El Chapulín Colorado
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El Chapulín Colorado was a television series created by Chespirito, played by Roberto Gomez Bolaños, a successful Mexican comedian that parodied superhero shows. It was first aired in Mexico by Televisa in 1970, but then was aired across Latin America and Spain until 1978, alongside sister production El Chavo del Ocho. Both shows are incredibly enduring as they still are constantly re-run, and have won back some of their popularity in several countries such as Colombia, where it has aired in competition with The Simpsons. The name translates literally in English as "The Red Grasshopper", (note that the word chapulin is actually a Nahuatl or Aztec language word, rather than Spanish). This show is currently one of the most watched in Brazilian Television where it is known as "O Chapolin", "Vermelhinho" ("Little Red one") or "Polegar Vermelho" ("Red Thumb"). In Brazil, El Chavo del Ocho and Chapulín are still being broadcast by SBT, The second biggest national television company in Brazil, And, most of the times, Chapulín wins the audience battle against other shows that are more complex-made and produced, like news, talk shows and films.
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[edit] Profile
The show's success was largely due to the fact that it embodied many aspects of Latin and Mexican culture, while making a critique on the unrealistic image of superheros. From the name itself to the slang and proverbs Chespirito made a great effort to reflect Latin culture, main characters started with "Ch" (a letter in the Spanish language) and several secondary characters with the Spanish letter "Ñ".
Chapulín would invariably catch innocent people and let the criminals go, or, in the process of saving someone's home, destroy all the furniture. However, in the end, everything would be clarified, typically by others, and the bad guys would be taken to jail, with Chapulín taking credit for the criminals' capture.
The show featured permanent actoral crew. Not withstanding the only actor from El Chavo to have recurring roles in "El Chapulín Colorado" was writer and director Chespirito as a different cast of characters was featured every episode. He was a superhero who dressed all in red, with yellow hot pants and shoes, (although sometimes he used an alternative yellow uniform), and bore a yellow heart on his chest with CH inscribed in red (akin to Superman's "S"). He had two red and yellow antennae for ears, which he called his "antenitas de vinil" ("little vinyl antennae"). He always carried a red hammer, which he called his "chipote chillón" ("squeaky mallet") as his weapon, and could take his famous "pastillas de chiquitolina" ("tinycyline pills"), which would shrink him down to the size of a mouse. He also had a "chicharra paralizadora" ("paralizing horn"): a bicycle horn which, when aimed at a person or object and sounded, would freeze it immediately in midair.
Seemingly parodying Superman's "Faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive" introduction, Chapulín was introduced as follows in the show's opening:
- Más ágil que una tortuga… más fuerte que un ratón… más noble que una lechuga… su escudo es un corazón… ¡Es el Chapulín Colorado!
- (More agile than a turtle… stronger than a mouse… nobler than lettuce… his emblem is a heart… It's the Red Grasshopper!)
[edit] Famous phrases
Usually the show would introduce the characters of the current episode until one of them was endangered or victimized in some way, at which point they voiced the catchphrase "Oh, y ahora ¿quién podrá defenderme/nos?" ("Oh, who can save me/us now?"), or "Oh, y ahora ¿quién podrá ayudarme/nos?" ("Oh, and now, who can help me/us"). Chapulín would appear out of nowhere (usually dropping or hurting himself with something as he did), and say "¡Yo!" ("Me!"), To which the people in need would instantly yell "¡El Chapulín Colorado!" ("The Red Grasshopper!"), after which he'd be greeted by the victim/s. He always answered with his catchphrase "¡No contaban con mi astucia!" ("They did not count on my cleverness!)
Some of Chapulín's other famous phrases include "¡Síganme los buenos!" ("Good guys, follow my lead!" — as he usually walked into a wall or fell from where he was standing), "Lo sospeché desde un principio" ("I suspected it all along" — which he would say after someone pointed out something obvious that he had missed), "Lo hice intencionalmente, para..." (insert reason here). "I did it intentionally, so..." (insert reason here); "Todos mis movimientos están friamente calculados." ("All my movements are carefully premeditated," his explanation for falling on his face, breaking something valuable, etc.), and "Se aprovechan de mi nobleza" ("They take advantage of my nobility" — which he would usually say after an insult, like "We should've called Superman or Batman…", or when he is forced to do something against his will), and "Yo opino…" ("In my opinion…" — a phrase always left unfinished because someone always interrupts him). Also, in trying to provide advice, he would take two traditional two-part Spanish sayings and mix them up, always beginning with, "Como dice el viejo y conocido refrán…" ("As the old and well-known saying goes…"). For example,
- "Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos" ("Raise crows and they'll peck out your eyes"; i.e., what goes around comes around)
and
- "Cria fama y échate a dormir" ("Make a name for yourself and then go to sleep"; i.e., once you have made a reputation for yourself, things will take care of themselves)
become
- "Cria cuervos y echate a dormir… No, no, no… Cria buena fama y te sacaran los ojos… No… (in this part, he begins to mix both wrongly said quotes creating an elongated phrase confusing both himself and his hearers) Bueno, la idea es esa." ("Raise ravens and then go to sleep… No, no, no… Make a good name for yourself and they'll peck out your eyes… No… (in this part, he begins to mix both wrongly said quotes creating an elongated phrase confusing both himself and his hearers) Well, that's the idea.")
