Space Goofs


Space Goofs is a French animated television series created by Jean-Yves Raimbaud and Philippe Traversat, produced by Gaumont Multimedia and Xilam for France 3, and broadcast on that network from September 6, 1997, to May 12, 2006. The first season was also on Fox Kids in the United States from 1997–2000, while the second season aired internationally.
The series also served as the basis of an adventure game, developed by Xilam themselves and published by Ubisoft for Windows and Dreamcast called Stupid Invaders in 2000 – which was dedicated to Raimbaud. In contrast to the original show, it featured plenty of toilet humor and slightly more crude, adult content. It also was the first work produced by Xilam to be made for an older audience – the others being the adult animated movies I Lost My Body and Kaena: The Prophecy, and the adult animated series Mr. Baby and Twilight of the Gods.

Plot

Five extraterrestrials from the fictitious planet Zigma B–Candy H. Caramella, Etno Polino, Bud Budiovitch, Gorgious Klatoo and Stereo Monovici–go on a picnic together in space. However, their spaceship crashes into an asteroid, and they fall to planet Earth. They realize that if any human finds out that they are aliens, they could be captured and experimented on by scientists, so they take shelter in the attic of a house that is up for rent.
The aliens have two goals: return to their home planet, and chase away anybody who tries to establish themselves in the house. To remain unknown from humans, the aliens use a device called the SMTV that lets them transform into almost any entity of their choosing, but always cycles through three other unrelated transformations when used.
In the second season, Stereo is now no longer part of the main cast, with said character only being bought back for two episodes. An explanation was provided where Stereo has somehow managed to get back to Zigma B, so Candy, Etno, Bud and Gorgious continue to find a way back home.

Characters

Etno Polino
Candy Hector Caramella
Bud Budiovitch
Gorgious Klatoo
Stereo Monovici
Almost every episode features a new visitor, à la a "villain of the week" formula, who will come to the presumed "vacant" home. These visitors come in a weird variety of characters. While the credits do not specify who, additional voices include:
  • Jim Cummings
  • Billy West
  • Carlos Alazraqui
  • Rob Paulsen
  • Kevin Michael Richardson
  • Tom Kenny
  • Laraine Newman
  • Frank Welker
  • Kath Soucie
  • Grey DeLisle
  • Tara Strong
  • Susanne Blakeslee
  • Kat Cressida
  • Michelle Layton
  • Jessica DiCicco
  • Jackie Gonneau
  • Sirena Irwin
  • Carolyn Lawrence
  • Terrence Scammell
Some characters are voiced by the main cast. This is especially more prevalent in Season 2.

