Fantadroms is a Latvian children's cartoon by the production company Studio Dauka. It first aired in the Soviet Union in 1985. The show has no dialogue and drama unfolds through pantomime and expressive noises such as grunts, groans, and laughter. This allows the show to cross language barriers.
| Fantadroms | |
|---|---|
| Genre | science fiction |
| Directed by | Ansis Bērziņš |
| Country of origin | Latvian SSR Latvia |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 7 min |
| Production company | Studija Dauka |
| Original release | |
| Network | Latvijas Televīzija |
| Release | 1985 – 1995 |
The episode "Salt" won the Lielais Kristaps award for best animation in 1985,[1] and further episodes were made sporadically until 1995.
In the early 1990s, Streamline Pictures was planning to release Fantadroms in the United States, but it was scrapped because the company thought the series was too bizarre for American audiences and that the person representing it did not actually have the rights to it.[2]
Plot
editThe main character of the show is a yellow shape-shifting robot called Indriķis XIII, who usually takes the form of a cat. He flies through the universe mediating various disputes between the other characters or saving them from disaster. One recurring dynamic in the show is the love triangle between Indriķis, Receklīte ("clot" in Latvian, a flying purple cat-octopus with whom Indriķis is in love), and The Rat (who is in love with Indriķis). Other recurring characters include a cow, two young humans, and an amorphous pink blob.
Episode list
edit| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | pilot | "Takeoff Field of Fantasy" | Ansis Bērziņš | Ansis Bērziņš | 1984 |
| 1 | 1 | "The Laugh" | Ansis Bērziņš | Ansis Bērziņš | 1985 |
| 2 | 2 | "The Salt" | Ansis Bērziņš | TBD | 1985 |
| 3 | 3 | "The Fire" | Ansis Bērziņš | TBD | 1985 |
| 4 | 4 | "Flowers" | Ansis Bērziņš | Ansis Bērziņš | 1992 |
| 5 | 5 | "Milk" | Ansis Bērziņš | Ansis Bērziņš | 1993 |
| 6 | 6 | "Ice Cream" | Aivars Rušmanis | Ansis Bērziņš, Uģis Segliņš | 1993 |
| 7 | 7 | "The Contest" | Dzintars Krūmiņš | Uģis Segliņš | 1993 |
| 8 | 8 | "Earthquake" | Jānis Kārkliņš | Uģis Segliņš | 1993 |
| 9 | 9 | "Feeding Bottle" | Aivars Rušmanis | Uģis Segliņš, Ansis Bērziņš | 1994 |
| 10 | 10 | "A Little House" | Jānis Kārkliņš | Ansis Bērziņš, Aldis Linē | 1994 |
| 11 | 11 | "Rainbow" | Dace Liepa | Ilze Skrastiņa, Ansis Bērziņš | 1994 |
| 12 | 12 | "Cocoa" | Ilze Ruska | Ansis Bērziņš, Aldis Linē | 1995 |
| 13 | 13 | "Daddy" | Ilze Ruska | Ansis Bērziņš, Aldis Linē | 1995 |
Episodes "Takeoff Field of Fantasy", "The Salt" and "The Fire" got another cut a few years after release, being shortened as a result. "Takeoff Field of Fantasy" was renamed into "The Laugh" on that release.
References
edit- ^ "Laureāti". LielaisKristaps.lv.
- ^ "Streamline Pictures-Part 2". Cartoon Research.
External links
edit- Pasakas.net Archived 2016-12-20 at the Wayback Machine (in Latvian)
- Fantadroms at IMDb
