Oggy and the Cockroaches (known as Oggy et les Cafards in French originally) is a French animated comedy series produced by Xilam and created in 1996 or 1997. It was originally made in France but also gained international popularity as well and now runs on different channels in different countries. The series runs on Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Cartoonito
Synopsis[]
Oggy, an anthropomorphic cat, would prefer to spend his days watching television and eating but is continually pestered by three roaches: Joey, Marky and Dee Dee. The cockroaches' slapstick mischief ranges from plundering Oggy's refrigerator to hijacking the train he just boarded. In many situations, Oggy is also helped by Jack, who is more violent and short-tempered than him and is also annoyed by the cockroaches. Bob, a short-tempered bulldog, also appears in the show and is Oggy's neighbor.
Characters[]
Main[]
- Oggy is a cat with a light blue body, green eyes, red nose, grey tummy and white feet. Oggy usually spends his time either watching TV or doing housework, when he's not chasing the cockroaches. Despite the constant mayhem caused by the cockroaches, Oggy has developed a sort of love–hate relationship with them, having lived with them for a long time. Whenever he finds himself alone in his house, he will eventually begin to miss the cockroaches along with their pranks (as seen in the episode "Priceless Roaches" and "So Lonely"/"Alone at last") followed by nothing interesting happening in his life. According to executive producer Marc du Pontavice and France Info, Oggy was named after punk rock musician Iggy Pop and the rock album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. In early episodes, Oggy, like his Tom and Jerry counterpart was the main punching bag in the series. He also has a fear of heights, as shown in "The Rise & the Fall"/"Vertigo" – however, it only applied for Jack's construction site.
- The Cockroaches are a trio of cockroaches named Dee Dee, Marky and Joey (It is also implied that the roaches are named after members of the rock band The Ramones), who love playing tricks on Oggy and other characters such as Jack. However, if the cats left, they would miss each other as seen in "Moving Out". The cockroaches have wide heads, vibrantly-colored sclerae with long, pointed black noses and black feet. They also have black "caps" with their antennae, like Oggy.
- Dee Dee is the youngest cockroach with a dark blue body, orange head and green eyes. Always hungry, his appetite sometimes reaches insane proportions, often resulting in the consumption of larger animals or other things that would otherwise be inedible (such as hyenas in one case and, due to the effects of a poisonous mushroom in another case, an insect; other instances include the fish on the wallpaper in "Oggy's Clone"/"Oggy's Costume" and a clownfish in "Scuba Diving"). He is known to like opera, with "Night at the Opera" focusing on this aspect. Sometimes it is shown that his feet are so foul-smelling that the juice they produce is toxic and can melt objects, as seen in "Caught in a Trap"/"High Security Fridge". He is named after bassist Dee Dee Ramone.
- Marky is the tallest cockroach with a silver body, green head and pink eyes (originally red). Although Marky originally used to love causing mischief just like Dee Dee and Joey, he has grown to be more laid-back as the series progressed. In most episodes, he is shown with Dee Dee as his partner-in-crime. His hobbies are dating puppets and reading books (though never shown); he also has bad breath as revealed in "It's a Small World"/"Itsy-Bitsy Oggy". While his eyes changed to a less intense color, they turn red again at one point, in "Teleportation". He is named after drummer Marky Ramone.
- Joey is a cockroach with a purple-pink body, pink right eye (originally red), a yellow left eye, and a lavender head. Even though he is the shortest roach in the group, he is the most intelligent, always being the brain in the plans, but is sometimes forced to go alone because Marky and Dee Dee often think that his plans are stupid. He loves money, but his efforts always fall short, usually ending with him getting swatted or beaten up. He is named after lead singer Joey Ramone.
- Jack is a cat with an olive green body, yellow eyes, red nose, pale pink stomach, and white feet. In contrast to Oggy, he is more short-tempered, violent, and arrogant than him. He often finds himself building huge machinery, such as roach-catching contraptions, and is very interested in physics and chemistry (that is, the more explosive parts of it). Jack has an excellent relationship with Oggy, as he cares about him a lot, especially in the episode "Happy Birthday" where he tries to stop Oggy from committing suicide. Jack mostly lives and sleeps at Oggy's house, and owns a green jeep in which he and Oggy go for a variety of journeys, to the beach, and to go fishing. He is sometimes seen trying to propose to Monica, but the cockroaches' pranks always make it stop. In one episode ("Don't Rock the Cradle"/"Oggy the Babysitter"), Jack and Monica seem to have a baby together and ask Oggy to babysit their child. In "Just Married", Jack plans to get married but it got canceled at the end due to the cockroaches sneaking in and causing trouble.
