Poncho Balón

Poncho Balón
Genre Slapstick
Comedy
Adventure
Created by Carlos Cuarón
René Castillo
Juan Elias Tovar
Luis Usablaca
Directed by René Castillo
Starring Humberto Vélez[1]
Composer(s) Álvaro Ruiz
Country of origin Mexico
Original language(s) Spanish
English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 31[1]
Production
Producer(s) Carlos Cuarón
René Castillo
Fernando de Fuentes
José C. Garcia de Letona
Running time 2 minutes[1]
Production company(s) Ánima Estudios
Estación Espacial
Distributor Televisa
Broadcast
Original channel Canal 5
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
Original run June 5, 2006 – July 5, 2006[1]
External links
Website

Poncho Balón (also known as Poncho Suckerball in English) is a series of Mexican animated television shorts that ran on Canal 5 during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.[2] It aired a total of 31 shorts. The show stars Humberto Vélez as the title character, who is best known for dubbing Homer Simpson in the Spanish-language version of The Simpsons.[1]

The series was produced by Ánima Estudios and Estación Espacial and was created by Carlos Cuarón, René Castillo, Juan Elias Tovar, and Luis Usablaca.[2]

Plot

The plot revolves on a clumsy, dim-witted, anthropomorphic soccer ball, named Poncho, who's trying to achieve his dreams of playing for the 2006 World Cup Final in Germany. As he journeys around the world, he faces a series of shenanigans and failed attempts while reaching to his final destination.[3]

Broadcast history

Poncho Balón is broadcast on the following stations worldwide:[3]

Region Network(s)
 Mexico Canal 5
 Venezuela RCTV
 Panama Medcom
 Ecuador Tele Amazonas
 Peru Frecuencia Latina
 Colombia Caracol
 Honduras Canal 11
 Guatemala PCS

Feature film adaptation

Due to successful ratings, co-creators and producers, René Castillo and Luis Usabiaga, have announced that a 3D comupter animated feature film based on the television shorts is in development.[4] The producers also said they wanted to achieve the similar success with Pixar movies and possibly earn an Academy Award nomination with this film.[5] It will be set during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.[6] Originally planned for a 2012 release,[4] the film is currently in production and is expected to be released sometime in 2014, produced by Kaxan Animation in Guadalajara, produced in English.[5][6][7] It is currently unknown if Ánima Estudios, the producer of the television shorts, will be involved in the project.[7]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Poncho Balón va a la final
  2. 2.0 2.1 ANIMA ESTUDIOS COPRODUCES 'PONCHO SUCKERBALL' WITH ESTACION ESPACIAL
  3. 3.0 3.1 Narran aventuras de Poncho Balón rumbo a Alemania (in Spanish)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Manuel Badillo, Juan (10 July 2009). "Filmarán la película de Poncho Balón". Mundo 52. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  5. 5.0 5.1 Gutiérrez Franco, Laura (21 January 2012). "Con "Poncho Balón", Kaxan Group quiere ir al Oscar". Axópolis. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  6. 6.0 6.1 ""Poncho Balón" protagonizará película en Mundial 2014". 14 December 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  7. 7.0 7.1 Huerta, Cesar (14 December 2011). "El Universal - Poncho Balón rodará de nuevo". El Universal. Retrieved 23 March 2014.

External links