Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir (also named LadyBug or Lady Bug, Miraculous, or Miraculous Ladybug) is a CGI animated French series. It is a co-production by ZAG Animation, Method Animation, Disney Channel EMEA, Toei Animation, SAMG Animation, SK Broadband, PGS Entertainment and AB International Distribution. It premiered around the world starting in fall of 2015. The show was formally licensed by and premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States, with Netflix currently holding the series and online streaming rights.

The first season has 26 half-hour episodes and a 10 episode web series, with additional web exclusive content releasing afterwards. Jeremy Zag has announced that a second season and third season are being worked on. Planning for a fourth and fifth season was also revealed.

Synopsis
For an episode list, see Episode guide.


 * [In] modern-day Paris, Marinette and Adrien are two high school kids with a difference: they are the chosen ones to save Paris from evil! They have been entrusted with an important mission – to capture akumas, creatures responsible for turning normal people into super-baddies. When involved in such adventures, these two school kids become superheroes: Marinette transforms into Ladybug and Adrien becomes Cat Noir. But Ladybug and Cat Noir do not know each other’s true identity. Marinette is unaware that, beneath the Cat Noir costume nestles Adrien, her secret crush. Similarly, Adrien doesn’t know that Ladybug is, in actual fact, just Marinette - one of the girls in his class. 

Cast and crew

 * To view a complete list of everyone who has worked on Miraculous related material, see Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir/Credits.

Production
The original concept for Ladybug was conceived by Thomas Astruc around 2005. One day, after meeting a young woman who was wearing a ladybug shirt and working with her, Thomas played around the idea of a ladybug, soon creating a sticky note with the design of Ladybug. Thinking that the character worked well, Thomas began to develop this character with new drawings (like as seen with fake comic book covers called The Mini Menace Ladybug) and constructed the universe around her, inspired by comic universes like Marvel. He continued to develop his idea until he met Jeremy Zag, a producer at Zagtoon, who allowed Thomas to do what he thought best with it.

There were many changes that Ladybug went through during development. The series was originally meant to be for older audiences like teens and young adults, having political stories and a darker tone. However, explained by writing director Sébastien Thibaudeau, "some elements hindered its perception and no one really knew why", so the crew worked on making it lighter for a younger audience. Toei Animation helped to create an animated promotional video showing footage of what the show would be like in order to showcase the show as an anime, but eventually, it was decided to make the series in CGI. There was also a point in time where producers encouraged making Ladybug and Cat Noir a part of a superhero team, but it didn't help sell the show, and the superhero team idea was dropped because of it.

Astruc created the show by drawing ideas and concepts from Franco-Belgian comics, American comics, and Japanese animation. He found inspiration for Ladybug from Amélie Poulain, Spider-Man, and Sailor Moon. He and his team wanted to create a show that reflected the romance and beauty of France, and they aimed for it to have superheroes that appeal to young girls while not falling into the clichés of female characters.

DVD releases
The following is a list of the DVD volumes of the show released in the US.

Comic books
Miraculous has had a collection of comic books planned and released in both the United States and worldwide. The first of these comics released on July 6, 2016, adapting television episodes into the comic book format. Miraculous Adventures, the first original comic release, fully debuted on July 19, 2017.
 * Main article: Chapter guide

International releases
Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir was first released in the United States on December 6, 2015 on its former channel called Nickelodeon. The series currently streams on Netflix and is also available on children's television network KidsClick.
 * To view a full worldwide list, see Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir/International Releases.

Trivia

 * Every episode is named after the titular Supervillain, with the exception of the first Origins episode, which is named after the two main characters.
 * It takes one entire year to finish an episode, and many episodes are usually being worked on at the same time.
 * In South Korea, the show is simply titled Ladybug.
 * The EBS version of the logo also varies from the original one and is based off a conceptual logo for the series.
 * As of March 2016, Miraculous has been broadcast in over 120 countries.
 * Despite being a primarily French animated series, the show was lip-synced to English audio.
 * The Miraculous team chose to do this in order to make the series more marketable in the US.
 * After only 10 weeks on air in the US, Miraculous entered the top 10 animated series for all time slots and networks.
 * The show also managed to track around three for the top 10 children's television programs.
 * Internationally, Miraculous was also met with impressive numbers, becoming the #1 kids' show on both TF1 in France and EBS1 in South Korea. Eventually, it became a child favorite in France, ranking high among the most popular children's shows there. In Brazil, the show even managed to be the top series in the nation.
 * During the series's Netflix debut in February 2017, it ranked #4 in popularity among children's shows, managing to drive a 10% share.
 * According to series director Wilfried Pain, all episodes of the upcoming Season 2, Season 3, and the Miraculous Ladybug OVA "were written at the same time... [and] also written one by one."
 * Astruc is planning for the series to have six seasons or more.
 * As of September 2017, three seasons have been ordered, and a fourth and fifth season are being planned.
 * As revealed by the official Miraculous Ladybug Tumblr blog, in later seasons, some characters will get expanded wardrobes, including clothes, accessories, and more.