6 /10 1 Votes
5.2/10 TV Country of origin FranceCanada Final episode date 11 November 2006 | 6.6/10 IMDb Music by Herve Lavandier No. of episodes 52 First episode date 21 September 2003 Number of seasons 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Created by Richard Zielenkiewicz(as Monsieur Z)Stéphane Melchior-Durand Starring French:Éric JudorRamzy BédiaEnglish:Terrence ScammellRick JonesTony RobinowSonja BallArthur Holden Genres Animated cartoon, Animation, Animated series Cast Ramzy Bedia, Eric Judor, Terrence Scammell, Rick Jones Similar The Tofus, Animal Crackers, Spaced Out, My Goldfish Is Evil, Flight Squad Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ratz is a Canadian/French animated television series created by France's Xilam studios, with joint production from Canada. The show stars two rats, Rapido and Razmo, aboard the S.S. Wanderer, a cheese ship with (seemingly) no actual destination. The focus of the series is on the adventures of the two rats, including guarding the cheese, interacting with other stowaways and various ill-fated encounters with the crew. The rats themselves live in the hull of the ship in a lavish two-bedroom apartment.
Contents
While being targeted at young children in France, the series has gained a small cult following of older ages in Canada, due to its original late night air time. The French version features the voices of the comedy duo Éric et Ramzy, while the English version features the voices of Terrence Scammell as Rapido and Rick Jones as Razmo. Unlike most animated programs designed for a younger audience, Ratz has (except for the episode "The Genie") no moral resolve at the end of each episode.
The show is also notable for its positive portrayal of rats, unusual for Western and North American cultures, which often give its fictional rats selfish, antagonizing and evil characteristics. Also of interest is the pure blend of traditional animation and 3D animation, and the eclectic soundtrack by Hervé Lavandier.
Ratz was originally titled Rapido and featured a chunkier animation style; some websites (including Xilam's own website [1]) still reflect this.
French Television can be seen as kings of culture, where producers turn unpolished shows into culture inspiring pop series. It should not come to any one as a surprise that French animators are also one of the best in the world, although they are much eclipsed by the Japanese counterparts. They had produced many timeless animated classics like Oggy and the Cockroaches, and today, this review will be about another one of French’s best comedic cartoon, Ratz.
Unlike many comedic cartoons which contain a lot of coarse and rude languages, Ratz is specially catered to the young. The 2 cute rats, the tall Rapido and short Razmo, are endearing to kids especially with their actions and antics, meaning your kids will surely love them on their goofy adventures. They live inside a ship, called the S.S Wanderer, which transport cheese to seemingly nowhere (they‘d never reach any actual destination). The 2 of them mostly interact with the crew of the ship, with 3 major humans being of particular interest to the 2 small rats. They are the Captain, Svetlana the Engineer, and the Chef who is seemingly Japanese or Chinese. Ratz regularly run for 22 minutes, with 11 minutes given to each episode, meaning that there are 2 episodes inside 1 showing.
Overall, I feel that Ratz is a great comedy for the young and you may even like it if you are of an older age. With its quirky graphics and memorable and unique characters, you will grow fond of Ratz soon. The adventures which the 2 rats go on are also funny and with 52 episodes in its arsenal, you will take long to finish it. I will rate the cartoon at a high 7.5 / 10. Ratz will be aired on Hungama TV in India from 08 October, 2012 with a Hindi dubbing being available there.
Ratboarding
An integral part of Ratz is the ratboard, a transportation device resembling a mousetrap with a jet engine strapped to the back (though in the episode "The Rat Exterminator", the rats do not recognize an actual mousetrap). The ratboard provides the rats with speedy travel in and around the ship. Rapido is very fond of his ratboard and enjoys challenging Razmo to races, often winning.
Ratboards are also used to reach otherwise inaccessible places, provide speedy rescues, move things by tether or simply to impress guests.
Characters
Razmo is also childish, sometimes speaking to a plush toy and wetting the bed. His interests include playing stringed bass, jazz, counting the cheese, inventing and making friends. In the original Rapido short, Razmo had a Deep South accent; the voice was changed to have a slight Brooklyn accent during production of Ratz.
Oddly, Razmo is called 'Ratz' (as in the name of the show) on the blurb for the show in Sky programme guides.
The crew of the S.S. Wanderer consists of three personnel: Benny the chef, Svetlana the engineer and The Captain. Neither of them is considered a villain in the series, though Benny is the one most enraged by the rats. Usually the crew will return to their normal duties after brushing shoulders with Rapido and/or Razmo. Humorously enough, the crew's diet consists mostly of cheese, which Svetlana hates and Benny is allergic to (although Benny's allergies are not seen or discussed within the show.)
Merchandise
Albums
A single entitled Pas de panique à bord (French for No panic on board), distributed by Sony Music, is marketed in January 2004. It was ranked the twelfth of music charts in the first week with over 70,000 copies sold. An album entitled A fond les bananes! (French for Background Bananas!) with the voices of Éric and Ramzy distributed by Sony Music is marketed 5 April 2004 in France. The theme of the Pas de panique à bord, the opening credits. A video clip of this album with a duration of 90 seconds was broadcast on France 2 and France 3, 5 times a day in April.