Children’s television
Rolling with the Ronks!
The story
Rolling with the Ronks! (French: Bienvenue chez les Ronks !) is a French animated children's television series created by Olivier Jean-Marie and Charles Vaucelle. The series was produced by Xilam Animation and animated by Armada TMT with the participation of France Télévisions and Disney Channel. The series debuted on Disney Channel in Poland on August 22, 2016.
Plot
Rolling with the Ronks! follows Flash, an alien who is sent to Earth, to the Ronk tribe in 37,520 BC to show them the future. To do this, the Ronk tribe are introduced to a variety of ideas. He is friends with two members of said tribe - Mila and Walter, who accompany him to try and prove he can succeed at his goal. However – Mormagnon, along with Godzi (his pet lizard), will do anything to ruin his plans.
Characters
Flash (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a blue alien with two eye-stalks and frog-like legs. He acts as a mentor to the Ronk tribe, showing off concepts that would be recognizable but impossible to do at the time (as there is no electricity, etc.), like technology.
Mila (voiced by Jessica DiCicco) is a cave girl. She is tomboyish and courageous, willing to try new ideas. However, this also ends up making her take advantage of Flash's ideas, but she feels sorry for what she does.
Walter (voiced by Scott Whyte) is Mila's uncle. He is also well-meaning in assisting Flash, even if it means getting his niece involved. While he is large and is not very smart, he also cares about Mila.
Mormagnon (voiced by Charlie Adler) is the main antagonist of the series. He is greedy and petty. Mormagnon wears a furry costume.
Mama (voiced by Cree Summer) is the chief of the tribe, happy to accept Flash's next idea. However, she calls him out whenever her tribe is at a disadvantage at times. She appears to be the oldest member, with graying hair.
Godzi (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker[episodes 1-12], Billy West [episodes 13-52]) is Mormagnon's pet, who resembles a frilled-neck lizard. While not as malicious as his owner, he follows along with Mormagnon's plans anyway. He can breathe fire - a trait sometimes used to the others' advantage.
Production
According to Jean Brune, bringing together the entire writing team and the series' storyboard artists was a significant challenge. Initially, the various teams, such as the lead writer, the storyboard crew, and the director, were not well-aligned and it became clear that the story was losing its focus during the transitions between different production stages. The script was too long, and elements that were crucial to a character's emotional development were often being sidelined in favor of less significant material.
The validation and collaboration process proved to be quite time-consuming; as it required constant information exchange with the channels for each iteration, translations into English for discussions with the script editor, and subsequent translations into French for approval by France Télévisions. A script editor based in Los Angeles served as a bridge between the writers, refining the dialogue and facilitating communication with Disney.
Broadcast
The series premiered on France 3 in France on February 6, 2017. The series premiered on Disney Channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland on July 22, 2017. The series was also broadcast in Germany. In the United States, the series is on Primo TV.