Chuck Billy (cartoon)
Encyclopedia
Chuck Billy 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's Gang, and he has his own cartoon magazine and even some VHS and DVD movies, following Monica's steps.
Back in the 1980s the cartoon was polemic due to the dialogues. Mauricio was trying to represent how a hilly billy would talk by writing his lines with typical mistakes and incorrections of Brazilian Portuguese
(actually the caipira
dialect, which is not considered a dialect in Brazil). Later on that was adapted and every mistake is indicated either in bold or some variant ways.
In 2009, a polemical short strip featuring Chuck Billy and an annonymous 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", to which Chuck answers: "Tell him to take them all up his ass." In the original strip, the boy asks the same thing but ends his sentence with "...what about yours?". Billy then simply answers: "My father has only one cow, but it is in one piece." Mauricio de Sousa later state in his twitter profile:
Governor of Bahia Jaques Wagner
later apologized for the error.
ian hillbilly
child (more like a country person), who walks bare foot, always with a straw
hat and lives in a country fictional little town, called Vila Abobrinha. He goes fishing, steal and swims in the local river in his freetime.
Different from other Mauricio's characters, Chuck Billy attends school, and some of his strips are even set in the local school, even though he is not a good student at all. He makes every kind of mistake a student can, such as 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 set 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.
Chuck Billy 'n' Folks
Chuck Billy 'n' Folks are a group of fictional characters appearing at the Monica's Gang comic book series. The stories are centered on Chuck Billy and his friends and parents, who are all caipiras and live in the small Vila Abobrinha , a fictional location on the countryside of Brazil...
, created by Brazilian cartoonist Mauricio de Sousa
Mauricio de Sousa
Mauricio de Sousa is a Brazilian cartoonist who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books....
. He is the biggest work of Mauricio after Monica's Gang, and he has his own cartoon magazine and even some VHS and DVD movies, following Monica's steps.
History
He was created back in 1961, inspired on Mauricio's real life grandfather's brother. It first came to public in 1963, in a short cartoon with two other characters, his best friend Benny and his Japanese friend Taka.Back in the 1980s the cartoon was polemic due to the dialogues. Mauricio was trying to represent how a hilly billy would talk by writing his lines with typical mistakes and incorrections of Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese is a group of Portuguese dialects written and spoken by most of the 190 million inhabitants of Brazil and by a few million Brazilian emigrants, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom, Portugal, Canada, Japan and Paraguay....
(actually the caipira
Caipira
Caipira is a Brazilian Portuguese term used to designate inhabitants of rural, remote areas of some Brazilian states—it refers to the people of lesser schooling. It can be considered pejorative when used to describe others, but it can also be used as a self-identifier without negative connotations...
dialect, which is not considered a dialect in Brazil). Later on that was adapted and every mistake is indicated either in bold or some variant ways.
In 2009, a polemical short strip featuring Chuck Billy and an annonymous character was featured in an issue of Viva! magazine, released in the Brazilian state of Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
to assist teachers of the state schools. The strip featured a boy saying "My father has more than 800 heads of cattle", to which Chuck answers: "Tell him to take them all up his ass." In the original strip, the boy asks the same thing but ends his sentence with "...what about yours?". Billy then simply answers: "My father has only one cow, but it is in one piece." Mauricio de Sousa later state in his twitter profile:
Governor of Bahia Jaques Wagner
Jaques Wagner
Jaques Wagner is a Brazilian politician, and the current Governor of Bahia. He was a founding member of the Workers' Party , as well as the Central Única dos Trabalhadores , a union which has organized more than 7 million members. He is candidate for reelection in the 2010 Brazilian...
later apologized for the error.
Description
Chuck is a stereotypical BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian hillbilly
Hillbilly
Hillbilly is a term referring to certain people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas of the United States, primarily Appalachia but also the Ozarks. Owing to its strongly stereotypical connotations, the term is frequently considered derogatory, and so is usually offensive to those Americans of...
child (more like a country person), who walks bare foot, always with a straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
hat and lives in a country fictional little town, called Vila Abobrinha. He goes fishing, steal and swims in the local river in his freetime.
Different from other Mauricio's characters, Chuck Billy attends school, and some of his strips are even set in the local school, even though he is not a good student at all. He makes every kind of mistake a student can, such as 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 set 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
Saci (Brazilian folklore)
The Saci is considered the most popular character in Brazilian folklore. He is a one-legged black or mulatto youngster with holes in the palms of his hands, who smokes a pipe and wears a magical red cap that enables him to disappear and reappear wherever he wishes...
are recurring characters, nearly always against the humans, such as popular folk creatures such as the werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
, the Headless Mule
Headless Mule
The Headless Mule is a character in Brazilian folklore. In most tales, it is the ghost of a woman that has been cursed by God for her sins and condemned to turn into a fire-spewing headless mule, galloping through the countryside from Thursday's sundown to Friday's sunrise...
and the Boitatá.
External links
- Official site (features list of characters, games, downloads, and more):