| Runtime: | 2 mins |
| Creator: | Christophe Barrier Frédéric Clémençon |
| Music: | Garlo |
| Country: | France |
| Company: | Marlou Films |
| Network: | France 3 |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 26 |
Soupe Opéra (often referred to in English as Soup Opera) is a French children's stop motion television show by French animation studio, Marlou Films.[1] The show's plot features fruits and vegetables turning themselves into different creatures and objects.[2] The name of the series is a pun on the term "Soap Opera." A total of 26 two-minute episodes were made. In France, the series aired on the France 3 channel.
The title sequence of each episode shows a fruits and vegetables slot machine, with accompanying sound effects. Two variations of this title sequence exist, with a slight variation to the visual design of the slot machine and the jackpot either being three star fruits in season 2 or a globe artichoke, an endive and a peach in season 1.
During the episode, various food objects (typically fruit and vegetables) spontaneously exit a basket, moving by themselves, and cut themselves up to form animals (even a human face in one episode) and various other objects. The animals formed then perform actions, such as eating the leftover food. In some episodes, the food that comes out is not fruit or vegetables, such as an egg that is hard boiled, a packet of chips or a bag of baking soda. Non-food items can also come out of the basket too, such as a pot and portable gas stove. Many of the animals that are made became recurring characters on another show created by Marlou Films, Les animaux des quatre saisons (The Four Seasons Animals) in 1998, which follows the lives of various animals who are all made out of fruits and vegetables themselves. During each segment, there are transitions of food sliding horizontally to the left.
The show is also very similar in style to Poubelles (Dustbins), another Marlou Films production, which came out two years later in 1993. Instead of fruit and vegetables coming out of a basket, the show features rubbish coming out of a bin to create an animal.
A similar concept of food being turned into animals was also found in the 2007 Marlou Films TV series Miam Miam! (Yum Yum!).
Soupe Opera features a distinctive soundtrack by French artists C.I.P/Garlo. The score consists of three pieces of music, re-used every episode in the same order. The first track is played during the intro, which is a simple synth melody intended to sound like the jackpot of a slot machine, and is accompanied by various slot machine sound effects. The next track plays over the main stop motion scenes, and features four voices singing in an a cappella fashion. Each segment starts off with a distinct female soprano opera voice singing (and sometimes belting) the words 'Soupe Opéra,' and features a variety of male vocals that include live performed singing, beatboxing, and sampled vocal sounds played back on a synthesiser. The voices features a variety of ranges, such as a higher male voice to accompany the opera singer, and a low groan vocal which accompanies the percussive vocal samples. The last track is an instrumental synth funk arrangement of the same tune played over the credits.[3]
All the sound effects for the series only come from Sound Ideas.
Internationally, Soupe Opéra aired in Australia on ABC1 and its sister channel, ABC2, during the ABC 4 Kids line-up.[4] In the UK, it aired on ITV during its CITV children's block and later on the CITV channel. In the United States and Latin America, the series aired on Cartoon Network as part of its Small World anthology series, which featured foreign-made shorts. The show had also been broadcast in other countries, such as CBC Television in Canada, as well as Canal Once in Mexico.
The show developed something of a cult following, particularly in France and Australia, where it was regularly played on ABC[5] in the 2000s,[6] as well as United States and Latin America, where it was regularly played on Cartoon Network during Small World. The whole series of 26 episodes have been posted on YouTube by Marlou Films themselves.