LoliRock explained

Image Alt:LoliRock logo in cursive writing outlined in yellow
Genre:
Director:Jean Louis-Vandestoc
Theme Music Composer:Norbert Gilbert
Endtheme:Instrumental of opening theme
Composer:Norbert Gilbert
Country:France
Canada
Language:English
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:52
List Episodes:List of LoliRock episodes
Producer:Jean Louis Vandestoc
Editor:Romain Fuzeau
Runtime:22 minutes
Company:
  • Marathon Media
  • Zodiak Kids
  • MFP
  • B Media 2012 (S2)
  • Backup Films (S2)
Animator:Inspidea[1]
Channel:France 3
Disney Channel
Gloob

LoliRock is an animated television series produced by Marathon Media and Zodiak Kids with the participation of France Télévisions and The Walt Disney Company France. It was created by Jean Louis-Vandestoc along with David Michel and written by Madellaine Paxson.[2] It first aired in France on 18 October 2014 on France 3, and has expanded to television channels in Europe.[3]

A unique take on magical girls, the series focuses on a group of teenagers who live double lives as both idol singers and princesses, the latter of whom uses magical powers to fight against an ever growing threat.

Plot

Iris is a fifteen-year-old blonde girl who likes to sing and help others. However, when she sings, strange things happen. Encouraged by her best friend/crush Nathaniel, Iris auditions for a girl rock band, but ends up destroying the room and is later attacked by two strangers (magical twins Praxina and Mephisto). The judges at the audition, Princess Talia and Princess Auriana, come to help her and they explain to her that she is a princess herself with mighty magical powers who must save her homeworld and kingdom of Ephedia, from the evil clutches of Lord Gramorr, who has taken it over and turned it to a miserable place. The only way to save her kingdom is to master her new powers and to find the twelve Oracle Gems of the Crown of Ephedia, which have been scattered across the Earth. Throughout the series, the three girls try to live as both ordinary teenagers as well as stars of the all-female band called LoliRock while training Princess Iris to master her growing magical abilities and spells in secret, and gathering the thirteen mystical oracle gems. But when Gramorr sends Praxina and Mephisto to also find the Oracle Gems while making attempts to destroy the LoliRock with their monsters.

In season two, the group is joined by two other Ephedian princesses named Carissa and Lyna who were part of the planet's resistance, with Talia's elder sister Izira as the leader. They also transform into magical warrior princesses but are not part of the rock band. The girls continue gathering Oracle Gems while helping those in need, but Lord Gramorr and the Twins continue to get much stronger and more dangerous as well.

When the last oracle gem is collected, Iris faces the reality of having to say goodbye to Earth, particularly Nathaniel, and returning to her Ephedia to be reunited with her parents, the king and queen. But when Lord Gramorr claims the final gem and is released to unleash his destructive wrath on all of Ephedia, the girls work together to face him in one final battle. A highly evolved Princess Iris (who has called upon her stronger Shanila form) destroys Lord Gramorr, whose pet black panther Banes abandons him to his death. Banes later approaches Praxina, embittered over Mephisto sacrificing himself to protect her, and gives her what remained of Gramorr's mask so they enact revenge on LoliRock by attacking everyone they love on Earth. LoliRock must return Earth to stop them under the guidance of Iris' freed parents.

Episodes

See main article: List of LoliRock episodes.

Characters

Production

Conception

Jean-Louis Vandestoc drew inspiration for LoliRock from watching anime in his childhood that was broadcast on French TV channels, including Sherlock Hound, Space Adventure Cobra, The Mysterious Cities of Gold and Dragon Ball, but the most influential anime was Magical Princess Minky Momo. He wrote "I loved the very core of it: a child transforming into an adult, helping people and making good deeds, the nice chara design, and finally the tone of the show: it could be funny and light, but also dramatic and tearful at other times. My soul was marked forever." After working on French cartoons Monster Buster Club and Rekkit Rabbit, he wanted to make a magical girl show. He chose Sailor Moon and Pretty Cure as references for the magical girl part, and Jem and the Holograms for the music career part.[25]

