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{{Infobox media franchise
| title = Matojo
| creator = Manuel Lamar Cuervo (Lillo)
| origin = Pionero magazine (1961)
| books = Matojo: Educación formal (1977) <br> Ivan y Igor (1978) <br> Matojo historietas (1978) <br> Matojo y sus amigos (1979) <br> Matojo no nada nada (1984) <br> Matojo palotero (1986) <br> Matojo y Patricia (1989)
| years = 1961–2023
| strips = Matojo (1961–2023)
| magazines = Pionero (1961) <br> Mella (1964) <br> Pa'lante (1971–1973) <br> Zunzún (1980–1991, 2023) <br> Comicos (1987–1994) <br> El Muñe (1988)
| shorts = Matojo no nada nada (1981) <br> Buenos días Matojo (1982) <br> Matojo va a la playa (1983) <br> Matojo va a la escuela (1985)
| animated_series = Matojo (1981–1985)
| otherlabel1 = Characters
| otherdata1 = Matojo <br> Ivan <br> Igor <br> Patricia
}}
'''''Matojo''''' is a Cuban comic character and a Media franchise created by [[Manuel Lamar Cuervo]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Manuel Lamar Cuervo |url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/l/lamar_cuervo_manuel.htm |access-date=2026-02-04 |website=lambiek.net |language=en}}</ref> He is featured in a number of magazines throughout the decades. In 1961, he appeared the first time on the ''Pionero'' magazine.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Pionero #1 (1961) |url=https://www.tebeosfera.com/numeros/pionero_1961_upc_1.html}}</ref> In 1964, the  Matojo comic strips switched to The Mella magazine where most of his comics were made.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ávila |first=Francisco Pascasio Blanco |date=2011-02-12 |title=ay-vecino: MATOJO, UN NIÑO DE 47 AÑOS |url=https://ay-vecino.blogspot.com/2011/02/matojo-un-nino-de-47-anos.html |access-date=2026-02-06 |website=ay-vecino}}</ref> In the 1970s, Matojo appeared in another magazine called Pa'lante, where his strips were first time showed in color. Matojo would make his most popular appearances in The Zunzún magazine, where other characters like [[Elpidio Valdés]] would also appear in. The character Matojo was featured in a number of episodes on his animated Television series between 1981 and 1985,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Matojo (1981 – 1985) |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt38101505/}}</ref> the episodes are still available to watch in [[YouTube]]. Matojo also appeared in the Magazine ''Cómicos'' in 1994. Matojo wouldn't be seen in Zunzún until 2010, while they were celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Zunzún magazine and then again in 2020, when they were celebrating the 40th anniversary. In 2023, matojo made a return in the Zunzún magazine, and that marks his last Appearance. Matojo Is now considered one of the most popular characters in Cuba, alongside [[Elpidio Valdés]].

== History ==

=== Pre-1960s ===
The comics were inspired by the artist's earlier life as a child back in the 1940s. The main character's design was even based on the artist himself.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grau |first=Yare |date=2018-12-14 |title=¿Quién es este artista cubano que de joven se parecía a Matojo? |url=https://www.cibercuba.com/noticias/2018-12-14-u65722-e65722-s27065-quien-este-artista-cubano-parece-joven-matojo |access-date=2026-10-08 |website=CiberCuba |language=es}}</ref>

=== 1961-present ===
Matojo was first introduced in the pionero magazine. He only appeared in the first issue until shifting to the Mella magazine in 1964. In 1964, Matojo appeared in the popular magazine Mella. 1964 also marks the first appearance of [[Matojo#Adults and parents|matojo's parents]] and a majority of characters including [[Matojo#Main Protagonists|Igor]], [[Matojo#Main Protagonists|Patricia]], [[Matojo#Main Protagonists|Ivan]] and Matojo's dog [[Matojo#Main Protagonists|Lucas]].<ref name=":1" /> In 1966, Matojo first appeared in the Pionero magazine, which marks the second time Matojo has appeared in a publication. He was first featured on issue 76 in the Pionero magazine. He appears with Igor together with a new character who was, and still, is unnamed.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Pionero magazine issue 76, 1966 |url=https://www.tebeosfera.com/numeros/pionero_1964_upc_ujc_abril_76.html}}</ref> The appearance also appeared in Matojo's 25-year anniversary in the Zunzun magazine in issue 86, 1989<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://sos-de-fra-1.exo.io/patria-libros/books/36-Editora-Abril-171-tomos---Copy/Revista-Zunzun_contribucion-proyecto-El-9-153-tomos-PENDIENTE-1/ZUNZUN-1980-1989_92-tomos/ZUNZUN-86.pdf |title=Zunzun magazine issue 86, 1989}}</ref> along with the previous 20th anniversary issue published in 1983.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Zunzun magazine issue 29, 1983 |url=https://sos-de-fra-1.exo.io/patria-libros/books/36-Editora-Abril-171-tomos---Copy/Revista-Zunzun_contribucion-proyecto-El-9-153-tomos-PENDIENTE-1/ZUNZUN-1980-1989_92-tomos/ZUNZUN-29.pdf}}</ref>  In the 1970s, when the Matojo comic strips were moving on to Pa'lante, the strips were shown in color for the first time.

