The Adventures of Hijitus (fictional)

The Adventures of Hijitus (also simply known as Hijitus) is an American-Argentinian animated series created by Spanish cartoonist Manuel García Ferré, produced by Argosy-AoFM Cartoon Studio and distributed by Argosy-AoFM Television Productions. It was the first animated series in Latin America intended for television, and has been considered the most successful series in the history of Latin American cartoons.

The series aired in 1967 and ended in 1971. It aired on television on Canal 13 in Argentina and the American Broadcasting Company in United States.

TBD

Plot
Hijitus is a street kid who lives inside a giant pipe in the outskirts of the town of Trulala. His friends are Pichichus (his dog), Larguirucho (a clumsy yet friendly tall mouse who gets messed in several situations), and Oaky (spoiled son of the richest and most powerful man in town, Gold Silver). While he and his friends live various misadventures around Trulala, Hijitus also fights against the evil Professor Neurus, a mad scientist who plans to take over the world. To fight Neurus and other villains, and especially to protect his friends, Hijitus becomes Super Hijitus, an indestructible superhero with incredible abilities, thanks to the power granted by his magic hat.

The first few episodes did not feature Larguirucho, Pichichus, and Oaky. In the first seven episodes, Hijitus had a number of solo adventures and met Larguirucho in the 8th episode "Witch Cachavacha's Castle", then Pichichus in the first season's finale "An Flying Saucer in Trulala", and then Oaky in the second season's 7th episode "The Runaway Rich Kid", thus, in line with many other animated series of the time, giving Hijitus' earnest hero both a dog companion similar to Jonny Quest's Bandit and Mickey Mouse's Pluto and two comic relief sidekicks similar to Rocky the Flying Squirrel's Bullwinkle J. Moose and The Inspector's Sgt. Deux Deux.

Characters

 * Hijitus / Super Hijitus: Hijitus is a poor boy who lives on the street, within a giant pipe, with his pet dog Pichichus. He has a gang of friends, composed by Oaky, Pichichus and Larguirucho. He is characterized by a sense of friendship, justice and solidarity, and always wears a blue bottomless top hat. Hijitus can become "Super Hijitus" by passing through the hat and saying "Hat, hatitus, make me a Super Hijitus!". As Super Hijitus, he is indestructible and can fly, abilities he uses to face Neurus. He usually ends most episodes with the lines "Ojalita, ojalata, chuculita, chuculata, foo-foo and choo, choo, choo, choo". Voiced by Nestor D'Alessandro in Spanish and by Dick Beals in English.
 * Pichichus: Hijitus' pet dog. Hijitus has adopted him in the episode "An Flying Saucer in Trulala", where Hijitus saves him from stray dogs, becoming Hijitus' pet and faithful sidekick. He doesn't talk, his dialogues consist of barking. Voiced by Mel Blanc.
 * Oaky: the son of the richest man in Trulalá, Gold Silver. He is a baby, and is Hijitus' main friend after Larguirucho. He wears diapers and two pistols. His catchphrase is "shoot, mess and cosha golda". He is a very spoiled and pampered child, which had led him to ally with Neurus' henchcats Patty and Bobo on most of his early appearances. Despite this antagonistic role, Oaky is a good-hearted boy, and very brave for his age. Voiced by TBD in Spanish and by Don Messick in English.
 * Larguirucho: a tall, ungainly and dimwitted mouse who is friends with Hijitus. He met Hijitus for the first time in the episode "Witch Cachavacha's Castle", when Hijitus rescued him from Witch Cachavacha, and has appeared in almost every episode since then. Larguirucho is known for being a good friend with good feelings, but little intelligence to distinguish right from wrong, which he is sometimes tricked by Patty and Bobo into helping them in their solo schemes. A recurring gag is him saying "'peak mo' loudly, I can't 'ear you" when somebody says his name. He is considered to by many fans as the show's breakout character, being also known for his appearances in several Argosy/MTM animated films. Voiced by Pelusa Suelo in Spanish and by Mel Blanc in English
 * Professor Neurus: the main antagonist of the series. He is an evil scientist who tries to take over the world with the help of his inventions but his plans are always foiled by Hijitus. He is aided by his henchmen Pucho, Patty and Bobo. His main catchphrase is "Shut up, you dumber!", which he says when he is annoyed by something said by one of his henchmen (usually either Pucho or Bobo). Professor Neurus also shows to be seriously greedy as shown in his way of paying his henchmen: "One for you, two for me, one for you, ten for me, another for you, everything for me". As a running gag, he throws a childish tantrum while getting arrested after his defeats, usually saying "But... but... I'm... I'm a scientist!". Voiced by Pelusa Suelo in Spanish and by Hans Conried in English.
 * Pucho: a mouse who works under the orders of Professor Neurus. He is a typical "crook" from Buenos Aires' slums, talking in slang and constantly having a cigarette in the mouth, which can transform into any object. Pucho is a tango lover and permanently uses the words "Este que..." to start a sentence. Voiced by Pelusa Suelo in Spanish and by Paul Frees in English.
 * Patty and Bobo: a duo of cats who work under the orders of Professor Neurus, although they sometimes act alone in several episodes. Patty is a female cat who is the smart one of the duo, being more competent and less childish that Neurus, while Bobo is dimwitted and clumsy. Voiced by TBD and Pelusa Suelo and by June Foray and Daws Butler in English.
 * Witch Cachavacha: a witch who usually casts spells to cause havoc everywhere. She acts alone, with the help of her faithful owl Pajarraco. She lives in the countryside, in a house she calls "hovel". She seeks permanently to cause havoc around Trulalá and flies in broomstick, but her plans are always foiled by Hijitus and she is put in jail many times. She also seems to have a bitter rivalry with Neurus, although they sometimes team up in a few episodes. Voiced by Néstor D'Alessandro in Spanish and June Foray in English.
 * Pajarraco: Cachavacha's pet owl, he can speak and is frequently beaten by the witch. Voiced by Pelusa Suelo in Spanish and Don Messick in English.
 * The Commissioner of Trulalá: the police chief of Trulalá, portrayed like a man of the Argentine coast, with typical correntino accent. Voiced by Pelusa Suelo in Spanish and Mel Blanc (in his Speedy Gonzales voice) in English.
 * Gold Silver: the father of Oaky. Millionaire of English or American origin, he is the richest man in Trulalá, good-natured though naive. His main catchphrase is "Oaky, my son". Voiced by Pelusa Suelo in Spanish and Paul Frees in English.
 * Serrucho: one of Professor Neurus' henchmen. He is a golpher with a similar aspect to Largiurucho and Pucho, but being much shorter in height, with a hat that entirely covers his eyes, and also sporting enormous front teeth. He doesn't talk; instead, he vigorously grinds his teeth with a hand as if it was a serrucho ("saw"), hence his name. Unlike Pucho, Patty and Bobo, he only appeared in the early black-and-white episodes and his last appearance was in "An Flying Saucer in Trulala".

Episodes
See List of The Adventures of Hijitus episodes.

Feature film
See Festival of Hijitus.

An animated anthology film based on the show, Festival of Hijitus, was released by Argosy Pictures on July 1, 1973, both in Argentina and United States. The film contains four episodes: "Bobo the Soccer Player", "Oaky's Birthday", "Larguirucho the Bottle Holder", and "The Pirate Ship" along with new bookending sequences with Hijitus telling the stories via a photo album.

In 1997, the film was released on videocassette under the cover title Hijitus: The Movie, which is used in later home releases and streaming services.

Trivia

 * TBD
 * TBD