Character design

The producers at Marathon Media asked designers to draw Iris for a magical girl project as a teenage alien princess with ice/crystal powers. Character designer Bertrand Todesco drew inspiration from Betty Autier, a French fashion blogger of "le blog de betty". She had dark hair and straight bangs, but Todesco figured the producers wanted a blonde girl for a lead, so he went with the look of Jenny Humphrey of the TV series Gossip Girl, portrayed by Taylor Momsen. The producers also wanted the girls' irises to be star-shaped. Autier's appearance as well as her wardrobe was retained for Talia.

Following the initial picture, Todesco needed to design a princess/rockstar outfit, of which he chose a green dress worn by Blake Lively. The colour was changed to pink as green was not suitable for merchandising. Todeco added a magical pet creature in the custom of Sailor Moon, which would later become Amaru. He designed in the hair streaks for when the girls were rock stars, and dresses that weren't so frilly that they would be complicated to draw.

In designing Talia and the then-named Aurora, Todesco originally started with a black girl and an Asian girl with typical hairstyles, but later changed his mind. He then found inspirations from other Gossip Girl characters as well as actresses Amber Stevens West and Ariana Grande, the latter of whom was how she acted in the teen sitcom Victorious rather than her current pop singer image. He also referenced Keri Hilson and Alicia Keys. Victorious was also the inspiration for some of the key visuals he used in promoting the series to get funding.

Early promotions of the series pictured the antagonist named Gromar to be an evil uncle of Iris who imprisoned the king and queen, and that he sent his two evil twin nephews to Earth to thwart Lolirock and take the gems. Paxson said that they abandoned the idea as it would have made him more of a stereotype.[26] Todesco originally conceived of antagonists Praxina and Mephisto to have guitar playing sound powers that would counter the girls' singing voice powers but the idea was abandoned. After several iterations, Praxina's final design was approved where she would have a butterfly brooch and motif, while Mephisto's was approved later, after director Jean-Louis had suggested he have a snake motif and a half-covered face. Eventually Gramorr would have the covered face,

The design for the crystal magic circles and related animation was first done in 2D based on some reference pictures. Different colours and symbols were assigned to each character. It was later created in CGI.[27] Animation tools used include Toon Boom Harmony, Adobe After Effects, and Blender.[28]

Lyna and Carissa were created in response to a request from the producers when the writing for season 1 was nearing completion. The request was to add two new princesses to increase the member count to five. However, the LoliRock developers thought they already had too many characters so they made Lyna and Carissa supporting characters that were "outside the main gang but always ready and willing to help when needed". The two girls' transformations resemble Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. The designers considered making one of the two girls look Asian to balance out the overall group's look; they applied the look to both girls, and chose Lyna. There was also a concern that Carissa might be confused with Auriana as the show's redhead, they decided to go with giving her an Irish redhead theme anyway.[29]

Themes and writing

LoliRock head writer Madellaine Paxson, who had worked on children's shows Making Fiends, Power Rangers RPM as well as the horror film Blood Punch, described the themes of the show as: friendship and love, magic, singing / music, and good vs. evil. She said the hardest part in writing an episode is the beginning and also in integrating the themes along with a story with a person that needs help. Her favourite scenes from the show were where the princesses are together doing ordinary teenage girl things as they had opportunities for comedy. She summarised the show as having something for everybody, very girly, but good action too.[30] In the press release, Zodiak Kids describe the show as having a "cast of characters that are aspirational role models for a generation of children for whom justice has become a core value". Jean-Louis Vandestoc chose a band concept for the series as it was different from his other shows which involved characters that went to school and then saved the world. The school part was replaced by the girls training or rehearsing for the concert.[31] The developers later commented in their production blog FAQ that Iris was still attending school and that the episodes aren't all during summer vacation.[32]

