"The fat book teaches you, the fat book entertains and I tell you happy, until the next program" and so each chapter of Petete's fat book ended. Now we just learned that the creator of this children's content was called Manuel Garcia Ferré, an Argentine-Spanish cartoonist and scriptwriter who has died in Buenos Aires at age 83. He is one of the most important creators of children's comic books in Argentina and, unfortunately, died after an operation to the heart that he could not overcome.
Other characters that Manuel created are Hijitus, Eyeglass Y Lanky I think they are better known in Latin America. Petete's fat book was well known in the Spain of the 80s, many of the parents reading this blog will remember it in addition to their history and science lessons. He also created Manuelita, the turtle, in 1999, based on a song by María Elena Walsh and that was a great success.
Petete He always appeared with a young woman to whom he responded and explained content of all kinds. Petete, a little penguin, always appeared wearing a wool hat and a pacifier around his neck. In those years he was a rival of Topo Gigio that although I believe that in Spain he did not succeed in Argentina, all the children knew him.
Hijitus He was a very poor boy who achieved super powers thanks to a tattered top hat, and who had villains like Professor Neurus, Larguirucho (who later became his great friend) and the witch Cachavacha. Y Eyeglass, created years before, comes from Billiken magazine. These characters are less known in Spain, it seems to me.
Manuel García Ferré has been editor and film director although above all he has been a cartoonist. He was born in Almería in 1929 and emigrated to Argentina in 1946 with 17 years and after having passed the Spanish civil war and the postwar period. In that period Manuel probably got the inspiration for his characters, very didactic and moralizing and showing tenderness and wisdom. In Argentina, he created his animation and advertising producer and had more than 50 artists to make the television series of Hijitus, Anteojito and his other characters, so the move to the cinema was a logical extension.
We are very sorry for the loss of Manuel and it is very sad for those of us who grew up playing, learning and awakening our imagination with these characters.
