A few black and white pencil strokes, the diary of a 10-year-old child and a funny and melancholy atmosphere at the same time: the series Samuel becomes a huge hit for the Arte platform, where it is available for free, as well as on social networks. A lively gem, well worth the detour.
If you grew up in the early 2000s, between the Diddl pages and the Zizou goals, you will inevitably recognize yourself in the comic adventures of Samuel. This little 10-year-old boy, who recounts his childhood in small clips of around 5 minutes, totally created a surprise on Arte.
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Result: the 21 episodes of the series, released in mid-March 2024, now combine 25 million views, all media combined. It must be said that in addition to its publication online on the Arte website, Samuel has been particularly successful in reaching an audience on social media, from Instagram to TikTok.
A return to childhood for all millennials
Sort of a distant cousin of Lou and of Titeuf, Samuel represents a little bit of the childhood of each of us. Secretly in love with Big Julie, this little boy has made a list of what he must do to become cool, he is chased by a tall lady with a long neck when he has too much fever and he hates Dimitri, the popular his class. He also forms very strong friendships with Corentin and Bérénice, with whom he sometimes experiences difficult situations.
Samuel tells us all these details of his childhood with an extremely rapid flow, and an ability to speak openly, like in a diary. All this, against a backdrop of references to the early 2000s, between two exchanges of Diddl sheets or discussions on MSN.
Émilie Tronche, the voice and the stroke of the pencil behind Samuel
If the series works so well, it is firstly because it is played by a young director: Émilie Tronche, who imagined the drawings, the scenario but who also gave her voice to all the characters in this short format animated.
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On her social networks, she shared the making-of of this unique creation, for which she filmed herself for hours, before reproducing her gestures in animation. Émilie Tronche notably reveals behind the scenes of the dance scenes, which are very numerous in the series.
Samuel, your next tattoo?
Although the minimalist animation of the series, without colors or embellishments, may seem off-putting at first, it nevertheless allows this little boy so close to us to directly touch our heartstrings. Posted online under shorter formats, around 1 minute, on TikTok, Samuel managed to slip into our daily liveseven without any particular narration.
The 21 episodes were so successful that many fans already reproduce the sequences in their own videosor even think about get a tattoo of the main character. Far from the frankly anxiety-provoking news of recent months, Samuel thus offers a comforting space, a sort of bubble of cuteness, in which we would like to stay snuggled up forever.
