''Minuscule'' is a French TV series, produced by

Futurikon Futurikon is a French independent production company created in 1996 by Philippe Delarue, the company’s CEO and Producer, and based in Paris. It specializes in the production and international sales of animated programs, feature films and docume ...

and created by Hélène Giraud and Thomas Szabo. The TV series comes in the form of short segments – focusing mostly on a variety of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s – where their mundane, everyday lives take on a humorous turn. Superimposing stylized characters over real-life scenery (of rural

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

), the main characters' comical scenarios come in the form of

silent comedy Silent comedy is a style of film, related to but distinct from mime, invented to bring comedy into the medium of film in the silent film era (1900s–1920s) before a synchronized soundtrack which could include talking was technologically ava ...

. Aside from the main characters, animals and humans may also show up in minor roles, but the show does not utilize any proper spoken dialogue. The series had been compared to popular media by the staff themselves. These include the film '' Microcosmos'', nature-related documentaries from

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

, as well as cartoons by

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American a ...

and cartoons produced for the

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...

Plot

''Minuscule'' has a few short segments per episode, all of which have its own self-contained story. The series also has a variety of specific and well-known insect species (all without proper names, except for the film adaptations), as well as a

gastropod The gastropods (), commonly known as snails and slugs, belong to a large taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, from freshwater, and from land. T ...

, for the main cast. These stories may focus on one of the following characters: Mammals may also occasionally show up, depending on the episode's setting (like a herd of cows on grassland), but seemingly do not care about the insects' shenanigans. While humans were considered as irrelevant characters in the first season, the second season feature the insects explicitly interacting with them (unintentional or not) more.

Production and distribution

''Minuscule'' is produced by Phillipe Delarue, Thomas Szabo and Hélène Giraud at French studio Futurikon.About Us - Futurikon
- Futurikon. Accessed 11 October 2020. The show's generalized country settings and avoidance of spoken dialogue enable universal accessibility and appeal. The series has been sold to more than 100 countries on television and about 30 countries on video.

Other media

The "region 4" DVD set for the first season consists of 3 discs. There were also very few merchandise made for the series, featuring its main characters, like a

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...

bookmark A bookmark is a thin marking tool, commonly made of card, leather, or fabric, used to keep track of a reader's progress in a book and allow the reader to easily return to where the previous reading session ended. Alternate materials for book ...

s and printable activities. Production of a feature film that shared the same creative universe was commenced in March 2012. A feature film titled '' Minuscule - Valley of the Lost Ants'', was released on January 29, 2014. A second feature film, '' Minuscule 2: Mandibles from Far Away'', was released on January 30, 2019.

International broadcast

References

External links

Official Minuscule Website
* {{IMDb title, 0891396, Minuscule 2006 French television series debuts 2000s French animated television series 2010s French animated television series Animated television series about insects French children's animated comedy television series Animated television series without speech