Quarxs

Quarxs was one of the first computer animated series, predating ReBoot, and the first one produced in HD. It was created by Maurice Benayoun and Belgian comic-book artist François Schuiten. It was shown between 1990 and 1993.

Each episode is three minutes long. 100 were planned, but only 12 were made. A cryptobiology researcher, who discovered Quarxs, describes them as mysterious, omnipresent and invisible creatures that bend the laws of physics, biology and optics, and the only reason the world is not perfect.

Quarxs is the only fictional series by Maurice Benayoun, a contemporary artist who later moved to media art. It has received many awards from international events and festivals, such as SIGGRAPH, Imagina, Ars Electronica, ISEA, Images du Futur, Sitges, Tampere, and the International Monitor Award. The series has been shown in more than 15 countries.

Creatures
 Amperophile – Attracted to electrical currents
 Carno-lampire – Mentioned, but not described
 Elasto-fragmentoplast – Breaks small objects
 Electricia – Causes electrical incidents
 Mille-folio – Lays between the animate and the inanimate
 Mnemochrome – Copies artworks
 Paleoquarxs – A range of primitive Quarxs
 Partio scopa dextra – Visible only from the right side
 Polymorpho proximens – Takes the shape of nearby objects
 Reverso chrono-cycli – Reverses the flow of time
 Spatio-striata – Only present in some slices of space
 Spiro-thermophage – Absorbs the heat in plumbing systems
 Voltophage – Eats electrical current

Awards
Quarxs has received many awards:
 Finalist, International Monitor Awards, Los Angeles, USA, October 1995.
 Official selection, Film West, Sydney, Australia, August 1995.
 Prize of the Best European Animation Film, Prix Jose Abel, Cinanima, Espinho, Portugal, October 1994.
 Silver Trophy, "Espace Creation", F.A.U.S.T., Toulouse, France, November 1994.
 Official selection, Antenna Cinema, Festival of TV series, Treviso, Italy, September 1994.
 Official selection, Electronic Theater, 5 Th. International Symposium on Electronic Art, ISEA, Helsinki, Finland, August 1994.
 Official Selection, XXVII e INTERNATIONAL Festival of Fantastic Film, Sitges, Spain, July 1994.
 Official Selections, SIGGRAPH, Electronic Theater, Orlando, United States, May 1994.
 SIGGRAPH, Screenings, Orlando, USA, May 1994.
 Special Effects Screenings, Cannes Festival, May 1994.
 Opening movie, " Concours Nouvelles Technologies France Télévision/Art3000 ", Paris, May 1994.
 Distinction (2nd Prize, after Jurassic Park) Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria, June 1994.
 Official Selection, Animation Film Festival, Cardiff, Scotland, April 1994.
 Official Selection, Short Film Festival, Tampere, Finland, Mars 1994.
 3rd Prize Fiction category, IMAGINA 94, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, February 1994.
 Official Selection, International Animation Film Festival, Brussels, Belgium, February 1994.
 3rd Prize, Fiction category, IMAGINA ‘93, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, February 1993.
 Official Selection, SIGGRAPH, Chicago, USA, July 1992.
 Official Selection, 5th Festival of Computer Animation, Geneva, Switzerland, May 1992.
 Official Selection, IMAGINA 92, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, January 1992.
 Third Dimension Award, SCAM, Paris, FRANCE, November 1991.
 Best Screenplay award, Paris Cité ‘91, Paris, FRANCE, October 1991.
 Official Selection, EUROGRAPHICS 91, Vienna, Austria, September 1991.
 Honorary Mention, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria, September 1991.
 Official Selection, Images du Futur, Montreal, Canada, September 1991.
 1st Prize, Artistic Animation Category, Truevision Videographic Competition, SIGGRAPH, Las Vegas, USA, July 1991.

References

Other websites
 IMDB profile: Quarxs
 Maurice Benayoun's official web site
 Quarxs's official web site
  Quarxs web site
 Z-A Production web site, producer of the Quarxs
 Maurice Benayoun's New Quarxs Page

Category:French animated television series
Category:1990s animated television series
Category:1990 television series debuts
Category:1993 television series endings
Category:Fantasy television series
Category:Mystery television series
Category:French-language television programs