	Magnus Carlsson
Composer(s)	Magnus Carlsson
Country of origin	Canada Sweden
Original language(s)	Swedish English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	30
Production
Producer(s)	Magnus Carlsson
Running time	3 min (average)
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	1996
Chronology
Related shows	Lisa

Robin is a cartoon created by Swedish cartoonist Magnus Carlsson and narrated by Dave Avellone.

Characters

• Robin is the protagonist who lives in a run down apartment and collects welfare/workfare.
• Benjamin is Robin's best friend. He is a self-described "Cheegro" and drinks heavily.

Plot

Robin's 30 episodes focus on the titular unemployed Swedish bachelor, in his early 20s and his best friend Benjamin. While neither seem to do anything constructive with their lives, they are involved in several misadventures, mostly resulting in a non sequitur ending. The following episode will feature no mention of previous encounters.

The pair (or frequently, Robin alone) will have run-ins with the law, encounter drunks, flashers and other odd characters.

Influence

In 1997, after seeing Robin on Channel 4, British band Radiohead approached Magnus Carlsson to make a video for their song "Paranoid Android" with Robin in it. Carlsson accepted and came up with the original idea for the video after locking himself in his office, staring out the window at a bridge and listening to nothing but Paranoid Android repeatedly.^[1]

During the video of Paranoid Android, the band makes a cameo appearance at a bar, where they are sitting at a table drinking and watching a person with a head coming out of his stomach dancing on their table.^[2]

In 2006, Carlsson made the music video for dance act Daddy DJ. The band were also fans of Robin. The video shows a man who works as a DJ, and whose son watches him via webcam, before his dad gets a recording contract.

Lisa

After Robin, Carlsson created a similar show called Lisa. The titular character was a young girl in a typical family. Like Robin, she also lived in an apartment complex and narrated all her adventures. The show's tone was considerably broader than Robin's, with the show frequently running during children's animation blocks.

Audio production

The 30 episodes of Robin were recorded and mixed in Toronto by Jim Longo and Kevan Staples of Rhythm Division. All the elements used in the compositions by Magnus Carlsson were re-recorded at McClear Pathe and produced by Rhythm Division and Magnus. All music editing, audio post-production, sound effects, narration assembly and final mixing were performed at Rhythm Division.

At the last minute it was decided that the characters needed to have some voice. Seeing as there was no budget or time the non-language voices of all the characters were supplied by Magnus, Jim and Kevan.

Television episodes

References

External links

• Robin at the Internet Movie Database