''Amigo and Friends'' (also known in Spanish as ''Cantinflas y Sus Amigos'') is an educational children's cartoon that was based on the Mexican cartoon series '' Cantinflas Show'' in 1979. The show, which concentrates on a wide range of subjects intended to educate children, follows Amigo, a little comical character from Mexico, who goes on educational adventures through

time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

and

space Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consi ...

and gets to visit

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, see the ancient

pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

, and even travels to other planets. The animated Amigo is based on the legendary character,

Cantinflas Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes (12 August 1911 – 20 April 1993), known by the stage name Cantinflas (), was a Mexican comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is considered to have been the most widely-accomplished Mexican comedian and is cel ...

played by the Mexican actor and comedian

Mario Moreno Reyes Mario Fortino Alfonso Moreno Reyes (12 August 1911 – 20 April 1993), known by the stage name Cantinflas (), was a Mexican comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He is considered to have been the most widely-accomplished Mexican comedian and is c ...

. The show was created and produced by

Televisa Grupo Televisa is a Mexican multimedia mass media company. A major Latin American mass media corporation, it often presents itself as the largest producer of Spanish-language content. In April 2021, Televisa and Univision Communications announce ...

. The company was also responsible for the distribution of the show in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. In 1982,

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

dubbed the series into English and retitled it ''Amigo and Friends'' and aired in syndication across the United States through Viacom Enterprises. The only two known actors were John Stephenson, who narrates each episode and

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

, who voiced Amigo.

''Amigo and Friends'' in other languages

* Le tour du monde de Cantinflas (A Trip of the World with Cantinflas; French) * עמיקו וחבריו (Amiko Ve'Haverav) (Hebrew) * 笑星和他的朋友们 (Comedian and his friends) (Chinese) * Amigo (Swedish) * Амиго приключения около планетата (Amigo's adventures around the planet; Bulgarian) * Pablo (Dutch)

Home media

Sometime in the 1980s, a couple of episodes were released on video by

Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was founde ...

. In 2004, BCI released some of the shorts as part of the '' Cantinflas Show'' collection.

Episodes

:''Source:'' # Meets Alexander Bell # Visits the Amazon # Meets Amerigo Vespucci # Learns Atomic Energy # Meets Baseball # Visits the Canals of Venice # Meets Captain Cook # Visit the Colosseum # Meets the Constellations # Meets Daniel Boone # Meets Don Quixote # Visit the Eiffel Tower # Meets Eli Whitney and the cotton gin # Visit the Estate of Vatican City # Meets Father Junipero Serra # Learns the game of rugby # Meets Genghis Khan # Meets George Washington Carver # Visit the Grand Canyon # Visit the great wall of china # Meets the golf story # Meets Henry Ford # In the international date line # Meet James Watt # Meets Julius Caesar # Meets King Tut # Meets Lewis and Clark # Meets the lost city of Atlantis # Meets Luther Burbank # Meets Madame Curie # Meets Michelangelo # Meets the Milky Way # Visit Mont Saint Michel # Climbs Mount Everest # On the Nile # Visit Notre Dame # Visit the Parthenon # Meets Picasso # Visit the planets # Visit the pyramids # Meets Rembrandt # Learns Safety tips # Meets Simon Bolivar # Meets Statue of Liberty # Meets Soccer # The Sun # Meets Tennis # Visit the Tower of London # Visit the Universe # Visit the Wailing Wall # Visit Yellowstone Park # Visit Yosemite

References

External links

Harry McCracken: The Cantinflas Chronicles

Retrojunk: ''Amigo and Friends''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amigo And Friends Television series by CBS Studios Television series by Hanna-Barbera Mexican children's animated television series Las Estrellas original programming 1970s Mexican television series 1970s animated television series 1980s Mexican television series 1979 Mexican television series debuts 1982 Mexican television series endings Children's education television series Animated television series about children