''Les Aventures électriques de Zeltron'' is an educational children's television series broadcast on

Antenne 2 France 2 () is a French free-to-air public television channel. The flagship channel of France Télévisions, it broadcasts generalist programming including news, entertainment (such as dramas, films, and game shows), factual programmes, and sp ...

Récré A2 Récré A2 was a French children's TV programme broadcast in the 1970s and 1980s, on Antenne 2 (now France 2). It was produced by Jacqueline Joubert and first aired on July 3, 1978, lasting until June 29, 1988. Presenters and staff * Ariane Car ...

program in France and TVJQ in Quebec, Canada. The show was sponsored by

Électricité de France Électricité de France SA (; ), commonly known as EDF, is a French multinational corporation, multinational electric utility company owned by the government of France. Headquartered in Paris, with €139.7 billion in sales in 2023, EDF ope ...

(EDF) and was produced from 1979 to 1982. The companies D-3-mil and CIP Vidéo worked on the show and the staff included Marcel Dupouy. The show features an extraterrestrial named Zeltron (voiced by Michel Elias), who resembles a small green insulator with orange limbs and a bolt on top of his blue head, as he teaches electricity-related subjects and history. Some episodes include his adventures and conversations with Jo and Jessie, a boy and girl living on Earth. Episodes end with a question the viewer can answer through postcard. Another character is the robot Voltix. In the show's production, Zeltron and Voltix are marionettes with different colors than they appear in the show. A process was used to achieve cartoon-like visuals for the two characters. Early in the show's run, the backgrounds were illustrated before switching to reel footage. The character Zeltron was created by François Castan and made earlier appearances at the Salon de l'enfance and ''Les Visiteurs du mercredi'' in 1978. Zeltron was merchandised through products such as comics published by GP, plastic figurines, and a key ring of Zeltron with movable eyes. According to Yves Bouvier of the

University of Savoy A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, Zeltron was the most successful EDF effort at teaching the concepts of electricity and promoting its brand towards children.

References

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External links

Planète Jeunesse - ''Les Aventures Electriques de Zeltron''Eighties.fr - Zeltron et Méthanie, les mascottes d'EDF/GDFEpisode "Safari en Zeltronie" featuring Alain Gillot Pétré
1970s French television series 1980s French television series French children's science fiction television series Science education television series French television shows featuring puppetry