Fantômette


Fantômette is a series of 52 volumes created in 1961 by Georges Chaulet. The books were destined for young readers and feature a female superhero of the same name. It was published in the Bibliothèque rose series from Hachette Editions. Fantômette's alter ego, Françoise Dupont, is a girl of about twelve years who dresses up in order to fight crime. She has two sidekicks: Ficelle, a tall and not-very-bright blonde, and Boulotte, a short and chubby brunette who is fixated on food. Neither of them are aware of her secret identity, despite meeting Fantômette regularly and idolising her.
Fantômette was the first female superhero in French literature. The Fantômette books were aimed at eight- to twelve-year-old girls. There are 52 books in the series, which is still published today, as well as a comic book series by François Craenhals, a 1993 live-action TV series starring Katia Sourzac, and a cartoon series in 1998.
In 1957, the author, Georges Chaulet, proposed his first series, Les 4 As au collège, to Hachette, one of the biggest French publishers. But Hachette refused, having just bought the rights to all of Enid Blyton's novels, most notably The Famous Five. It was finally Casterman, a French-Belgian publisher, that published it. Very quickly, Les 4 As au collège was adapted as a comic book.
George Chaulet then proposed Fantômette to Hachette, this time accepted. Forty-nine volumes were then published from 1961 to 1987 in the Bibliothèque rose series. In 2006, to celebrate the 150 years of the Bibliothèque rose and after an eighteen-year absence, Georges Chaulet wrote a new book, Le Retour de Fantômette.

List of titles

Here is the complete list of the Fantômette novels in their original order of publication:
  1. 1961: Les Exploits de Fantômette
  2. 1962: Fantômette contre le hibou
  3. 1963: Fantômette contre le géant
  4. 1963: Fantômette au carnaval
  5. 1964: Fantômette et l'Île de la sorcière
  6. 1964: Fantômette contre Fantômette
  7. 1965: Pas de vacances pour Fantômette
  8. 1966: Fantômette et la Télévision
  9. 1966: Opération Fantômette
  10. 1967: Les Sept Fantômettes
  11. 1967: Fantômette et la Dent du Diable
  12. 1968: Fantômette et son prince
  13. 1968: Fantômette et le Brigand
  14. 1969: Fantômette et la Lampe merveilleuse
  15. 1970: Fantômette chez le roi
  16. 1970: Fantômette et le Trésor du pharaon
  17. 1971: Fantômette et la Maison hantée
  18. 1971: Fantômette à la Mer de sable
  19. 1971: Fantômette contre la Main Jaune
  20. 1972: Fantômette viendra ce soir
  21. 1972: Fantômette dans le piège
  22. 1973: Fantômette et le Secret du désert
  23. 1973: Fantômette et le Masque d'argent
  24. 1973: Fantômette chez les corsaires
  25. 1974: Fantômette contre Charlemagne
  26. 1974: Fantômette et la Grosse Bête
  27. 1974: Fantômette et le Palais sous la mer
  28. 1975: Fantômette contre Diabola
  29. 1975: Appelez Fantômette !
  30. 1975: Olé, Fantômette !
  31. 1976: Fantômette brise la glace
  32. 1976: Les Carnets de Fantômette
  33. 1977: C'est quelqu'un, Fantômette !
  34. 1977: Fantômette dans l'espace
  35. 1977: Fantômette fait tout sauter
  36. 1978: Fantastique Fantômette
  37. 1978: Fantômette et les 40 Milliards
  38. 1979: L'Almanach de Fantômette
  39. 1979: Fantômette en plein mystère
  40. 1979: Fantômette et le Mystère de la tour
  41. 1980: Fantômette et le Dragon d'or
  42. 1981: Fantômette contre Satanix
  43. 1982: Fantômette et la Couronne
  44. 1982: Mission impossible pour Fantômette
  45. 1983: Fantômette en danger
  46. 1984: Fantômette et le Château mystérieux
  47. 1984: Fantômette ouvre l'œil
  48. 1985: Fantômette s'envole
  49. 1987: C'est toi Fantômette !
  50. 2006: Le Retour de Fantômette
  51. 2007: Fantômette a la main verte
  52. 2009: Fantômette et le Magicien
  • Hors-serie : ''Les Secrets de Fantômette''

Adaptations

Live-action TV series

The series was first adapted in 1993 starring Katia Sourzac. It uses the characters from the novel in original new adventures. The series was first aired on the French channels France 3 and Canal J on 20 April 1993.
  • Title: Fantômette
  • Realisation: Christiane Spiero, Marco Pauly, Christiane Lehérissey
  • Scenario: based on the Fantômette of Georges Chaulet
  • Décors: Patrick Corrand, Christian Siret, Patrick Bocquet
  • Photography: Jean-Claude Hugon
  • Production: Les Films du 3e étage, France 3, Méditerranée Films Productions, IMA Productions
  • Country: France
  • Language: French
  • Number of episodes: 21
  • Length of episodes: 24 minutes
  • Date of first airing: 20 April 1993

Cartoon

An animated series of 26 episodes of 25 minutes each was produced in 1999. The settings are drastically different from the ones of the novels. The action takes place in an international metropolis named Furtive-Ville instead of the small fictive French city of Framboisy. The young characters have families, sometimes parents in the animated series when they had none and lived independently in the novels.. Françoise is even given a particularly dramatic family past, something that does not exist in the books. Boulotte lose her obsession with food, having instead a passion for animals, while Ficelle appear much more intelligent than in the novels.
As far as graphism goes, the Fantômette of the animated series is heavily influenced by the American animated series of the time such as Batman.

Comic books

A series of comic books following the original scenarios of Georges Chaulet was published from 1982 to 1985 for a total of four albums, drawn by François Craenhals for the first three albums and Endry for the last one.
  1. Fantômette se déchaîne, Hachette, May 1982
  2. Fantomette livre bataille, Hachette, September 1982
  3. Fantômette risque tout, Hachette, March 1983
  4. Fantômette fend les flots, Hachette, January 1985

Miscellaneous