MINUSCULE MARINE CREATURES
ARE SET TO CONQUER THE WORLD
Find the most twisted Plankton on
www.planktoninvasion.com
https://www.facebook.com/PlanktonInvasion#!/PlanktonInvasion.TVseries
http://twitter.com/#!/PlanktonInvasio
FOREWORD
It is with pleasure that we present you PLANKTON INVASION.
The meeting with creator Joeri Christiaen and his totally hilarious project was a great moment
in the history of TeamTO. Joeri shares with us very strong environmental convictions, and his
humor and non-moralistic approach has helped enrich a great relationship.
PLANKTON INVASION is the first animated series that deals with the serious subject of climate
change from a comedy angle.
Thanks to Canal+ we’ve been working with scriptwriters, CG artists and animators and a few
long weeks later… here are Captain STAR, ANNA and PULPO who take their first steps on the
air… and they are not ready to let go !
BREAKING NEWS – BREAKING NEWS – BREAKING NEWS – BREAKING NEWS – BREAKING NEWS – BREAKING NEWS – BREAKING
Plankton are surfacing!
Tiny and not very well informed but intensely funny !
PLANKTON INVASION introduces a trio of elite plankton forces.
These three minuscule marine creatures, full of energy and imagination, face their toughest ever mission
Their goal:
Warm up the planet
Melt the ice caps
Drown all land
Rule the world
The tentacled-trio has been put in charge of
Operation « Global Warming »
Their crazy plan :
Fortunately, they’re
not very smart,
INVADE THE WORLD
not very well informed,
not very organized,
not very talented,
and most of all
not very BIG …
They don’t want to save the world. They want to drown it!
Their genius idea :
Their unique goal :
ACCELERATE
THE MELTING
OF ICE CAPS
ACCELERATE
GLOBAL
WARMING
THE HEROES OF THE SERIES
AN HILARIOUS TEAM WHO WANT TO FLOOD PLANET EARTH
Prepare for the revenge of the infinitely small…
CAPTAIN JOHN C. STAR
The veteran
« One small step for mankind, but a shrimp jump for the
Planktonic invasion! »
ove
« Come on, m
e first to fl
your gills! Th
der! »
inch is a floun
showing
the only one who’s
« Doctor Medusa –
ach, is me! »
muscles on this be
his
John C. Star was the greatest marine soldier the
Plankton army had ever seen.
But one day, he became an adult starfish and he
had to retire.
Left with memories, he regrets his days as a
legendary captain; he misses the thrill of the
action and being a hero.
« Mister KYOTO! I’m gonna track down that son-of-a-fish and crush him like a bug!”
Recalled back to duty by the Commander
for Operation: “Global Warming”, he’s now
ready for a comeback !
Besides his military expertise, John has a burning passion for
fire and blowing stuff up. He always has his matches with
him; they are his favorite weapons.
DOCTOR ANNA MEDUSA
The rebel princess
« Your stubbornne
ss is playing into
Mister Kyoto’s
favor. »
« And me, what do I do meanwhile? Buff my tentacles? »
« Sure Captain! My fa
ther loooves starfish
in
underpants! »
« First of all, Star, I am a diplomat and a scientist. And secondly, I
happen to be a jellyfish… with a lethal sting! »
« John, would you be so kind as to watch your language…
Holy whale Captain ! »
She is gifted with exceptional powers and knowledge.
Anna glows in the dark and can make herself transparent, like
most jellyfish.
She has astounding strength and agility: she can put a sea
elephant to sleep just by touching him with her tentacles,
coated with a powerful anesthetizing poison.
Daughter of the Commander’s, she has smarts, and is a
brilliant scientist. Well… on a planktonic scale at least!
She has a fascination for dry land and she has accepted
to join Operation “Global Warming” in order to quench
her thirst for knowledge about life outside the ocean.
As a consequence, she often has an ‘experimental
approach’ to the problems they face, and this just as
often blows up in their faces,
or to be more precise, in the captain’s face.
SERGEANT POULPO KALAMAREZ
Communications officer
Pulpo is an IT and communications expert. He’s a real geek!
He compensates his lack of strength, courage and brains with
unbridled enthusiasm.