Production

The show's producer, Marc du Pontavice, met creator Jean-Yves Raimbaud at the 1993 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where their first meetings went very well. One such meeting was when Raimbaud invited du Pontavice to his studio, Jingle. Raimbaud had several projects, and one of them, Maison à louer, particularly caught du Pontavice's attention. When Raimbaud spoke to du Pontavice about the series, he mentioned a reference he hadn't yet heard of: The Ren & Stimpy Show. When du Pontavice watched the series upon his return to Paris, he was captivated and impressed by the characters and its groundbreaking animation. Raimbaud and du Pontavice were convinced that this was the model upon which the future of French animation should be built. Raimbaud's projects and John Kricfalusi's model enthused du Pontavice. Raimbaud was the first artist hired by du Pontavice.
In the autumn of 1994, du Pontavice traveled throughout the United States to present several projects he was working on. He had a presentation of Space Goofs with the entire visual concept full of designs with a silhouette so un-childlike and entirely constructed according to its character, the principle of light in a very colorful square on a black background and the aliens' house with proportions. All the sets were created by the series' co-creator, Philippe Traversat.
One of his appointments took him to the office of the head of children's programming at CBS in Los Angeles, where he was surprised to see his interlocutor turn around and return the message he had presented after a brief, well-structured pitch. Du Pontavice hadn't imagined that an American network would be so interested in a project like this, as their tastes are usually quite reasonable, and he showed the series by chance at the end of the meeting, after having tried other, less surprising projects. Unbeknownst to him, du Pontavice was happy about this, because CBS's ratings began to fall in the face of competition from Nickelodeon, so he left the meeting with the promise of a development deal, much to his delight. However, du Pontavice discovered that the network intended to maintain total editorial control and impose its American authors, with the obvious risk of turning them into mere executors, since American animation dominated the world and the market had never seen a French cartoon on its screens, as they had an almost abysmal advantage over them.
Due to the network's terrible proposal, CBS was discarded and France 3 entered the production of the series. Bertrand Mosca, who was preparing to seize power, was irritated by the success of Highlander: The Series and especially by the fact that du Pontavice hadn't thought to present it to him. He was attracted to the show's transgressive side, which was quite audacious for a public service broadcasting program at the time. Mosca took the rare risk of committing to the series against the advice of his colleagues at the channel, and he gives it the largest budget ever granted to a public service animated series. It was not enough to balance the budget, but it was a good amount.
Germany's ProSieben also got involved in the show, and Marie-Line Petrequin, like Mosca, was unsatisfied with the somewhat classic programs that were being aired and dreamed of something new. A few months before they met, she had been charmed by Raimbaud and was willing to work with him. She would become one of du Pontavice's most fervent supporters in the following years. And they closed the deal with the support of Italy's Mediaset. Du Pontavice felt that there was a point when networks are ready to play the game, but he never discussed it with Gaumont, hoping that international sales would offset the excesses he anticipated.
A pilot was produced in early 1995, a kind of three-minute short film that allowed the creators to test all phases of production before launching the bulk of it. Raimbaud volunteered to direct and animate the pilot. Although the result was honorable, it was really far from their American model, as the project seemed more like a pale copy of the Disney style and the production lacked rhythm. He sought out the Ren & Stimpy team, who served as the model for the show; he convinced, with great difficulty, Bob Jaques and Kelly Armstrong to come and spend a year in Paris to launch the series and train young talent. They were joined by their Ren & Stimpy colleagues, Bob Camp and Jim Gomez, who provided voice direction in Los Angeles at Gunther-Wahl Productions and helped with some episode scripts for the series. Gomez brought voice actors for the American dub of the show, such as Charlie Adler, Maurice LaMarche, Danny Mann, Jeff Bennett, and several others. In addition to the American series team, there was Olivier Jean-Marie in animation direction, Thomas Szabó in storyboarding, Nicolas Gallet in scriptwriting, Hugo Gittard in character design, and Hughes Mahoas in set design.
Since part of the animation was done at Sunwoo Entertainment and Big Star studios, production management had to send material every week for the directors to check before sending it, but the Koreans complained that the delivered materials were incomplete. The series team later discovered that Jaques and Armstrong were stealing some sheets of the sent material to disrupt production and force it to proceed as they wished.
It took almost ten months for the first episode to finally reach post-production. Several episodes needed to be delivered to MIPCOM, which took place in early October 1996. The budget had fallen significantly due to these delays and the directors' demands. Du Pontavice didn't see how international sales could compensate for the deficit, and since the other two productions he launched were unsuccessful, sales from these wouldn't make up for this disaster. The series' deficit was almost 9 million francs.
The image editing of the first episode was finally complete, with the animation being a luxurious, expressive, and precise masterpiece. In the following weeks, du Pontavice didn't give up on the project, knowing that only one episode would be ready for MIPCOM, as the others had been postponed. He wanted this episode finished on time and perfect. He put on the pressure, canceled his vacation, and began participating in all the sound effects, music, and mixing sessions.
One essential element for the series' success was the opening sequence, which initially was missing. This worried du Pontavice, as he needed a signature, someone whose music reflected the series, something rock and transgressive. Du Pontavice always believes that the opening sequence is, in a way, the signature of a series, serving two functions for him: a call to action, signaling the start of an episode and drawing the viewer into the television screen, but also playing an important role in creating lasting memories. He always wanted his opening sequences to have their own visual identity and not just a montage of clips from the series.
Raimbaud suggested David Bowie, of whom he was a big fan, but since Bowie was very busy, he came up with Iggy Pop. Not entirely convinced, they contacted the musician's manager, sending some images and a presentation of the series. Two weeks later, Pop sent them a cassette tape with the opening theme accompanied by a simple guitar. A few weeks later, du Pontavice and Raimbaud were invited to Pop's concert in Bercy. He asked them to accompany him backstage at the end of the concert, and Pop and Raimbaud hit it off. Pop went to Paris a few months later to record the opening theme for the series, "Monster Men", at the Gaumont Multimédia studio. There was a remix where it's a bit faster than the normal version of the theme song, made by 2 Lazy.
The first episode of the series in production order, "Maybe Baby", was ready in time a few days before MIPCOM. Du Pontavice was relieved because the result was beyond anything he could have imagined; the series team was very happy. Jaques and Armstrong left the series. Regarding the credits, Jaques and Armstrong stubbornly refuse to put their names on the series against the advice of their agent, not even in the first episode, which they mastered from beginning to end. They are probably convinced that the rest of the series will be of a very low standard, since it was made without them, seen as a funny disregard by du Pontavice's team towards them, as they will in fact continue without them.
The initial screenings of the episode generated polite reactions; buyers found it very entertaining, but their schedules made it difficult to watch the show if it clashed with their other cartoons. Then, a certain John arrived at their booth unannounced. He worked in Los Angeles on the editorial team at Fox, which aired Fox Kids. Two years earlier, du Pontavice had met him during his time in Los Angeles. John came to see the result two years later, which captivated him, but he didn't say anything about it, and in the middle of the episode, he stopped watching and simply said he would return in two hours, taking the DVD with him.
Du Pontavice was confused, but sensed something had happened, and that same afternoon he was summoned by Margaret Loesch and Haim Saban, who announced their intention to make him an offer. Du Pontavice had difficulty hiding his joy, as he was standing before them. Fox Kids was enjoying great success with two programs produced by Saban's company, Saban Entertainment: X-Men: The Animated Series and Power Rangers. When du Pontavice learns about them, Nickelodeon is beginning to threaten their leadership, which was also the reason they bought the series.
When du Pontavice arrives in California a few days later, Saban does everything he can and takes du Pontavice on a personal tour of his production studios. To his surprise, many people seem to know who du Pontavice is during his visit. He later discovers that Haim has released the episode and impressed the artists present. Saban takes him in his limousine. Saban writes the article for du Pontavice, explaining how he plans to promote Space Goofs on air. It's the first time a non-Anglo-Saxon cartoon aired on an American network. Gaumont was delighted with this news. A few days later, back in Paris, du Pontavice signs the contract. He and his team celebrated the news at the Gaumont Multimédia studio, much to their delight. In the United States, the series was originally going to use the original English title, but it was renamed Space Goofs at the last minute.
Du Pontavice's wife, Alix de Maistre, was chosen by him to work as post-production supervisor on the first season, a decision made by du Pontavice himself when one episode of the series, "Rip Van Etno", whose qualities and originality were obvious, was deemed completely beyond the comprehension of a children's audience. De Maistre understood and quickly mastered the narrative and humorous codes of the series. Highly skilled and meticulous in matters of image editing and relevant in all aspects of sound effects and mixing, she played a crucial role in the final quality of the animation.