Recurring[]
- Bob is a fierce brown bulldog and Oggy's neighbor who has severe anger issues with him, especially when Oggy, Jack or the roaches do something that accidentally crushes Bob, shaves his fur or destroys his house, with him proceeding to pummel Oggy or Jack off-screen. Despite this, he has some sort of friendship with them, as notably seen in some episodes like "Olivia", "Steamed Out", "Oggy Splits Hairs", "Back To The Past" etc. In addition, Bob also works as a police officer in several episodes. In one episode ("Back To School"), he was presented as a teacher of Oggy and Jack.
- Oggy's grandma is the least known member of Oggy's family who appears in several episodes, including "Granny's Day" and "Oggy's Grandma" (where she appears to be very strict with Oggy's mannerisms). She also makes a cameo in "Deep Trouble" where she supports Oggy and Jack with Monica. In "Granny's Day", she attacks the cockroaches but is actually attacked by them in "Oggy's Grandma", one time getting her head flattened by the lid of Oggy's toilet. She also gets frequent, short-lasting bursts of energy from coffee, which aids her in defeating the cockroaches. In "Granny's Day", she captures Joey and Marky, but feels sympathy for them, when Dee Dee cries on a picture of the trio with the other two crossed out.
- Monica is Oggy's twin sister and Jack's love interest, the latter of whom she has a child within "Oggy the Babysitter"/"Don't Rock the Cradle"). Known for being active and likes to take on physical challenges such as sky diving and bungee jumping, she is sometimes seen rollerskating. Of all the characters, Monica has the least appearances, although she makes a brief one in "Oggy Is Getting Married", where she sits next to Bob. She later plays a major role as Olivia's rival in the episode, "Sharing Oggy" (although they later become friends).
- Olivia is a white cat with a yellow bow on her head who debuts in season 4, and becomes Oggy's girlfriend. Olivia is aware of the cockroaches' mischief, so she stops them when they are around by using some aggressive methods. In "Oggy and the Not-so-Smart Bracelet", Olivia actually retaliates toward the cockroaches, strangely enough. Olivia cares a lot about her appearance as seen in the episode "Olivia's Pimple", where she refuses to leave her house when she saw a pimple on her face. In "Oggy Is Getting Married", as the episode title implies, Olivia and Oggy get married after a trip to Venice, Italy and she currently becomes Oggy's wife. However, their life after said marriage is not shown later in the series.
- Lady K is a light yellow female cockroach who debuted in the episode of the same name (in season 4), as the cockroaches' new love interest (mainly Joey's). She lives in Olivia's house which Olivia is not aware of, and hates her for unknown reasons. She frequently attempts to use the cockroaches as her pawns to get what she wants or her job done.
- Pit is a gray dog living in the same neighborhood as Oggy who debuted in season 4. Like Bob, he is also strong.
- Bobette is Bob's daughter who debuted in season 5. She is Jack's love interest, as seen in the episodes "Marky's Tournament" (where Marky also had a crush on her) and "Jackromeo and Bobette". She is seen in the episode "Emperor for a Day" as Napoleon's love interest.
- The Policeman is an unnamed human policeman who is normally seen in traffic or sometimes in Oggy's area. Sometimes Oggy or Jack accidentally annoy him due to the cockroaches. He appears in all seasons except for the fifth.
- The Doctor is an unnamed human doctor who sometimes visits Oggy's house when Oggy gets sick. In the episodes "A Dog Day's Afternoon"/"Cute Little Puppy", it is shown that he has a pet puppy. He is also shown in "Missing In Action"/"Where is the Exit?" as an artist (specifically, a painter), but no longer does appear in season 5.
Reception[]
As of February 2023, the show holds a 7.5/10 rating on IMDb and a 2/5 stars rating on Common Sense Media. The show is considered a cult classic by many people in Europe, Asia and North America, where their biggest fanbase comes from: especially India, Pakistan, France (its home country), Germany, Italy, Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the United States of America.