I.N.K. Invisible Network of Kids
I.N.K. Invisible Network Of Kids (known in French as Mission Invisible) is an animated series directed by Prakash Topsy, produced by Samka Productions (France) and broadcaster France 3 in 2009.[1]
Broadcast
It was distributed in Europe by France-based PGS Entertainment[2][3] and in the Asia-Pacific regions by Mango Distribution. The show was devised by Claire Underwood and David Hodgson whose studio Pesky also made the multi award-winning series The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers. It is based around the adventures of a secret organisation of children and adventures. The voice acting cast was led by animation voice director and voice actor, Matthew Géczy, the voice behind the Code Lyoko character, Odd Della Robbia.
Plot
Pinkerton School is a boarding school with two teachers. One of the teachers, Mr. Soper, is nice, and the other, Ms. Macbeth, is evil and is constantly trying to enslave the children of the school. However, four of the students act as a secret organisation known as "The Invisible Network of Kids", or "I.N.K." for short. I.N.K's mission is to thwart all of Ms. Macbeth's evil plans. [4]
Characters
Main characters
- Vin
- Voiced by Barbara Scaff. He is the founder of the network. He always keeps his hair stylish and tries to keep himself cute. He describes himself as full of beauty & the most handsome guy in Pinkerton. In the episode "The New Student" it is revealed that Vin is an orphan. In "Voodoo Shampoo" and "The Outcast", it is revealed he may have feelings for Zero. In the episode "Lovestruck Stinkbomb", Vin and Zero are accused of being in love but they do not confirm anything. In episode "Ghost Of Pinkerton", during the Romeo and Juliet play, Vin and Zero share a kiss, in the episode "Back to the Past", at the end, he can be seen with hearts in his eyes as he looks at Zero, implying that he may have feelings for her. Although Zero's feeling are not as confirmed as Vin's, throughout the series they are shown to have the strongest relationship but also the one with the most 'awkward' moments. Though there were also moments wherein Vin has shown an attraction towards Trixie as well, this can be best observed in "The Sleeper Agent" where he was amazed by Trixie's party dress. However, this may easily be dismissed since Trixie was indeed much more attractive and appealing in that dress (this can be said because even Burt had been distracted by her charm) with Vin being a normal guy and all, it would only be natural to get stunned by a beautiful girl - let alone someone he thinks of as just his friend. Therefore we cannot conclude that he has in fact developed or ever had any genuine feelings for Trixie aside from that of care for a comrade. Vin also likes to annoy Burt the bully. It has also been said that Vin comes from the royal family, as at the end of 'the truth, the whole truth' Mr Soper sends his photo via letter addressed to the 'Royal Family' after Vin told Soper that he didn't have family to send his photo to.
- Zero
- Voiced by Lee Delong. She is the rebel who protects the gang and stops Miss Macbeth's evil plans often. She is the main action person during the missions and an excellent fighter. If the team are in trouble somewhere else, Zero will use Newton's devices and Trixie's brains to help the team. She describes herself as the big hearted rebel. It was revealed that she ran away from her parents in "Mice and Kids". In "Voodoo Shampoo", it was also revealed that she has an embarrassing birthmark on her left shoulder, shaped as a pink pony. She also is shown to have a very sketchy and bad relationship with her father, reasons for this are currently unknown but it's implied most of the time that this is because she ran away from home. There has also been no mention of her mother though, it has been thought a lot by others that this is due to her possible death or abandonment of Zero. In the episode "Lovestruck Stinkbomb", many accuse her of being in love with Vin, though she does not confirm it. In the episode "Ghost Of Pinkerton" during the Romeo and Juliet play, Zero and Vin share a kiss, but before this she was seen saying "Love stinks" and that she'd never take part in such a thing to Vin, as he was asking her why she had such a problem with doing the play. In the episode "Back to the Past", she was about to say something about Vin but was cut off as she had vanished before she could finish her sentence. Although her feelings towards him are slightly more confirmed than Vin's, throughout the series they are shown to have the strongest relationship but also the one with the most 'awkward' moments. She's also very true to her word & doesn't give up easily. Because of her comments of her past throughout the show she's depicted to have an extremely horrific back story, and may still have some form of emotional scaring. Due to her pale albino skin & extraordinarily bright white hair, as well as the black eyeliner she wears with 4 points under it, Zero's often subjected to bullying. Van is shown to be the main cause of her bullying, by calling her a vampire, and male, as well as other things. But because of Zero's short temper & incredible strength, she often goes & hangs them on the coat rack, if they're lucky that is. Otherwise she's shown beating them up, but this is very rare due to Mr Soper's strict no violence policy. She is always shown wearing her headphones which she uses to communicate with I.N.K., but also is shown listening to music through them with what looks to be an MP3 player on her bed, but this isn't shown often. Despite Zero's short temper, incredible strength, not-so-good past & tendency to hang her classmates up on the coat rack, she's got an incredibly large heart for people she cares about. She's shown calling I.N.K. & Pinkerton her home at times, because Zero's home life, while still undetermined, is seen as negative. Its also said that zero is afraid of the big wet chicken because of a brother that terrorized her in the past saying if she was a chicken and wasn't brave he would do what he does to all chickens and chop her head off, forcing her to become brave and see violence as the way to solve all problems.
