Musti (character)
Musti is a cartoon character, created by Flemish Belgian graphic artist Ray Goossens in 1969, according to the official Musti website. Some sources indicate that Musti was designed in 1945, but there is no documentation to support this claim. Musti is a little cat, more formally a kitten, living with his mother and father in a little house in a rural village, surrounded by a large garden with animals and trees.
Television series
In 1969, Musti was developed into an animated series. In every episode, a specific story is told in a couple of minutes. The subjects are always linked to the world of small children, combining anthropomorphic animals and realistic situations. In the 1990s a different series was made, with a white background, with Musti's original pronunciation (Muh-sti) now pronounced as Moo-sti. In total, 156 episodes have been made, airing in Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey, Japan, Portugal, and 18 other countries.
In 2007, a new television series has been created. Instead of the flat 2D images with a white background, the new series are entirely rendered in 3D. The new series airs in Belgium, The Netherlands, Israel, Norway, Japan, Croatia, Portugal and the United States on BabyFirst TV. Al-Jazeera aired the series throughout the Arabic world.[1]
Musti was first broadcast in 1969, on Flemish television. The original narrator was Rachel Frederix. Since 2007, her successor is Kristel Van Craen.
In the Netherlands, Musti appeared on television in 1980. The narrators were Arnold Gelderman and Marijke Merckens. The series was shown on BabyFirst TV in the United States.
Books
The Flemish publisher Standaard Uitgeverij carries an extensive portfolio of Musti children's books, targeting children 3-6.
Another publisher Dupuis, printed a number of Musti children's comics in French, based on its appearances in the magazine Bonne Soirée.
Software
Recently, a number of educational software programs were developed with Musti as the lead character. They are currently only available in Dutch.
International airings
- Argentina: América 2
- Australia: Canal ABC
- Bolivia: Red ATB
- Bulgaria: Super 7
- Canada: Treehouse TV, 2007-2011
- Chile: Canal 13, on the children's show Cubox
- Colombia: Señal Colombia
- Cuba: Multivisión
- Ecuador: Ecuador TV
- El Salvador: Canal 19 local (Nickelodeon)
- France: France 5 Teletoon
- Germany: KiKa
- India: Disney Junior
- Israel: Babyes TV
- Italy: Rai YoYo and Rai 2
- Japan: WOWOW
- Latin America: Discovery Kids
- Mexico: Canal 5
- Panama: FETV Canal 5
- Poland: TVP1
- Portugal: Canal Panda and RTP2
- Scandinavia: Playhouse Disney
- Southeast Asia: Disney Channel
- South Korea: EBS
- Spain: Clan and Boomerang
- Sweden: SVT and STVB
- Turkey: TRT
- Uruguay: Canal 5 - Televisión Nacional Uruguay
- United States: BabyFirst TV
- Venezuela: TVes and Cartoon Network