According to posts on the production Tumblr, LoliRock is classified as somewhere between a script-driven and storyboard-driven show. They started with a full script and then recorded lines with scratch voices or final voices, as re-recording after storyboarding would be costlier. The storyboard is then worked on, and some of the storyboard artists and supervisor adding and changing things they felt were important such as with the kiss scene in the Shanila episode and the Iris becoming a dark princess. Storyboard stage also included fixes for continuity and plot holes.[33]

Music and voice-over

The music score was composed and produced by Norbert "Yellowshark" Gilbert, with about 600 tracks over the course of the 52 26-minute episodes.[34] Five recurring songs (including the theme song) were recorded for each season. Due to limited resources in production, the team posted that Iris would be the only one singing on those songs, so they recorded Yasmin Shah in English and then developed the music videos. After realising that it would be unnatural for the other girls to not sing, they designed Iris to have a microphone while the others would just sing along. They considered recording singing for Talia and Auriana but were constrained by budget. Cassandre Berger provided the singing on the French dub. The voices were then mixed. As the dialogue was done later, the voice actors only sang on the incidental bits such as rehearsals.[35]

The episodes were written and voice-recorded in English first and then adapted into French.[36] For season 1, the English voices were recorded at Vida Spark Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, while the French voices were recorded at Lylo studios in Paris, France.

Marketing and promotion

Zodiak Media officially announced LoliRock in April 2013 at the MIPTV event in Cannes, France. Early promotions included the idea of princesses with magical singing voices.[37] The demographic target audience is girls ages 6 to 12, and the group partnered with France Televisions and Disney Channel France.[38] Marathon Media CEO Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and general manager David Michel said that "LoliRock is a fresh, contemporary take on what it is to be a girl today, infused with music and magical adventures and the all-important notion of justice in today's teenage world. It's a perfect companion piece to Totally Spies!, which has been so successful in this same space."[39] In comparing the promotion of the show to that of Totally Spies!, Zodiak senior vice-president Patricia de Wilde said that Zodiak made sure the premise was made clear for the new show.

The first five songs were publicised as music videos on YouTube. Plans were also made to create live-action LoliRock bands in various markets, such as Super TV's contest held online[40] [41] and among major cities in Italy. A website was launched with videos, games, and message boards. Promotional toys were also offered at Quick restaurants as well as McDonald's.[42] [43] [44] [45] An app was developed for the music which Zodiak senior vice-president Patricia de Wilde said was a "sort of cross between K-Pop and Katy Perry."

Broadcast

The show premiered on France 3 on 18 October 2014.[46] [47] running for 13 episodes until March 2015.[48] On 26 January 2016, Zodiak Kids published an article officially announcing that BatteryPOP had acquired AVOD (streaming) rights to LoliRock for one year.[49] [50]

On 1 April, France Televisions announced the release of episodes on France 4, and Disney France. Zodiak also reported that Italy would launch LoliRock on De Agostini Editore's Super! DTT channel.[51] France 4 began broadcasting the 13 episodes on 4 April 2016.[52] On 1 May, the first season of the series was released on Netflix,[53] [54] in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

The LoliRock producers pre-released the four episodes of season 2 on YouTube in December 2016.[55] Netflix released the English version of the season 2 episodes on 5 January 2017.[56] It was broadcast on France 4 in February with two episodes per weekday.

In the United States, the show premiered on the streaming service Netflix in 2016 with an English-language track and the second season premiered on the service in 2017. In 2020, Amazon's Prime Video service acquired the show and it was subsequently removed from Netflix in select countries.

On March 27, 2023, it was announced that a third season is set to be released in 2025.

