Soupe Opera

Soupe Opéra
You think this is a fever dream? It’s not. It’s a real show. Were the people at Marlou Films on drugs when they made this??
Running Time: 2 minutes Country: France Release Date: 1991 – 2000 Network(s): France 2 Created by: Christophe Barrier Frédéric Clémençon Distributed by: Marlou Films France Télévisions Starring: 2 Seasons: 26

Soupe Opéra (often referred to in English as Soup Opera) is a French children's television program. Animated using stop motion by a French studio called Marlou Films, the show features fruits and vegetables turning themselves into different creatures and objects. 26 two-minute episodes made throughout two seasons; one in 1991 and one more in 2000. In France, the series aired on the France 3 channel.

Internationally, Soupe Opéra aired in Australia on ABC1 and its sister channel, ABC2, during the ABC 4 Kids line-up. In UK, it aired on ITV during its CITV children's block and later on the CITV channel. In the United States and Latin America, the series aired on Cartoon Network as part of its Small World anthology series, which featured foreign-made shorts.

Visuals

In each episode, various food objects (typically fruit and vegetables) spontaneously exit a basket, moving, and cutting themselves up to form animals and objects. The animals formed then perform actions, such as eating the leftover food. In some episodes, the food that comes out is not fruit or vegetables, such as an egg that is hard-boiled, a packet of chips, or a bag of baking soda. The basket also contains non-food items, such as a pot and portable gas stove.

The show is also very similar in style to Poubelles, another Marlou Films production. Instead of fruit and vegetables coming out of a basket, the show features rubbish coming out a bin to create an animal.

Soundtrack

Soupe Opera features a distinctive soundtrack by French artists C.I.P/Garlo. The score consists of two pieces of music, re-used every episode in the same order. The first track is played during the stop motion scenes and features four voices singing in a cappella fashion. The voices are a mixture of live performed singing, beatboxing, and sampled vocal sounds played back on a synthesizer. The second track is an electronic funk arrangement of the same tune played over the credits.

Why This Show's Not An Opera

1. The soundtrack is just utter gibberish nonsense, and they play it four times in literally every episode.
2. Most food animals look scary enough to fuel your nightmares, even stop-motion, like a penguin or a scorpion.
3. It all took place only on a black background. Think of a scary logo but as a two-minute TV show.
4. There’s no actual plot. It consists of fruits and vegetables magically cutting themselves up to form different animals. While plant animals are creative in concept, they handle it terrifying.
5. It was famous for scaring people like DannyD1997, Gryzule Wolfbon (aka JulinWorld1993), HeyAppleHomie Is Back, MHVFanatic16 and others during their childhood for how weird it is, and not in a good way. So scary, it would make an adult male scream "Sound Ideas, SCREAM - MALE, LONG, HUMAN, HORROR 02" today.
6. Even the title of the show makes no sense. It's titled "Soupe Opéra", right? Well, it's not about soup, and the only "Opera" part is the French opera lady singing "SOUPE OPERAAAAAAA!!!" in a booming opera voice.
7. It was rated TV-Y, yet it terrifies children.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Some food animals do look cute, like a chicken.
2. The use of stop-motion was alright.
3. It has maintained a following.
4. It did help kickstart an interesting studio like Marlou Films.

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