São Paulo – Monica’s Gang may be about to enter the Arab world. It will all depend on the talks that businessman and cartoonist Maurício de Sousa will have in coming months with a group from Bahrain that has been showing interest in investing in his company, Maurício de Sousa Productions, for four years. "The idea is to develop a project to make us into an international group, produce films, enter the stock market,” he reveals. According to him, when he was sought, in the past, he was not ready.
Now, Maurício is prepared to return to talks with the Arab businessmen, whose name and group he does not reveal, but, he explains, which is connected to a North American multinational. According to the businessman, apart from the production of movies, the Arabs are also interested in building theme parks and also in the editorial area, as, for the time being, Monica’s Gang is only present in the Arab world through comic strips in newspapers, and not in comic books, as is the case in Brazil.
"Our characters are equally accepted by children all over the world. We develop characters so they may cross the world without affecting customs or generating susceptibilities,” pointed out the cartoonist, revealing that the Gang’s stories have been very successful, for example, in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world. When asked whether he may create Arab characters, he explains: "We have already discussed that with the people in Bahrain, but have not yet sat down to discuss how they would be. At the time, I spoke to them about the creation of Arab children. It is stopped in time, but may be reborn,” said Maurício.
Regarding the Arab world, the cartoonist recalls that his grandfather was Lebanese. "I have Arab blood, but I do not speak the language. I am thinking of travelling to Lebanon to visit my relatives, who live in a region called Mount Lebanon,” he said.
Before that, the businessman should travel to the United States, where he has an office in New York, responsible for the Maurício de Sousa Productions international planning. It is from there that talks with the Arabs should take place. "We are going to return to talks and later, eventually, to negotiations.” The initial proposal by the group was for first investment of 900 million reals (US$ 552 million at current exchange rates) and a further investment of the same amount, at a later date. However, he is not only seeking a partner in the financial area, but one who may also contribute with new technologies in creation.
For the construction of parks, Maurício explains that the idea is to develop small enterprises, different from the large constructions that are typical of the Arab world. "We want to develop cheaper parks in the Arab world, China and Europe,” he said. His company already has parks in Africa, in Luanda, the capital of Angola, and is studying the installation of one in Portugal.
Regarding China, this is one of the markets where Maurício has already shown great interest. "I want to grow much in the area of education,” he revealed. "In China, we were invited by a company in Hong Kong, which was hired by the government of China, calling on Monica’s Gang to help children learn how to read. There are 180 million children using our teaching material,” he pointed out.
He explains that it is not just Monica’s Gang and friends that are successful abroad. “In Italy, we are producing a series of cartoons with Ronaldinho Gaúcho, and they are already being negotiated with several other TV networks, including Al Jazeera,” he pointed out, adding that the character based on the football player is one of the most popular abroad.
Currently, Maurício de Sousa’s characters are already present in 50 countries, translated into 32 languages, in magazines, strips, etc. Furthermore, the brand is already in 2,500 products made in Brazil and that Maurício plans to produce abroad, so that they may reach more competitive prices.
With around 70 characters created, he said he is going to diversity production of his cartoons even further. "We are going to launch Bug-a-Booo’s, Bubbly’s and Horacio’s Gangs. There will be several families of cartoons that I will be able to offer to television networks worldwide.”
Monica’s Gang
Short, bucktoothed and chubby, the child Monica, created by Maurício de Sousa in 1970, was part of the childhood of thousands of Brazilians, through comic strips and cartoons starred by her and her friends, Maggy, Jimmy Five, Smudge and Chuck Billy, among others.
Monica, named in honour of one of the creator’s daughters, is the most famous of characters among the dozens created by Maurício, always in stories focussing on friendship and solidarity.
*Translated by Mark Ament
