Passe-Partout

'"skeleton key" or "all-purpose"') was a Canadian French-language children's television program funded by the Quebec ministry of education and produced by Radio-Québec (later Télé-Québec) from 1977 to 1992.

In 1970, the Quebec ministry of education launched Operation Renouveau, a program that aimed to provide disadvantaged children part-time access to kindergartens.

[3] However, due to the high cost of such an endeavour, the idea of creating an educational children's television show instead, based on the recently launched American program Sesame Street, was mooted.

A character who never interacted directly with the children was Alakazou, a talking zebra who hosted Cannelle and Pruneau's favourite TV show.

Later in the series, new puppet characters included Minella, who spoke French with an Italian accent, and Jade and Mirio, who were Vietnamese and Haitian, respectively.

These were often intended to have educational value and showcased daily happenings in children's lives, from going to the dentist, getting X-rays, starting school, playing with friends (or alone), cleaning a bicycle, or simply going to bed.

[18] On 29 September 2009, a compilation album titled Génération Passe-Partout was released, featuring 17 songs from the show performed by contemporary Quebec musicians such as Cœur de pirate, Marie-Élaine Thibert, the Lost Fingers, Martin Deschamps, Lynda Thalie, Florence K, Tricot Machine, Stéphanie Lapointe, Fred Pellerin, and Kaïn.

[20] In 2019, an album of cover versions of Brault's music, titled Coucou Passe-Partout and sung by the cast of the rebooted show, was released.

[7] In 2007, the Minister of Culture and Communications and Status of Women, Christine St-Pierre, and the MNA for Borduas, Pierre Curzi, passed a motion in the National Assembly of Quebec to pay tribute to Passe-Partout, its actors, and Laurent Lachance, on the occasion of the show's 30th anniversary.