Indigo (animated TV series)

Indigo was a Filipino animated television series created by Jeff Sebastian and Jane Molina. The series was premiered on Television Three on December 17, 1983, and aired for two seasons until February 16, 1985.

It was praised by viewers and critics during its run which made the show gain more popularity and was even considered a response to Rover, another popular animated television series created by Remy de Los Santos.

Premise
It is about an arctic fox named Indigo, who escaped the Briggs National Laboratory, where he was being experimented on. The experiments made him anthropomorphic. After escaping from the lab, he tries to live a normal life while being targeted by residents from a nearby neighborhood, who thought of him as a werewolf.

Main:

 * Christopher Astor as Indigo
 * Richard Morgan as Trevor Parker
 * Ashley Rankin as Nicole Peaks
 * Franky Santos as Matthew Floyd

Creation
Jeff Sebastian and Jane Molina are both cartoonists and animators from the US. They have pitched two of their pitch bibles/stories (Indigo and Love Triangle) to several television stations in 1980, but were rejected by the network executives. Later that year, they shelved the two stories.

In April 1981, they found a poster from Television Three, saying they are looking for entries from several animators/cartoonists. They later contacted the station and managed to pitch both of their stories. After a couple of months, both of their entries was accepted. Between October-December 1981, the creators and the newly created animation department team of Television Three, produced 15-minute pilots for Indigo and Love Triangle.

On February 17, 1982, Watch This!, a three-part special, aired the 15-minute pilot episode of Indigo, named "Runaway Experiment". It was well-received by viewers, accumulating a 9.71/10 rating. On February 20, 1982, the results were finalized, and Indigo ranked second out of all thirty pilots. After the program, the show was immediately greenlit.

Animation
The whole show is traditionally animated. Each episode of Indigo took at least three-four weeks to complete. Production for the first season began on March 19, 1981, but production stopped when a fire in the Sebastian & Molina animation studio occurred on August 4, 1981, which destroyed most of the storyboards for the first season.

The storyboards for eleven episodes of Love Triangle, another show by Sebastian & Molina, survived the fire as it was stored in the basement of their house, and the fire only occurred on the second floor, which includes the illustration room where the creators makes storyboards. The creators prioritized Love Triangle instead, while the creators work on the storyboards for Indigo. S&M Animation Studios moved next to the Television Three animation studio building.

Production for the first season resumed on April 5, 1982, after Love Triangle 's production had been finished. The first season was finished on November 25, 1983. Production for the second season started on December 18, 1983, a day after the first episode's release. The second season was finished on September 26, 1984.

Music
The theme song for the show was "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes. It is heard only at the end credits of each episode. Most of the soundtrack is folk and/or rock related. The show is notable for using two tracks from Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports, mostly for dramatic scenes. Indigo's first ever episode, "Run For Your Life", "Sister Ray" by the Velvet Underground was used during the chase scene.

Episodes
Indigo had two seasons and twenty episodes in total: 10 episodes each. The show is aired during the TBC 2 programming block, every Saturday at 2:30 pm. The first season aired on December 17, 1983, until February 18, 1984, while the second season aired on December 15, 1984, until February 16, 1985.

The show was reran three times: August 17 - December 28, 1991, January 21 - June 3, 2006, and most recently, March 20 - July 31, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine.

Reception
The show has received a very positive review from critics and viewers, with praise for its plot, humor, and animation. It gained a cult following years after its original release, which would lead to the show being reran three times.