La Familia Burrón

La Familia Burrón is a Mexican cartoon created in 1948 by Gabriel Vargas. During its more than 60 year publication period, it managed to publish 500 mil copies,^[1] making it the longest running publication of the world. The cartoon follows the adventures of a lower-class family in Mexico City with surname Burrón (presumably a word play on the word burro which means donkey).

The primary characters in the cartoon are as follows:

La familia Burrón Tacuche

The Burrón are a typical lower-class family that lives in a neighborhood in Mexico City. Their house is located in "Callejón del Cuajo" number "chorrocientos chochenta y chocho". The number itself has no meaning in Spanish - it is simply a word play evoking large quantities (chorrocientos is a juxtaposition of "chorro" which means "a lot" and "cientos" which means "hundreds") and a variation of the number 88 (ochenta y ocho). The family members are don Regino Burrón, who owns and operates the barbershop "El Rizo de Oro" (The Golden Curly Hair), Borola Tacuche de Burrón, (wife of Don Regino), Macuca Burrón Tacuche, Regino Burrón Tacuche, (children of Don Regino and Borola), an adopted child named Foforito Cantarranas and the family pet, a dog named Wilson.

Doña Borola Tacuche de Burrón

Borola is the family boss, and the main character of the cartoon. Borola Tacuche was born to a very rich and well known family in Mexico City. Since young she distinguished herself for being a trouble kid, getting her friends in difficulties, particularly Regino Burrón. Borola and Regino saw each other a lot, in spite of belonging to very different social classes, and the aunt and tutor of Borola, Cristeta Tacuche, regarded highly Regino for being a child that was serious, and studied and worked hard. At some point in her youth, Borola fell in love with Regino, disregarding a large number of wealthy suitors to favor his "chaparrín" (little short man). Cristeta did not fight Borola's decision.

In spite of her age, Borola regards herself as a very attractive woman, sensually walking in streets in order to show off to the "sexo horroroso" (which refers to men) in a way that her family, particularly her husband and daughter, find shameful. She claims she was a famous theater actress, and in more than one occasion she has come back to the "stripper" business even though the majority of her old friends regard this activity as being out of reach for her age. Being called old upsets her quite a bit, as she argues that is a "girl of the twenty first century", which gives herself permission to explore activities as varied as racing pilot, wrestling, medical surgeon or engineer.

Both her and her daughter follow the latest fashion trends. Her wardrobe includes ostentatious hats, designer boots and regardless of the weather, a thick fur coat. When someone asks her how she manages to obtain such clothes, she answers that she gets them by saving money from her daily spending allowance, which is very suspicious since the allowance is minimal. The truth is that the money is obtained sporadically from shady businesses that she undertakes without her husband's knowledge.

Creative, impulsive and extroverted, she is always getting herself into trouble as she attempts to get her family out of poverty. Her good nature pushes her to try to help the other people in the neighborhood where she lives, who also live in great poverty, although she also often tries to take advantage of them. Borola is meant to represent the spirit and inventive nature of the Mexican.

Some of her inventions and projects include a wooden helicopter that is powered by a clothes washer motor, a cannon for traveling to space, a cable car, a sputnik built using a water container. She used her blender's motor in order to get in Earth's orbit. She created a single seat airplane to rescue her husband in Africa. In benefit of the "viejerio" (a derogative name for old people) and the dozens of "pirrimplines" (kids) that live in the neighborhood, she built an alternative subterranean transportation system so as to prevent her neighbors and their children from being run over when they try to cross streets and avenues. She has hunted zoo ostriches for her Christmas dinner, she has cooked meatballs using newspapers together with a dressing of car tires and bean parasites; she has cooked soups with car tires and rubber dust. With the help of the neighbors, she has robbed department stores and marketplaces using wrestling masks and using a musket. These are only a sample of the hundreds of adventures she has carried, the majority of which end up with injured people, such was when she decided to steal the gas from a neighboring building through a hose, causing a huge explosion. The last episode actually led Borola to jail, which she was able to skip shortly thereafter thanks to her relations with members of the "tecolotiza" (a derogatory form for the police).

In one occasion, she took her skeleton out of herself because she was scared to having a "calaca" (skeleton) inside of her.

References

1. Sánchez González, Agustín. "La prehistoria de La Familia Burrón". Milenio diario. Retrieved 8 April 2015.

Bibliography

• Vargas, Gabriel (2002–2006) La familia Burrón, 10 tomos con 12 ejemplares cada uno, Ed. Porrúa, México.

External links

• Una entrevista al creador de La Familia Burrón, Gabriel Vargas, publicada en la revista semanal Etcétera.