Cococinel

French-Belgian children's TV programme

Cococinel was a French-Belgian children's television cartoon. Directed by Raymond Burlet and written by Yolande Baillet and Jean Montagné, 78 episodes of the animated cartoon were made in 1992, divided into 2 seasons ^[1] The main character is a ladybird who has a magic four-leaf clover with incredible powers, it made her strong and thanks of this Cococinel defends her forest city called Cocoland from terrible threats. Also some times, aided by her friends, she teaches about ecology and the environment.^[2]

Synopsis

Cococinel is an adorable heroine who acquires magical powers by finding a mysterious four-leaf clover and uses it to protect her world against the forces of evil. She balances her mission with a common life with her core group of friends in Cocoland, which is the name of the village where she lives, throughout her adventures. She knows how to familiarize children with the life of Nature and show them that protecting it is an absolute priority today. Oscarabus, the beetle bus, takes a jovial gang to school every morning, including, among others, Ben-Yes and Ben-No: the funny twins, Cocoblue: the absent-minded poet, Cocomauve: the eternal complainer, and, of course, Cococinel, always ready to help her friends solve their little problems. Everything would be fine if Cocoland were not regularly threatened by envious and jealous predators. Fortunately, Cococinel watches over and, thanks to the powers of her magical clover, preserves the balance of the small community. In Season 2, the series advances significantly, and a very remarkable and beloved character arrives. Named Babicinel, she is Cococinel’s sister. Together they live in the Clover House. Babicinel also possessed an amulet with magical powers, a magical heart. Like her sister, she had the mission to save the world while balancing her mission with a common life, but being very romantic, she falls in love easily, making the moments of common life as interesting as those of action.

The episodes of Season 1 have a duration of five minutes, and in Season 2, a duration of eleven minutes. The special episodes last 21 minutes.

Home video releases

In the UK, the English version was released on two VHS cassettes with each of them containing eleven episodes. Exactly the same as the French VHS version with eleven episodes separated by title cards in each episode.
In Germany it had a single release on VHS. Combining many of the episodes dubbed in German to form a kind of film, the German dubbing was released exclusively for VHS, it was not broadcast on television.
In 2008, Europacorp released a DVD with the complete series, with quite good resolution. Unfortunately, very few units were manufactured, so few that to this day none can be found, not even second-hand. and it was the first non-vintage article in the series and also the last. Only Season 1 is incluyed in this DVD.
Many of the Cococinel episodes were not edited on VHS video just 1-33, in addition to the fact that more Cococinel episodes were made in addition to the first 52, about 26 more in total in 1993, but these were never edited and Events from these episodes are remembered by many people.