« Meee apologees, Capitan ! I did not do it on
porpoise ! »
« Capitan, nooo! Capitan, what a
now?! »
tragedy… and how will I get down
« Santa Madre Beluga ! »
You’ll never see him without his ComShell: a mobile
communication device that enables him to log onto the
Internet or transmit long distance wireless communications
as well as receive instructions from the Commander.
When he gets scared, he shoots off a black, sticky ink.
e?! What
« Madre Kalamara! What have I don
done?! »
have I
« Theeee doctor’s daddy was a beet severe Cap-i-tain. But he’s right
about one thing no ? Perhaps we really are a big stinkers ?! »
Ever since the beginning of time,
squids have been known as fierce warriors.
Unfortunately, Sergeant Kalamarez didn’t inherit any of his
ancestors’ qualities: he’s not strong, nor big, nor fierce.
He admires the Captain, his all-time hero.
COMMANDER MEDUSA
Supreme chief
« Do you want a one-way ticket to the North Pole, Captain Star?! »
He is Anna’s father.
As a small boy François Medusa fell madly in love with
dry land. He could have become the greatest dry land
specialist in the Plankton world.
But when he reached adolescence that dream was
shattered. As he grew older his body began to develop
long, plump tentacles instead of short, sturdy ones. His
new tentacles made it impossible for him to walk on
dry land.
ly elite co
myself : are you real
k
as
st
mu
I
,
lts
su
re
« Given the
mbat soldiers…»
« You’ve got 24 hours to get the earth temperature to rise by
one degree. If you fail, you will be dismissed! Execution! »
e ice barrier ! »
« Victory or th
He turned his back on science and tried his luck at
Plankton politics and quickly climbed the hierarchy of
command.
Today, he has become a dictator whose only goal is to
invade all dry land. As quickly as possible.
Plankton are landing on
and
On air on November 5th 2011
The french language version will begin transmitting in France in Autumn 2011.
All 78 x 7’ English language episodes will be available in Autumn 2012.
An eco-friendly production !
PLANKTON INVASION gets on to an essential thematic field,
from a comedy angle.
UNESCO support
PLANKTON INVASION engages with
ECOPROD is a partnership approach whose objective is to make
audiovisual and film production more environmentally responsible.
Until now focused on live-action shootings, ECOPROD has enabled to
measure the carbon-impact of the episodes of the series, a first in the
animation industry. This carbon footprint is shown in the series’
credits.
For the first time, the worldwide organisation
supports an animated TV series.
By rewarding the series with the ‘United Nations Decade for
Education for Sustainable Development’ label, the UNESCO
recognises the educational approach
taken by PLANKTON INVASION.
An original approach on issues that the United Nations consider
priorities for the coming years.
‘United Nations Decade for Education for
Sustainable Development’
label from the UNESCO
THE SERIES IN A CRAB SHELL…
The environment is a truly global issue
PLANKTON INVASION contributes to the awareness of what is at stake
Stories and gags are based on
actual climatic events.
Each episode deals with a real fight against climate change:
methane produced by livestock, the mercury in batteries, renewable energies etc.
An endless source of energy, humour
PLANKTON INVASION approaches an important subjects from a humorous and ironic angles
The Hollywood look-and-feel
Fun nods and winks to memorable movies,
great one-liners, fast pacing and powerful music…
SAMPLE EPISODES OF
Operation John Quixote
Operation Methane
An offshore wind turbine project is on the point of coming
to fruition. The Commander asks the hit squad to thwart
this new Kyoto plot … but Star dozes off during the
briefing. Convinced that he has understood the mission, he
attacks the many windmills on the beach… in fact, brightlycoloured toy “windmills” with which the children are
playing. Like a Planktonic Don Quixote, he will sow chaos
and destruction to bring down these “weapons of mass
carbon destruction”.
Anna Medusa discovers that certain creatures called “cows”
emit a polluting gas called Methane. A new mission takes
shape for our planktonic trio: to blow up everything that in
any way resembles a “cow”! But Mr Kyoto goes as far as
trying to make to diversion with other creatures called
“kangaroos”, which come to put a spanner in the plankton
invasion’s works.
