Chuck Billy (Chuck Billy 'n' Folks)

Last updated

Chuck Billy
Chuck Billy 'n' Folks character
Chuck billy.jpg
Chuck Billy as a 7-year-old boy in Chuck Billy 'n' Folks (top) and Chuck Billy as an 18-year-old boy in Chuck Billy Young Man (bottom)
First appearance Removable Newspaper strips of 1961
Created by Maurício de Sousa
In-universe information
GenderMale

Chuck Billy (Chico Bento in the original Brazilian strips) is the main character from Chuck Billy 'n' Folks , created by Brazilian cartoonist Mauricio de Sousa. He is the biggest work of Mauricio after Monica and Friends, and he has his own cartoon magazine and even some VHS and DVD movies, following Monica's steps.

Contents

History

He was created back in 1961, inspired on Mauricio's real life grandfather's brother, whose stories were told by his grandmother, who would inspire a character from the same universe: Vó Dita, described as Chuck's grandmother. [1] [2] It first came to public in 1961, in a short cartoon with two other characters, his best friend Benny and his Japanese friend Taka. [3]

Controversies

Back in the 1980s, the cartoon was deemed controversial due to the dialogues.[ clarification needed ] Mauricio was trying to represent how a hillbilly would talk by writing his lines in a caipira accent. Later on, that was changed and every mistake is indicated either in bold or some variant ways.

In 2009, a controversial short strip featuring Chuck Billy and an anonymous character was featured in an issue of Viva! magazine, released in the Brazilian state of Bahia to assist teachers of the state schools. The strip featured a boy saying "My father has more than 800 heads of cattle", [4] to which Chuck answers: "Tell him to take them all up his ass." [5] In the original strip, the boy asks the same thing but ends his sentence with "...what about yours, Chuck?". Billy then simply answers: "My father's got only one cow, but he's got the whole thing." [5] Mauricio de Sousa later stated in his Twitter profile: [5]

It's obvious, but I'm going to explain: I would never make such an impolite thing, as my readers know very well.

Governor of Bahia Jaques Wagner later apologized for the mistake. [6]

Description

Chuck's real original name is Francisco Bento, based on his father's father, [7] Chico being a common nickname for boys with that first name. He is a stereotypical Brazilian caipira child (more like a country person), who walks bare foot, always with a straw hat and lives in a fictional little country town, called Vila Abobrinha. He goes fishing, steal guavas and swims in the local river in his free time.

Chuck Billy was the first child character of Mauricio that attended school, even though he is shown to be a terrible student, specially in his earlier stories. He makes every kind of mistake a student can, such as coming up with excuses (which most of them are hard to believe) of why he ended up being late for school, getting bad grades and not paying attention to class - though he also attains some success every once in a while.

Because the setting is the Brazilian countryside, where there's nature aplenty, many of Chuck Billy's stories are taken on the subject of environmental awareness and Brazilian folklore. The sacis are recurring characters, nearly always against the humans, such as popular folk creatures such as the werewolf, the Headless Mule and the Boitatá.

In the future, he has already been shown as having a son called Urutaia, conveniently named after a jaguar cub he once befriended, [8] but was also portrayed having a son called Quinzinho Bento, whereas a woman next to him (presumably his wife Rosinha) was carrying a toddler. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Monica and Friends</i> Comic series from Brazil

Monica and Friends, previously published as Monica's Gang in Anglophone territories, and as Frizz and Friends in London, is a Brazilian comic book series and media franchise created by Mauricio de Sousa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mauricio de Sousa</span> Brazilian cartoonist

Mauricio Araújo de Sousa, also mononymously known as Mauricio, is a Brazilian cartoonist and businessman who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books named Turma da Mônica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Five</span> Fictional character

Jimmy Five, known as Cebolinha in Portuguese, is one of Monica and Friends' main characters. He was created in 1960, at first as a support character for Franklin and Blu who the following year became the protagonist of his own series of newspaper strips, which was later replaced by the character Monica in the 70s. Currently Jimmy Five has his own printed comic book, called Cebolinha, which was first released in 1973.

<i>Chuck Billy n Folks</i> Brazilian comic strip

Chuck Billy 'n' Folks is a Brazilian comic strip and part of the Monica's Gang comic book series, created by Mauricio de Sousa.

Horacio's World is a Brazilian comic strip, part of the Monica and Friends comic strips. The main character is Horácio, a baby Tyrannosaurus rex, created in 1961. He debuted as one of the supporting characters of Pitheco's comics in The Cavern Clan, but their solo stories started in 1963. Other minor characters appear occasionally, but Horacio's strips mostly consist of monologues and self-reflections, thus making him Mauricios's alter-ego. Also, all his stories are written by Mauricio himself.

Maggy (<i>Monica and Friends</i>) Fictional character

Maggy is a character of the popular Brazilian comic book series Monica and Friends. She was created by Mauricio de Sousa, who based the character on one of his daughters, Magali Spada e Souza. Monica, Mary Angela and Marina were also based on Mauricio's daughters. Maggy has her own comic book, in which there are also stories of her cat, Vanilla.

<i>Bug-a-Booo</i>

Bug-a-Booo is a Brazilian comic strip, created in 1963 and part of the Monica's Gang series. All of the characters are monsters or other supernatural creatures, none of them being a human being. The main location for their stories is a cemetery. However, their stories are not intended to be scary, they are sometimes classified as “Terrir”, which is a Portmanteau of the Portuguese words "Terror" (horror) and "Rir" (to laugh). In some of the stories, they have to deal with the fact that vampires, ghosts, zombies and mummies are no longer appreciated as characters of horror films. People instead are opting for assassins, psychopaths, serial killers, etc.

