Monster Buster Club

Last updated
Monster Buster Club
Monsterbusterclublogovector.png
Also known asMBC - Chasseurs de monstres
Genre Action
Adventure
Comic science fiction
Police procedural
Science fantasy
Monster of the week
Created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay
David Michel
Written by John Derevlany (Eps. 1-26)
Al Schwartz (Eps. 27-52)
Directed byJean-Louis Vandestoc
Voices of
Theme music composerDavid Vadant
Noam Kaniel
Composers Jeff Fisher
Paul-Étienne Côté
Country of originFrance
Canada
Original languagesFrench
English
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes52 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersVincent Chalvon-Demersay
Sylain Viau
ProducersSylvain Viau
David Michel
Vincent Chalvon-Demersay
Running time22 minutes
Production companies Marathon Media
Image Entertainment Corporation
Original release
Network TF1 (France)
YTV (Canada)
Jetix (Europe)
ReleaseOctober 29, 2007 (2007-10-29) [1]  
November 14, 2009 (2009-11-14)

Monster Buster Club is a French-Canadian animated science fiction television series created by David Michel and Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, it was co-produced by Marathon Media, the animation studio Image Entertainment Corporation, Jetix Europe with YTV and TF1. [2]

Contents

Prior to its debut on Jetix in Europe on 2 June 2008, the series first aired on October 29, 2007 in France on TF1's block TFOU. It premiered on YTV in Canada on May 31, 2008 and June 7, 2008 on YTV's programming block CRUNCH. [3]

Most of the episodes were outsourced to Crest Animation Studios with Autodesk Maya. 52 episodes were produced. [4]

Premise

In a fictional town named Singletown, three human preteens, with the help of their alien friend, reform the "Monster Buster Club" (often abbreviated as MBC), a secret organization that was founded centuries ago. The MBC aims to locate alien criminals, capture them, and send them to intergalactic authorities.

Development and production

Mipcom Jr. 2006

Monster Buster Club was first introduced to the public during Mipcom Jr. in October 2006. Marathon (now Zodiak Kids), the production company behind the show, presented their latest animated television series. Having experienced success with 2D shows like "Totally Spies!", "Martin Mystery," and "Team Galaxy," Marathon aimed to venture into the realm of 3D animation. The show received significant attention at Mipcom Jr., becoming the most viewed French program and ranking as the sixth most-watched overall.

The (lost) Pilot

While exploring the director Jean-Louis Vandestoc's blog, intriguing information about the early development of Monster Buster Club came to light. It was revealed that a pilot episode of the show had been created by a different CGI animation studio in 2005, predating Marathon's involvement. Unfortunately, details about the studio responsible for the pilot remain unknown. Despite thorough web research, no concrete information or traces of the pilot could be found. However, Vandestoc mentioned that some images from the pilot were previously accessible on the official Monster Buster Club website before the show's premiere in France. Contacting the show's producers might be the only way to obtain screenshots or further details about the lost pilot.

Co-production and Budget

Monster Buster Club was a collaborative effort between Marathon Media, Mystery Animation, Jetix Europe, TF1, and YTV. The production of the show required a substantial budget, amounting to approximately 23 million dollars. This significant investment underscores the scale and ambition associated with bringing the series to life.

Animation Development

To initiate the production process and establish the show's distinctive artistic style, Max Maléo, the animation supervisor, traveled to India. His primary objectives included defining the visual direction of the series and refining the parameters for animation. Notably, the animators at Crest Animation, the Indian animation studio involved in the project, initially expressed a desire to incorporate "Matrix-like scenes" into the show. However, Marathon successfully persuaded Crest Animation to adopt a stylistic approach inspired by Disney and Japanese anime, aligning with their creative vision for Monster Buster Club. Determining a cohesive style proved challenging due to the differing cultural references between India and France, as exemplified by the contrasting popularity of Dragon Ball in the two countries.

Notable Production Details

Crest Animation showcased their expertise by successfully animating large crowds in two episodes of Monster Buster Club: the first and eighth episodes of the first season. It's worth mentioning that before Jean-Louis Vandestoc assumed the role of director, the previous director had already approved the scripts for the initial 16 episodes. Consequently, Vandestoc was unable to introduce new scripts due to his dissatisfaction with the existing ones.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 26October 29, 2007 (2007-10-29)December 8, 2008 (2008-12-08)
2 26January 15, 2009 (2009-01-15)November 14, 2009 (2009-11-14)

Characters

Main

Other students

Faculty

Others

Broadcast

Besides Jetix internationally, the series has also been broadcast on several other networks.

