Mortadelo

Mortadelo is a character created by Francisco Ibáñez in 1958 for his series Mortadelo y Filemón, in which he co-stars with his boss Filemón. As a post-war influence, both names evoke food; Mortadelo would be an echo of mortadella. Over the years, Mortadelo has achieved greater popularity than his boss, to the point of giving title to the magazines Mortadelo (weekly), Especial Mortadelo (bi-weekly) and Super Mortadelo (monthly), as well as Mortadelo tickets, which could be exchanged in different promotions of the publisher. In this he has had a lot to do with his status as king of disguise. This allows Mortadelo to transform (without being seen putting on the costume), to everyone's astonishment, into any animal, plant or object, from an elephant to a bell, going through a cactus or a tile and in most cases it acquires the properties of this one: if it becomes a ghost it crosses walls,...

Description

Physically, Mortadelo is tall, bald, thin, and with a huge nose. Originally, the series was part of a parody of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in such a way that Mortadelo also wore a bowler hat and a black umbrella hanging from his arm. The bowler hat was also used by Mortadelo to store costumes, a resource that would prove unnecessary over time. Another feature of the original Mortadelo (and one that only lasted a few comics) was perpetually narrowed eyes that gave him a clueless look. A possible inspiration for Mortadelo's physical appearance is that of the Argentine cartoon character Fúlmine.

This primitive aspect was refined over time, soon acquiring (late 1960) an appearance similar to the current one: Mortadelo would keep his glasses and his black frock coat that partially covers his mouth, but the hat and umbrella would disappear, as well as the buttons of the clothes. The collar of the frock coat is almost always present, whatever it is disguised as, even when it is bare-chested.

Fictional Biography

Mortadelo and Filemón comics generally do not have continuity, so Mortadelo's biographical details may vary from one comic to another depending on the needs of the plot or jokes.

Spanish post seal dedicated to Mortadelo and Filemón

According to the cartoon His private life, he is originally from the town of Borricón de Arriba, supposedly in the province of Valladolid, since in the short cartoon Fatal Day Mortadelo says Being from Valladolid, but according to The Story of Mortadelo and Filemón the family is forced to move to Barcelona due to their fondness for Mortadelo's costumes with which they cause different problems. In his youth he had prodigious black hair (for which he was called Mortadelo "el Melenudo ") until one day he tried an invention of Professor Bacterio against hair loss, which left him instantly bald. Since then, Mortadelo has felt a great grudge against Professor Bacterio.

From the album Su vida privada, it is consistently established that Mortadelo and Filemón share the expenses of a seedy pension called "El Calvario", whose dilapidated facilities the They remind us of the pension at 13, Rue del Percebe, another series of humorous cartoons by Ibañez.

During the Franco era, it was stated that both Mortadelo and Filemón were homosexual, stating that "two single male characters who shared a flat, who slept in the same room, one of whom often disguised himself as a woman, was for its detractors synonymous with homosexuality".

Mortadelo has more relationships with women than Filemón. He has known a couple of girlfriends and even a stalker (Irma, secretary of Ediciones B, who appears in the comic The Telephone Puncture ).

Creation and conception

Ibáñez was asked to create a series about some private detectives and he decided that the character of Mortadelo could be disguised. Although this had already been devised by Emilio Boix in Adventures of Shelo Comes published in 1954.

The preliminary sketches were sent to Rafael González Martínez, since shortly before he had signed an agreement whereby the rights of his characters passed into the hands of Editorial Bruguera. After agreeing to carry out the series, the publisher registered the characters in the name of the company's owners, describing Mortadelo as a "middle-aged man, completely bald and endowed with an enormous nose on which a pair of glasses rides.", highlighting in his clothing the collar of the shirt, which reaches remarkably exaggerated proportions, covering the lower part of the face."

In 1993, Vázquez commented that the idea of making two detective characters that one could dress up as was his, although the creation was Ibáñez's.

Recurring actions

Generally

• Mortadelo is treated despoticly by its superiors, whether it be Filemon or "The Super".
• Mortadelo always screws up and his superiors take all the blows.
• Mortadelo escapes disguised, usually as an animal (insect, reptile, bird, cat, etc.) when riding in cholera.
• When there is no persecution, Mortadelo (and Filemon) hide in the most inhospitable and remote places on the planet (the Gobi desert, the Saharan, the Golan Heights, the Columbretes Islands, the Easter Island, the Antarctic, etc.) while at their side, a diary realizes the disguised in turn, while warning that "the Super" is looking for a different place. Variants of this end can be seen with Mortadelo reading the newspaper or listening to a radio section.

With Philemon

• Mortadelo goes out of his mind when Filemon appears to be smarter, serious and responsible than he does. Although almost all cases are solved by Mortadelo himself, which shows more resolution or wit.

With the "Super"

• Mortadelo and Philemon are moaning The Super and they ignore it when it explains the details of a mission.

With Professor Bacterio

• Mortadelo is always at the gresca with Bacterio, because he still holds a grudge for his "remedy to the baldness".
• Death and Philemon always flee when The Super He wants you to try out an invention of Professor Bacterio.
• Mortadelo and Philemon suffer the disastrous effects of the teacher's inventions.
• Occasionally, Filemon and Mortadelo hit or comically torture the teacher in revenge on the injuries caused by his inventions.

With the secretary Ofelia

• Mortadelo usually humiliates Ofelia, who's always pulling her glasses.

Representations

In the works carried out by Estudios Vara, his voice was provided by Víctor Ramírez. While Enric Cusí would do the same in the television series by Claudio Biern Boyd. For his part in the video games Miguel Ángel Manrique gave the voice to the character in Balls and kicks, Two botched cowboys, Moscow Operation. Roman-style Mamluks, Terror, fright and fear and Cleopatra's beetle; while Luis Posada was the one who provided the voice in A film adventure.

For his part in the works carried out in real image, in the first film he was played by Benito Pocino who was chosen thanks to a make-up artist who showed Javier Fesser a photo of the actor. Critics valued his interpretation very positively and his great resemblance to the character contributed to the film being a box office success. However, the actor did not participate in the sequel, due to disagreements regarding his salary; therefore, the production company hired Eduard Soto instead., whose interpretation, although well received by critics, was valued in the worst way. In the play he was played by Jacobo Dicenta.