Zipi and Zape

About the magazine, see Zipi and Zape.

Zipi y Zape is a humorous cartoon created and developed by the Spanish author José Escobar from 1948, the most popular of his, and one of the most popular of the medium in Spain, only behind "Mortadelo y Filemón", at least in its time. Usually attached to the Bruguera school, it has also enjoyed a multitude of adaptations to other media, as well as a continuation by Juan Carlos Ramis and Joaquin Cera.

Editorial trajectory

Zipi y Zape is part of the tradition of unruly children in comics that starts with Max und Moritz (1865) and goes through The Katzenjammer Kids (1897). They officially appeared in number 58 of the comic "Pulgarcito", although Escobar had already published similar comics a year or two before. All his first comics were short, between one to eight pages.

Soon they also began to be published in other house magazines: "Súper Pulgarcito" (1949), "Come and Come" (1959), "Big Thumb" (1969) and "Mortadelo" (1970). Escobar then produced some longer comic strips, reaching the forty-four pages of the classic Franco-Belgian album:

In 1971, Zipi y Zape got its own magazines: the homonymous "Zipi y Zape", weekly, and the monthly "Super Zipi y Zape&# 34;. Also that year, his adventures began to be compiled in albums of the Olé Collection or the volumes of Super Humor, Wizards of Humor, etc. Books with jokes and various curiosities were also published.

In 1976, his magazine reached a weekly circulation of 124,500 copies. Two years later, Bruguera launched yet another magazine: "Zipi y Zape Especial".

In the 1980s, Escobar was forced to abandon his characters in the face of Bruguera's economic decline, and he created a similar series, Terre y Moto, for the magazine Guai! (Grijalbo, 1986).

When Ediciones B acquired Bruguera's publishing fund, Escobar returned to his classic characters. He continued working on the series, despite his advanced age, until his death in 1994. During this time, Juan Carlos Ramis, in the magazines containing the Zipi and Zape comics, drew these characters in two-page thematic sections, in sections such as & #34;Our photo album" or "In Out" in which he drew photos of the Zapatilla family in absurd situations, very characteristic of Ramis' humor.

In the year 2000, Escobar's heirs gave the go-ahead for Juan Carlos Ramis and Joaquín Cera to continue the saga, but they had little success. They created the following long comics:

Plot and characters

Note of interest: In the 2000s Zipi and Zape went to the cartoons of the hand of the BRB International producer owned by the Mallorcan Claudio Biern Boyd, so that some characters appear or differ clearly from the comics of Escobar to the "modernized renewal" of Biern

This pair of twins, who are distinguished from each other by being dark-skinned (Zape) and blond (Zipi), were characterized mainly by the devilish pranks they got into at the slightest opportunity. The very names of the protagonists come from the word zipizape, which means "riot". Zipi and Zape's personality is very simple, they are mischievous and restless boys, which does not mean that they do not have a good heart. In fact, an obsession of theirs is what they call "Doing a good deed." Generally the result is disastrous and their comics usually end with someone persecuting them, or being confined by their father in the mouse room. In any case, the punishments they received were much crueler in their first comics. Decree of June 24, 1955 on the organization of the children's and youth press, had forced its author to soften the harshness of the series.

Another feature to highlight is that both are very fond of soccer, a sport they practice constantly, Zipi is from Real Madrid and Zape from FC Barcelona, as they demonstrated when in a comic (after the death of its creator José Escobar and reissued to adapt to changing times), Zipi dressed in Zidane's shirt and Zape in Saviola's, in another, Zipi plays on a console with Madrid and the players Buyo and Butragueño, and Zape with Barça and the players Urruti and Clos.

Other characters linked to the adventures of this duo are the following:

The family

• Don Pantuflo Zapatilla: He is the husband of Doña Jaimita and father of Zipi and Zape. Professor of Numismatics, Philatelia and Colombofilia, among their hobbies are smoking in pipe and reading newspapers. He is a golden and already mature character, with the crown cleared by the age and big ribs. Its most characteristic outfits are usually the classic chaqué or a bathrobe and slippers to walk around. He was born on October 22. Although the sole renegar of football, it is a Barça forum like Escobar, and in fact in a cartoon it sends to paint the children a room of the colors of the club. Curious was the way to encourage Zipi and Zape to correct their behavior. Don Pantuflo Zapatilla handed over to his children when they behaved a voucher for a piece of the bike that they so longed for but they hardly ever got there. In the first comics, he had the name of Raguncio Feldespato. In others he was added the second name "of Felpudez".

• Doña Jaimita Llobregat: Spouse of Don Pantuflo and mother of the twins Zipi and Zape. It is tall, thin and dark and is characterized by wearing a red ribbon in the hair. She works as a housewife and is the one who mainly suffers the domestic mischief of her children. In some comics you have received the last name Pasell i Rexach.

