Fantomcat
Fantomcat is a British animated series produced by Cosgrove Hall Films. It was first broadcast in 1995, and was animated by Alfonso Productions, a Spanish animation studio also responsible for animating Count Duckula, and Avenger Penguins, Milimetros, another Spanish animation studio, and in-house by Cosgrove Hall themselves. It aired largely on Children's ITV. The series also had a run on Pop from 2003 to 2005. It was the first Cosgrove Hall cartoon to be animated with a process called Animo, wherein the animation drawings were scanned and then digitally coloured on computers. The first series was produced and directed by Ben Turner, while the second one was produced and directed by its creator, Andy Roper.
Influences
The main character of Fantomcat was influenced heavily by Zorro, Errol Flynn and Fantômas, and the series itself was influenced by and the time-lost approach of both Adam Adamant Lives! and Gargoyles.Details
Fantomcat centres on the character Phillipe L'Entrique Elan de Chanel, Count Givenchy and Duke of Fantom, a.k.a. Fantomcat, a masked swashbuckling hero who thrived on the stormy evening of 31 December 1699 in mortal combat with his nemesis Baron von Skelter, a sword-wielding caped Skeletoid alchemist. But Von Skelter was not alone in Castle Fantom, as he had brought with him two of his henchmen. During the battle, Phillipe was treacherously cast into a painting within the halls of his home, Castle Fantom, by Von Skelter's henchmen with the Crystal of Malevolence, a stone so powerful that it can change worlds. As his clock struck midnight, he became trapped in the painting for three centuries while Von Skelter stole his Ring of the Fantoms and his sword, Touché.As time passed, the area around Castle Fantom became a bustling metropolis called Metrocity, a city submerged in crime rings led by the fiendish arachnid Marmagora. Eventually, at midnight on 31 December 1999, Fantomcat is freed from the painting by the members of the Wildcat Detective Agency when they take a wrong turning into the castle while chasing two explosive-wielding reptiles.
On 1 January 2000, Fantomcat joins the Wildcat Detective Agency in their battle against Marmagora and her henchmen, who have used another Crystal of Malevolence to summon Baron von Skelter into the modern day and join her as her partner in a new world order. Fantomcat and the Wildcat Detective Agency defeat Marmagora's henchmen, and blow up Baron Von Skelter with the two Crystals of Malevolence. Although the Baron has been defeated, Marmagora is still hanging around, and the battle will continue another day.
Characters
- Phillipe L'Entrique Elan de Chanel, Count Givenchy and Duke of Fantom - The main protagonist of the series. A masked, swashbuckling, polite and fearless hero who joins the Wildcat Detective Agency after his release and is nicknamed Fantomcat. Fantomcat is naturally completely oblivious to the modern world and its various new technologies, which can hinder him and the detective team if not careful. Fantomcat has a sword called Touché which can respond to his beck and call, has been with him all his nine lives, and was made from the same metal that his great grandfather's sword was made from. He can also turn invisible with the help of his Ring of the Fantoms, a ring a thousand years old whose powers have helped Fantomcat's family oppose evil down the ages. With this ring, he can act like a "Phantom" when needed. In-between adventures, he teaches MacDuff how to be a swordsman.
- Sir Randolph L'Entrique Elan de Chanel - Fantomcat's father, who is now deceased. He often appears in the form of a ghost whenever Fantomcat has lost a battle or lost one of his nine lives.
- Great Grandfather L'Entrique Elan de Chanel - Fantomcat's great grandfather, who was killed by Nemesis during their first and final encounter. Like Fantomcat's father, he appeared to Fantomcat in the form of a ghost.
- Tabitha "Tabs" Wildcat - A stern female detective and leader of the Wildcat Detective Agency, who has a crush on Fantomcat. Her younger sister is Ginger Wildcat, the head of the New York Police Department who also has a crush on Fantomcat. She is known as Penelope "Penny" Wildcat in some foreign dubs.
- MacDuff the Mouse - A timid member of the Detective Team, who hates holes. His real name is Claude, though as it embarrasses him, he prefers to be called MacDuff. He is also a swordsman-in-training.
- Bunty the Mouse - MacDuff's older brother, who is an inept inventor. He has a habit of calling MacDuff by his real name, which irritates him.
