Lucky Luke is an animated television series based on the comic book series of the same name created by the Belgian cartoonist and creator of the franchise Morris. The series lasted for 26 episodes, and was co-produced by Hanna-Barbera, Gaumont, Extrafilm and FR3. In France, the series was broadcast from 15 October 1984 on FR3. In the United States, the show aired in syndication on various CBS and ABC stations.[2]
Synopsis
Lucky Luke is a solitary street-smart cowboy traveling through the Old West. Accompanied by his faithful horse Jolly Jumper and almost every episode by Rantanplan the prison guard dog (who gets lost in the West by wanting to follow Lucky Luke or find his prison), he finds himself confronted with various bandits and thugs like the Dalton Brothers, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Phil Defer.[3]
The opening credits were directed by Philippe Landrot. This series is broadcast in installments of 5 minutes every day in access prime time, followed by a full broadcast on Sunday afternoon (on FR3). Three episodes ("The Daltons in the Blizzard", "Ma Dalton" and "The Daltons Are Redeemed") were combined in a compilation feature movie: The Daltons on the Loose.[6]
The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera in the United States.[7] During the series' production and appearance on the American television, Lucky Luke must comply with a few rules to avoid falling foul of the censorship of children's programs. First, Lucky Luke's cigarette was replaced by a blade of grass, a change that would later also occur in the comic series.[8] Another big change is that ethnic minorities are disappearing: no more Chinese launderers, no more black servants, no more “redskin”-speaking Amerindians. The Mexicans and the undertakers are also erased as much as possible from the Lucky Luke stories (some episodes, however, leave the role of the undertakers more or less intact). This adaptation will also give the animals Jolly Jumper and Rantanplan a much more important place than in the comics.
Episodes never had the same design, which was explained by the services of several subcontracted animation studios (in the United States, Spain and Australia). Three episodes of this series (Les Dalton dans le blizzard, Ma Dalton et Les Dalton se rachètent) were assembled together for the theatrical release Les Dalton en cavale.[9] In some episodes of the French dub, comedian Bernard Haller was replaced by Roger Carel. Jacques Thébault, who was the voice of Lucky Luke, had dubbed James West in Mystères de l'ouest and Pierre Trabaut who did Joe Dalton had voiced Loveless, James West's enemy.
The series was first broadcast in the United States in 1983. In France, lit was broadcast on FR3 in five-minute episodes in a 7:55pm timeslot from October 15, 1984[10] to April 12, 1985,[11] later in 26 weekly episodes on Sundays from October 20, 1984[12] to April 14, 1985.[13] during FR3 Jeunesse. The rerun started on October 27, 1985[14] and ended on April 13, 1986 on the same channel.[15] Its rerun received a further rerun with the five-minute episodes airing on weeknights in a prime access slot, followed by a late-afternoon rerun of the full-length episodes on Sundays (on FR3). This rerun started on January 5, 1987[16] and ended on June 28, 1987.[17] It was repeated again from October 3, 1988[18] to April 2, 1989.[19] Outside France 3 it gained further reruns from October 16, 1996 on Arte, and in 2008 on Gulli.[20]
A second series was produced eight years later, in 1991, under the hands of IDDH located in Angoulême.[7] A third series, produced by Xilam, followed in 2001.
Home media
The complete series was released in October 2010 by Citel Vidéo in 5 volumes. The episodes are in disorder:
