May 21, 2008

Horse 883 - Robo Story





I have been looking for details of this cartoon for ages, and now I finally have some screen caps to prove that I am not totally bat-crap insane.

Robo Story was a 52 episode French cartoon series produced by Belokapi which first aired in 1985. In France it was shown on France 3 at 11:30 at night but didn't really gain worldwide note until Cosgrove Hall redubbed it and it was shown on BBC2 and the ABC.

he series revolved around Myrtille (or 'Blueberry' as she was known in the English version) trying to get to her space-shuttle so she could return to Earth. Her attempts were frequently thwarted by an incompotent enemy called the Wrigglers, whose leader spoke to an unseen voice and reminded him that he was "the lowest of the low"

The series employed a quite idiosyncratic style of animation, notable especially for its dark tone and sparse, industrial soundtrack. Admittedly it's not hide behind the sofa stuff like Dr.Who but if you're 8 years old and watching your favourite characters die, then it's still not very nice.

This series belongs most definitely in the 80s alongside other cartoons like Belle and Sebastian, The Mysterious Cities of Gold, Ulysees 31 and Astroboy. The problem is finding copies of DVDs for all of these. The 80s were just in the realm of videotape, and so copies deteriorate much faster than the movietone film of Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons of the 50s and 60s - so I am on the hunt now.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes, I remember robo story. But it was not shown on bbc2. I remember it being on itv round about noon. There are some clips on you tube. I've all so been on the hunt for this series for years.