''La Bande à Ovide'', a.k.a. ''Ovide and the Gang'', is a 1980s animated TV show produced by the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

animation studio

CinéGroupe CinéGroupe is a Canadian animation studio based in Montreal, Quebec. The company was founded in 1974. Its shows and films have been seen in over 125 countries. Notable franchises from CinéGroupe include: ''What's with Andy?'', ''The Kids from R ...

(who also produced

Mega Babies ''Mega Babies'' is an animated children's television series created by the Tremblay brothers, Christian and Yvon, who previously had made the Hanna-Barbera show '' SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron''. It is produced by CinéGroupe and Landmark Enter ...

, Sharky and George and

The Little Flying Bears ''The Little Flying Bears'' ( hr, Leteći medvjedići) is an animated television series produced by Zagreb Film and CinéGroupe. It was a Canadian production which originally aired in 1990. This cartoon helps children realize the importance of ...

) in association with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

's Odec Kid Cartoons. It ran on Télévision de Radio Canada starting October 17, 1987, to 1989 and also goes by the names "Ovide Video" and "Ovide's Video Show"; the series gained popularity in the United Kingdom when it was broadcast on the

Children's BBC BBC Children's and Education is the BBC division responsible for media content for children in the UK. Since the launch of specially dedicated television channels in 2002, the services have been marketed under two brands. CBBC (short for Chil ...

service in 1988 and 1989 in a Friday afternoon slot before switching to

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. The characters were created and designed by Bernard Godibr>
in cooperation with Belgian comics artist and animator

Nic Broca NIC may refer to: Banking and insurance companies * National Insurance Corporation, Uganda * NIC Bank, a commercial bank in Kenya Politics, government and economics * National Ice Center, an agency that provides worldwide navigational ice a ...

, who had previously designed the

Snorks ''Snorks'' is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and ran for a total of four seasons (consisting of 65 episodes) on NBC from September 15, 1984, to May 13, 1989. The program continued to be available in syndication from 1987 ...

for SEPP. The show premiered in the United Kingdom on January 17, 1990.

Synopsis

The show stars a blue

platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal Endemic (ecology), endemic to Eastern states of Australia, eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypu ...

named Ovide who lives on a non-descript South Seas island, where he has adventures with his friends and thwarts Cy and Bobo, the show's villains.

Main characters

*Ovide – The main character of the show. A duck-billed

, he is the unofficial leader of the group, and is smart, responsible and kind hearted. Ovide is voiced by

Thor Bishopric Thor Bishopric (born September 6, 1963) is a Canadian actor and writer. He is a prominent member of ACTRA. Bishopric has performed roles in television and film, and provided his voice for animated and puppet productions and several films for The ...

. *Saphron – Saphron is Ovide's cousin, and also a platypus. He is a good cook and gardener. Saphron is voiced by Terrence Scammell. *Polo – A feisty red

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

who always carries around a broom. The island's janitor and the "tough guy" of the group, and he's always trying and failing to catch Woody, a destructive

woodworm A woodworm is the wood-eating larva of many species of beetle. It is also a generic description given to the infestation of a wooden item (normally part of a dwelling or the furniture in it) by these larvae. Types of woodworm Woodboring beetle ...

. Polo is voiced by Terrence Scammell. *Groaner – A white

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five ge ...

, and one of Ovide's friends. His name comes from the fact that he's always telling weak jokes which make people groan. Groaner is voiced by Dean Hagopian. *Doe, Rae & Mi – Protagonist

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

s, always on twigs or the couch. Their names come from the first three

solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, Pitch (music), pitch and sight-reading of Western classical music, Western music. Solfège is ...

syllables, and they visually represent the

three wise monkeys The three wise monkeys are a Japanese pictorial maxim, embodying the proverbial principle "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The three monkeys are * Mizaru, who sees no evil, covering his eyes * Kikazaru, who hears no evil, covering ...

: Doe wears

headphones Headphones are a pair of small loudspeaker drivers worn on or around the head over a user's ears. They are electroacoustic transducers, which convert an electrical signal to a corresponding sound. Headphones let a single user listen to an au ...

hearing music (Hear no Evil), Rae wears

sunglasses Sunglasses or sun glasses (informally called shades or sunnies; more names below) are a form of protective eyewear designed primarily to prevent bright sunlight and high-energy visible light from damaging or discomforting the eyes. They can s ...

(See no Evil), and Mi almost always covers his mouth, and sometimes

hiccups A hiccup (scientific name ''singultus'', from a Latin word meaning "to catch one's breath while sobbing"; also spelled hiccough) is an involuntary contraction (myoclonic jerk) of the diaphragm that may repeat several times per minute. The hic ...

(Speak no Evil). *Matilda – A female

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

. Not originally from the island, she mistook the others for

cannibals Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...

and hid from them, but then warmed up to them. She is skilled with herbal remedies and with the boomerang. She is first seen in episode 18. *Cy Sly – The primary antagonist of the show. He is a vain, scheming, megalomaniacal

python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

. He is jealous of Ovide and wishes to overthrow him and gain control of the island. Cy is voiced by A.J. Henderson. *Bobo – Cy's bumbling,

Keel-billed toucan The keel-billed toucan (''Ramphastos sulfuratus''), also known as sulfur-breasted toucan or rainbow-billed toucan, is a colorful Latin American member of the toucan family. It is the national bird of Belize. The species is found in tropical jungl ...

minion and only friend. Refers to Cy as "Boss". Despite his association with Cy, he has a good heart and wishes Ovide and his friends no ill-will. Bobo is also let off the hook a lot, unlike Cy who always suffers the consequences. Bobo is voiced by Terrence Scammell. *Woody – A mischievous woodworm who tunnels around the island. He is known to alter the state of bowling games and gnaw holes into the base of Ovide's home. He is in constant conflict with Polo. *Alvin – A blue

three-toed sloth The three-toed or three-fingered sloths are arboreal neotropical mammals . They are the only members of the genus ''Bradypus'' and the family Bradypodidae. The four living species of three-toed sloths are the brown-throated sloth, the maned sloth ...

who lives in the forest of the island. His role in the cartoon is (more often than not) very minor and the only word he can pronounce is "Aye". *Newscaster Lady – A pink-haired platypus whose name has not been revealed. She is the constantly-occurring face on television and the information she provides is beneficial to Ovide (and even Cy at times). *

Role of television in ''Ovide''

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

plays an important role in this series. In every episode, Ovide and his friends are watching a programme; Ovide carries a brown

briefcase A briefcase is a narrow hard-sided box-shaped bag or case used mainly for carrying papers and equipped with a handle. Lawyers commonly use briefcases to carry briefs to present to a court, hence the name. Businesspeople and other white collar ...

which contains a portable TV set; and there's a wandering TV on the island that approaches the characters at crucial moments and provides information important to the plot. Every time Cy sees the TV, he apparently becomes entranced by it.#

Episodes

A number of these episodes were released on VHS by Celebrity Home Entertainment for the "Just for Kids" series, hosted by Noel C. Bloom Jr. during the late 1980s and (assumingly) early 1990s.

References

External links

*
Ovide
' a
ClassicKidsTV.co.uk
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ovide And The Gang Canadian children's animated comedy television series Fictional monotremes Ici Radio-Canada Télé original programming Television shows filmed in Montreal 1987 Canadian television series debuts 1989 Canadian television series endings 1980s Canadian animated television series