O Menino Maluquinho Explained

Menino Maluquinho
First:O Menino Maluquinho (1980)
Creator:Ziraldo
Voice:Marcus Pejon (2022)
Species:human
Gender:Male

O Menino Maluquinho is a children's media franchise created by the Brazilian writer and cartoonist Ziraldo in the 80s. It started as a children's book published in 1980 which for many years was regarded as a classic of children's literature in Brazil, getting spun off into comics, movies, plays and TV series,[1] as well being known for being Ziraldo's longest running comic book series and the second most popular, after "Turma do Pererê".

The main character, Maluquinho is a cheerful and optimistic 10-year-old boy who wears a pan on his head like a hat. Most of the stories revolve around the misadventures of Maluquinho and his friends with a light humour.

Plot

The book describes an unnamed fictional child known only as "The Nutty Boy". The boy is absurdly described as having "the eyes bigger than the belly, fire in the tail, feet of wind, huge legs that could hug the world and little monkeys in the attic" at the beginning of the book (as a way of describing how eccentric he is).

Throughout the book, the boy's behavior in his daily life is described, being an intelligent student at school, who loves to play kite and visit his grandmother, having several girlfriends, frequently having accidents while playing, having his secrets and always accompanying and encouraging his friends at soccer matches.

In the end, the boy grows up and becomes a nice person and realizes that he had not been a Nutty Boy, but a Happy Boy.

Characters

Adaptations

Comics

The first time a comic featuring the character was published was in 1988 in the comic book magazine "Revistinha do Ziraldo" (Ziraldo's Little Magazine) which was published by Editora Abril being a comic book that brought together stories of different characters from Ziraldo's books. The title lasted a short time with only 6 issues, because in the following year Ziraldo started to focus only on developing newspaper strips and comic books of O Menino Maluquinho, with the first title being sold initially under the title of "O Menino Maluquinho em Quadrinhos" (The Nutty Boy in Comics). In the last years of publication during Editora Globo they have been sold titles starring Julieta and Junim.[3] There were a total of 162 comic books have been published over the years.

Editora Abril
Editora Terra
Editora Globo

Films

In 1995 was released, directed by Helvécio Ratton, with a cast of Samuel Costa, Roberto Bomtempo, Patrícia Pillar, Othon Bastos and Luís Carlos Arutin (in his final film role). The movie follows Maluquinho's life with his friends and their pranks, dealing with his parents divorce and his relationship with his grandfather, that is a retired aviator who lives on a farm and dies at the end of the film.

The film had a sequel in 1998 titled ,[4] directed by Fernando Meirelles, with the same cast as the first film. In this movie Maluquinho tells his friends a story of another trip to his grandfather's house, where they discover a creature of fire called Tatá and become her friends.

In 2019 it was announced the production of an animated film based on the character by the studio Chatrone in partnership with Netflix.[5]

TV series

Live action

In 2006, the channel TVE Brasil (currently TV Brasil) produced a live-action sitcom called Um Menino Muito Maluquinho.[6] This was the channel's second adaptation of Ziraldo's comics, following .[7] The series, usually narrated by an adult, follows the life of Maluquinho and his friends, alternating between their early childhood (up to age 5) and his current age of 10. The show became popular, winning several awards and being broadcast on other channels— TV Cultura[8] and Disney Channel— but did not have a second season.

Animated series

In 2014, the production of an animated series based on the character was announced.[9] [10] [11] In November 2021, it was revealed that Netflix will be distributing the show in selected territories.[12] The series was released on October 12, 2022.[13] New Episodes of the Netflix series are coming out in April 6, 2023.

Other books

With the success of the comics, other books based on the character were written by Ziraldo over the years. These books started to use the characters created in the comics, such as Julieta, Bocão and Junim. Some of the published books were:

In 1996 Ziraldo also created a series of spin-off book series with the characters as babies entitled Bebê Maluquinho (Nutty Baby). Julieta's success in the comics published by Globo resulted in a book focused on the character entitled Uma Menina Chamada Julieta (A Girl Called Julieta) published in 2009.[14]

Crossover with Monica's Gang

In 2018, a book entitled MMMMM: Mônica e Menino Maluquinho na Montanha Mágica (Monica and Nutty Boy in the Magic Mountain), written by Manuel Filho with illustrations made by both Mauricio de Sousa and Ziraldo.[15] [16] [17] The book marks the first official crossover between O Menino Maluquinho and Monica's Gang, two of the most popular comic book franchises in Brazil. The book's success spawned a sequel the following year entitled 5... 4... 3... 2... 1: Mônica e Menino Maluquinho Perdidos no Espaço (Monica and Nutty Boy Lost in Space), also written by Manuel Filho.

