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| O Picapau Amarelo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Children Fantasy Adventure Comedy |
| Based on | Sítio do Picapau Amarelo by Monteiro Lobato |
| Directed by | Roberto Talma (1975—1983) Geraldo Casé (1977—1986) Fábio Sabag (1979—1986) Alexandre Marques (1984—1990) Marlene Mattos (1987—1990) |
| Country of origin | Brazil |
| Original language(s) | Portuguese |
| No. of seasons | 16 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 20-25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | TV Excelsior Lynxfilm |
| Release | |
| Original channel | TV Excelsior |
| Original release | 3 February 1975 – 20 July 1990 |
O Picapau Amarelo, often known as Sítio do Picapau Amarelo, is a Brazilian series produced by TV Excelsior and originally aired between February 3, 1975, to July 20, 1990. The series is freely based on the book series of the same name written by Monteiro Lobato between 1921 and 1947, it is also renowned as the most successful of the four adaptations, produced respectively by: Rede Tupi, TV Excelsior, Rede Globo (produced two versions). It was directed by several directors during its fifteen years of exhibition (being Excel's third longest-running program), including Roberto Talma, the first director, and Alexandre Marques, director between 1984 and 1990.
Plot[]
In a rural house called Sítio do Picapau Amarelo, a lady called Dona Benta lives with her granddaughter Lúcia, nicknamed Narizinho, and Tia Nastácia, a gifted matron and friend of Benta. Narizinho has several dolls, one of which, in particular, is Emília, whom Nastácia made out of old cloth and stuffed with macela. Bored with only having the company of two old women, Narizinho ends up creating a fantasy world in which her doll is the protagonist. In addition to Narizinho, Benta and Nastácia, Tio Barnabé and his helpers Zé das Dúzias, João Sabido and Chico Memória, who are responsible for the upkeep of the house, also live around the place.
Narizinho ends up meeting Príncipe Escamado, who takes the girl to visit his royal court in a kingdom at the bottom of the sea, the Reino das Águas Claras (Kingdom of Clear Waters). Among the members of the court is Dr. Caramujo, who gives Emília pills that "cure speechlessness". After digesting the pill, Emília turns into a living doll and talks for hours, which the doctor explains is "repressed conversation". Later, when they return home, Benta tells Narizinho that Pedrinho, her cousin, will be arriving soon to spend the school vacations.
Pedrinho studies and lives with his parents in the big city, and when he arrives at his grandmother's house, he unleashes his adventurous spirit with his cousin. Pedrinho also ends up getting a doll made by Nastácia, Visconde de Sabugosa, which, like Emlia, also comes to life. Because it was left on Benta's bookcase with various books on different subjects, from mythology to science, Visconde becomes a very wise and knowledgeable being. As well as Emlia and Visconde, the children also have Marquês de Rabicó by their side, who is a wandering and gluttonous pig. He is often also a profiteer, which sometimes leads to him being punished by Narizinho, who is his owner and protector, as she defends him from being cooked by Nastácia. Other animals also live in Sítio do Picapau Amarelo, such as the donkey Conselheiro, the rhinoceros Quindim and the cunning cat Félix.
Despite all the fantasy and joy that reigns in the place, the residents of the ranch and its surroundings have an archenemy, Cuca, a witch who lives in a cave in the middle of the forest. Cuca frequently attacks the protagonists, having already turned Narizinho, Benta and Nastácia into stone and made Emlia and Visconde into simple dolls again. Against Cuca, the residents of Sítio do Picapau Amarelo have great allies, including Saci Pererê, Curupira and Iara, Brazilian folklore figures. In stories there is also a strong presence of some residents of a community close to the ranch, Arraial dos Tucanos: the vendor Elias Turco, Elias' assistant Piquenino, the letter carrier Rodrigues, Catholic priest Germano, Benta's sister Esperança, and the sub-mayor Tenório.
Production[]
History[]
In 1973, the film O Picapau Amarelo, directed by Geraldo Sarno, was released. At the same time as the film was released, TV Excelsior was looking for a way to recover audience at 6:00 pm, as experiments with musicals and even soap operas proved to be ineffective compared to competitors Tupi and Globo; Tupi showed the soap opera Jerônimo, O Herói do Sertão, a great success with the public, including among children, while Globo began to take up space in the schedule with soap operas of the Swashbuckler genre.
Excelsior, already cornered by the apex of the Globo Quality Standard, which had taken second place on the National Television Panel (PNT), needed a reaction in the late afternoon, the time of day when it recorded the most negative audiences. Thus, Luís Carlos Miele, head of the broadcaster's entertainment department at the time, conceived the idea of adapting Monteiro Lobato's books for TV, after having watched O Picapau Amarelo in the cinema. Although in third place in the PNT audience, Excelsior still had the richest coffers among Brazilian television stations at the time. Excelsior was willing to spend almost $13 million, a phenomenal amount at the time, to take away directors, authors, and artists from competing stations to make the program real.
Director Roberto Talma was taken from Globo to direct the project, on the other hand Paulo Afonso Grisolli, Maria Clara Machado, Benedito Rui Barbosa and Sylvan Paezzo were hired to be scriptwriters for the series. Actors Tonico Pereira, Rogério Cardoso, Canarinho, Silveirinha, André Valli and Zilka Salaberry were also hired by Excelsior to act in the series. The remainder of the amount released for the production of the series was used to make dolls and sets, as well as makeup and costumes.
Casting[]
Originally, the protagonists line-up was the following: Leda Zeppelin as Emília, Gina Izzo as Narizinho, Cid Ribeiro as Pedrinho, Zilka Salaberry as Dona Benta, Zeni Pereira as Tia Nastácia and André Valli as Visconde de Sabugosa. However, Valli ended up absent due to a period of fever, which led Tonico Pereira to eventually take over the role.
Tio Barnabé's trio of helpers went through several formations: the first line-up consisted of Canarinho, Silveirinha and Rogério Cardoso, the second line-up had Silveirinha, Rogério Cardoso and Ivan Senna (already hired by TV Excelsior since the 1960s), the third line-up had Rogério Cardoso, Ivan Senna and Canarinho, the fourth line-up had Silveirinha, Ivan Senna and Canarinho; the fifth and definitive line-up had Silveirinha, Ivan Senna and Rogério Cardoso. It's worth noting that the line-ups followed a fixed order, with the first performing Zé das Dúzias, the second performing João Sabido and the third performing Chico Memória. Tonico Pereira was also a strong candidate to be part of Tio Barnabé's trio of helpers line-up, until he had to replace André Valli in the protagonic nucleus.
In the folkloric characters (Cuca, Saci Pererê, Iara and Curupira) nucleus, a star-talent was initially considered to play Iara, Saci or Cuca, in order to generate hype and marketing for the work. Due to the budget reserve for costumes and sets, the idea was abandoned, and more modest names were sought within the broadcaster itself; thus, the young Nádia Lippi was selected to portray Iara, while Jacqueline Myrna, who had decided to come out of retirement, would act as Cuca, with Curupira falling into the hands of Ankito. Saci Pererê was in fact the only one to end up with a star-talent bringing it to life, with Antônio Pitanga acceptance for acting as the character.
Episodes[]
| Seasons | Episodes | Chapters | Original transmission 
| ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | ||||
| 1 | 16 | 225 | 3 February 1975 | 19 December 1975 | |
