El Chapulín Colorado


El Chapulín Colorado is a Mexican television comedy series that ran from 1973 to 1979 and parodied superhero shows. It was created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños, who also played the main character. It was first aired by Televisa in 1973 in Mexico, and then was aired across Latin America and Spain until 1981, alongside El Chavo, which shared the same cast of actors. Both shows have endured in re-runs and have won back some of their popularity in several countries such as Colombia or Peru, where it has aired in competition with The Simpsons. The name translates literally in English as "The Red Grasshopper". The main character uses a conspicuous red uniform. It is known in Brazil as "Chapolin", "Vermelhinho" and "Polegar Vermelho" in allusion to the famous fairy tale character Tom Thumb.
Although the series has a regular cast, all actors but Gómez Bolaños play different characters each episode, and it is therefore described as an anthology series.

Profile

The show embodied many aspects of Latin and Mexican culture while making a critique on the unrealistic image of superheroes. In each episode, people recognized Chapulín wherever he appeared, believing him to be a great superhero. Recognition caused him to boast, only to stumble and fall right away, proving himself to be puny and timid, and disappointing his fans. Despite this, Chapulín tried his best to help, and all his adventures ended well
Parodying Superman's "Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive" introduction, Chapulín was introduced as follows in the show's opening, reinforcing the idea of a barely powered hero:

Equipment and weapons

Heroes

He is a superhero that hails from somewhere in the U.S. whose appearance is very similar to that of Uncle Sam, but his suit is similar to Superman's. Half of the things Súper Sam says are in English, considering his inadequate skills with Spanish. Súper Sam's primary weapon is a bag full of dollars that he says were "few, but very powerful"; it is usually used to beat on the head of the wrongdoers or Chapulín, as both don't get along very well. Every time he uses his weapon, the ringing of a cash register chimes in the show's audio. His catchphrase is "Time is Money, oh yeah!" and when present, most people say that "they don't want imported superheroes", much to Súper Sam's annoyance. According to Florinda Meza's character, Super Sam is "just like Chapulín, but with a bank account."

Villains

The Mob

With Chapulín, Chespirito and along his production team made extensive use of the chroma key device and bluescreen to produce visual effects which made the adventures of this superhero more interesting. Though somewhat unrefined 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 frequently used to pass under doors, reach dangerous areas without attracting attention, or solve problems.
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.

Popularity

Chapulín has enjoyed popularity all over Latin America, the United States, Spain, Portugal and other countries, albeit somewhat less than its sister production of El Chavo. Like El Chavo, 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. Some of the regular characters who appeared, usually Chapulín foes, were El Tripaseca and El Cuajinais, a pair of Mafiosi who liked to make heists, as well as concurrent superhero Super Sam. One-off villains, mostly those played by Valdés, like Wild West outlaw El Rascabuche, are also fondly remembered by fans.
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, along 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 hour-long showcase featuring 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 the American Old West, in ancient China, in London, in the Swiss Alps, during the Spanish Inquisition, in pirate ships, in Nazi Germany 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.
El Chapulín Colorado is also extremely popular in Brazil. The company, Tec Toy, responsible for distributing the Sega consoles in Brazil, published a video game for the Sega Master System called Chapolim x Drácula: Um duelo assustador. It was a localization of another existing SMS title, Ghost House, with the hero's graphics changed to Chapulín's.

Animated series

An animated series based on the show premiered in April 2015, made by Ánima Estudios.

Animated film

In May 2017, Roberto Gomez Fernandez revealed that an animated film adaptation of El Chapulin Colorado is in development. In 6 October 2019, it was reported that Gomez Fernandez has began working on the script. Later that month, Gomez Fernandez revealed that production on the film has begun. He also said that the film will take place in a shared universe featuring characters created by Chespirito.

Comics

El Chapulín Colorado comics were sold in Mexico during the program's broadcasting years from 1974 until 1982. These comics have also been seen occasionally appearing in some episodes of El Chavo usually being read by the characters. The comics were sold weekly and sold an estimated total of more than 400 issues.
In the early 1990s with the high popularity of the products of the Chespirito characters in Brazil, two series of children's comics were made in partnership with the Editora Globo, with a new art style different from Mexican comics. These comics were Chaves & Chapolim and Chapolim & Chaves, both comics features stories both with El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado.
In May 2017, along with the announcement of a film, Gómez Fernández revealed that a comic series based on the character is in development.

Fine Art

El Chapulín Colorado was one of the subjects incorporated by photographer Dulce Pinzon in her photographic series titled "The Real Stories of the Superheroes." In this series, Pinzon dressed mostly Mexican immigrants as various superheroes, but performing their normal, daily work in construction, childcare, waitressing, window cleaning, etc., and then photographed them. The series included super heroes such as Batman, Superman, Spiderman, as well as El Chapulin Colorado. This photographic series was declared as part of the National Legacy of Mexico in 2020.

Crossovers

The 1974 two-part episode "El disfraz, el antifaz y algo más" is a crossover between several Chespirito characters like: Chómpiras and Peterete, Laurel and Hardy, Quico and El Chavo del Ocho, Charlie Chaplin and Dr. Chapatín. This episode had a remake in 1979, but with Botija and Popis replacing Peterete and Quico respectively, due to the departure of Ramón Valdés and Carlos Villagrán from the cast.
The 1976 episode "Todo Queda en Familia" is a crossover with El Chavo, the episode focuses on El Chapulín visiting the village where El Chavo characters lives and interacting with them. Another episode that is also a crossover with El Chavo is the two-part episode "Blancanieves y los siete Churi Churín Fun Flais" from 1978, were El Chapulín Colorado appears at Professor Jirafales' school telling the children the tale of Snow White.
The 1978 episode "Las Estatuas No Dicen Chanfle" is a crossover with Dr. Chapatín.

Legacy

The Simpsons creator Matt Groening has said that he created the Bumblebee Man character after watching El Chapulín Colorado in a motel on the United States–Mexico border.
The character made a cameo on Action Comics No. 820, published by DC Comics.
The Marvel Comics superheroine Red Locust, a member of the newest incarnation of the Champions, was created as an homage to El Chapulín Colorado.
On the manga and anime series One Punch Man, a superhero called "Smile Man" physically resembles El Chapulín Colorado, while it also resembles classic Japanese character Anpanman. The character wears almost the same yellow and red suit as El Chapulín, using a big red and yellow hammer as well. However, there's a few noticeable differences, such as the lack of antennae on the head, a big smile face instead of a heart shield on his chest and the use of a mask. While it is yet to be confirmed if the character is a parody or a tribute of El Chapulín Colorado, several news websites noticed the physical similarities. The official Spanish Twitter account of the series even acknowledged the similarities, using one of El Chapulín's quotes along a screenshot showing Smile Man.
El Chapulín Colorado appears in one of the episodes of season 5 of Monica Toy.
To celebreate the 91st anniversary of Chespirito's birth date and the 50th anniversary of the character's creation, on 21 February 2020, the videogame FIFA 20 added a free DLC based on El Chapulín Colorado. The DLC specifically added a new yellow and red uniform based on the character for the Ultimate Team game mode, which includes the heart shield on the uniform's shirt.