Notes

  1. In one episode, Cathy mentions that her alien form has tentacles, and later on her full alien form is revealed.
  2. shown in the episode "The Trouble with Troublemaking", when Cathy gets angry and pushes all his books off his desk getting her a detention
  3. this is shown in the episode "Monster Beaters" when she forces every student to join a school club, leaving the MBC little time to investigate

Related Research Articles

<i>Goof Troop</i> 1992 American animated sitcom

Goof Troop is an American animated sitcom produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The series focuses on the relationship between single father Goofy and his son, Max, as well as their neighbor Pete and his family. Created by Robert Taylor and Michael Peraza Jr., the main series of 65 episodes aired in first-run syndication from 1992 to 1993 on The Disney Afternoon programming block, while an additional thirteen episodes aired on Saturday mornings on ABC. A Christmas special was also produced and aired in syndication in late 1992.

<i>Totally Spies!</i> French teen television series

Totally Spies! is a French anime-influenced animated spy-fi series created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel mainly produced by French company Zodiak Kids & Family France, with seasons three to five being co-produced with Canadian company Image Entertainment Corporation. It focuses on three teenage girls from Beverly Hills, California, who work as undercover agents for the World Organization of Human Protection (WOOHP).

What's with Andy? is an animated children's television series loosely based on the semi-autobiographical Just! book series by Australian author Andy Griffiths. The series is produced by CinéGroupe and aired on Teletoon, with various Disney-affiliated foreign studios and networks involved throughout the production of the series.

<i>Martin Mystery</i> French-Canadian animated television series

Martin Mystery is an animated television series based on the Italian comic book Martin Mystère by Alfredo Castelli. The show was produced by Marathon Animation, and Image Entertainment Corporation. Like with the case of its sister show Totally Spies!, it uses an art style similar to Japanese anime. The series premiered on YTV on 1 October 2003 in its originating country of Canada.

<i>Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!</i> 2000s animated television series

Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! is an American-Japanese anime-influenced television series created by Ciro Nieli. It is produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, with animation being done by The Answer Studio in Japan. The series was the first original show produced for the Jetix block and for the Jetix and Disney channels worldwide, where the show premiered on September 18, 2004. It ran for four seasons composed of 52 episodes, each 22 minutes long.

<i>W.I.T.C.H.</i> (TV series) French animated television series

W.I.T.C.H. is an animated television series based on the Italian comic book series of the same name published by Disney Publishing Worldwide. It was produced by SIP Animation and The Walt Disney Company, with the participation of France Télévisions and Jetix Europe. The show follows five girls – Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin – who have respective magical powers over the classical elements quintessence, water, fire, earth and air, which they use to fulfill their duties as Guardians of the Veil. It takes place in the fictional city of Heatherfield and various mythical worlds, primarily Meridian.

<i>Team Galaxy</i> (TV series) Animated TV series

Team Galaxy is an animated series co-produced by Marathon Media, Image Entertainment Corporation, France 3, Rai Fiction and Jetix Europe in association with YTV. It blends 2D animation with CG elements, and is set at Galaxy High, where a trio of young students try to balance their teenage lives with their training to become Space Marshals. The concept and animation style is similar to that of Totally Spies! and Martin Mystery, other series created by Marathon Media.

<i>Yin Yang Yo!</i> Childrens action animated series

Yin Yang Yo! is an animated television series created by Bob Boyle for Jetix. Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation as the third Jetix original series, it first aired on August 26, 2006, as a sneak peek and premiered on September 4, 2006, in the United States. The show debuted on Jetix in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2007, after a sneak peek preview on January 27, 2007, while making its Canadian television premiere on Family Channel on March 25, 2007. The show's staff consisted of many writers and animators associated with The Fairly OddParents, 6teen, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Invader Zim, Clone High, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and Danny Phantom. Head writer Steve Marmel took an inspiration from various anime like FLCL and anime-influenced shows such as Teen Titans. The series centers on two anthropomorphic twin rabbits named Yin and Yang, and their sensei-like panda figure named Yo, a master of fictional mystical martial arts called Woo Foo.

Michael Donovan is a Canadian voice actor and director.

