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Wattoo Wattoo (a huge thanks to Mark Buckingham for the source material)
This unusual little French animation was first shown in the late 1970s on ITV. The stories concerned the adventures of a super bird called Wattoo Wattoo who was forever (with the exception of the first episode) trying to sort out the problems of the "silly geese" who lived on a planet that appeared to look very much like the Earth. Wattoo Wattoo and his friends came from the planet Auguste and seemed to spend most of their time performing tricks to impress each other. Wattoo Wattoo was a black and white bird with a long tale and legs. He could fly at supersonic speeds both in a planet's atmosphere and whilst in space. The series was written by two writers "Hubert Ballay" and "Rene Borg" (I hope this is correct but the image titles are not very clear). Hubert Ballay also did the original music for the stories whilst Rene Borg also did the directing. There were dozens of stories made each lasting only five minutes or so. For its time, it was way ahead in terms of its ideas, stories and or the great music (which can be sampled below). Each story was in someway, a bit like Superman. This was because Wattoo Wattoo comes to the planet of the silly geese and decides to live there watching and waiting for mistakes to occur and emergencies to develope. Wattoo Wattoo would then spring into action to rescue the geese and save the day, all done without the red cape and a revolving door.
The animation and style was very much similar to the immortal "Il était une fois l'homme" or "Once upon a time ...man" as it was known in the UK. This was the cartoon history of the world shown in the Summer school holidays. I spent ages trying to track this down and finally succeeded - click here to go to Little Gems "Once Upon A Time Man." or if you just wishto listen to the start music (click here 436Kb mp3).
The lyrics in French are also shown be seen below - thank you to Nadeche at SAC (if anyone has a translation, I'd be very grateful if you could email me it).
Click below to download some of the Theme music
Wattoo Wattoo Main Theme - (1.6Mb zip)
Wattoo Wattoo Main Theme Reduced - (0.6Mb zip)
Wattoo Wattoo Song (French) - 760Kb zip)
Wattoo Wattoo Song Lyrics
WATTOO VOIT TOUT
Wattoo-Wattoo [Wattoo]
Toi qui vois tout [Vois tout]
Tu es partout sur notre Terre
Tout va comme ci comme ça
Chez les bons Zwas
Wattoo-Wattoo [Wattoo]
Malin comme tout [comme tout]
Tu es pour nous un oiseau chance
Détournant les faux pas
De ces bons Zwas
Les Zwas c'est pas vraiment méchant
C'est ni bête ni intelligent
Mais ça ressemble à s'y méprendre
A d'autres Zwas
Les Zwas c'est pas vraiment méchant
C'est ni bête ni intelligent
Mais ça ressemble à s'y méprendre
A d'autres Zwas
Wattoo-Wattoo
Toi qui vois tout
Tu es partout sur notre Terre
Tout va comme ci comme ça
Chez les bons Zwas
Wattoo-Wattoo [Wattoo]
Mignon comme tout [comme tout]
Tu viens chez nous
Sur la planète pour remettre à l'endroit
La famille Zwas
Faut pas croire que c'est si facile
Pas très futés ces volatiles
Mais fier de l'être
Pour un Zwa y'a pas mieux qu'un Zwa
Faut pas croire que c'est si facile
Pas très futés ces volatiles
Mais fier de l'être
Pour un Zwa y'a pas mieux qu'un Zwa
Wattoo-Wattoo [Wattoo]
Toi qui vois tout [Vois tout]
Tu es partout sur notre Terre
Tout va comme ci comme ça
Chez les bons Zwas
Wattoo-Wattoo
Each episode would see the geese like creatures starting something daft and ending up getting into serious trouble. Wattoo Wattoo would be nearby watching and would see the problem. He or she would then reproduce into thousands of birds who would then tackle the problem in a vain attempt to show the geese the error of their ways. Even though there was always a happy ending the geese would turn up for the next story and be up their daft old tricks again. It has to be said that the stories were very green and ecologically friendly in their approach and the environment was always at the heart of the episode.
I think this may be the very first episode where Wattoo Wattoo comes into contact with the silly geese for the first and sadly for him not last time. Screen grabs are definitely not the best Little Gems has ever produced but they should still jog your memories.
Wattoo Wattoo's home plant called Auguste - bit of an odd shape as planets go but then again Wattoo Wattoo is an odd sort of bird. Wattoo Wattoo and his friends are playing in the fields and looking for ways to impress each other. Wattoo Wattoo decides to replicate on an enormous scale and then does one of his famous palour tricks. he magically transforms matter into another form so he and his buddies can go skate boarding along a pink road. The planet is actually seen to rotate 180 degrees so the birds can skate upside down and show off their skills.
The other birds are very impressed and applaud the super Wattoo Wattoo. Just then Wattoo Wattoo sees something strange in the sky. He does not realise what it is and the fact that it will soon occupy most of his idle time in the years to come. A space capsule piloted by two silly geese has been launched from a planet that suspiciously looks like Earth. The space craft has come to investigate Wattoo Wattoo's odd looking home world.
Wattoo Wattoo and his friends have never seen a space craft and go off to play. As their play turns a little rough, they are unaware of the space geese being tossed and thrown about inside the ship. The geese radio back to their planet stating they are under some form of attack and need to return.
Click below for the final installment of Wattoo Wattoo's encounter
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| Wattoo Wattoo Main Page Part One |
Part Two |