| Genre: | science fiction |
| Director: | Ansis Bērziņš |
| Country: | Latvian SSR Latvia |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Runtime: | 7 min |
| Company: | Studija Dauka |
| Network: | Latvijas Televīzija |
Fantadroms is a Latvian children's cartoon by the production company Studio Dauka. It first aired in the Soviet Union in 1985. The show has no dialogue and drama unfolds through pantomime and expressive noises such as grunts, groans, and laughter. This allows the show to cross language barriers.
The episode "Salt" won the Lielais Kristaps award for best animation in 1985,[1] and further episodes were made sporadically until 1995.
In the early 1990s, Streamline Pictures was planning to release Fantadroms in the United States, but it was scrapped because the company thought the series was too bizarre for American audiences and that the person representing it did not actually have the rights to it.[2]
The main character of the show is a yellow shape-shifting robot called Indriķis XIII, who usually takes the form of a cat. He flies through the universe mediating various disputes between the other characters or saving them from disaster. One recurring dynamic in the show is the love triangle between Indriķis, Receklīte (a flying purple cat-octopus with whom Indriķis is in love), and The Rat (who is in love with Indriķis). Other recurring characters include a cow, two young humans, and an amorphous pink blob.
Episodes "Takeoff Field of Fantasy", "The Salt" and "The Fire" got another cut a few years after release, being shortened as a result. "Takeoff Field of Fantasy" was renamed into "The Laugh" on that release.