Jean-Yves Raimbaud

**Jean-Yves Stephane Marcel Raimbaud** (February 27, 1958 – June 28, 1998) was a French animator and screenwriter. He is known for creating the animated series, "_Oggy and the Cockroaches",_ which officially debuted on September 6, 1998, on the television channel France 3. Raimbaud died in June 1998.

## Early life

Raimbaud was born on the 27th February in 1958, in Évreux, France. At the age of 14, he abandoned his studies in favor of training as a painter. He made his debut in drawing, although initially, he mainly drew billboards.

## Career

In 1975, he joined a small animation studio called DIC Entertainment, founded by Jean Chalopin. This was where he learned how to make cartoons. In the studio, he met the directors Bruno Bianchi (_Inspector Gadget_) and Bernard Deyriès (_The Mysterious Cities of Gold_).

In 1986, Raimbaud created his own studio, Jingle, with Christian Masson ( an advertiser and producer).

It was not until 1988 that Jingle itself made a series: _Manu_, created by cartoonist Frank Margerin. 104 episodes were shown on La Cinq, starting in March 1990. In 1992, the bankruptcy of La Cinq caused the closure of many companies, and in 1993, Jingle became bankrupt.

### Gaumont Multimedia

By then, Raimbaud was well known, and Gaumont Film Company hired him to revive the films of Asterix and Lucky Luke that were last produced in the 1970s. Raimbaud was promoted to artistic director of the new studio, Gaumont Multimedia. Raimbaud began working on _Highlander: The Series_ for M6. During this time, he also created the series "_The Little Witches_." The series was produced by Millésime Productions for TF1, and it was sold cheaply in Europe. Raimbaud created the series "_Home to Rent_" in the style of 1950s cartoons. The title of the series became "_Space Goofs_" during its broadcast in France in September 1997. The series became one of the most popular programs introduced. It was also exported beyond France.

## Illness and death

Raimbaud had been diagnosed with lung cancer some time prior to his death. He continued his professional activities at Gaumont Multimedia during the initial stages of his illness, overseeing projects like Space Goofs.
Treatment for lung cancer in the 1990s generally included a combination of surgery to remove tumors when possible, chemotherapy to target cancer cells, and radiotherapy to shrink tumors or alleviate symptoms, though outcomes for advanced cases remained poor with five-year survival rates below 15%.

Jean-Yves Raimbaud died on 28 June 1998 in Montrouge, Hauts-de-Seine, France, at the age of 40.
The official cause of death was lung cancer, with which he had been diagnosed years earlier.
Raimbaud passed away shortly after overseeing the production of the pilot episode for Oggy and the Cockroaches, leaving the series to premiere posthumously on France 3 in September 1998 without his further involvement

## Creations' success

_Space Goofs_ was popular with children and adults. It received a second season in the 2000s, a single of "Monster Men" (the theme song, by Iggy Pop), a few DVD releases, a video game adaptation co-produced by Ubisoft Entertainment, and an unfinished film adaptation that only had one preview available online.

However, _Oggy and the Cockroaches_ became his longest-running franchise, due to it being under Xilam's ownership – receiving 7 seasons, 2 spinoffs (_Oggy Oggy_ and _Oggy and the Cockroaches Next Generation_), and a film adaptation. The series was also popular in certain countries including India. Both of these television series were officially available within their official YouTube channels.

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Jean-Yves Raimbaud
- **birth name**: Jean-Yves Stephane Marcel Raimbaud
- **birth place**: Évreux, France
- **death place**: Paris, France
- **death cause**: Lung cancer from a colorectal infection caused by the tumor
- **nationality**: French
- **citizenship**: French
- **other names**: J.Y. Raimbaud
- **occupation**: Screenwriter, animator
- **years active**: 1975-1998
- **known for**: Being the creator of _Oggy and the Cockroaches_ and the co-creator of _Space Goofs_
- **notable works**: _Oggy and the Cockroaches_
_Space Goofs_