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Title card from the 70's
1972 cast
Title card from the revived series
The old and the new Garibaldo
Bel and the new Garibaldo
Vila Sesamo Title Card 2
Vila Sésamo is the Brazilian co-production of Sesame Street, which ran from 1972 until 1977 on TV Globo. The show has recently been revived; a new series began airing in 2007.
First run: 1972 - 1977
The show premiered in 1972, broadcasted by TV Cultura and TV Globo. In this phase, they fullfilled all the norms of the American Sesame Street. Also most of the meterial was dubbed, and the presentation of thematic charts in repetitive order. The puppet characters in the series, created within Brazil, included the following: Garibaldo, a seven-foot tall blue bird equivalent to Big Bird; Gugu, a hairy green, yellow(plus other colors) Grouch. They lived in the street with Gabriela, Juca, Ana Maria and Seu Almeida.
At the time, there was no color television in Brazil, so the show was broadcast in black and white. It was the first international version of the show
But it was in 1973 that the two channels started the second phase. Vila Sésamo became entirely nationalized; with new cast members, new music and new scripts. Two new Muppet characters were introduced -- Funga Funga a giant, red elephant, and Zé Das Latas, the street's resident robot. In 1974, TV Cultura decided to stop financing the project. Now it was up to TV Globo, who changed the format to make it more national. A larger set was built for the renewed Vila Sésamo, and more children took part in the show.
The final phase started in 1975, but lasted only until 1977. More characters and actors were added during the show's final seasons. All of the puppets were created by local Brazilian designers, with no known involvement from the Muppet Workshop. All original Sesame Street material whas dropped, except for the Bert and Ernie sketches.
The series was successful, but was canceled due to overwhelming financial costs.
Second run: 2007-on
On October 29, 2007, TV Cultura launched a new Vila Sésamo. Rather than a full co-production, the series featured new host segments featuring Garibaldo (now a duplicate Big Bird puppet) and a new Muppet girl named Bel. The package consists of Portuguese-dubbed episodes of Elmo's World, Play With Me Sesame, and Global Grover, plus selections from the US Sesame Street and Sesame English. Seventy-eight new Brazilian live-action and animated inserts fill out the block.
The TV special 40 Years TV Cultura, which preceded the new series, featured a refurbished version of the original Garibaldo introducing the new bird. In 2008, the package began airing on TV Ra-Tim-Bum. The old version Garibaldo was performed by Hugo Picci.
Original Cast (1972-1977)
Muppets
- Laerte Morrone as Garibaldo
- Roberto Orozco as Gugu
- Marcos Miranda as Funga Funga
- Wilson Evangelina Costa as Zé Das Latas
- Sônia Guedes as Marocas
- Antônio Petrin as Marinheiro
- Henrique Lisboa as Sabichão
- Aziz Bajur as Bidu
Actors
- Aracy Balabanian as Gabriela
- Armando Bógus as Juca
- Sônia Braga as Ana Maria
- Manuel Inocêncio as Seu Almeida
- Flávio Galvão as Antônio
- Milton Gonçalves as Professor Leão
- Ayres Pinto as Cuca
- Luiz Antonio Angelucci as Bruno
- Paulo José as the magigian
- Elany Del Vechio as Jujuba the clown
- Teresa Cristina as Pipoca the clown
- Flávio Migliaccio as the builder
Second Series Cast (2007-on)
Muppets
Character Translations
- Grover
- Elmo
- Ênio e Beto (Ernie and Bert)
- Sofia Sabida (Prairie Dawn)
- Come-Come (Cookie Monster)