A new animated series produced in Louisiana French has been launched, aimed at teaching immersion students new lessons while promoting Louisiana's language and culture.
The series entitled “Les Aventures de Boudini et Ses Amis” or “The Adventures of Boudini and His Friends” was launched on January 25, 2021 by Télé-Louisiane, the State’s primary French-language production company.
The project was created in partnership with the Louisiana Consortium of Immersion Schools.
The three main characters of the series are Boudini (a magician), Coco (an alligator), and Colinda (a Creole girl).
The original creator of the Boudini and Coco characters was Ken Meaux, the former host of an entertainment show for kids that aired previously in the Lafayette area. With Mr. Meaux’s permission, creators Philippe Billeaudeaux and Marshall Woodwoth redesigned these characters for the cartoon in collaboration with Executive Producer Will McGrew from Télé-Louisiane and script writer Maggie Justus from CODOFIL.
The series has English and French subtitles, as the cartoon emphasizes the unique ways of speaking among Louisianans in order to explore the diverse cultural and environmental practices of the State’s people, including its Cajun and Creole influences as well as other origins.
Télé-Louisiane says that the voice actors for the series are immersion teacher and Louisiana French expert Kirby jambon, musician Cedric Watson, and musician Megan Brown Constantin.
Jessica Joy Stalnaker, another immersion teacher, served as an educational adviser.
The series was funded as part of the Louisiana Virtual Immersion project of which the Louisiana Consortium of Immersion Schools is the primary sponsor. The project also received significant support from CODOFIL and from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Take a look at the first episode here
In addition to the Boudini series, the Louisiana Virtual Immersion project consists of a historical Frenchlanguage news hour series titled “Louisiana: Then and Now,” hosted by young Louisianans and sponsored by the Consulate General of France in Louisiana among other groups as well as pedagogic resources compiled from various francophone regions around the world.
The first episodes of “Louisiana: Then and Now” and preliminary resources for grades 1 and 3 will be online in early February.
The next episodes for both series will be published over the course of the coming months.
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