• Doña Miguela Llobregat: Better known as MiguelitaShe is the fat sister of Doña Jaimita, and the mother of Sapientín, who, contrary to her sister, did not lose weight on her youth.

• Sapientín Empollinez: He is the superb cousin of Zipi and Zape, the only son of Miguelita, sister of Doña Jaimita. More reserved than they, (prefers to study to go out with friends) and with minimal taste for football compared to their cousins (always play porter) is constantly besieged by Zipi and Zape to do their homework, although he always manages to avoid them. Black dress with a loop and wears paired glasses, without those who see nothing. In the first comics he appears with the name of Felipin and before his definitive name he passed through the name of Empollín.

• Don Máximo Empollinez: Father of Sapientín, husband of Michael.

• Grandfathers Zapatilla: They're Don Pantuflo's parents and twin grandparents. In many adventures they make gifts. Also Zipi and Zape are going to live with them to their home for a while while Pantuflo and Jaimita leave out. In some comics are called Don Zenón, and Dona Juanita.

School

• Don Minervo: He is the master of these twins so particular. It is characterized mainly by its fat and its broad belly. The most common punishment imposed on twins is to hold a stack of books in every hand facing the wall and knees, a very common punishment in the classrooms of the 1960s. His wife is D.a Hipotenusa (D.a Spatula at Escobar stage). In a comic it was shown that he has a twin brother named Apollo, who also dresses like him, but without the characteristic moustache of Don Minervo. Another also appears a twin brother who is a thief known as El Berenjeno.

• Doña Espátula/Da Hipotenusa: Don Minervo's wife. She has little affection for Zipi and Zape, especially for the mischief they do in her husband's school, she has a very similar personality to that of Doña Jaimita. In some old comics it appears with the name of Doña Cunegunda. Other names he had are Gumersinda, Leandra and Cleofasa

• Ticket: Ticket appears only in the stage Cera-Ramís Zipi and Zape. So to speak, the best friend of Zipi and Zape. He is obese and is always thinking about eating, however, he is always willing to help his friends.

• Peloto Chivátez: He is a classmate and accelerating enemy of the twins. As its own name indicates, it is the ball and envious of the class. He's a thin character, with long, dark hair. It is characterized mainly by its eagle nose that gives it that peculiar aspect of "bad" of the comics. He always tries to screw up Zipi and Zape and for that he will use any ardid; his greatest illusion is to have, like his envious twins, a magazine with his name. He will also try to obtain a ten by all means and for this he does not hesitate to try to bribe, without success, Don Minervo, with articles from his father's shop, preferably boxes of cigars and hams (before he called himself Pelotin Cepillez).

• Father de Peloto: It has an ultramarine shop, although it also sells tobacco. Its character oscillates between the different comics: sometimes it is an accomplice briber of your child, sometimes retests taxatively your behavior

• Sabihóndez: He is the second of the class, as they call him Zipi and Zape, as Sapientín, is very intelligent and appears sporadicly in some comics. Its physical appearance and its name usually change, and has received the names of Secundino, Cerebélez and Matriculínez

• Lechuzo López: This character, already more modern, is a normal intelligence boy who is the best friend and ally of Peloto. Always ready to send Zipi and Zape a bad pass, will faithfully follow the orders of Peloto, which will make him get into many problems. It is called Lechuzo for its tremendous resemblance to this bird.

• Pituso: He goes to the school of Zipi and Zape. It is of low stature and very blond hair, that makes it known to him. He's a friend of Zipi and Zape and appears in sporadious comics.

• Lelo: Zipi and Zape Companion who appears sporadicly, his greatest role was in a comic where he always presumed to get outstanding, although then Zipi and Zape showed that he simply stole them and put their name on them. His father has a big nose and his mother, too.

• Evilina: It appears only in the film of Zipi and Zape, The Monster Adventures of Zipi and Zape. Demonstrates being very evil and calculating, in addition to the enemy of Zipi and Zape and is often the subject of mockery on the part of those who support it Iron Pines.

• "Invi": It appears only in the film of Zipi and Zape, The Monster Adventures of Zipi and Zape. He is a friend of Zipi and Zape, he thinks invisible because his parents never pay attention to him, that is why he only dresses with a brief and goes everywhere semi-naked, his name is unknown as everyone nicknames him. Invi.

• Puag: It appears only in the Zipi and Zape movie, The Monster Adventures of Zipi and Zape. He's an obese, big boy with big personal hygiene problems. Its biggest feature is that it always wears a moco hanging. In one episode it is discovered that his family is rich and barely visited by his parents. His real name is Honorato.

