| Opentheme: | "Highlight" by Pabllo Vittar |
| Country: | Brazil |
| Language: | Portuguese English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 5 |
| Producer: | Marcelo Pereira |
| Runtime: | 23–25 minutes |
| Company: | Combo Estúdio |
| Network: | Netflix |
Super Drags is a Brazilian adult animated comedy television series created by Anderson Mahanski, Fernando Mendonça and Paulo Lescaut for Netflix.[1]
Produced by Combo Estúdio, the series follows the adventures of Donizete, Patrick, and Ralph, three friends working in a department store who are also drag queen superheroes: Scarlet Carmesim, Lemon Chiffon, and Safira Cyan, the Super Drags responsible for protecting the LGBT community.[2] and they need to combat with the homophobic villain Lady Elza.[3]
The series has an English dub featuring the voices of RuPaul's Drag Race contestants Trixie Mattel, Ginger Minj, Willam, and Shangela.[4]
Five episodes were released on November 9, 2018. The following month, Netflix cancelled the series after one season.[5] [6]
| Character | Original voice | English dub voice | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donizete / Scarlet Carmesim | Fernando Mendonça | Shangela | |
| Patrick / Lemon Chiffon | Sérgio Cantú | Ginger Minj | |
| Ralph / Safira Cyan | Wagner Follare | Rod Keller | |
| Goldiva | Pabllo Vittar | Jeff Manabat | |
| Vedete Champagne | Silvetty Montilla | Trixie Mattel | |
| Lady Elza | Rapha Vélez | Willam Belli | |
| Jezebel | Sylvia Salustti | Anna Stromberg | |
| Sandoval | Fernando Mendonça | Marz Richards | |
| Val Valadão | Patrícia Garcia | Jaquita Ta'le | |
| Robertinho / Janjão | Guilherme Briggs | Henry Dittman |
A year after Castlevania began streaming, Super Drags was added to Netflix. The show focuses on Donizete, Patrick, and Ralph, three gay friends working in a department store,[7] who are also drag queen superheroes, named Scarlet Carmesim, Lemon Chiffon, and Safira Cyan are the Super Drags, and are responsible for protecting the LGBTQ community.[8] On December 30, 2020, Donnie Lopez published an article on Black Girl Nerds, lamenting the lack of an "animated gay Latino male superhero being the lead of his own show," saying that while there has been an increase in the number of "LGBT+ folks being presented on family animated superhero shows," this has mainly focused on lesbian and bisexual characters, without "gay male Latino/Hispanic superhero animated leads."[9] Lopez added that maintaining, popularizing, and creating gay characters can start to assuage harmful attitudes, noting that shows seldom "give gay male POC characters the title roles" in children's animation, leading them to perpetrate the idea that "gay male characters cannot be standalone titular characters." Even so, he gives the example of Aqualad in Season Three of Young Justice who is a bisexual Black man, while qualifying this by saying that Aqualad is "not the principal character of the show" and noting that while Super Drags did make gay men the protagonists, it "reinforced negative stereotypes" and hoped that the "lack of gay representation" in these animations could be remedied in the future.
The first trailer was released on October 19, 2018.[10] A Halloween special short video entitled "Gag! Gross, but I love it" ("Credo Que Delícia", in the original version) was released on October 31, 2018 on the series' official Facebook page.[11] The music video "Highlight", performed by Pabllo Vittar, which features main characters of the series, was released on November 7, 2018.[12] The first season, consisting of five episodes, was officially released on November 9, 2018.[13]
Decider gave the show a positive review while noting that "We can’t deny we were hoping the humor here would be sharper." Charles Puilliam-Moore of Io9 praised the show for its political commentary and condemnation of homophobia, while criticizing some of the raunchier aspects of its humor as a weak part of the show.[14] S.E. Fleenor wrote a positive review for SyFy Wire, calling it "an outrageous, adults-only, gay romp filled with sardonic condemnations of the rampant erasure and destruction of queer people told through harrowing exploits, hypersexual superpowers, and hilariously floppy cartoon bulges."[15]
Before its release, the series was the subject of controversy. In July 2018, the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics issued an official statement, claiming that the series could be harmful for children. However, Netflix has stated that the series is only meant for adult audiences, subsequently releasing a red-band trailer with a TV-MA rating displayed throughout. Also, another video was released, where Champagne, one of the series' characters, warns viewers that even though the series is animated, it contains adult content and is only for people over the age of 16.[16] [17] [18] [19]