Marsupilami...

rich.bellacera@amail.amdahl.com rich.bellacera at amail.amdahl.com
Sat Mar 6 15:13:00 CET 1993


> From: jamal at juts
> Marsupilami is a French made character, isnt he?  That was what came
> to my mind when I 1st saw him.   Kind of made me wonder just how many
> different characters Disney is trying to liscence for their own use
>  (the Muppets, etc)  .. Is this good?  Well, thats a different subject.
>   Anyway.. was Marsupilami made by Peyo?  The guy who created the smurfs?
> Or was it someone else?
>   - JH

Sorry, but I think there are some more able-minded comics fans who can answer
your queries.  Rest assured that you are not hallucinating over Mars' origin,
however.  He is definitely one-and-the same of Spirou & Fantasio fame.  As to
what country his comics originated, I don't know.  I was under the impression
he was from Sweden or Denmark, but he was definitely from Europa.  The
characters of Spirou & Fantasio do not exist in Disney's version on RAW
TOONAGE.  Marsupilami has been established to be both his "name" and his
"species" on the show as he seems to use it interchangably.  His longtime
companion (since infanthood) is his simian friend the ape Maurice.  And,
his longtime adversary is the human, Norman.  Apparently Mars' happy-go-lucky
attitude about life has kept him naive to Norman's villianous tendancies
toward him.  The most outstanding feature of both the show and the character
himself is Mars' prehensile tail which is so amazing it can do and be almost
anything.  That is the extent of my knowledge of the critter in the Disney
format.

So exactly who are Spirou & Fantasio.  I know they are suppose to be humans
who have somehow made a pet of Mars, but what function in Mars' life do they
serve?  Norman is usually depicted as an explorer or pilfer of the jungles
where Mars lives.  Though, on occassion Norman has appeared as a bellhop, a
witch doctor, a hockey player, an ice cream man, and a mad scientist.
Personaly, I don't care for Norman, but I guess he gives Mars "purpose" for
whatever plot the Disney staff throws at the critter.

While I really like Mars, and hope to soon own a plush version of him, I think
Maurice is wonderfully disgusting.  Maurice is about as close to Ren & Stimpy
as I would guess Disney will ever get.  Maurice is constantly in "stimpy-mode"
acting extremely stupid and disgusting at the same time.  Just lovely. ;-)
In fact the cartoon makes me wonder if Marsupilami & Maurice is Disney's
subtle attempt to capitolize on the running gags of Ren & Stimpy without
getting as vulgar as that show tends to be.  In fact, from what I understand,
Disney is adding two characters, Snookums & Meat, to their showcase features
for Raw Toonage.  An with names like that they are probably going to further
exploit the realm of the disgusting.  I like that...something that should be
done with Raw Toonage's current lack-luster feature called "Totally Tasteless
Videos."  That segment has rarely had anything of the "tasteless" realm, and
usually tends toward the "totally boring" side.

If anyone can vouch for the creator of Mars being the same as the Smurfs I
think that would be a worthwhile peice of info.  I thought the "Smurfs" were
far to saccharine for my tastes, but the trivia would be interesting.

-Rich



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