Others

• Gentlemen Plómez: They are the heavy friends of the parents of the twins, Don Pantuflo and Doña Jaimita. They are a marriage that is characterised by their fearful visits at least the 13th of each month to the house of Zipi and Zape to merendar. She's called Felisa and he's just Plómez. Every time they visit the Zapatillas, their children try all the means to leave, but Plómez always carries a multitude of objects that he uses as an antidote. Finally, the twins always get them kicked out.

• Don Angel: This is the neighborhood police where Zipi and Zape live. Always tend to Zipi and Zape when they stop Manitas de Uranio, many times they work as a team, they also complain about the numerous work they have thanks to the twins.

• Doctor Pildorín: Family doctor who has a consultation in the neighborhood. He usually makes home visits to the Zapatilla family.

• Pachín: Before Zipi and Zape adopted Toby as a pet, his dog was Pachín. He had the appearance of a water dog and had a personality similar to Toby's.

• Toby: It was the mascot of Zipi and Zape in the last stage Escobar of their adventures. At the stage Cera-RamísToby disappeared from the comics.

• Fakirín: Fakirín is the son of a family of fakires. In their house they eat nails as an appetizer and sit in chairs with spikes. Fakirín wants to be fakir as his father and often asks Zipi and Zape to "train" him to get used to resisting pain. At first he was not fakir, but simply a child known as Lelo Tontinez (or Tontáinez). His father is apparently called Ali Kates.

• Don Lucas: He is the senior professor at the Faculty of Colombophilia and Filatelia, and head of Don Pantuflo, who is always asking for a salary increase that never comes.

• Don Baldomero: The Zipi and Zape neighborhood glassmaker, when there is little work, tries to convince Zipi and Zape to break the crystals intentionally (usually proposing to play football), although their plans always end in failure.

• Nati and Tina: These are characters that appear in the last stage of Zipi and Zape. It is two twin girls, one blonde (Nati) and another brunette (Tina), of which Zipi and Zape are in love. In a comic, both say they want to date Zipi and Zape, they try, but they say they have found someone better, lettuce.

• They also make appearances other characters from Escobar such as Carpanta, Petra, Doña Tula or Plim the Magno. Among them, Carpanta stands out with his own light and can be considered a fixed character. In addition, Escobar himself also appears in several cartoons, caricatured.

Enemies of Zipi and Zape

• The Manitas de Uranio: It is a caco that usually steals from houses and shops in the neighborhood, has been imprisoned many times but always manages the way to escape, often goes to steal from Zipi and Zape and these always unravel their plans. He had a son named Cacotin. In some old comics he was called The granites among other names.

Ramis and Cera version

• Agent B-6: Also called MacManaman. Created with mandril hormones, doberman genomes and Louis Van Gaal genes. It was created by Leonardo Priones to get rid of Zipi and Zape, but failed. Then he tried to get his father, Pantuflo, but he also failed. Because of his wounds, Priones recycled it into metal objects, but Zipi and Zape destroyed it. Harto of it, Priones downloaded it into a video game, later, Zipi and Zape would put Priones in the same video game.

• Leonardo Priones: He ran a secret lab camouflaged in a hospital. He married a minister's daughter for his money, but he was arrested when he tried to kill the bride, but that was just a clone. The real Priones kept directing the experiments in the lab, Zipi and Zape along with Sapientín, Bolete and Peloto went to stop their plans and almost got it but they are captured by Priones, in the end, thanks to Peloto who led the police to stop their experiments, Priones was locked inside a video game next to Agent B-6.

• Boris Calostro: Directed the reality-show, ̈Grand RobinsonIt was that a family should survive on an island full of animals. As he ran out of contestants, he tricked the Zapatilla family to participate in the reality, they accepted. As he saw that the reality audience went down, he decided to increase the aggressiveness of the animals, even though the rest of the team begged him not to. In the end, he tried to flee to the Bahamas where he had hidden the funds of reality, but he ended up as a suppository of a giant gorilla. This could be interpreted as a television parody, since when on television something works or is not usually done anything to increase the audience.

Evolution of characters

Escobar varied over the time he performed the "Zipi y Zape" the outline of his characters, adapting it to the caricaturist fashions of each era. The models of each character coexisted with each other, that is, they did not all change at the same time at all times, but rather each one had its own evolution.

Zipi and Zape

By Escobar

• 1946-1947: In origin, Zipi and Zape were tall, they had short hair to brush, wearing black pants and short-sleeved white shirts with ties, black shoes, with stretched white socks.

• 1948-1950: Zipi and Zape's hair grew, combing back to the Beethoven. In the clothes there are no changes, except that the socks are picked up next to the shoe for the first time and forever.

• 1950-1959: Change the design of Zipi and Zape. They're still high, but they're wearing the red sweater, and the white shirt's long sleeves. It varies the stroke of their faces and the hair becomes thick and full of flakes everywhere.

