Passe-Partout
Passe-Partout was a
french-language children's
television program produced by
Radio-Québec (later télé-Québec) that lasted from
1977 to
1987. It incorporated both live actors and
puppets although neither group interacted with the other.
Live action segments usually featured the activities and relationships of several humorous and infantile characters: Passe-Partout (a woman dressed mainly in blue played by
Marie Eykel), Passe-Carreau (a woman dressed mainly in yellow played by
Claire Pimparé) and Passe-Montagne (a man dressed in brown sporting butterfly-shaped bowties played by
Jacques L'Heureux).
Other characters that sometime appeared were André (a young adult male played by
André Cartier), Fardoche (a male farmer played by
Pierre Dufresne) and Grand-mère (a neighbouring older woman that played grand-mother for both the actors and the puppets). The latter would sometime narrate legends (the actress playing Grand-mère,
Kim Yaroshevskaya, used to be the hostess of another children show called
Fanfreluche where she also acted as a storyteller).
Apart from the distinctive costumes of the main actors, the live action segments had a
surrealistic feel due to the absence of any visible walls: all doors, windows and portraits were seen to hang in mid-air. Whether this was due to budget constraints or artistic choices is unclear.
Segments in this category could either be educational (counting, language skils, memory work, etc.), musical (featuring original songs composed in a traditional
folk style), moralistic (personal responsibility), or storytelling.
Unlike the live action segments, these were filmed in a realistic environment (although of course scaled down). The various sketches involved the twins Cannelle (girl) and Pruneau (boy). Their stories often featured Perlin and Perline (their parents), Grand-Papa Bis (their grandfather, father of Perline), Madame Coucou (a neighbour), Rigodon (their same-age male cousin), Ti-Brin (the slightly older
bully/bad influence) as well as their classmates: Doualé (a girl from the fictional country of
Cantaloupe) and Mélodie (Cannelle's friend who often acted as an object of pity). Another character which never interacted directly with the children (although they often conversed, largely perhaps in the children's imagination) was Alakazou, an
anthropomorphic zebra who hosted Cannelle and Pruno's favourite TV show.
More often than not, the puppet segments dealt with social and moral issues relating to children. In one notable instance, the children's father lost his job and went on extended
unemployment benefits, making their future uncertain.
Many innovative short films were shown in between segments. These could be anything from animation (a face forming out of vegetable), art (a woman carving a puppet out of an apple) or children's testimonials. These shorts never involved any of the characters from the other segments.
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TVO theme songs
