The ladybug always wins.

November 23, 2008 3:48 PM

minuscule: La vie privée des insectes (warning: auto-play sound). This is a series of short, funny films with no dialogue (so you don't need to know French to appreciate them), combining actual footage with 3d animation. Films include: bouse de là!, catapulte, chewing gum, hyperactive, l'attaque de la sucette rose, les vers sont dans la pomme, libellules, petit repas entre mouches, silence, top départ and zzzeplin.

Artists may also be interested in the handsome character sketches on their site.

posted by joannemerriam (14 comments total)

I've spent a couple hours this weekend watching these. They're wonderful and charming and anthropomorphize bugs in ways you won't expect if you've grown up on a steady diet of American cartoons. I'd buy the set of disks for my nephews for Christmas if it wasn't for DVD zoning making the gift more work for the recipient than it's worth.
posted by ardgedee at 4:24 PM on November 23, 2008

The two I watched were cool, thanks for posting this. I'm bookmarking this and will enjoy these over the next couple days.
posted by marxchivist at 5:36 PM on November 23, 2008

Awesome.
posted by stbalbach at 5:42 PM on November 23, 2008

I like these very much.
posted by painquale at 6:21 PM on November 23, 2008

I don't even have kids and I'm pissed off at American cartoons after seeing this.
posted by metastability at 7:11 PM on November 23, 2008

These are neat. Thanks! Watching the chewing gum episode a little while ago reminded me of an article, but I couldn't remember where I found it. I just ran across it again. Maybe the cartoon isn't too far-fetched; it might just be a matter of having enough flies.... How to make a fly-powered matchstick airplane!
posted by Kronos_to_Earth at 8:10 PM on November 23, 2008

Hmmm.... duplicate here and again here... but, they have produced more since so perhaps a refresher is in order, as they are all charming.
posted by CynicalKnight at 8:30 PM on November 23, 2008

PAL ... zone 2 ...

Dammit!
posted by woodblock100 at 11:47 PM on November 23, 2008

These are really terrific.
posted by From Bklyn at 1:07 AM on November 24, 2008

omg These are some of the most entertaining videos I've seen in ages. Awesome wonder. Fascinating how they are an extraordinary mix of real and animation? Incredible. So beautiful. And I love the complex emotions of the insects, the laugh of the grasshopper who catapults the insects is hilarious. Can't get enough of these. Great post. Thanks.
posted by nickyskye at 2:09 AM on November 24, 2008

minuscule's flash site with some cute clips.
posted by nickyskye at 2:41 AM on November 24, 2008

Word up to the sound designers. Fantastic atmospherics and foley.
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:40 AM on November 24, 2008

Wow, these are GREAT!!

My favorite moment was definitely the celebrating snails at the end of "top depart". So sweet :)
posted by Cygnet at 9:44 AM on November 24, 2008

I grabbed all 3 DVDs a while back, but I think the races are the better, with the nice extra motor sounds. (Who doesn't like chainsaw/helicopter combo for the dragonflies!).

Oh btw, the ladybird doesn't always win, and isn't always a jerk. :)
posted by lundman at 9:30 PM on November 24, 2008