There are some funny little characters floating about on the web and in commercials these days. They are “Les Têtes à claques,” or the Slap Heads and, currently, everyone wants a piece of them.
Tongue-firmly-placed-in cheek, they have big animated heads and human lips and eyes and they are the hottest commodity to come out of Quebec since Celine Dion.
Created in the basement of a Montreal suburb, les Têtes à claques were intended to be animated animals who would explain their natural habitats to children in a funny but educational way. But their inventor, Michel Beaudet, soon realized that his farting frogs were funnier when they, well, farted, than when they were being informative, and thus, the cast of characters for les têtes à claques — spanning from annoying trick-or-treaters to a delusional Don Juan to a paranoid pilot — were born.
Beaudet spent years working in the advertising industry, creating funny ads for companies like Molson, Labatt’s (two major Canadian beer companies) and the convenience store chain, Couche-Tard, until he dropped out to travel around the world and make a documentary about backpackers in India. A few more years in the ad business convinced Beaudet that his creativity was being under-utilized and he retreated to his native Boucherville where he started experimenting with dollar-store figurines and computer animation techniques in his basement.
The result is the low-tech look of the “slap heads,” which are made with Beaudet’s head videotaped while in a vise, reading all the parts, so that his eyes, lips and eBay collection of fake teeth can be superimposed onto animated heads.
Something sbout the simplicity of his three-minute clips of Quebecois Mr and Madame “Tout le Monde” struck gold. On August 16, 2006 Beaudet launched a website broadcasting his creations, and forwarded the address to about 50 friends. Three months later, 3.2 million people were visiting the website to make www. tetesaclaques.tv Canada’s top francophone Internet destination. Soon SFR France was offering him a deal and Bell Canada followed with both cellphone companies buying exclusive content and ringtones to sell to their customers.
On the merchandising end, Beaudet now has deals going with Kellogg’s Canada, US candymaker Topps Co, and Quebecois juice brand “Fruité.” People in Quebec are spending an incredible 8 dollars (5.80 euros) to buy a juice with a “Tetes à claques” plastered on it. Not limited to being a North American phenomenon, France is eating them up too and this despite, or perhaps because, of the Quebecois accent and slang used, often a hilarious “franglais” mix of Quebecois French and North American English expressions. Beaudet has decided to hold off on the offers to create television programs until he’s got a firm hold on his Internet phenomenon.
Meanwhile, what do Quebecers think of the “Tetes à claques” cross-cultural phenomenon? Depends who you ask. Middle-aged, middle-class adults love them. And they love that a Quebecker is getting so much international exposure and making money too. They are quick to imitate the voices and ask their peers “who’s seen the latest episode?”
Young, urban Quebeckers are less enthusiastic, especially if they’ve got any creative sensibilities. They are embarrassed that animated figures “that don’t even move!” are now the most well-known representation of Quebecois culture and worry it will perpetuate an image of Quebec as a nation of losers enthralled by lowbrow humor. Check the slap heads out and decide for yourself.
This article was published Thursday, November 1, 2007.