Operation Lumberjack
Thanks to a TV programme, Poulpo has discovered that
deforestation is one of the main causes of global
warming. The trio has to take part in this lovely human
effort and decide to go to deforest… the beach bar’s pot
of bamboos! But the mission will turn out to be more
difficult than planned: a turtle is living in it and the
bamboos are very hard to cut with a shell blade!
SAMPLE EPISODES OF
Operation Sandstorm
Operation One More Degree
Operation Red Flag
It’s the annual sandcastle competition, and our heroes
are convinced that the infamous Mister Kyoto has
erected fortifications in order to prevent the Planktonic
Invasion. Our hit squad trio therefore launches an attack
on the sandcastles, facing the elite troops of their number
one enemy, who are in fact plastic soldiers.
Medusa has lost patience. Captain Star has twenty-four
hours to get the temperature of the Earth to increase by
at least 1 degree! If he fails, it will be transferred to the
North Pole and will be replaced by Kill Brill.
The flag on the Oostduinkerke beach is red. The humans
have deserted it, and no humans means no pollution. Our
heroes’ mission: to destroy that red flag and to get the
humans back on the beach.
WHAT THEY SAID…
Joeri CHRISTIAEN : Creator of PLANKTON INVASION
What if drawing silly characters could save the planet… Joeri Christiaen believes that things always
go better with a smile, and that’s why those tiny heroes are out to drown us all!
How did you come up with this idea of those parodic characters
and this concept in this marine world?
I was looking for a way to talk about the major concern of our
generation, climate change, without being BORING. Since I’m not a
scientist, my contribution could only be in what I do best – creating
silly characters
and bring them to life.
After searching for a while, and it’s finally a picture I received from
my mother - showing my father fishing on the Belgian coast - that
triggered the idea of PLANKTON INVASION. I come from a long line
of fishermen, and I’m also the first in line who is seasick ! So making
a series about the sea was the next best thing I could do to stay
connected to my roots !
Is PLANKTON INVASION a environmental-activist series?
The series indirectly addresses the problem, through a reversed
angle – via absurd interpretations we flip the usual environmental
message on its head.
The environmental subjects are the real subjects, and the
Hollywood-styled action and cinematic visuals mixed with parody
and comedy are a way to talk about them. Things always tend to go
better with a smile….
What is the intention of the series?
To entertain the audience while addressing real environmental
issues, and vice-versa !
You use a lot of Hollywood references, why?
Hollywood knows very well what draws the big audiences, their blockbusters all have
the same elements in common: comedy, stunning action scenes, fast-paced
storytelling, catchy one-liners and entertaining music…
Which audience are you targeting?
The series aims to a family audience. Roughly, the funny visual gags
and action scenes, might appeal more to young ones, and the
layered dialogues and parodic references to tweens, teens and adults
– and everything in between!
The series has not yet aired on TV but already creates interest, how
do you explain that?
PLANKTON INVASION has had a ‘first life’ on the Internet, through a
mini-series of monthly web-episodes, which created a small fan base
online: every release drew several thousand views within a couple of
days. A few months later I met TeamTO who fell in love with the
project, and we decided to develop a TV series together with
Tinkertree and Vivi Film.
Did it have to be the first "green" series?
I’d say it had to be the first “NON-BORING” green series ! More seriously, it’s not about
being the first, but when the idea came I felt that it could be a strong way to “think
global, and act loco” as a journalist one day said!
WHAT THEY SAID…
« The ‘planktonization’ couldn’t be avoided. An ‘edutainment’ show with a sea, sand and humour
background ! I couldn’t resist… »
Barbara Beretta – The voice of Anna Médusa
« They’re showing up between a sea-salt tide and a gust of North wind.
Swim for your life !» Franz Kirchner - Director
« Plankton invaded my computer screen on a Friday night: their goal was to make the cows
fart… I just couldn’t stop laughing and had starfish in my eyes! Since then I can’t wait to see
their new adventures… » Céline Ronte – Voice director
« I’ve fallen in love with those fighters of the impossible,
thus I’m scared everytime I make a step on the beach. » Nicolas Richard - Musician
«We were surprised by the tone of the series and the off-the-wall approach of the huge issue
of global warming, and we found the twist quite clever.»
