"Here comes the time for laughter and song..." The older children all remember the credits of "L'île aux enfants", a flagship program for young people in the 1970s. His father, Christophe Izard, died this Sunday, says Pierre-Alek Beddiar, head of Osibo Productions, his latest production company.
Aged 85, Christophe Izard “went peacefully home this morning in the Paris region,” he said.
Disappearance at the age of 85 of Christophe Izard, a great figure in youth programs on TV.
We owe him "Wednesday visitors", "1 sesame street", "Children's island" with Casimir and "the village in the clouds" (personal madeleine) pic.twitter.com/8II8y0rq9c
– Nicolas Lemarignier (@NicoLemarignier) July 31, 2022
The main character of "Children's Island", the orange dinosaur Casimir, marked the small screen, this "nice monster" going so far as to become a true inter-generational icon.
After studying law, Christophe Izard, son of a renowned lawyer, began a journalistic career by chronicling the musical life of all of Paris.
Albert the fifth musketeer, it was him
In 1968, he joined the ORTF, the first public television channel, before creating, developing and producing "L'île aux enfants" in 1974. He not only wrote the first episodes, but also wrote the lyrics for the songs. , including the famous “Here comes the time, laughter and songs...”.
For almost 1000 episodes, "L'île aux enfants" enchanted the ORTF, France 3, then TF1, before stopping in 1982. Casimir's favorite dish, gloubi-boulga - made with strawberry jam, mashed bananas, grated chocolate, "very strong" mustard and "raw but lukewarm sausage" - has entered common parlance, synonymous with "unappetizing mixture".
As early as 1975, Christophe Izard also offered another program, “Les visitors du mardi”, which was aimed at all child age groups, with cartoons such as “Barbapapa” and series such as “Prince Noir”.
To succeed "L'île aux enfants", Christophe Izard will launch "The village in the clouds", which will last until 1985 on TF1.
In 1987, Christophe Izard was ousted from the newly privatized front page and joined Antenne 2. He then created the cartoon "Albert the Fifth Musketeer".
