Mauricio de Sousa

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Mauricio de Sousa
BornMauricio Araujo de Sousa
(1935-10-27) October 27, 1935 (age 88)
Santa Isabel, São Paulo, Brazil
NationalityBrazilian
Area(s)Writer, cartoonist, reporter
Notable works
Monica's Gang and all related works
Signature
Signature of Mauricio de Sousa

Mauricio Araujo de Sousa (Portuguese pronunciation: [mawˈɾisju dʒi ˈsowzɐ][nb 1] born October 27, 1935) is a Brazilian cartoonist who has created over 200 characters for his popular series of children's comic books.[6][7]

At 17 years of age, he worked for a daily newspaper called Folha da Manhã as a crime reporter. In 1959, Sousa quit that job and began his comic book career, and created Monica's Gang. Sousa's characters were inspired by children he knew from his childhood and by his own children. His later style is slightly reminiscent of that of Osamu Tezuka, a famous Japanese manga artist and personal friend.[8]

Biography

Mauricio Araujo de Sousa was born in Santa Isabel on October 27, 1935. His father, Antonio Mauricio de Sousa, was a poet, and his mother, Petronilha Araújo de Sousa, also delved into poetry. Mauricio developed an interest in cartooning at a young age, and began to draw posters and illustrations for periodicals.[9] At 17 years of age, he worked for a daily newspaper called Folha da Manhã as a crime reporter.[10][9] In 1959, Sousa quit that job and began his comic book career, and created Monica's Gang. [11]

The comics of Mauricio de Sousa have gained international fame, been featured on licensed merchandise, and have even been adapted for movies, television, video games, and even a São Paulo amusement park, the Parque da Mônica ("Monica's Park"). Two other Parque da Mônica facilities were also located in Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro, but they both closed in 2000 and 2005, respectively. From 1970 to 1986, Mauricio's comic books had been published by Editora Abril, until Globo took over in January 1987. His work has been published in many magazines and newspapers since 1959. Since January 2007, the comic book series is published by Panini Comics.

In 1997, the cartoonist founded the Mauricio de Sousa Cultural Institute, whose mandate is to develop social action campaigns that translate serious subjects into a comic book format to appeal to both young and adult readers.

Mauricio started publishing Turma da Mônica Jovem ("Monica Teen") in 2008, an offshoot series from "Monica's Gang", featuring Monica and her friends now as teenagers, adopting black-and-white pages, as well as art style heavily influenced from manga. Issue #34 of the "Monica Teen" comic book, presenting the first real kiss between Monica and Jimmy (they had already kissed in two previous occasions, but in a different context) had 500,000 sales.[12]

In 2012, Mauricio published a two-issue story arc in the Monica Teen comic book featuring some of Osamu Tezuka's main characters, such as Astro, Sapphire and Kimba, joining Monica and her friends in an adventure in the Amazon rainforest against a smuggling organization chopping down hundreds of trees in the jungles of the Amazon. This is the first time that Tezuka Productions has allowed overseas animators to use Tezuka's characters.[13] Rock Holmes, another character created by Tezuka, has featured as a villain in the story arc.

Awards

Mauricio's public service work has earned him international recognition. Among the honors he has received are the Brazilian presidential medal of honor for his promotion of human rights; an honorary doctorate in public service from La Roche College of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Brazilian International Press Association.[14] In 2011, he was honored in the seventh edition of the Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos, at Belo Horizonte.[15]

Personal life

Mauricio is the father of ten children, and drew inspiration from them for new characters such as Monica,[16] Maggy,[17] Marina,[18] Mary Angela.[19] Nimbus[20] and Nick Nope.[21] One of his sons, Maurício Spada e Sousa, died of heart attack on 2 May 2016.[22]

Artistic work

Some of Mauricio's creations include:

