Casimir has brought joy to several generations of children. If you want to please him in turn, replace the traditional Yule log with his favorite dessert, Gloubi Boulga! There is nothing simpler to prepare: just follow the recipe detailed by the little orange dinosaur himself in a sequence from Children’s Island that Madelen invites you to discover, or rediscover.
Christophe Izard, the producer of the show, who died last year, smiled as he imagined that what some described as “crazy” was an expression entered in the Robert Dictionary and a formula used by politicians evoking the program of their adversaries. He hadn’t imagined it when he invented this dish, inspired by a memory from when he was 8 years old. His father being wanted by the Germans, he had been placed in Burgundy in a house where a Russian cook soothed his hunger by making a dish based on eggs, sugar, crushed banana and jam, which she had named le “gogle mogle”.
He did not imagine, then, that the recipe for his success would be that of Children’s Island, when he proposed this idea to the leaders of FR3. A few weeks earlier, they commissioned him to produce the adaptation of Sesame Street, an American series aimed at young people, mixing educational and fun. He quickly realizes that he has to solve a grid problem: each episode lasts 13 minutes, he is missing 7 to fill the box given to him.
This is how the idea of a short program was born in his mind. He imagines it as a “parenthesis of sweetness and cheerfulness which is not a reflection of life but reassures children”. He adds, in his project, sketches of the main character made by the puppeteer Yves Brunier. Originally, three possibilities were considered: a parrot, a kangaroo and a dinosaur. The choice of the latter was made by potential typical viewers, the daughter of Christophe Izard and one of his school friends. During a final meeting, after choosing an orange color, it was decided that the little dinosaur would be named Casimir.
A contract is signed for a dozen episodes. Ultimately, 1,230 shows will be filmed. The children’s enthusiasm is immediate. They love Casimir because, like them, he is full of life and because he never misses the opportunity to do something stupid. The choice of performers also has a lot to do with the success of the series. Patrick Bricard, who plays François the balloon seller, was chosen because the sweetness of his face makes him the ideal big brother.
The day after her Eurovision victory with The Bird and the Child, Marie Myriam showed another side of her talent by playing the kind Marie Chanson who performs Casimir my friend and An Invented Island. These choruses, as well as the theme song of Children’s Island, composed by Roger Pouly, then made the heyday of recess in primary schools. The day after the broadcast of the first episodes, teachers were rather doubtful about what they considered to be a way of teaching children ugliness. They ended up changing their minds without going as far as studying Children’s Island in class. Casimir remained exclusively present in other programs, those of television channels.
