Zig & Sharko
| Zig & Sharko | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Olivier Jean-Marie |
| Directed by |
Olivier Jean-Marie (season 1) Andreś Fernandez (season 2) |
| Composer(s) | Vincent Artaud (Season 2) |
| Country of origin | France |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 156 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Marc du Pontavice |
| Producer(s) | Marc du Pontavice |
| Running time | 7 mins |
| Production company(s) |
Xilam Canal+ (season 1) TF1 (season 1) Gulli (season 2–) Super RTL (season 2–) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Canal+ |
| Original release | December 21, 2010 |
Zig & Sharko is a French animated series of 156 episodes of 7 minutes that is created and directed by Olivier Jean-Marie and produced and executive produced by Xilam Animation, known for their animated series A Kind of Magic, Ratz, Space Goofs and Oggy and the Cockroaches. The series was broadcast from December 21, 2010 on Canal+, and is available in the United States of America on Netflix and was formerly on ToonsTV. In the original French as well as in most foreign versions, none of the characters speak apart from unintelligible vocalizations, instead resorting to gestures and other forms of nonverbal communication, including the occasional use of pictograms in speech balloons. The exception is the Hindi version broadcast in India, in which dialogue is dubbed over the original animation.
Main characters
Zig is a brown hyena living on a lone volcanic island who tries to capture and eat Marina. Often with the help of Bernie, Zig attempts to catch Marina using a number of overly complicated schemes reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote. However, Zig's schemes routinely end in failure, foiled by Sharko, bad luck, or both, often with grievous bodily injury. Zig is the only main character apparently incapable of functioning both on land and in the water unassisted, as he needs some sort of breathing apparatus (usually a snorkel) if in the water for an extended period.
Sharko is a large great white shark, Sharko is both Marina's bodyguard and love interest, protecting her from Zig and other threats. Sharko despises Zig and generally pummels him every chance he gets, even in instances when Zig is not an imminent threat to Marina. Sharko is intensely loyal to Marina, routinely going out of his way to appease her and her sometimes frivolous requests. He is a fan of table tennis and is often seen playing it with Marina or a minor character (often an octopus).
Marina is a beautiful mermaid who often sits on a rock in the lagoon near Zig's island. Generally good-natured although quite naïve, Marina maintains a good relationship with most of the other characters, even Zig, as she seems to be oblivious to the fact he wants to eat her. Unlike almost many other mermaid characters, Marina is able to function out of the ocean without difficulty, using her flippers as feet. In addition to her rock Marina has a house presumably nearby on the sea floor, which she shares with Sharko. Marina enjoys singing, which Sharko dislikes. Nevertheless, her singing is popular with the local marine life and often has a Siren effect on passing ships. In the episode "A Tale of Two Legs," it is strongly implied Marina was born on Zig's island to a mermaid mother and a human father.
Bernie is an intelligent male hermit crab who lives on the island with Zig. Bernie and Zig are best friends, and repeatedly collaborate in schemes to capture Marina. Despite this Bernie doesn't seem to hold any particular grudge against Marina or Sharko, and indeed even saves Marina on several occasions when she is threatened by someone other than Zig.
Other characters
- Island animals. Several animals live on the island with Zig and Bernie, including monkeys, snakes, a gorilla and a pair of elephant seals. These animals often wind up as unwitting pawns in Zig's ongoing conflict with Sharko.
- Aquatic animals. Various unnamed fish, octopi and other marine animals serve as minor characters throughout the series. They are often used as tools by the main characters in a manner similar to The Flintstones. For example, sawfishes double as power saws.
- King Neptune, king of the sea. He is depicted as a vain, muscular merman assisted by numerous killer whale henchmen. Neptune is smitten with Marina, although he is one of the few characters she dislikes. He is known as Mutton Ki Dukan on Nickelodeon India. He frequently comes into conflict with Zig, Bernie and Sharko.
- The Narrator, who is exclusively in the Hindi version.
- Insane Dolphin, an insane dolphin who appears in two episodes - "Waterski Hit" and "The Return of the Crazy Dolphin," both times assisting Zig in his schemes with disastrous results. Among other things, the Crazy Dolphin repeatedly mistakes passing cargo ships for enemy aircraft carriers, which he attempts to blow up with the mines always on his person. At the end of both episodes, he blows the island up with his mines.
- Survivor, a caveman who appears in the episode "A Lovesick Survivor." He had a crush on Marina, but he also had a fear of Sharko and he was a rival of Zig. He also had cameo appearances in the episodes "At Your Service" and "The Tiny Tyrant".
- Fisherman, a man who wants to have Marina join his show and is the enemy of Sharko. He appeared in the episode "Liberate Marina".
- The Manic Mermaid, a blonde mermaid who tries to steal Sharko away from Marina. The color of her tail is the same as King Neptune's.
- Sharko's Rival, a manta ray who kisses Marina in the episode "The Challengers."
- Adult Seal, the assistant of the fisherman in the episode "Liberate Marina."
- The Coach, a large cat that crashed on Zig's island in a crate. The Coach looks like a Jaguar but, a scene depicts him as a cheetah running across the African Savannah. Dealing with an enormous fear of water, he attempts to coach Zig in his quest to capture Marina.
- Jellyfish, a creature who steals Zig's eyes in "Magical Jellyfish".
- A nearsighted seaman, who in a running gag repeatedly crashes his cargo ship onto the island. In several episodes Zig uses items found in the cargo hold, such as toys and construction sets, in his ongoing efforts to capture Marina.
- Stanley is a Piranha.
Nominations and awards
The episode titled Birthday Party is part of the official selection at the Annecy Animation Festival 2011 in the category 'TV Shows'.
External links
- (English) Page devoted to the series on the site of Xilam
- Zig & Sharko at the Internet Movie Database