{"id":20982,"date":"2015-09-27T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-27T07:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=20982"},"modified":"2015-09-27T11:18:04","modified_gmt":"2015-09-27T18:18:04","slug":"argentine-animated-features-part-5-2000-2003-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/argentine-animated-features-part-5-2000-2003-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Argentine Animated Features. Part 6: 2004"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part six of my survey of Argentine animated feature films \u2013 today with films from Jos\u00e9 Luis Massa and Sergio Bayo.<\/p>\n

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\"406full-patoruzito-poster\"<\/a>Patoruzito<\/strong>, directed by Jos\u00e9 Luis Massa. 75 minutes. July 8, 2004. <\/p>\n

A lot of background is needed here. The Tehuelche natives of Patagonia were discovered by 16th-century Spanish explorers, but they lived far enough south that the Spanish considered their lands too cold and rocky and never settled them. Their tallness and super-hardiness \u2013 they lived almost naked in what the Spanish deemed a freezing climate \u2013 grew legendarily into the Tehuelches becoming super-strong giants with huge feet, but very primitive and peaceful. They were not \u201ccivilized\u201d until Argentina became independent and began expanding into its south in the 19th & 20th centuries; and some of them became gauchos.<\/p>\n

Cartoonist Dante Quinterno (1909-2003) created the character Patoruz\u00fa<\/em> in 1928 as the last cacique of the Tehuelches before they became integrated into Argentine civilization. His comics were funny adventures like E. C. Segar\u2019s Thimble Theater<\/em> in the U.S. He played up the legendary aspects of the Tehuelches; they were tall and super-strong, and Patoruz\u00fa was the strongest and wealthiest of them; but he was very na\u00efve and constantly being tricked by sophisticated villains from Buenos Aires taking advantage of him. During the 1930s Quinterno built up a large supporting cast; his Patoruz\u00fa<\/em> comic magazine was started in 1936 and became more popular with adults than children throughout Argentina and Uruguay. In 1942 he made the Upa en Apuros animated short. <\/p>\n

\"Patoruzito\"<\/a>In 1945 he started a Patoruzito<\/em> magazine for children, about the adventures of his characters when they were children. The boy Patoruzito, about 8-10 years old, became more popular than the adult Patoruz\u00fa. By the late 1990s-early 2000s, Quinterno had retired but was merchandising his cartoon characters everywhere; there was a set of Argentine 2004 postage stamps of Patoruzito, his horse Pamperito, his girlfriend Mal\u00e9n, his pal Isidorito, etc.; and the Patagonik Film Group licensed them for theatrical animated features. Patagonik\u2019s Juan Pablo Buscarini was Executive Producer.<\/p>\n

The Argentine animation industry had learned to produce a smooth blend of cartoon and CGI animation by 2004. Despite the fact that the adult Patoruz\u00fa became popular in the 1930s, and Patoruzito (introduced in 1945) was supposed to be Patoruz\u00fa as a child, the 2004 Patoruzito<\/em> movie is set in the present.<\/p>\n

In a prologue under the opening credits, Egypt in 2200 B.C. is a powerful nation under the Patoruzek dynasty, but the evil Arotep steals an amulet of magic power from the last Patoruzek pharaoh. They battle, and the amulet is split in two. The last pharaoh, recognizing that he has lost, sails from Egypt with the last of the Patoruzeks to find a new homeland \u2013 Patagonia. The movie jumps to the present; 2004 A.D. The Tehuelches are roughly divided into two groups; those who live on the pampas like their ancestors, and those who live on estancias (large ranches) like gauchos. Patoruzito is the young heir (about 8 or 10 years old) of the last cacique\u2019s estancia. He lives there with his family while the estancia is run by La Chacha, his pipe-smoking nanny who makes delicious empanadas and soup, and the strict but loyal foreman, \u00d1ancul. A frequent visitor and playmate is Isidorito Ca\u00f1ones, the snooty but friendly child nephew of Colonel Ca\u00f1ones, the super-rich financial manager of Patoruzito\u2019s fortune in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n

\"AR029-04\"<\/a>Three young Tehuelche delinquents, Cobul, Cachic\u00f3, and Tico, start a fire on the estancia to steal horses. \u00d1ancul and Patoruzito arrive in a jeep to save the remaining horses from the fire, including the young foal Pamperito. This is when Patoruzito and Pamperito first meet.<\/p>\n

Col. Ca\u00f1ones hosts a big birthday party for Patoruzito, marking him to have reached the age to become the new cacique of the Tehuelches. Cobul, Cachic\u00f3, and Tico oppose this. Among the celebrants is Prof. Ferguson, an archaeologist who is researching the history of the Tehuelches. The viewer sees that Ferguson is a modern double of Arotep with half of the amulet. A band of \u201cwild\u201d Tehuelches arrives. Their leader says that they recognize Patoruzito as the son of their last cacique, but before they can recognize him as their new cacique, he must enter the Lost Valley and obtain the three signs of skill, courage, the Tehuelche spirit, and their freedom: the Blue Stone from an active volcano; an amulet from the Hidden Cave where their ancestral caciques are buried; and a condor\u2019s feather. Patoruzito accepts the test, while Ferguson offers to Cobul, Cachic\u00f3, and Tico to make sure that they win.<\/p>\n

Patoruzito, in his native costume, with Pamperito, and Isidorito in a modern explorer\u2019s costume, set out, with Ferguson and the three delinquents trying to sabotage them. Patoruzito and Isidorito get the Blue Stone. On their way to the second test, Patoruzito rescues Mal\u00e9n, a young Tehuelche girl, from hungry pumas. This is how Patoruzito and Mal\u00e9n meet. She introduces them to old Egolia, her grandfather and the ancient guardian of the Hidden Cave, who trains Patoruzito for the cave\u2019s dangers. The viewer sees that the tombs of the former caciques go back to ancient Egyptian styles. Ferguson and his three activate ancient Egyptian deathtraps against Patoruzito, but he uses Egolia\u2019s training to escape.<\/p>\n

Patoruzito has to climb Andean peaks to get a condor\u2019s feather, with Ferguson and the others cutting the rope bridges that he is on. He succeeds, and brings the three treasures to the hidden Tehuelche center in the Lost Valley. But Ferguson and the three renegade Tehuelche youths follow him there. Ferguson reveals that his goal all along was to find the center and the missing half of the magic amulet, and he turns on his allies. Ferguson unleashes the Egyptian magic to conquer everything, but Patoruzito, with the help of the other Tehuelches (including the three now-reformed delinquents), defeat him. Patoruzito and Isidorito return to the estancia to begin their growth to adulthood.<\/p>\n

Patoruzito<\/em> was a huge success. It was shown in every theater in Argentina and Uruguay, selling 2,500,000 seats. It was shown in several other Latin American and European countries. It won the Silver Condor Award in 2005.<\/p>\n