Reception and legacy

The first book is known for having had an impact on Brazilian literary culture, having not only helped to form new generations of readers, but the book has added 18 editions, 165 reprints and 4.1 million copies sold since its first publication, in addition to being Ziraldo's best-known work.[18] [19] The success of the book has inspired Ziraldo to write more children's books in the following years, most notably "Uma Professora Muito Maluquinha" (lit. A Very Nutty Teacher) from 1995.[20] A statue of the character was built in June 21, 2003 in Caratinga, Minas Gerais as a way of honoring Ziraldo, who is a native of this place, the statue has been undergoing renovations, even receiving a mask during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.[21]

When released the first title of the comic book by Abril in 1989 the magazine was awarded as "Best Release" in 1990 by Prêmio Angelo Agostini.[22] In 2018 Maluquinho was chosen as the model for the trophy for the 30th edition of Troféu HQ Mix along with the character Monica.[23]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.educacional.com.br/ziraldo/biografia/detalhada.asp Portal Educacional — "Biografia detalhada"
  2. Web site: Montano, Fernanda. O Eterno Maluquinho. Revista Crescer. October 24, 2012. March 31, 2014. Portuguese.
  3. Web site: Ramone, Marcus. Nova HQ mensal da Turma do Menino Maluquinho. Universo HQ. July 17, 2007. September 4, 2023. Portuguese.
  4. Web site: Sequência de O Menino Maluquinho retrata uma infância feliz . Terra Networks . May 10, 2014. Portuguese.
  5. Web site: O Menino Maluquinho: Netflix vai produzir filme de animação. ANMTV. 5 June 2019. Portuguese. 24 April 2019. 5 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190605224422/http://anmtv.xpg.com.br/o-menino-maluquinho-netflix-vai-produzir-filme-de-animacao/. dead.
  6. Web site: A Turma do Pererê. InfanTv. 2 November 2015. Portuguese.
  7. Web site: Petrobras patrocina série Um Menino Muito Maluquinho na TVE . Terra Networks . May 11, 2014. Portuguese.
  8. Web site: Série do Menino Maluquinho estreia na TV Cultura . Terra Networks . May 11, 2014 . Portuguese .
  9. Web site: Matheus Sousa . Menino Maluquinho: personagem vai ganhar série de animação . ANMTV . August 8, 2014 . Portuguese . August 10, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140810153415/http://anmtv.xpg.uol.com.br/menino-maluquinho-personagem-vai-ganhar-serie-de-animacao/ . dead .
  10. Web site: Novidades sobre a série de animação do Menino Maluquinho . InfoAnimation . June 8, 2015. Portuguese.
  11. Web site: 'O Menino Maluquinho' ganhará série de animação. InfoAnimation. 2 November 2015. Portuguese. 31 July 2014.
  12. Pode chamar a família toda pra sentar no sofá e assistir A PRIMEIRA série de animação de O Menino Maluquinho. Estreia em breve.❤️. November 23, 2021. NetflixBrasil. 1463172261314183171. Portuguese.
  13. Check the trailer of The Nutty Boy, the first Brazilian animated series from Netflix. Netflix. September 20, 2022.
  14. Web site: BOL Notícias.
  15. Web site: Ziraldo e Mauricio de Sousa lançam crossover de Mônica e Menino Maluquinho - Cultura.
  16. Web site: Ziraldo e Mauricio de Sousa lançam juntos na Bienal o livro 'Mônica e Menino Maluquinho na Montanha Mágica'. 4 August 2018 .
  17. Web site: Rodrigo Casarin - Mônica e Maluquinho: A capa do livro de Mauricio de Sousa e Ziraldo.
  18. Web site: Fernanda Nogueira and Vanessa Fajardo. 'O Menino Maluquinho' faz 30 anos em plena forma. G1. August 21, 2010. September 5, 2023. Portuguese.
  19. Web site: JC. Criador de "O Menino Maluquinho" e outras histórias inesquecíveis, Ziraldo completa 90 anos. JC. October 24, 2022. September 5, 2023. Portuguese.
  20. Web site: Naíma Saleh. 5 livros do Ziraldo que não podem faltar na sua estante. Revista Crescer. April 8, 2016. September 5, 2023. Portuguese.
  21. Web site: Hérisder Matias and Matheus Mesmer. Estátua do Menino Maluquinho em Caratinga é avaliada e passará por obras de restauração. G1. October 9, 2021. September 5, 2023. Portuguese.
  22. Web site: Tudo sobre o Dia do Quadrinho Nacional e o Troféu Angelo Agostini . Bigorna.net . December 15, 2005.
  23. Web site: Confira os vencedores do 30° Troféu HQ Mix . . August 30, 2018.