Mami Fatale

Mami Fatale

Published: February 11, 2017

Mami Fatale is a Polish children’s series that aired from 2013 to 2014. It consists of two seasons, each with 13 10-minute episodes. It was produced by Studio Miniatur Filmowych—the classic Polish animation studio that formed in 1957 and has been producing hits, including the recent Hip-Hip and Hurra, ever since—and Grupa Smacznego, a newer, up-and-coming animation studio.

Unlike in most children’s shows, the main character of Mami Fatale is not a child or an animal but an old lady (the Mami Fatale in question). The show tells the story of her move from the city to the country, along with her companions, a dog and a piglet. There’s very little talking—only the narrator speaks—but there’s lots of sounds and music, for what it’s worth.

Many of the episodes revolve around cooking, as that is Mami’s passion—the show calls her “the best cook in the world.” There is then some sort of adventure or mischief, and at the end the problems are always resolved through the three characters’ cooperation and friendship. The show also includes recipes at the end (the show teamed up with a culinary blogger to develop them), as well as singing and dancing to keep children’s attention. The show displays a surrealist/absurdist bent that further differentiates it from the mass of contemporary children’s shows. The show teaches moral values—and healthy eating.

 

Directors: Marcin Wasilewski, Stuart Evans, Robert Jaszczurowski
Voice actor: Robert Makłowicz
Production studios: Studio Miniatur Filmowych, Grupa Smacznego
TV channel: TV Puls 2

 

The first episode of Mami Fatale:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FcrAYhU55c

About the author

Julie Hersh

Julie studied Russian as a Second Language in Irkutsk and before that, Bishkek, with SRAS's Home and Abroad Scholarship program, with the goal of someday having some sort of Russia/Eurasia-related career. She recently got her master’s degree from the University of Glasgow and the University of Tartu, where she studied women’s dissent in Soviet Russia. She also has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale. Some of her favorite Russian authors are Sorokin, Shishkin, Il’f and Petrov, and Akhmatova. In her spare time Julie cautiously practices martial arts, reads feminist websites, and taste-tests instant coffee for her blog.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

View all posts by: Julie Hersh