Also over on Cartoon Brew is a link to the current trailer for the new Marsupilami movie coming out in April in France. Marsu-who, you ask? The marsupilami is a fantastic creature which came to us from the imagination of André Franquin, an influential Belgian comic book artist and creator, best known for his work in the magazine Spirou. The marsupilami is a mysterious jungle denizen known for its spotted fur, it’s exuberant cry of “Houba!”, it’s appetite for piranha fish, and it’s very VERY long tail… which usually went off the frame of whatever comic page it was drawn upon. Franquin used the character in the Spirou et Fantasio comics from 1952 to 1968, and the character has been revived several times since then — most notably in the Disney TV animation series Raw Toonage in the 1990′s. The estate of Franquin was not very thrilled with the interpretation of the character in that series — they went so far as to revoke Disney’s right to the marsupilami. Well now, the same French team that brought us the Asterix live-action movies have produced a live-action/CGI movie (HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami), directed by and starring Alain Chabat. Check out the trailer and see what  you think.

Cartoon Brew reports that a 'live action' marsupilami feature, On the Trail of the Marsupilami, is coming to France on April 4.

The marsupilami (marsupial friend in French) was created by André Franquin in January 1952 as an incidental character in the long-running Belgian Spirou et Fantasio weekly comic strip.

Although the marsu never took over Spirou et Fantasio, he became popular enough that fans complained when he was absent. When Franquin left Spirou et Fantasio in 1968, he took the marsupilami with him.