Zig & Sharko

Zig & Sharko is a French animated series of 156 episodes of 7 minutes that is created and directed by Olivier Jean-Marie and produced and executive produced by Xilam Animation, known for their animated series A Kind of Magic, Ratz, Space Goofs and Oggy and the Cockroaches. The series was broadcast from December 21, 2010 on Canal+, and is available in the United States of America on Netflix and was formerly on ToonsTV.

In the original French as well as in most foreign versions, none of the characters speak apart from unintelligible vocalizations, instead resorting to gestures and other forms of nonverbal communication, including the occasional use of pictograms in speech balloons. The exception is the Hindi version broadcast in India, in which dialogue is dubbed over the original animation.

Main characters

Zig is a hyena living on a lone volcanic island who tries to capture and eat Marina. Often with the help of Bernie, Zig attempts to catch Marina using a number of overly complicated schemes reminiscent of Wile E. Coyote. However, Zig's schemes routinely end in failure, foiled by Sharko, bad luck, or both, often with grievous bodily injury. Zig is the only main character apparently incapable of functioning both on land and in the water unassisted, as he needs some sort of breathing apparatus (usually a snorkel) if in the water for an extended period.