Chicken Minute (partially lost Canadian puppet TV series; 1990-1993): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Chicken_minute.jpg|thumb|250px|A very rare LaserDisc, showing Minute, Mama Chicken and Anatole.]]
{{InfoboxLost
'''''Chicken Minute''''' (''Cocotte Minute'' in the alternative French) was a puppet TV series made in Canada that originally ran from 1990 to 1993. It was set in the Canadian bayou.
|title=<center>Chicken Minute</center>
|image=Chicken_minute.jpg
|imagecaption=A very rare LaserDisc, showing Minute, Mama Chicken and Anatole.
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Lost'''</span>
}}
'''''Chicken Minute''''' (''Cocotte Minute'' in the alternative French) was a puppet TV series made in Canada that originally ran from 1990 to 1993, created by Henri Desclez. It was set in the Canadian bayou, with anthropomorphic animal characters.


The puppet characters are anthropomorphic animals (almost always shown waist up, of course). The main one is simple-minded crocodile Anatole, who likes fishing and hanging with his friends: fox Minute who plays guitar and who is in a relationship with hen Mama Chicken who cooks delicious popcorn (Minute became vegetarian for her). The narrator is Ulysses, a chick still living in his egg and who is extremely smart despite his age.
The number of episodes is uncertain, but it seems at least 36 of them exist.
The main villain is Mudbelly, a swamp monster who lives among mud and likes to play nasty tricks on the other characters, but can be friendly with them too at times. Almost every episode contains one or more musical numbers performed by one or more characters.


Only a few episodes are known to have been released on VHS, in the English dub, and at least one LaserDisc. Of these, only three have been uploaded on YouTube ("Coop de Ville", "The Singing Contest", and "The Bayou Treasure").
==Plot==
The puppet characters are anthropomorphic animals (almost always shown waist up, of course). The main one is a simple-minded alligator Anatole, who likes fishing and hanging with his friends: the others are a fox called Minute who plays guitar and who is in a relationship with a hen, Mama Chicken (Cocotte in French), who cooks delicious popcorn (Minute became vegetarian for her). The narrator is Ulysses, a chick still living in his egg and who is extremely smart despite his age.<br/>
The main villain is Mudbelly, a swamp monster who lives among the mud and likes to play nasty tricks on the other characters but can be in friendly terms with them too at times. <br/>Almost every episode contains one or more musical numbers performed by one or more characters.


Lately, one of the original staff that worked on the show, Jean Gagnon (art director, background and puppet designer) uploaded several episodes on YouTube in the French dub (however, some of these have their audio off-sync, so be warned). Many more episodes are still missing, though.
==Loss of Episodes==
Only a few episodes are known to have been released in the English dub on VHS and at least one LaserDisc. Of these, only three have been uploaded on YouTube ("Coop de Ville," "The Singing Contest," and "The Bayou Treasure").


According to Gagnon, there were legal disputes between the authors of the show, which is possibly a reason as to why this series has never gotten a full release.
Henri Desclez also created two other puppet show series, ''Little Star'' and ''Iris The Happy Professor'' (aka ''Professor Iris'') that have most of their episodes lost as well. They had only a few VHS releases, and other episodes survive mostly through individual recordings/reuploads.


==List of Found Episodes==
==Contributions by Show's Creator==
[[File:Jean_gagnon.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Creator Jean Gagnon]]
In the early 2010s, one of the original staff that worked on the show, Jean Gagnon (art director, background and puppet designer), uploaded several episodes on YouTube in the French dub (however, some of these have their audio off-sync, so be warned). Many more episodes are still missing, though.


*1: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32PSLxLVxGs (English title unknown) / Le Mystère du Bayou] ''(video in French) ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afa7m5STRWI (alternate link)]
According to Gagnon in the comments of these reuploads, there were legal disputes between the authors of the show, part of the reason why this series has never gotten a full proper release. He also adds: <br/>''"Henri Desclez sold his productions to other producers, and returned to live in France. Someone produced the last season for ''Chicken Minute'', and nothing more came out of it. During those times, people didn't bother to release shows on VHS. There have been a few VHS for ''Professor Iris'' and ''Little Star'', and that's about it. It was due to the puppeteers becoming too greedy; they destroyed these series by asking a 'double salary' because they claimed they were doing two jobs: comedian and puppet operator. The wages got too high, and this put an end to a beautiful adventure that, until then, looked promising. We were starting to reach a serious level of expertise."''


*3: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmU90Y7yckY Ulysses' Revenge / La Revanche d'Ulysse] ''(video in French)''
Gagnon also contributed to ''Little Star'' and ''Professor Iris'', other puppet TV series. He has added some episodes or fragments of these shows on his channel as well.