- Trixie
- Voiced by Jodi Forrest. Trixie is very organized and guides Vin, Zero, and Newton's missions from headquarters. She uses a red pen, which allows her to communicate with the other members of I.N.K. and coordinate them. She describes herself as very gifted. She is also quite talented at Chess as shown in the episode "The Queen's Game" sometimes Trixie has quarrels with Zero shown in the episode "Ego Ergo". In the episode 'The robbit rabbit group' we find out her parents don't spend as much time with her, as they do with their music due to their disco careers.
- Newton
- Voiced by Barbara Scaff. Newton is the gadget guy who invents devices to help the team, often used to stop Miss Macbeth. He describes himself as the inventor. If the team needs something to use urgently, Newton will help the team by developing gadgets with his useful tools. As the youngest child in Pinkerton (except little Fred), he is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to studies and aims to get a 100% average. He can sometimes be clumsy like his father, who is a scientist as shown in the episode "Saving Agent Newton". In the episode "Lovestruck Stinkbomb", he wishes to be in love and shares a kiss with Trixie, which seems to disgust him and change his mind.
- Miss Sadie Macbeth
- Voiced by Sharon Mann. Miss Sadie Macbeth is an incompetent math teacher and the antagonist of the series. She frequently devises mischievous plans to make her students quiet and obedient. She is a teacher in the Pinkerton School who spends her time hatching evil schemes to take over the Pinkerton. She has a pet goldfish (Vagner), who she considers to be her evil companion. All pupils outside of I.N.K. are unaware of her malevolence. She describes herself as the evil villain. She also holds the functions of a "mascot" for the show, insofar as she is the one making most of the musical parts (in every episode she is singing a song about her evil scheme) and stars as a more crudely drawn cartoon character in the "Science Club" sequences at the end of every episode. While being a villain, her goofiness and the randomness of her actions make her the comic relief of the show as well. Miss Macbeth, although quite stupid, invents many clever weapons she uses against the kids of Pinkerton. The Invisible Network of Kids has managed to destroy all of them. In "Investigation at Pinkerton", it was revealed that Macbeth was a famous children's singer named Valentine Begonia 30 years ago.
- Mr. Cosmo Soper
- Voiced by Matthew Geczy. He is the principal of Pinkerton School and has no idea about I.N.K. or the evil schemes of Miss Macbeth. He is very popular with the pupils at the school and is also obsessed with butterflies, and Miss Macbeth sometimes takes advantage of this. He is fair and kind and discourages any violence. It is hinted in "The Truth, The Whole Truth" that he might know who Vin's parents are but he doesn't want to tell him.
Other characters
- Darell/Daryl
- He is the teacher's pet of Miss Macbeth and often a victim of Burt's bullying. He wears a green t-shirt and has black hair. He is voiced by Matthew Géczy.