<i>The Cavern Clan</i> Group of fictional characters created by Maurício de Sousa

The Cavern Clan (Piteco) is a Brazilian comic strip created in 1961 by Mauricio de Sousa. It is part of the Monica's Gang series.

<i>Tinas Pals</i>

Tina's Pals is a Brazilian comic strip series, part of the Monica's Gang series, created in 1970. The stories are aimed at a more teenage group of readers, rather than the kids who would read other Mauricio de Sousa's works and thus center around teenagers and young adults. However, Mauricio prefers not to mention drugs, topics about sexuality, or other similar subjects, which are very popular among teenagers. Instead, the strips are written with themes related to school or university, dating, problems with parents, etc.

The Tribe is a Brazilian comic strip, part of the Monica's Gang series. It centers around a tribe of indigenous people from the Amazon. Their tribe was once named "Tribo do Rio" (River's Tribe). Although the only characters are Tom-Tom, Tamoyo, Papaya and the Pajé, their stories feature a large range of themes, going from environmental concerns to the shock between indigenous and non-indigenous cultures. People from outside the jungle are called "Caras-pálidas" or simply "Caraíbas". When one of the Caraíbas approaches Tom-Tom's tribe, the encounter can be either friendly or unfriendly, the latter always happening when the Caraíba attempts to hunt, deforest, burn, or in any other way harm the environment. Tupã, the God of the Guarani people, and Jaci, the Moon, are occasionally mentioned.

<i>The Funnies</i> (Monica and Friends) Mauricio de Sousas creation related to Monicas Gang

The Funnies, also known as Bubbly the Astronaut, is a Brazilian comic strip series, created in 1963 and part of the Monica's Gang comic strips. It centers around Bubbly, an astronaut, whose parents and ex-girlfriend Rita appear very rarely, making him the only recurring character. The comic strip can be defined as a science fiction adventure strip.

Lionel's Kingdom is a Brazilian comic strip created in 1961 and part of the Monica's Gang comic strips.

Monica (<i>Monica and Friends</i>) Comic book character

Monica is a Brazilian fictional character and Mauricio de Sousa's best-known creation. Introduced in 1960, she serves as the main protagonist and title character of the Monica and Friends comic book series and media franchise.

Smudge (<i>Monica and Friends</i>) Fictional character

Smudge is one of the main characters of Monica's Gang. He was created in 1961 and since 1982 has his own printed comics appearing weekly on the newsagents. Mauricio de Sousa, his creator, says he based the character on a child he knew while growing up in Mogi das Cruzes. The child was a friend of his brother Márcio, and was also not too hygienic. Since the friendship did not last, Mauricio never recalled his real name.

Blu (<i>Monica and Friends</i>) Fictional character

Blu (Bidu) is a character in the Brazilian comic strip Monica's Gang, created in 1959. He was the first character created by Maurício de Sousa, along with his owner Franklin (Franjinha). The character appears in the logo and is the mascot of Mauricio de Sousa Produções, the company founded by Sousa to release his works.

<i>Monica Toy</i> 2013 Brazilian TV series or program

Monica Toy is a Brazilian franchise and 2D animated series based on Monica's Gang comic books, and also a spin-off of the animated cartoon series of the same name. The series features the characters drawn in a chibi-like art style. The franchise debuted on 2013 in partnership with Mauricio de Sousa and the company Tok & Stok for the sale of products based on the characters, with a cartoon premiering on the official YouTube channel on May 23 of the same year. The cartoon also debuted on Cartoon Network in Brazil after a few months.

The New Adventures of Monica and Friends is a 1986 Brazilian animated compilation film directed by Mauricio de Sousa. It is the third film based on the Turma da Mônica comic book series, of which Mauricio is the creator. Like his first film, The Adventures of Monica and Friends, it is divided into stories, as Mauricio wanted these to be shown later on television. It was released for the first time on September 20, 1986. The film was successful in theaters and received a positive reception from the public. It was later shown at the Gramado and Brasilia Film Festivals and re-released on VHS.

<i>Cine Gibi</i> (franchise) Films and magazines based on the Monica and Friends comics

Cine Gibi is a Brazilian franchise of animated films and magazines based on the Monica and Friends comics by Mauricio de Sousa. The films revolve around a Franklin machine that reproduces comic books in movie format. The first, Cine Gibi, was released in 2004 after the appreciation of cinema in Brazil and was the only one in the series to be released in cinemas. In all, there are nine films in the franchise, and some films have spawned magazines with stories based on them. In general, Cine Gibi had a mixed reception.

References

  1. ↑ "Turma do Mauricio". Superinteressante (in Portuguese). Editora Abril. February 2004. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Quem inspirou os personagens da Turma da Mônica?". Mundo Estranho (in Portuguese). Editora Abril . Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Turma da Mônica - Personagem Chico Bento". 2010-01-07. Archived from the original on 2010-01-07. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
  4. ↑ in Brazil, when referring to the number of individuals living in a cattle, people normally use the expression "cabeça de gado", which means "head of cattle".
  5. 1 2 3 Weber, Demétrio (31 July 2009). "Na Bahia, Chico Bento de boca suja" (in Portuguese). O Globo . Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  6. ↑ Weber, Demétrio (31 July 2009). "Governador da Bahia pediu desculpas pelo erro em fala do Chico Bento" (in Portuguese). O Globo . Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  7. ↑ de Sousa, Mauricio (2003). "Dois Aniversários, Duas Vidas - Parte I". Chico Bento (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Editora Globo. p. 3.
  8. ↑ de Sousa, Mauricio (2003). "Dois Aniversários, Duas Vidas - Parte Final". Chico Bento (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Editora Globo. p. 3.
  9. ↑ de Sousa, Mauricio (1998). "Parque 2023". Mônica 35 anos (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Editora Globo. p. 127.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.