Reception

Ella Anders of BSC Kids wrote that LoliRock "plays it clear as a magical girl series and even nods other iconic shows in the genera" such as Pretty Cure and Sailor Moon, but that it is "grand in its own right and should be held up as a great magical girl series". She liked the diverse cast, plot, humor, and background story, the last of which she had not seen since Friendship Is Magic, and that it was a type of show she would have loved growing up.[57]

Heather Newman of Forbes magazine described the series as "A French animated series about an impossibly thin, stylish, magical girl who sings."[58]

Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media described the series as "fun" and "entertaining." However, she argued that the dual storyline felt "a little awkward and forced at times" and wondered if promoting the music of the show was a motivation for these storylines. Even so, she concluded that the series would "garner some fans among kids."[59]

When asked whether LoliRock would have a cross-over episode with French superhero show from Zagtoon, Thomas Astruc, who was the creator and director on Miraculous and a storyboarder on LoliRock,[60] [61] said it was unlikely given they are from two different production companies, but that the animation community is small and that both companies share the same love of animation. He has posted about the two being cousin shows.[62]

Other media

A LoliRock video game, available on iOS and Android, was released by Bulkypix in 2014. The game lets players sing to the songs featured on the show, record performances, and customise a sound studio and pick the girls' outfits.[63]

Zodiak has also worked a deal with publishing company Hachette Jeunesse to create novels, activity books, stationery, and e-books.[64]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Inspidea's crew LoliRock Fanart (Round 1) . Team LoliRock . Tumblr . 24 August 2015 . As we just finished the production of season 1, we’d like to share some fanarts from the “lolirock malaysian team” at Inspidea, our animation studio in Asia. Without them, LoliRock wouldn’t exist. So thanks a lot everyone ! Thanks for your work, and enduring the hardship of this production..
  2. Web site: Marathon to bring music to girls' ears with Lolirock . Getzler . Wendy Goldman . 25 March 2013 . Kidscreen.
  3. Web site: Lolirock Gets Ready to Rock . Jenkins . Bob . 1 October 2013 . . 19 June 2016.
  4. Web site: LoliRock Season 1 – Full english voice cast . Team LoliRock . 26 November 2015 . 13 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  5. Web site: LoliRock Season 1 – Full french cast . Team LoliRock . 26 November 2015 . 17 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  6. Web site: Now that we are talking about magic circles I need... . Team LoliRock . 29 April 2016 . 15 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  7. Web site: Back to 2011! The creation of LoliRock – Part 1: Iris Genesis . Todesco . Bertrand . 4 September 2015 . 13 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  8. Web site: Back to 2011! The creation of LoliRock – Part 3: Finalizing main characters . Todesco . Bertrand . 7 September 2015 . 13 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  9. Web site: Back to 2011! The creation of LoliRock – Part 2: Talia and Aurora . Todesco . Bertrand . 5 September 2015 . 13 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  10. Web site: LoliRock – Magical Girls à la française . Tu auras les yeux carrés . 15 October 2014 .
  11. Web site: Hello, I have two questions, 1 is black crystal... . Team LoliRock . 29 April 2016 . 15 June 2016 . . Now, the Battle Arena. It's a pocket dimension that Amaru is able to summon at will, bringing with him the people nearby. How does he do it ? It's very mysterious. The main purpose for the Arena is to allow the princesses to fight with their full power without worrying of consequences : there are no civilians (usually) nor anything valuable (buildings, vehicules, etc) in the Arena..
