Ratz (TV series)

Ratz
Logo Ratz official
Created by	Richard Zielenkiewicz (as Monsieur Z) Stéphane Melchior-Durand
Starring	French: Éric Judor Ramzy Bédia English: Terrence Scammell Rick Jones Tony Robinow Sonja Ball Arthur Holden
Music by	Herve Lavandier
Country of origin	France Canada
No. of episodes	52
Production
Producer(s)	Marc du Pontavice
Running time	approx. 22 mins. (11 mins. per episode)
Production company(s)	Tooncan Xilam
Release
Original network	Télétoon/Teletoon (Canada) France 3/Canal J (France) Animania HD (US) Disney Channel (India)
Original release	21 September 2003 – 11 November 2006
Website

Ratz is a Canadian/French animated television series created by France's Xilam studios, with joint production from Canada. The show stars two rats, Rapido and Razmo, aboard the S.S. Wanderer, a cheese ship with (seemingly) no actual destination. The focus of the series is on the adventures of the two rats, including guarding the cheese, interacting with other stowaways and various ill-fated encounters with the crew. The rats themselves live in the hull of the ship in a lavish two-bedroom apartment.

While being targeted at young children in France, the series has gained a small cult following of older ages in Canada, due to its original late night air time. The French version features the voices of the comedy duo Éric et Ramzy, while the English version features the voices of Terrence Scammell as Rapido and Rick Jones as Razmo. Unlike most animated programs designed for a younger audience, Ratz has (except for the episode "The Genie") no moral resolve at the end of each episode.

The show is also notable for its positive portrayal of rats, unusual for Western and North American cultures, which often give its fictional rats selfish, antagonizing and evil characteristics. Also of interest is the pure blend of traditional animation and 3D animation, and the eclectic soundtrack by Hervé Lavandier.

Ratz was originally titled Rapido and featured a chunkier animation style; some websites (including Xilam's own website [1]) still reflect this.

An integral part of Ratz is the ratboard, a transportation device resembling a mousetrap with a jet engine strapped to the back (though in the episode "The Rat Exterminator", the rats do not recognize an actual mousetrap). The ratboard provides the rats with speedy travel in and around the ship. Rapido is very fond of his ratboard and enjoys challenging Razmo to races, often winning.