- Kathy
- Kathy is the smartest girl in the class. She sometimes sits next to Trixie in class and she has a crush on Vin. She describes herself as the smartest kid in Pinkerton School. In 'Armed by the Teeth', she was attacked by Macbeth's headgear but in the end, she believed the whole ordeal was a dream as it was similar to a nightmare she had recently.
- Vanessa (Van)
- She is the typical "bleached blond" and always tries to look pretty. She doesn't like it when Burt bullies others and she always receives love notes from him. She likes everything that is pink and wants everything. She describes herself as the prettiest girl in Pinkerton.
- Big Burt
- Burt is known as a bully at Pinkerton's school grounds and his main target is Daryl or Vin, is the antagonist. He likes Van. In "Burt the Brute", I.N.K sends a love message to Van pretending that it's from Burt, who also has a secret stash of love letters. In the episode 'Lovestruck stinkbomb', he is first seen playing with Van but is later used as Macbeth's weapon to shoot love bombs at people. He was part of the Shadow Avengers in the episode 'Ego Ergo'.
- Hector
- Hector is the smart one when he was part of the Shadow Avengers in "Ego Ergo". He is friends with Burt and Fred and teased Zero in "The Outcast". He is voiced by Sharon Mann.
- Little Fred
- Little Fred is a very small and scared boy. In "Pinkertomb", it is revealed he is scared of the Big Bad Wolf. He is allergic to butterflies in "Burt the Brute".
- Ben
- Ben is the one who eats lot. "In The Truth, The Whole Truth", it is revealed that Ben loves Trixie but then becomes embarrassed about it. And in "The Sleeper Agent", Ben wets his pants when he sees Trixie.
- Sam
- Sam wears a pink shirt and blue shorts. He is seen in the group with Hector and is seen as the leader of the group.
- Vagner
- Vagner the Fish belongs to Miss Macbeth. He appears in each episode of I.N.K. Macbeth usually talks to Vagner, but Vagner just pops up by himself. Vagner is there to usually entertain you if you are bored while Macbeth is talking. In "Mission Forgotten", it was revealed that every time Vagner swirls in a circle, he forgets everything. In "The Butterfly Effect", Vagner was the password to Macbeth's safe.
- Pervy Margreth
- Pervy is a character from "The New Student". She is revealed to have a crush on a boy called Kenny, three quarters of the way into this episode, but ever since they got separated, Pervy's personality changed.
- Charlene
- Charlene is a chess competitor that Trixie poses as in "The Queen's Game".
Episodes
Episode # | Episode title |
---|---|
1 | "Armed to the Teeth" |
2 | "The Butterfly Effect" |
3 | "The Sleeper Agent" |
4 | "The Robot Rabbit Group" |
5 | "Saving Agent Newton" |
6 | "Mice and Kids" |
7 | "Voodoo Shampoo" |
8 | "The Outcast" |
9 | "Burt the Brute" |
10 | "The New Student" |
11 | "The Truth, The Whole Truth" |
12 | "A Strict Diet" |
13 | "Pinkertomb" |
14 | "Patient Zero" |
15 | "Lovestruck Stinkbomb" |
16 | "Ego Ergo" |
17 | "Donkey Tales" |
18 | "Mission: Forgotten?" |
19 | "The Queen's Game" |
20 | "Santa Claws" |
21 | "Macbeth Feels the Sting" |
22 | "What's Up, Doc?" |
23 | "Back to the Past" |
24 | "Ghost of Pinkerton" |
25 | "Round Up the Usual Suspects" |
26 | "Investigation at Pinkerton" |
References
- "I.N.K. Invisible Network of Kids". JetpackDistribution.TV.
Production Year 2009
- McLean, Tom (30 March 2010). "PGS Spills I.N.K. Into Major Markets". Animation Magazine.
- Keslassy, Elsa (2011-09-06). "PGS sells 'I.N.K.' at Rendez-Vous". Variety. Los Angeles. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
I.N.K” is produced by Samka Productions in partnership with Gaul’s pubcaster France Televisions.
- "ABC3 - TV Program - I.N.K. Invisible Network of Kids". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2012-07-08.