  12. Web site: LoliRock characters 7: Gramorr and Banes . Team LoliRock . 31 October 2015 . 15 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  13. Web site: If black magic harms both the caster and the... . Team LoliRock . 2 June 2016 . 15 June 2016 . . Praxina prefers demonstrations of raw power, like big explosion spells and huge monster summoning. And she's good at that. Mephisto prefers more elaborate spells and tricks (he likes to brag how he's a genius, remember ?), like trying to put all princesses to sleep, or removing Iris' memory, things like that. He however is as capable as her to summon monsters and freeze people in black crystal. And she is also capable of being more subtle when needed. That's why they make a pretty good team. .
  14. Web site: Back to 2011! The creation of LoliRock – Part 5: Villains! . Todesco . Bertrand . 1 February 2016 . 13 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  15. Web site: Back to 2011! The creation of LoliRock – Part 6: Finding Mephisto and Praxina . Todesco . Bertrand . 4 February 2016 . 13 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  16. Web site: Nessym Guetat . RS Doublage.com . fr.
  17. Web site: Sorry if you've been asked this before, but was... . 30 May 2016 . 15 June 2016 . . You might find it surprising, but no. Missy was not based on Mandy. However, we fully admit she looks a lot like Mandy, and knew a lot of people would notice that too. ... We needed a love rival / pest for Iris, and most of the time, when your heroïne is blonde, you get a brunette as a rival… And vice versa. ... It's just a "classic trope" here. ;) .
  18. Web site: Talia's Realm (From S01E06 "Xeris") Backgrounds... . Team LoliRock . 12 April 2016 . 15 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  19. Web site: S01.E06 – Xeris . Team LoliRock . 26 May 2016 . 15 June 2016.
  20. Web site: Lev – Character model sheet A mysterious Ephedian... . Team LoliRock . 26 May 2016 . 15 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  21. Web site: Magic Circles part 3 – The Resistance Team Here... . Team LoliRock . 27 April 2016 . 15 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  22. Web site: Lyna & Carissa's Resistance Cloak and Magical... . Team LoliRock . 30 March 2016 . Tumblr.
  23. Web site: Lyna, Princess of Borealis : Transformation... . Team LoliRock . 10 February 2017 . Tumble. 272 .
  24. Web site: happykuri: Aaaand here's Carissa!! I love this.... Team LoliRock. 20 October 2016. Tumblr. 10 February 2017.
  25. Web site: Back to the roots . Jean-Louis Vandestoc / Team LoliRock . 15 July 2015 . 19 January 2017 . Tumblr.
  26. Web site: Interview with Writer Madellaine Paxson – Behind the Scenes – LoliRock. Team LoliRock. 14 July 2015. Tumblr. 16 January 2017.
  27. Web site: LoliRock Research & Development : The Crystal Magic . 11 May 2016 . 15 June 2016 . Team LoliRock . Tumblr.
  28. Web site: Hello! I started watching Lolirock on Netfilx with our daughter. We really enjoy it:) I was wondering what program is used to animate Lolirock? . LoliRock is animated with Toonboom Harmony. The compositing is done with Adobe After Effect. And the CGI parts (vehicules, crystals, and some props) is created with Blender. . 14 July 2016 . 4 October 2016 . . Team LoliRock .
  29. Web site: Lyna & Carissa's . Team LoliRock. 7 July 2017 . Tumblr. 13 September 2017.
  30. Web site: Interview with Writer Madellaine Paxson – Behind the Scenes – LoliRock . LoliRock . 9 July 2015 . 18 June 2016 . YouTube.
  31. Web site: From where will come the idea of this band?? . Team LoliRock . 2 January 2017 . 16 January 2017 . Tumblr.
  32. Web site: F.A.Q.. Team LoliRock. Tumblr. 14 September 2017.
  33. Web site: Hi! I hope you had a good day :D I was wondering,... . Team LoliRock . 20 May 2016 . 15 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  34. Web site: Team LoliRock – Lolirock Score Show Reel (by Yellowshark) And... . 18 April 2016 . 15 June 2016 . Tumblr.
  35. Web site: Team LoliRock – LoliRockers FanQuestions : Songs and Lyrics . 16 November 2015 . 15 June 2016 . . Team LoliRock.
