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At first glance Odd Della Robbia seems an unlikely choice to direct the new streaming series “Code Lyoko.” Having a resume of almost entirely low budget horror B-movies, his unusual “play a video game to stop the monster or disaster” series at least has been generally well received, although a far cry from either a blockbuster or something worthy of an award.
Considering the series is going to be a direct adoption of Aelita Belpois’s popular novel series of the same name, which features a group of preteen boarding school students going to a virtual world inside a supercomputer to fight an evil computer virus, that would in theory give him some qualifications. Still, the contrast between the talent cast and a barely D-list director is striking, even if the author’s Nobel prizes she shares with her husband are in the sciences. Indeed, Della Robbia is almost as well known for being the most notorious playboy in the movie industry as for any of his works.
Of course, Belpois having donated the movie rights to him makes him the only choice, a bizarre circumstance to say the least.
That said, Della Robbia had taken on the project with a passion verging on obsession, and an almost unheard of level of control over every last detail. For example, he absolutely insisted on every single exact detail of the virtual world, in a surprising style that seems… certainly below what modern CG teams are capable of, and indeed deliberately and obviously CG. When it comes to anything from set design to exactly where someone should be standing, there’s no denying he knows exactly what he wants.
Indeed, it almost seems as if his obsession has him slipping. When discussing scenes and events, for example, Odd frequently slips into past tense, and occasionally mixes character’s names up with those of his long established go-to fight and stunt doubles, Yumi and Ulrich Ishiyama, or the novel’s author Aelita Belpois and her husband. Stranger still is his tendency to slip into both past tense and first person when referring to another character. Sentences such as “no I was farther that way, move over a few meters,” or “no he came around the other side” aren’t uncommon around the set.
Still, considering that it’s rumored that Della Robbia, the Ishiyamas and the Belpois were childhood friends, it seems clear that when writing her hit novels, Aelita used them wholesale for her characters, along with another character apparently being a self-insert. Additionally, it seems the fictional Lycee Lakanal is a direct adoption of the real-life Kadic Academy they all attended. Under those conditions, it’s almost understandable that Della Robbia’s strange tendencies may be the result of something other than a lack of sanity.
Still, the strangeness continues. The animation department states that the Belpois provided some sample 3d renders and multiple short sequences of animation, with Della Robbia point-blank ordering them to copy it directly. The Ishiyamas have apparently been granted permission to come and go from the studio as they wish, and sometimes join him behind the camera. Della Robbia even sometimes asks their opinion regarding staging of scenes! As often as not with all involved slipping into past tense, first person or both, sometimes getting character’s names mixed up with their own. This despite the fact that as far as anyone is aware no written contract or even non-disclosure agreement exists. Long-timers with Della Robbia say he’s always been loose when it comes to paperwork for those two, apparently hiring them for potentially risky stunt work both at a steep discount, with nothing on paper, and not even a verbal contract worthy of the word, often with no agreed payment amount before the filming starts! If the rumors of childhood friendships are true, all involved seem to have valued it far more than nearly anyone ever has; others say they somehow never stopped.
Others share stories of how when Della Robbia was just starting out they apparently worked without payment, but stranger still some swear they must have some sort of healing device stashed away somewhere, with capabilities rivaling that of the supercomputer’s scanners featured in Belpois’s novels. [There are numerous places in the novels where after getting injured in action sequences, traveling to the virtual world and back healed injuries - ed.] Some say it has gone as far as having to be carried off the set with apparently broken bones, yet back on the set without even a scar a few days latter. The same rumored ability served them well on the fighting circuit before they settled down with their own dojo, with many saying they fought without regard for their own injuries or their own health, treating every match as if it were life and death, and then continuing to the next round no matter how badly hurt. Notable examples include Yumi Ishiyama’s win with a sprained ankle from the two rounds prior, and Ulrich Ishiyama’s scoring the knockout blow with a badly broken hand.
The first episode is scheduled to premier October 9th, 2026, which coincidentally happens to be Aelita Belpois’s 36th birthday.