Zig & Sharko (seasons 1 and 2)
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Note: this page is dedicated to Olivier Jean-Marie (1960-2021).
Note 2: This page was originally on Best TV Shows & Episodes Wiki before it got shut down.
Zig & Sharko (French: Zig et Sharko) is a silent/slapstick comedy series created by Oliver Jean-Marie, and was first released on December 21, 2010 to June 14, 2011, on its first season. It later had a revival on February 15, 2016.
Plot
The series itself focuses mainly on Zig (brown hyena), Sharko (great white shark), Marina (mermaid), and Bernie (hermit crab). The plot itself mainly involves Zig attempting to capture Marina, a mermaid who is often guarded by Sharko. Numerous attempts of Zig trying to eat Marina have failed but in creative ways.
Why The Show Is Good That Zig Cannot Eat Marina
- Influenced by Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, the series involves a hyena named Zig trying desperately to eat a mermaid named Marina but is always foiled by her bodyguard and love interest, a Great White named Sharko. The series utilizes slapstick humor similar to the aforementioned Looney Tunes, but in more visually and bizarrely creative ways, like Zig utilizing many materials dropped from a cargo ship to help him get Marina.
- The animation and backgrounds have their own unique style, and the hand-drawn animation itself perfectly captures blurs. Similar to the third season of Oggy and the Cockroaches, the show utilizes the same fast-paced squash and stretch animation style and sound effects to hilarious results.
- To dial things up to eleven, the style also involves characters being treated like inanimate objects whenever the chance goes, like Sharko storing items in his body like a cupboard. His brain and heart are also anthropomorphic and control him in the second season.
- The soundtrack is themed around marine environments, similar to SpongeBob SquarePants".
- The main characters themselves along with other side characters are pretty likable and creative. Zig is a brown hyena who constantly tries to eat Marina, a mermaid, but all these attempts fail spectacularly out of his ineptitude, and because of Sharko, a vigilant great white shark, despite his initial, lackluster characterization in Season 1.
- It managed to become iconic without having to rely on the exact same plots of Looney Tunes and even Oggy and the Cockroaches compared to Xilam's other shows which are not as well known.
- Manages to have pretty good character designs, and the art style is pretty good (most notably in Season 1).
- The numerous locations in the show add creativity, and the environment changes with each season. The second season sees Marina and Sharko moving to Zig's island alongside the marine inhabitants. The third season sees the characters on a cruise ship built by Zig.
- The second season managed to improve the characters' traits. Sharko was changed from a generic "aggressive security guard" who gets easily angry to a softie who has a feminine/childish side to him, while still maintaining animosity towards Zig. Marina was changed into a more active, outgoing character who plays more roles in the series and gets interested in anything new she sees.
Bad Qualities That Zig Can Eat Marina
- Marina didn't exactly have that much of a role in Season 1 other than being unaware of being eaten.
- Sharko in the first season is a generic "aggressive security guard" who gets angry or jealous at the slightest thing he sees is a threat to Marina. This was changed during the second season, where he now has a personality beyond being a simple bodyguard.
- Some mediocre character designs, like King Neptune, Hades, and a couple of background characters.
- Like Oggy and the Cockroaches and Shaun the Sheep, the Hindi dub included dialogue for the characters, which not only takes away the charm from the show but also looks weird since the lip movement never matches what the characters are saying.
- The flash animation in Season 2 while okay, wasn't as good as the hand-drawn animation in Season 1, which was animated by Armada TMT at that time.
- Some bad episodes like "Volcano Turbo", "The Ghastly Ghost", "The Challengers", "Birthday Party", "The Tiny Tyrant", "Loony Cruise", etc.
- Like Oggy and the Cockroaches, the show went downhill in Season 3 due to some really bad humor and Zig suffered the same fate as the Cockroaches in Season 5. The animation is also much worse.
- The show is often hated by older people because of the unfunny humor.
- Some of the jokes in Season 1 can also be very inappropriate, such as one episode that showed a picture of Marina facing backward with her bra removed.
Trivia
- Xilam's contract with TF1 about production expired, resulting in the side characters being copyrighted. Thus making the second season take place in an island in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.
- Xilam also needed to lower the budget to due budget constraints in Season 1.
- Oggy from Oggy and the Cockroaches makes a cameo in the episode "Blown Up" as a pool toy. Bob from Oggy and the Cockroaches is briefly seen on a note in the episode "Fisherman's Catch".
Episodes with their own pages
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