''As Aventuras da Turma da Mônica'' ( en, The Adventures of Monica's Gang, italic=yes) is a 1982 Brazilian animated

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film, package film, or portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of several shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme ...

directed by

Mauricio de Sousa Mauricio Araújo de Sousa (; born October 27, 1935) 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" or "Monica's Gang (Currently known as: M ...

, based on his ''

Monica's Gang ''Monica's Gang'' or ''Monica and Friends'' (Portuguese: ''Turma da Mônica''; British English: ''Monica & Friends'') is a Brazilian comic book series and media franchise created by Mauricio de Sousa. The series originated in a newspaper comic ...

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

. This was the first feature film based on ''Monica's Gang'' and which began production of the cartoon series based on the comics. The film mixes animation with some scenes made in live-action interpreted by Mauricio de Sousa in his studio. The film shows four individual stories that end up linking through the characters interacting with Mauricio through phone calls. Distributed by

Embrafilme Embrafilme (in full: ''Empresa Brasileira de Filmes S.A.'') was a Brazilian State-owned company created on September 12, 1969 for production, funding and distribution of Brazilian movies. The company was dissolved on March 16, 1990 by the National P ...

, the film was released theatrically in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

on 23 December 1982 and in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

on 10 January 1983.

Plot

The film begins with a live-action sequence focusing on Mauricio de Sousa working at his desk until he starts receiving phone calls from his characters—

Monica Monica may refer to: People *Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress *Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name) *Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...

Jimmy Five 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 new ...

, Smudge, Maggy,

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

and

Blu Blu or BLU may refer to: Businesses and brands *Blu (Italian company), a telecommunications company *Blu Manga, an imprint of Tokyopop * blu eCigs, a brand of electronic cigarette owned by Imperial Tobacco *BLU Products, an American mobile phone m ...

(at the same time that Sousa also talks to the viewer presenting each of the characters)—who have just discovered that they would appear in a film. While Sousa seeks inspiration to create the plot of the film, the film moves into the comics and focuses on the animated characters. The first story follows Jimmy Five and Smudge as they devise several plans to pull a prank on Monica, but all the gadgets created by Jimmy Five eventually backfire against him in a style of humor similar to the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons. The second story centers on Monica, who attends a costume party at Franklin's house wearing a mouse costume, but is accidentally shrunk by one of Franklin's inventions and befriends a small mouse that falls in love with her. The third story also focuses on Monica. Feeling rejected by her friends (who are secretly organizing her birthday party), Monica decides to run away from home to live as a hermit in the mountains. The fourth story is a parody of the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' films, focused on Monica and Jimmy Five. A mysterious robot rabbit is sent to Earth to dominate the planet by orders of his master, Lorde Coelhão. The robot lands in Jimmy Five's bedroom and tries to attack him, but all his attempts fail. The robot is not noticed by Jimmy Five until the two meet Monica and accidentally ends up abducting the two by stealing Monica's stuffed rabbit Samson. Monica ends up being imprisoned in a gift package while Jimmy Five meets Lorde Coelhão and his plan to conquer Earth. Jimmy Five flees into a spaceship, saving Monica and using the spaceship he manages to defeat Lorde Coelhão and his robots. At the end of the film, Monica and Jimmy Five, still inside the spaceship, land in Sousa's desk, joining Smudge, Maggy, Franklin, Blu and

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

. All the characters wonder about the film which Sousa intended to do, but he says he no longer needs to make the film because it is done, referring indirectly to the stories that the viewer has just watched.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aventuras da Turma da Mônica, As 1982 films 1982 animated films 1982 comedy films 1982 science fiction films 1980s adventure comedy films 1980s children's adventure films 1980s children's animated films 1980s children's comedy films 1980s children's fantasy films 1980s fantasy adventure films 1980s fantasy comedy films 1980s Portuguese-language films 1980s science fiction adventure films 1980s science fiction comedy films Animated adventure films Animated anthology films Animated comedy films Animated films about mice Animated films about rabbits and hares Animated films based on comics Animated science fantasy films Brazilian adventure comedy films Brazilian animated science fiction films Brazilian anthology films Brazilian fantasy comedy films Brazilian science fiction comedy films Films about size change Films with live action and animation Monica's Gang films