  • Monica's Gang – Mauricio's long-running signature series.
  • Monica Teen – Offshoot series from Monica's Gang, featuring Monica and her friends as teenagers in a manga-style publication. First published in 2008.
  • Chuck Billy 'n' Folks
  • The Cavern Clan
  • Pelézinho's Team – A tribute to Pelé that centered around young Pelézinho ("Little Pelé") and his football playing friends. Published between 70s and 1986.
  • Tina's Pals – A series about a group of teenage friends, aimed at the adolescent audience.
  • Blu – Anthropomorphized domestic animals (dogs, cats, etc.). Blu regularly exchanged dialogue with the "Tracer" of the comic.
  • Lionel's Kingdom – Group of wild animals (both African and Brazilian) who lived under the reign of a lion king.
  • Bug-a-Booo – Comic horror stories featuring a ghost (the title character, called Penadinho in the original version), a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy, and a grim reaper (Dona Morte – Lady MacDeath in the English version), all of whom lived in a cemetery.
  • The Funnies – A Brazilian space adventurer who pilotes a round ship (called "Astronauta" in the original version). First published in 1963.
  • Horacio's World – An orphaned and ethical dinosaur; a tyrannosaurus who happened to be a vegetarian and also has his own gang, like most of Sousa's creations. First published in 1963.
  • The Tribe – a Native Brazilian child (Curumim in Tupi language) and his friends, who live in an Amazonian taba (village).
  • Nicodemon – A sarcastic and evil boy, one of few main characters in Mauricio's comics to have a negative personality. Debuted in 1966.
  • Ronaldinho Gaucho – Along the lines of Pelezinho's Team, this strip centers around another pint-sized football-playing youngster, this time modeled after and possessing the skills of Ronaldinho (Ronaldo de Assis Moreira). This comic premiered on December 28, 2005, and the real-life Ronaldinho was even the guest of honor at the launch party in his hometown of Porto Alegre. Ronaldinho Gaucho is syndicated worldwide.[23]

Notes

  1. ^ Also generally [məwˈɾisju ˈtsoːzɐ] in fast, colloquial speech.

References

  1. ^ Mauricio de Sousa – Will Eisner, meu mestre!
  2. ^ A influência japonesa vem desde a infância
  3. ^ Jornal A Cidade – Mauricio de Sousa fala sobre os 50 anos de carreira
  4. ^ Folha de S.Paulo – Menino prodígio
  5. ^ http://www.giekim.com/p/autor.html
  6. ^ Daniel Balderston; Mike Gonzalez; Ana M. López (2000). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean. Routledge. p. 403. ISBN 9780415131889. Brazil's most famous cartoonist is Mauricio de Sousa, especially for his Turma da Mônica (1970) series, which is translated into nine languages and exported to seventeen countries, with international sales of 25 million books per month.
  7. ^ Lisa Shaw; Stephanie Dennison (2005). Pop Culture Latin America!: media, arts, and lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. p. 171. ISBN 1851095047. Sousa soon set up his own production company, and now Mauricio de Sousa Produções owns not only a successful publisher of comics but also amusement parks based on Monica and her gang and the fourth largest animation studio in the world. The toothy main character, Mônica, was based on one of Sousa's daughters, as was one of her gang, Magali.
  8. ^ Conrad Editora – Mauricio de Sousa fala sobre seu "grande mestre", Osamu Tezuka
  9. ^ a b "Os 80 anos de Maurício de Sousa". Jornalistas & Cia (in Portuguese). October 27, 2015. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  10. ^ Mauricio de Sousa – The Cartoonist
  11. ^ Ferreira, Luana (September 12, 2016). "The cartoonist called the 'Walt Disney of Brazil'". BBC News. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  12. ^ Johnston, Rich (September 13, 2011). "This Is What A Half-Million-Selling American Comic Book Looks Like". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  13. ^ Hirayama, Ari (February 1, 2012). "Brazilian cartoonist to publish manga with Osamu Tezuka". Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
  14. ^ "Toon in Monica". Perspectives in Health – Volume 9, Number 1, 2004.
  15. ^ "Sétima edição do Festival Internacional de Quadrinhos homenageia Mauricio de Sousa". UOL. November 11, 2011.
  16. ^ BRAZZIL – News from Brazil – Monica, Cascao, Cebolinha – Mauricio de Sousa’s Comics
  17. ^ Magali at Turma da Mônica's official website
  18. ^ Mauricio writes...Rounding Out Marina (Part Three)
  19. ^ Mary Angela at Mônica’s Gang official website
  20. ^ Mauricio writes...Rounding Out Nimbus (Part One)
  21. ^ Mauricio writes...Rounding Out Nick Nope (Part Two)
  22. ^ Soares, Rodrigo (May 2, 2016). "Maurício de Sousa fala sobre a morte do filho Maurício Spada". Ego (in Portuguese). São Paulo: Grupo Globo. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
  23. ^ Ronaldinho Gaucho is internationally syndicated by Universal Uclick, www.universaluclick.com

External links

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