*4: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmeCzIS05sI Landlord / Le Propriétaire] ''(video in French)''
==List of Found Episodes==
 
Each episode's number is taken from the opening narration. This should take priority over MSN Entertainment or Planète Jeunesse's own numberings. The number of episodes is uncertain, and some episodes are not described in the MSN list.
*6: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVL4_SCy-_c Coop de Ville / Cousin Alexandre(?) ] ''(video in English)''
*7:'' ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtP7KcGe3Is The Fortune Teller / La Gitane] ''(video in French)''
 
*8: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwUNEY6B7zI The Film/ Le Film] ''(video in French)''
 
*9: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhiA5dd5e6I Chicken Fu] ''(video in French)''
 
*13: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZMnxzJgI5o The Reluctant Hero / La Coquille Sauvage] ''(video in French)''
 
*15: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n50anNtmpBU The Watch Thief / Le Voleur de Montres]'' (video in French)''
 
*19: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJHqKBa1Zfk The Singing Contest / Mega Star(?) ] ''(video in English)''
 
*21: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gW3MtVMa8Pk (English title unknown) / Le Reportage] ''(video in French)''
 
*23: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo5Jn4BtJc4 Mudbelly's Wedding / Le Mariage de Draduli] ''(video in French)''
 
*24: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A82nzWCH9S4 Once Upon A Time in the Bayou / Il Etait Une Fois dans le Bayou] ''(video in French)''
 
*25: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFvVeCYZ210 The Bayou Treasure / (French title unknown)] ''(video in English)''
 
*Number unknown:  [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOsPgp9Owh8 The Magician's Apprentice / L'Apprenti Magicien] ''(video in French)''
 
 
 
Each episode's number is taken from the opening narration. This should take priority over MSN Entertainment's own numbering.


The number of episodes is uncertain, and some episodes are not described in the MSN list.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
! style="background-color:lightblue" | #
! style="background-color:lightblue" | English Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | French Title
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status (English)
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Status (French)
! style="background-color:lightblue" | Notes
|-
|1||The Mystery of Bayou(?)||Le Mystère du Bayou||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/32PSLxLVxGs<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||Direct English translation of the French title.
|-
|3||Ulysses' Revenge||La Revanche d'Ulysse||[https://youtu.be/ac3I9XeUy8A<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||[http://youtu.be/GmU90Y7yckY<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|4||Landlord||Le Propriétaire||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/AmeCzIS05sI<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|6||Cousin Alexandre(?)||Coop de Ville||[http://youtu.be/zVL4_SCy-_c<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||English title unconfirmed.
|-
|7||The Fortune Teller||La Gitane||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/KtP7KcGe3Is<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|8||The Film||Le Film||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/SwUNEY6B7zI<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|9||Unknown||Chicken Fu||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/lhiA5dd5e6I<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|13||The Reluctant Hero||La Coquille Sauvage||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/nZMnxzJgI5o<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|15||The Watch Thief||Le Voleur de Montres||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/n50anNtmpBU<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|19||The Singing Contest||Mega Star(?)||[http://youtu.be/tJHqKBa1Zfk<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||
|-
|21||The Report(?)||Le Reportage||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/gW3MtVMa8Pk<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||Direct English translation of the French title.
|-
|23||Mudbelly's Wedding||Le Mariage de Draduli||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/watch?v=Jo5Jn4BtJc4<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|24||Once Upon A Time in the Bayou||Il Etait Une Fois Dans le Bayou||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/A82nzWCH9S4<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|-
|25||The Bayou Treasure||Le trésor du Bayou(?)||[http://youtu.be/NFvVeCYZ210<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||Direct French translation of the English title.
|-
|?||The Magician's Apprentice||L'Apprenti Magicien||<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''||[http://youtu.be/gOsPgp9Owh8<span style="color:green;">'''Found''']||
|}


==External links==
==Gallery==
{{Video|perrow  =2
  |service1    =youtube
  |id1          =YXLGNCKvMA0
  |description1 =The outro song, in Hebrew.
  |service2    =
  |id2          =
  |description2 =[[File:Chicken Minute Singing Contest.jpg|right|thumb|200px|VHS Boxart for ''Chicken Minute: The Singing Contest''.]]
}}


[http://tv.msn.com/tv/series-episodes/chicken-minute/ MSN Entertainment list of episodes with plot descriptions]
==External Links==
*[http://tv.msn.com/tv/series-episodes/chicken-minute/ MSN Entertainment list of episodes with plot descriptions.] Retrieved 08 Apr '15
*[http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/fiche-717-cocotte-minute.html Entry on the Planète Jeunesse website (incomplete).] Retrieved 08 Apr '15
*[http://youtu.be/afa7m5STRWI YouTube link to another episode of "Le Mystère du Bayou."] Retrieved 08 Apr '15


[http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/fiche-717-cocotte-minute.html Entry on the Planète Jeunesse website (incomplete)]
[[Category:Lost puppetry]]
[[Category:Lost TV]]
[[Category:Partially lost media]]

Revision as of 18:37, 8 November 2020

Chicken minute.jpg

A very rare LaserDisc, showing Minute, Mama Chicken and Anatole.