Alban Lelièvre, Alexandre Henri & Sébastien Pribile - Directors
« The single-mindedness that characterizes this team lets believe that they will have their D-day
too. But Star doesn’t have the genius of a Winston Churchill…» Stéphane Mit - Director
« I feel like I’m working on an adventure movie punctuated with funny touches thanks to parodies of
cult music themes » Franck Roussel – Musician
« I love this series in a planktonic kind of way »
Emmanuel Garijo – The voice of Captain John C. Star
TeamTO is an independent animation studio composed of a passionate team that puts all of its energy to produce TV and film projects with an international
appeal, and with high quality standards that build flagship shows.
Willing to control the quality and to guarantee the steadiness of the production process, we produce our projects entirely in France. We created in 2008 in
Bourg-lès-Valence (Rhône-Alpes region) an animation facility which employs over 40 animators today, working in synergy with the Paris-based studio.
Our production model is a flexible and reliable tool that allows us to maximize the artistic objectives and secure the marketable value of all of our projects at
the same time.
This approach, which can be considered as going against the trends, is the one that, in our opinion, is the most favourable to support talents and therefore
create quality content that reaches a wide audience. We have turned this model into a long-lasting development strategy.
PLANKTON INVASION is THE first animated series that deals with the serious subject of climate change from a comedy angle. A non-judgmental and
entertaining way to sensitize all audiences to the environmental stakes. TeamTO speaks to a large target, the family audience, through one of the most
important subject of our era.
Honored with the « European Producer of the Year » award at the Cartoon Forum 2010 and the « French TV Animation Producer of the Year » award from the
Procirep 2010, TeamTO is willing to put the sustainable development issues at the heart of its growth.
VIVI FILM is a Brussels-based production company. Created in 1990 by Viviane
Vanfleteren, Vivi Film is well known for its co-productions of the Oscar nominated,
feature length animation films, BELLEVILLE RENDEZ-VOUS and BRENDAN AND THE
SECRET OF KELLS. VIVI FILM is co-producer of PLANKTON INVASION with the Belgian
producer TINKERTREE, who initiated the project.
CAKE is one of the world’s leading kids’ and family entertainment specialists. Since 2002, the London-based company has worked with animation and liveaction producers from around the world to develop, create, commercially position and manage their IP propositions for international market. We handle
everything from traditional television rights to digital, online and ancillary commercial rights.
CAKE also prides itself on being a well-established meeting place for a growing family of globally recognized producers.
The company has developed and acquired a wide range of programs and has been voted in recent times “Best Distributor of the Year” by Kidscreen in 2009,
and "Investor of the Year" at Cartoon Forum 2009.
CAKE offers a diverse range of programming from animated reality TV parody TOTAL DRAMA and sci-fi adventure THE SPARTICLE MYSTERY; to cute and cuddly
pre-school series POPPY CAT, based on the international best-selling books by Lara Jones, ghostly drama DEAD GORGEOUS, the smart and savvy ANGELO RULES
and the unmistakable TOM & THE SLICE OF BREAD WITH STRAWBERRY JAM & HONEY.
CAKE handles international distribution for PLANKTON INVASION.
Coproducers
With the participation of
International Distribution
With the support of
www.cakeentertainment.com
Created by Joeri Christiaen
Story editors Thierry Gaudin, Guillaume Enard and Cyril Tysz
Literary bible Joeri Christiaen and Frédéric Lenoir
Music Franck Roussel and Nicolas Richard
Graphic bible Joeri Christiaen
Voice-recording studio Piste Rouge
Directors Joeri Christiaen, Franz Kirchner, Rémi Godin, Alexis
Beaumont, Stéphane Mit, Olivier Derynck, Lionel Allaix, Chloé
Miller, Dominique Monfery, Fabrice Senia, Alban Lelièvre,
Alexandre Henri, Sébastien Pribile
Film laboratory Vidéo Rive Gauche Broadcast
Sustainable development and sponsorship consultant Benoît Ruiz
Marketing agency Connecto
GET READY,
They’re on their way…
Press Contact
constance.lassort@teamto.com
More info
www.teamTO.com
www.planktoninvasion.com
plankton@teamto.com