<i>Pucca</i> (TV series) South Korean animated television series

Pucca is an animated comedy television series based on a series of shorts created by the South Korean company VOOZ Character System. The series revolves around Pucca, a young girl who is in love and infatuated with a ninja named Garu. The series has aired on Champ TV and MBC TV in Korea. The series has also aired on Toon Disney's Jetix block in the U.S., and on the international Jetix channels throughout Europe and Latin America. In Canada, the show had aired on Family Channel.

Jetix Europe N.V. was a European television broadcasting company that owned children's television channels and programming blocks across the Europe and Middle East, such as Jetix and Jetix Play.

<i>Kid vs. Kat</i> Canadian animated television series

Kid vs. Kat is a Canadian animated television series that originally aired on YTV in Canada from October 25, 2008, until June 4, 2011. The series was created and co-directed by Rob Boutilier, developed and produced at Studio B Productions, in association with YTV and Jetix Europe 52 episodes were produced.

<i>Wunschpunsch</i> Childrens animated series

Wunschpunsch is a children's animated series, co-produced by Saban International Paris, CinéGroupe and TF1, with the participation of Ventura Film Distributors B.V. and ARD/Degeto, and with the collaboration from Radio-Canada. The series is inspired by the 1989 German novel The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende. The series aired on Radio-Canada in Canada from October 14, 2000 to March 16, 2002, in France on TF1, in the Netherlands on Disney Channel, in Europe and MENA on Fox Kids and Jetix Play, and in Germany on ARD and KiKa.

<i>Combo Niños</i> French animated television series

Combo Niños is a French animated television series created by SIP Animation in collaboration with Jetix Europe and TF1, aimed towards the 6–10 years old audience. The series is about the adventures of 4 juvenile capoeira practitioners with the mission to protect the city of Nova Nizza from attack by mystical creatures from another dimension called "Divinos".

<i>Lloyd in Space</i> 2001 American TV series or program

Lloyd in Space is an American animated television series, created by Recess co-creators Joe Ansolabehere and Paul Germain. It premiered on February 3, 2001, on ABC on Saturday mornings. The pilot was written by Ansolabehere, Germain and Mark Drop, with the characters designed by Eric Keyes. The series ran for four seasons, airing its final episode on February 27, 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SIP Animation</span> Defunct French animation studio

SIP Animation was a French animation studio, and a defunct subsidiary of BVS Entertainment. By 2009, the company had produced over 390 hours of animated content.

<i>Camp Lakebottom</i> 2013 Canadian TV series or program

Camp Lakebottom is a Canadian animated television series produced by 9 Story Media Group that premiered on Teletoon in Canada on July 4, 2013 and on Disney XD in the U.S. on July 13, 2013. The show airs on Disney Channels worldwide, as well as ABC in Australia.

<i>Counterfeit Cat</i> British-Canadian animated television series

Counterfeit Cat is a British-Canadian animated television series developed by Aardman Animations, Cristina Fiumara, and Ben Marsaud. The series is produced by Wildseed Kids, Tricon Kids & Family, and Aardman Animations in association with Teletoon, with the participation of Disney XD, and with animation provided by Atomic Cartoons. The series follows the lives of a Manx cat named Max and an alien named Gark as they live in an apartment alongside her animal friends, aliens, humans and many more zany adventures together.

References

  1. "Trois nouvelles séries séries sur TFOU à la Toussaint". Jean-Marc Morandini (in French). 10 October 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  2. Telestar.fr (2007-10-23). ""MBC", la relève de "Totally Spies" - Télé Star". www.telestar.fr (in French). Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  3. Kario-khan (2008-06-04). "Golden Owl: MBC: Fausse date sur YTV". Golden Owl. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  4. Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 278. ISBN   9781476672939.
  5. "Me Krog, You Rollins!". MBC. 27 minutes in. Cathy Smith to the principal's office!
  6. 1 2 3 "Characters". MonsterBusterClub.TV. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. she is an alien and although she looks like a 10 year-old earthling, she is actually 250 years old, but on the Rhapsodia age scale she is still only a teenager
  7. Monster Buster Club - S2E1 - The New Recruits, 2 June 2018, retrieved 2023-11-11
  8. "A Matter Of Principals". MBC. 1 minutes in. Your temporary commanding officer is Danny Jackson.
  9. "Frogs in Space". MBC. 9 minutes in. Hi, I'm cathy's latest, and final, boyfriend, jeremy flobotnik.