Status: Partially Lost

Chicken Minute (Cocotte Minute in the alternative French) was a puppet TV series made in Canada that originally ran from 1990 to 1993, created by Henri Desclez. It was set in the Canadian bayou, with anthropomorphic animal characters.

The number of episodes is uncertain, but it seems at least 36 of them exist.

Plot

The puppet characters are anthropomorphic animals (almost always shown waist up, of course). The main one is a simple-minded alligator Anatole, who likes fishing and hanging with his friends: the others are a fox called Minute who plays guitar and who is in a relationship with a hen, Mama Chicken (Cocotte in French), who cooks delicious popcorn (Minute became vegetarian for her). The narrator is Ulysses, a chick still living in his egg and who is extremely smart despite his age.
The main villain is Mudbelly, a swamp monster who lives among the mud and likes to play nasty tricks on the other characters but can be in friendly terms with them too at times.
Almost every episode contains one or more musical numbers performed by one or more characters.

Loss of Episodes

Only a few episodes are known to have been released in the English dub on VHS and at least one LaserDisc. Of these, only three have been uploaded on YouTube ("Coop de Ville," "The Singing Contest," and "The Bayou Treasure").

Henri Desclez also created two other puppet show series, Little Star and Iris The Happy Professor (aka Professor Iris) that have most of their episodes lost as well. They had only a few VHS releases, and other episodes survive mostly through individual recordings/reuploads.

Contributions by Show's Creator

Creator Jean Gagnon

In the early 2010s, one of the original staff that worked on the show, Jean Gagnon (art director, background and puppet designer), uploaded several episodes on YouTube in the French dub (however, some of these have their audio off-sync, so be warned). Many more episodes are still missing, though.

According to Gagnon in the comments of these reuploads, there were legal disputes between the authors of the show, part of the reason why this series has never gotten a full proper release. He also adds:
"Henri Desclez sold his productions to other producers, and returned to live in France. Someone produced the last season for Chicken Minute, and nothing more came out of it. During those times, people didn't bother to release shows on VHS. There have been a few VHS for Professor Iris and Little Star, and that's about it. It was due to the puppeteers becoming too greedy; they destroyed these series by asking a 'double salary' because they claimed they were doing two jobs: comedian and puppet operator. The wages got too high, and this put an end to a beautiful adventure that, until then, looked promising. We were starting to reach a serious level of expertise."

Gagnon also contributed to Little Star and Professor Iris, other puppet TV series. He has added some episodes or fragments of these shows on his channel as well.

List of Found Episodes

Each episode's number is taken from the opening narration. This should take priority over MSN Entertainment or Planète Jeunesse's own numberings. The number of episodes is uncertain, and some episodes are not described in the MSN list.

# English Title French Title Status (English) Status (French) Notes
1 The Mystery of Bayou(?) Le Mystère du Bayou Lost Found Direct English translation of the French title.
3 Ulysses' Revenge La Revanche d'Ulysse Found Found
4 Landlord Le Propriétaire Lost Found
6 Cousin Alexandre(?) Coop de Ville Found Lost English title unconfirmed.
7 The Fortune Teller La Gitane Lost Found
8 The Film Le Film Lost Found
9 Unknown Chicken Fu Lost Found
13 The Reluctant Hero La Coquille Sauvage Lost Found
15 The Watch Thief Le Voleur de Montres Lost Found
19 The Singing Contest Mega Star(?) Found Lost
21 The Report(?) Le Reportage Lost Found Direct English translation of the French title.
23 Mudbelly's Wedding Le Mariage de Draduli Lost Found
24 Once Upon A Time in the Bayou Il Etait Une Fois Dans le Bayou Lost Found
25 The Bayou Treasure Le trésor du Bayou(?) Found Lost Direct French translation of the English title.
? The Magician's Apprentice L'Apprenti Magicien Lost Found

Gallery

The outro song, in Hebrew.

VHS Boxart for Chicken Minute: The Singing Contest.

External Links