Fantomcat


Fantomcat is a British animated series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films. It was first broadcast in 1995, and was animated by Alfonso Productions, a Spanish animation studio also responsible for animating Count Duckula, and Avenger Penguins, Milimetros, another Spanish animation studio, and in-house by Cosgrove Hall themselves. It aired largely on Children's ITV. The series also had a run on Pop from 2003 to 2005. It was the first Cosgrove Hall cartoon to be animated with a process called Animo, wherein the animation drawings were scanned and then digitally coloured on computers. The first series was produced and directed by Ben Turner, while the second one was produced and directed by its creator, Andy Roper.

Influences

The main character of Fantomcat was influenced heavily by Zorro, Errol Flynn and Fantômas, and the series itself was influenced by and the time-lost approach of both Adam Adamant Lives! and Gargoyles.

Details

Fantomcat centres on the character Phillipe L'Entrique Elan de Chanel, Count Givenchy and Duke of Fantom, a.k.a. Fantomcat, a masked swashbuckling hero who thrived on the stormy evening of 31 December 1699 in mortal combat with his nemesis Baron von Skelter, a sword-wielding caped Skeletoid alchemist. But Von Skelter was not alone in Castle Fantom, as he had brought with him two of his henchmen. During the battle, Phillipe was treacherously cast into a painting within the halls of his home, Castle Fantom, by Von Skelter's henchmen with the Crystal of Malevolence, a stone so powerful that it can change worlds. As his clock struck midnight, he became trapped in the painting for three centuries while Von Skelter stole his Ring of the Fantoms and his sword, Touché.
As time passed, the area around Castle Fantom became a bustling metropolis called Metrocity, a city submerged in crime rings led by the fiendish arachnid Marmagora. Eventually, at midnight on 31 December 1999, Fantomcat is freed from the painting by the members of the Wildcat Detective Agency when they take a wrong turning into the castle while chasing two explosive-wielding reptiles.
On 1 January 2000, Fantomcat joins the Wildcat Detective Agency in their battle against Marmagora and her henchmen, who have used another Crystal of Malevolence to summon Baron von Skelter into the modern day and join her as her partner in a new world order. Fantomcat and the Wildcat Detective Agency defeat Marmagora's henchmen, and blow up Baron Von Skelter with the two Crystals of Malevolence. Although the Baron has been defeated, Marmagora is still hanging around, and the battle will continue another day.

Characters

Series 1

Series 2

DVD and VHS releases

On 13 January 2003 in the United Kingdom, Cinema Club and Granada Media released 2 DVDs and videos of Fantomcat, one with Episodes 1 and 2, and one with Episodes 3 and 4.
Previously, in 1996, Telstar Home Entertainment released 3 videos as part of their Star Kids range.
VHS video titleYear of releaseEpisodes
Fantomcat: Volume 1 13 September 1996The Hero Returns, The Preying Mantis
Fantomcat: Volume 2 15 November 1996The Swords of the Scorpion, The Aeroship
Fantomcat: Volume 3 21 May 1997The Asteroid Adventure, The Mind Leech, Lady Gobbling's Gems

So far, the rest of the first series and the second series have not been officially released in the United Kingdom, but bootleg copies of the first and second series exist, and can be requested from ITV Viewer Requests.
In Serbia, Beokolp released 2 DVDs of Fantomcat, one with Episodes 14, 15, 16 and 10, and one with Episodes 5, 6, 7 and 22.