• 1960-1975: Zipi and Zape become more short and short, approaching the latest model of Escobar. The flanks of the hair unite all in the final part next to the neck, making the shape of the round hair, a little the way The Beatles.

• 1975-1994: The shape of the hair becomes thin, and increases the expressivity in the faces of the twins. Apart from this, differences with the previous model are minimal, so they are usually confused.

By Cera-Ramis

• 2000-2002: They adopt slightly shorter hair, the noses round, the eyes increase in size apart from being oval and being more together, the mouths also grow. In addition, its vocabulary adapts to the current era and ceases to be as "caballerescos" as in its stage Escobar.

According to the animated series

• 2005: Melenas grow again and now all their physicist becomes puntiagued.

Slipper Slipper

• In the early days, when it was called Raguncio Feldespato, it was very short and very horny, practically with a ball shape, with a long and black beard, very short legs and small eyes.

• The next model changes drastically. It is during this model when he changes his name for Pantuflo Zapatilla, although at first he continues to call himself Raguncio. The character grows spectacularly and adopts a thin, robust and agulous constitution. It is completely bald and moustache, and thin and enclosed eyes give an air of military colonel of the centuryXIX.

• Then Pantuflo changes once more drastically, and acquires a very similar form to the most recent. It becomes horny though shaped like pear and short legs. He's got hair again, this time with ribs and curly. You saw your well-known black jacket suit.

• Without varying the previous model, your body is given a completely spherical shape, stretching your legs and making the smothers of the chaqué form angles, ending with the tips down.

• In the last model, which is practically identical to the previous one, in addition to the increase of facial expressivity, the only change is that the ends of the chaqué become upward.

Jaimita Llobregat

• In the early days, Jaimita barely appears in Zipi and Zape. When she does, she's always dressed in a gown. It has black, long and curly hair and a aged face, with an eagle nose.

• The second model shows a drastic change in the design of Jaimita, which becomes blonde and with short and curly hair, and when it appears it usually dresses with modelling of the time.

• The next model has long hair again, but still blond and curly. He usually wears dresses, and he has his little eyes.

• The fourth model approaches the current one. He already has black, smooth and tupped hair, and already wears a bow in his head, dresses skirt, blouse and heel shoes.

• In the fifth model, the current one, the blouse is changed by its well-known red neck sweater, and wears the flat shoes.

Influence

Great success in its time, it influenced other children's series, such as Perico y Frascales (1951) by Iranzo.

Adaptations to other media

Cinema

During the 1950s, Escobar himself made films on paper that he projected through his cinema invention, the Skob Cinema, which were quite famous at that time but which in the 1970s disappeared from the market due to the approval of the importation of projectors with celluloid movies.

In 1981, the Chilean-born director Enrique Guevara, fond of making breakout films, tried his luck with children's films. He himself was in charge of producing, writing and directing The Adventures of Zipi and Zape, a live-action film based on Escobar's comics.

The plot of the film is very simple. Zipi and Zape return from summer vacation to start the new course. There they meet a new student, who will become a good friend, Oliverio, a high-class boy who is a victim of the pranks of his classmates except Zipi and Zape, who always defend him. Things get complicated when a group of Italian gangsters decide to kidnap the boy. Zipi and Zape will do everything possible to rescue him.

Zipi and Zape were played by Francisco Javier Valtuille and Luis María Valtuille, respectively, twin brothers, one blond and the other dark. Don Pantuflo and Jaimita were played by Joan Monleón and Marta Angelat, while Don Minervo was played by Alfred Luchetti. Other renowned actors who appeared in the film were Mary Santpere, in the role of Oliverio's aunt, or Amparo Moreno, the aforementioned maid.

The aesthetic was pretty faithful to the comic. Zipi and Zape looked quite similar to those in the comic, as well as Don Pantuflo, Jaimita and Don Minervo, but not the spirit. At the time the film was quite well received, but today Escobar's work is considered a total nonsense.

In 2005, the animated film The Monstrous Adventures of Zipi and Zape, which concluded the story of the animated television series, was released directly to DVD. The animated film had a very different aesthetic and spirit from the Escobar de Zipi y Zape comic strips. In addition, only Peloto is preserved, which is also a mixture of Escobar's original Peloto with the appearance and intellect of Sapientín. The vocabulary is also very different from that of the Zipi and Zape comics.

In 2013, a live-action version titled Zipi y Zape y el club de la canica, directed by Oskar Santos, was released. In the summer of 2015, filming began for the sequel, which came out on July 29, 2016 under the title Zipi y Zape y la isla del capitán.

Animated series

BRB Internacional produced between 2003 and 2005 an animated series about Zipi and Zape

Video Games

There have also been video games related to the adventures of Zipi and Zape.