Similarly, "Que no cunda el pánico" ("Nobody panic") would become "Que no panda el cúnico" ("Pabody nonic").
[edit] Pioneer in visual effects
With Chapulín, Chespirito, along with his production team, made extensive use of the chroma key device and bluescreen to produce visual effects which made more interesting the adventures of this dumb superhero. Though somewhat "cheesy" by modern standards, the show achieved surprising effects like floating in the air or flying, performing impossible acrobatics, fighting against Martians, strange creatures, witches and all kinds of monsters, and, most often, to get the physical reduction effect thanks to his famous "pastillas de chiquitolina", which Chapulín used with measure to pass under doors, reaching dangerous areas without attracting attention or solve any problem with the size-changing trick.
This innovation, which was already known in Mexican television but not widely used, gave Chapulín the distinction of being virtually the only adventure-comedy broadcast in Mexico.
[edit] Popularity
Chapulín has enjoyed great popularity all over Latin America, the United States, Spain and other countries, albeit somewhat less than its sister production of El Chavo. Like El Chavo del Ocho, it is still shown in reruns in various countries. The cast of Chapulín was the same as that of El Chavo, although only actors Florinda Meza, Carlos Villagrán, and Ramón Valdés were usually in every episode, however the characters usually were different. The only regular (albeit infrequent) characters who appeared, usually Chapulín foes, were El Tripaseca (Valdés) and El Cuajinais (Villagrán), a pair of Mafiosi who liked to make heists.
Shorter Chapulín adventures were preceded by a skit, usually featuring Chespirito's other characters, like Dr. Chapatín, a tactless, impatient old physician, or El Chómpiras, an incompetent thief in the skit called Los Caquitos, alongside with El Peterete, played by Ramón Valdés. Chompiras and his new partner in crime, El Botija, played by Edgar Vivar, came to dominate the later years of Chespirito, an hourlong showcase for all the characters of the show.
The physical diversity of Chespirito actors permitted the richness of characters in the adventures, each week a new one. Chapulín was a hero of undetermined geographic and temporal location: his adventures could unfold in ancient China, in London, in the Swiss Alps, during the Spanish Inquisition, in pirate ships, in Nazi Germany (an episode in which Chespirito played a double role as Chapulin and as Adolf Hitler himself, in the style of Charles Chaplin's The Great Dictator) or outer space, and his enemies range from the Yeti to Egyptian mummies, including his interaction, in some occasions, with literary characters such as Romeo and Juliet ("Juleo and Rumieta", or literally "Juleo and Rumiet").
El Chapulín Colorado is also very popular in Brazil. Strangely, the company Tec Toy (responsible for distributing the Sega consoles in Brazil) published a video game for the Sega Master System called Chapolim x Dracula: Um duelo assustador (Chapulín vs. Dracula: A Frightening Duel). It was a hack of another existing SMS title, Ghost House, with the hero's graphics changed to Chapulín's.
[edit] Trivia
In an episode while being questioned about his real name it is hinted that Chapulín's real mother is Lois Lane.[1]
[edit] Outside references
The conceptual sister (bar the Mexican indigenous references) would be the The Tick animated series. Both are superhero parodies featuring an insectoid superhero with silly catchphrases whose clumsiness and stupidity tend to make matters worse rather than solve problems, but ultimately overcome their problems through their good hearted nature and strong will. Although the references to El Chapulín in The Tick are obvious there's no indication as to whether The Tick was directly inspired by the prior work.
The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening has declared that he created the Bumblebee Man character after watching El Chapulín Colorado on television at a motel on the U.S.-Mexico border. Simpsons fans sometimes call the character Chespirito, even though Bumblebee Man is only based on his character. It should also be mentioned that many Simpsons characters enjoy Chespirito/Bumblebee Man's show; competing comedian Krusty the Klown watches one gag and remarks in admiration, "I gotta steal that bit." Bumblebee Man's show also features characters similar to Doña Florinda and Quico (with the inevitable stereotyping mustache), as well as Chómpiras.