- Leandra Bagshot - MacDuff's girlfriend, who is unaware of his life as a detective thwarting Marmagora.
- Lindbergh the Pigeon - A member of the Detective Team who talks in garbled, blubbering language, hates heights and therefore will not fly.
- Police Chief Axel Schmiere - The chief of the Metrocity Police Department, who enjoys eating hamburgers and is scared of Fantomcat.
- Hiram "Big" Bucks - Metrocity's biggest billionaire, who owns every industrial business in the city.
- The Mayor - The mayor of Metrocity, who is rather geeky and cowardly, and often works alongside Hiram "Big" Bucks.
- Rash Blackhead - A reporter for Metrocity News Flash who is a big fan of Fantomcat and the Wildcat Detective Agency.
- Marmagora - The primary antagonist of the series. A hideous giant widow spider intent on dominating Metrocity and leader of the evil forces below the city. She has a pet carnivorous plant called Gloria, who takes three weeks to digest her food, and she often feeds her henchman Vile the Bluebottle to her whenever he messes up.
- Vile the Bluebottle - A fly. Marmagora's right-hand man, who does not help her much but only follows her instructions and agrees with everything she says - however, he sometimes has feelings against Marmagora. He normally wields a gun or a sword, and like all flies, can fly.
- Vinnie the Vole - One of Marmagora's henchmen, who is always ready to help. Unlike Vile, Vinnie is actually quite smart, but he always gets shunned by Vile.
- Vomit the Fly - Vile's cousin. He is also Marmagora's "spy in the sky fly", and is a lot smaller than Vile.
- The Crab Twins - Two of Marmagora's second division boys, called Jack and Arthur. They normally wield crowbars and baseball bats, and often target rich people. They are also very good swimmers.
- Baron Hugo von Skelter - A sword-wielding caped Skeletoid alchemist who imprisoned Fantomcat for 300 years and was summoned to the present day by Marmagora to finish his heinous conquest. He was formerly a bison scientist, but after experimenting alchemy on himself, he became a Skeletoid set upon the path of evil. He was thought dead after being defeated by Fantomcat in the first episode, but he survived and is now waiting for his revenge on him.
- The Monitor - An intergalactic space villain who talks like Shere Khan and destroys planets with a giant laser on his asteroid spaceship. He was thought dead after being sucked out into space in his first appearance, but he survived as he can breathe in space and is now waiting for his revenge on Fantomcat.
- Lurk - One of the Monitor's henchmen, who is a Cockney lizard. He's not much help, but does have the odd bright moment or two.
- Nemesis - A demon warrior created by a powerful sorcerer in order to wipe out Fantomcat's great grandfather and ravage the land. He was defeated, but at the cost of Fantomcat's great grandfather's life. He is again summoned by Marmagora in the form of a Sodium-filled giant robot, and is again defeated with a water cannon. He is fought by MacDuff when Fantomcat ends up in a radiation accident, and once again by MacDuff when Blaine Bunion accidentally summons him. He can be summoned with the incantation "Galiostro acapelto maponos asmodeos azazel!"
Episode list
Series 1
Series 2
DVD and VHS releases
On 13 January 2003 in the United Kingdom, Cinema Club and Granada Media released 2 DVDs and videos of Fantomcat, one with Episodes 1 and 2, and one with Episodes 3 and 4.Previously, in 1996, Telstar Home Entertainment released 3 videos as part of their Star Kids range.
| VHS video title | Year of release | Episodes |
| Fantomcat: Volume 1 | 13 September 1996 | The Hero Returns, The Preying Mantis |
| Fantomcat: Volume 2 | 15 November 1996 | The Swords of the Scorpion, The Aeroship |
| Fantomcat: Volume 3 | 21 May 1997 | The Asteroid Adventure, The Mind Leech, Lady Gobbling's Gems |
So far, the rest of the first series and the second series have not been officially released in the United Kingdom, but bootleg copies of the first and second series exist, and can be requested from ITV Viewer Requests.
In Serbia, Beokolp released 2 DVDs of Fantomcat, one with Episodes 14, 15, 16 and 10, and one with Episodes 5, 6, 7 and 22.