Rayman: The Animated Series

Rayman: The Animated Series is a series of animated short films created by Ubisoft in 1999, based on the Rayman series, following the success of Rayman 2: The Great Escape.

It was meant to be a series of 26 episodes with a projected release during the fall of 2000, but only four were completed when it was cancelled mid-series due to production issues. The series was only broadcast in Europe, but was released on VHS in North America, and additionally on DVD in France prior to the TV airing. The show met with mixed reviews from critics.

Premise

Lac-Mac, Betina, Cookie, and Flips are performers in a galactic circus run by the abusive Rigatoni and his henchman, Admiral Razorbeard. One night, Rayman is brought into the circus as a new performer. Shortly after, Rayman and the other circus performers escape to the city of Aeropolis, where they are forced to hide from a bumbling detective named Grub, who has been hired by Rigatoni to track down the runaway performers.[2][3]

Characters

• Rayman (voiced by Billy West)[4] – The protagonist of the show. He has no limbs, with most of his body floating in the air. In the English dub, he speaks with a New Jersey English accent.[5]
• Betina (voiced by Lacey Chabert)[4] – A kind-hearted humanoid girl, who is particularly close to Flips, but has a rivalry with Cookie due to his rude behaviour.
• Cookie (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui)[4] – A paranoid and condescending anthropomorphic mole.
• Flips (voiced by Candi Milo)[4] – A young female fairy, who cannot speak English and instead communicates via squeaking noises that Betina can understand.
• Lac-Mac (voiced by Danny Mann)[4] – A slightly dumb, linguistically challenged anthropomorphic rabbit who has super strength.
• Rigatoni (voiced by Danny Mann)[4] – The cruel owner of the flying circus and the main antagonist of the show. He is the one who hires Grub to track down Rayman and the other performers after they escape.[3] His name is derived from a pasta of the same name and he has a Brooklyn accent.
• Admiral Razorbeard (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui)[4] – A robot pirate working for Rigatoni, who previously appeared as the main antagonist of Rayman 2: The Great Escape.[2]
• Grub (voiced by Billy West)[4] – A policeman and detective hired by Rigatoni to capture Rayman and his friends.[3] He lives on his own in an apartment building, living one floor below the hideout of Rayman and his friends.

Production and release

On April 1, 1999, the show was announced by UbiSoft as the first animated show in the Rayman series, with a budget of US $7.5 million.[6] According to producer François Pétavy, the series was internationally co-produced by Ubisoft's teams in France (pilot episode, design, storyboard, a scenario portion, layout and post-production), Canada (animation, set modeling, characters integration and rendering), and the United States (script).[7][6] 26 quarter-hour episodes were planned with a release during the fall of 2000.[8][9][10][11]

The series was first shown at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, NATPE, and the Quebec government in 1999.[6][9] The second episode that was shown at those festivals was "No Parking", serving as a pilot episode.[9][10] The show had also been broadcast in Europe (France, Germany and the Netherlands)[12] and the United States.[8] It was also released on VHS in North America,[3][13] and on DVD in France prior to the TV airing.[2][11][14]

The series was cancelled after the fourth episode was completed, leaving a fifth episode unfinished (though Midi Libre also reported the sixth episode had been in production before cancellation).[2][15][16] The cancellation was made due to production issues; Destructoid and Retro Gamer reported that the reason for the show's cancellation was due to a lack of funds.[2][17] Plans to broadcast the show worldwide were also shelved.[2][18]

Reception and legacy

Game Informer praised the show's 3D computer animation visuals, finding it "quite spectacular". Thinking that "this is the look we can expect from Rayman games on the PlayStation 2."[5]

The show's voice actor of Rayman, Billy West, would later voice Murfy's character in Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc released in 2003.[19]

Episodes

See also

• Rabbids Invasion – another TV show based on the Rayman franchise

External links

• Rayman: The Animated Series on RaymanPC.com