  36. Web site: Team LoliRock – whoiam989: It's official. LoliRock is written and.... 193. tumblr.com. 16 January 2017.
  37. Web site: Kids Catalogue . 20 February 2013 . issuu.com . 18 June 2016.
  38. Web site: MIPTV: Kids Rule in Cannes . License! Global . . 1 May 2013 . 18 June 2016 . Davis . Nicole.
  39. Web site: Zodiak to Launch 'LoliRock' at MIPTV . Animation Magazine . 25 March 2013 . 18 June 2016 . Milligan . Mercedes.
  40. Web site: Super TV! Holds a LoliRock Contest! . 12 April 2016 . 18 June 2016 . MagicLoliRock . Blogspot.
  41. Web site: Canta con le LoliRock: Più Su! – Super! TV . supertv.it . 18 June 2016.
  42. FRANCE: McDonalds signs up as promotional partner for Zodiak Kids' Lolirock . 27 March 2015 . Zodiak Media . 20 June 2016 .
  43. LoliRock Success in France & Italy . Zodiak Media . 31 March 2016 . 18 June 2016.
  44. References to Quick restaurant:
  45. Web site: 'LoliRock' Arrives in Happy Meals . License! Global . . 30 March 2015 . 18 June 2016.
  46. Web site: France 5 : emissions, programme tv, infos et jeux. france5.fr. 26 November 2016.
  47. Web site: LoliRock – L'audition – Samedi 18 Octobre 10h22 – Accueil . 21 October 2014 . . fr . 20 June 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141021194855/http://www.france3.fr/emission/lolirock/diffusion-du-18-10-2014-10h21 . 21 October 2014 .
  48. Web site: LoliRock – Coup de foudre – Episode 7 – Samedi 7 Mars 07h27. . fr. live . 20 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160620180108/http://www.france3.fr/emission/lolirock/diffusion-du-07-03-2015-07h26 . 20 June 2016 .
  49. Web site: batteryPOP picks up AVOD rights to LoliRock and Get Blake!. Zodiak Kids.
  50. Web site: BatteryPop unwraps LoliRock. c21media.net. 13 June 2016.
  51. Web site: 'LoliRock' Attunes to France and Italy. 1 April 2016. animationmagazine.net. 13 June 2016.
  52. Web site: LoliRock – L'audition – Saison 1 – Episode 1 – Lundi 4 Avril 13h35 . france4.fr . 20 June 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160620191029/http://www.france4.fr/emission/54084b8970676526583bbe03/56ea37f6706765442ab60802 . 20 June 2016 .
  53. Web site: Everything coming to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Now in May. The Verge. Bishop. Bryan. 29 April 2016. 2 May 2016.
  54. Web site: Team LoliRock – Today's the day. :) . 1 May 2016 . 15 June 2016 . . Team LoliRock .
  55. Web site: Omg season 2, the first episode, it was so.... tumblr.com. 16 January 2017.
  56. Web site: So, Season 2 on Netflix.... 272. tumblr.com. 14 February 2017.
  57. Web site: Lolirock Arrives at Long Last to US. 27 April 2016. BSC Kids. Ella . Anders. 18 June 2016.
  58. Web site: New on Netflix: 'Sherlock' Doc, 'Grace And Frankie,' 'Sixteen Candles'. Heather. Newman. Forbes. 29 April 2016. 18 June 2016.
  59. Web site: Ashby. Emily. LoliRock Review. October 2, 2020. Common Sense Media. April 28, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20210517224954/https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/lolirock. May 17, 2021. live.
  60. Web site: Thomas Astruc. LinkedIn. 18 June 2016.
  61. Web site: Thomas Astruc. www.blu-ray.com.
  62. Web site: Countdown to Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Is On. 5 December 2015. Ella . Anders . BSC Kids. 18 June 2016 . Thomas- Between the two French companies there is a similar interest in the “magical girl” stories (from Japan), and since it’s a small community the two companies, of course, share the same love of animation, we joke about being cousin shows. But these are two different companies, so a crossover is unlikely to occur. .
  63. Web site: LoliRock arrives onto Android so you can sing along to their songs. AndrewH. droidgamers.com.
  64. Zodiak Kids and Hachette Jeunesse sign LOLIROCK Publishing deal . 15 October 2013 . Zodiak Media . 20 June 2016 . 8 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160308115652/http://www.zodiakmedia.com/press_detail.php?id=551 . dead .