In 1980, a new children's magazine was created, called the Zunzún magazine. The magazine became widely famous around Cuba and included characters like Elpidio Valdés. Matojo joined The Zunzún magazine and started making strips there. Unlike Pa'lante, which only had colors on shirts of characters, Zunzún had full color in the strips. In 1981, matojo made his first appearance on screen. The television series aired four episodes, each of them being called "Matojo no nada nada", "Buenos días Matojo", "Matojo va a la playa" and then "Matojo va a la Escuela". These shorts were produced between 1981 and 1985. The first short had more better animation, while the rest had more [[Limited animation|Limited Animation]], an animation technique that was popular in Cuba at the time. In 1987, Matojo first appeared in the Comicos magazine, where his dog Lucas and Matojo Rodriguez appeared in a six-page comic strip, which was the longest comic strip in a magazine in the franchise. Matojo made brief appearances I the El Muñe during the late 1980s. Matojo would still appear in the Zunzún magazine until 1991 with a total of 104 comic strips published since the second issue in 1980. In 1994, Matojo made his final appearance on the Comicos Magazine.

Matojo would return with cameos in the Zunzún 30th and 40th anniversary, and Pa'lante's 30th and 50th anniversary. Matojo wouldn't appear in comics until 2023 in the Zunzún magazine. Matojo became widely popular on social media, and all the Matojo episodes are still available on YouTube.

== Overview ==

* 1961: Pionero (Magazine) - the first appearance of Matojo.<ref name=":0" />
* 1964: Mella (Magazine) - one of Matojo's most important changes and the debut of many Matojo characters.<ref name=":1" />
* 1970s: Pa'lante (Magazine) - First seen in color, but only objects like shirts, bags, etc.
* 1980: Zunzún (magazine) - Matojo is first seen in full color.
* 1981 – 1985: [[Matojo#Television|Matojo (TV series)]] - This is the first time we see Matojo in animation.<ref name=":2" />
** Matojo no nada nada (1981) - The first episode in the series.
** [[List of Cuban films#1980s|Buenos días Matojo]] (1982) - Second episode. the first episode in the series where they use limited animation.
** Matojo va a la playa (1983) - Third episode. Even though patricia is not seen in the episode, she is seen on the poster.
** Matojo va a la escuela (1985) - Last episode in the series.
* 1984: Matojo 20th anniversary: the first product featuring Matojo.
* 1987: Comicos (Magazine) - Matojo would run in comicos from 1987 to 1994.
* 1988: El Muñe (Magazine) - Matojo made brief appearances on El Muñe during 1988.
* 2010: Zunzún (Magazine) - Matojo made a cameo appearance in The Zunzún 30th anniversary.
* 2020: Zunzún (Magazine) - Matojo would make another cameo appearance in the Zunzún 40th anniversary.
* 2023: Zunzún (Magazine) - This is his final appearance.

== Characters ==

=== Main protagonists ===

* '''Matojo:''' the main protagonist in the series. 
* '''Ivan:''' Matojo's longtime best friend. He teaches Igor moral lessons.
* '''Igor:''' Ivan's little brother. He mostly causes trouble but Ivan teaches him to do the right thing.
* '''Patricia:''' Matojo's other friend. Matojo and her likes playing together.
* '''Lucas:''' Matojo's pet dog.

=== Adults and parents ===

* '''Matojo Rodriguez:''' Matojo's Dad. He teaches Matojo how to do things.
* '''Matojo's mom:''' She is Matojo's mom. Apart from the other characters looking more cartoon like, the mom looked more realistic, especially in the 1980s television series.
* '''Ivan & Igor's Dad:''' he is the unnamed dad of Ivan & Igor and only appeared once on the television episode "[[Matojo#Television|Matojo va a la escuela]]".

=== Supporting characters ===

* '''Pepito:''' One of Matojo's friends. He appeared once in [[Matojo#Comic books|Educación formal]] (1977), and then appeared in [[Matojo#Television|Buenos días Matojo]] (1982)
* '''José:''' Pepito's Father 
* '''Paquito:''' Another one of Matojo's friends. He appeared in Educación formal in 1977, then in 1982's [[List of Cuban films#1980s|Buenos días Matojo]] (1982) 
* '''Pequito's Mother:''' She is the mother of Paquito. She is notable for the segment in the 1982 episode, where she scolds Paquito for saying bad words.

== Television ==
Between 1981 and 1985, the cartoon character would make his first appearance on television. '''Matojo''' is a Cuban comedy animated Television series created by Lillo between 1981 and 1985. The series consists of 4 6-minute episodes. The most famous episodes are "Matojo no nada nada (1981)" and "Matojo va a la escuela (1985)".<ref name=":2" />

=== Matojo no nada nada ===
{{Infobox television
| genre                = Comedy
| creator              = Manuel Lamar Cuervo
| starring             = Consuelo Vidal
| country              = Cuba
| language             = Spanish
| num_seasons          = 1
| num_episodes         = 4 (13 segments)
| runtime              = 6 – 7 minutes
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1981}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1985}}
}}

Matojo no nada nada is the first episode of the series. The episode is more higher budget that the others. Matojo no nada nada was first released in 1981. Characters like Ivan, Igor and Patricia did not appear. But they rarely appeared in the poster.

=== Buenos dias Matojo ===
Buenos dias Matojo was the second episode in the Matojo television series. It is the first episode to have a lower budget. The episode was released in 1982 and it is about Matojo going to school with his classmates. the episode was based on the book "Educacion formal" (1977).

=== Matojo va a la playa ===
Matojo va a la playa was the third episode in the Matojo series. the episode was released in 1983 and is about matojo, his dad and his friends going to the beach. some of the segments were based on the comic strip.

=== Matojo va a la Escuela ===
Matojo va a la escuela was the fourth and last episode of the Matojo series. Released in 1985, the episode was about Matojo and his friends in school. some of the segments were based on the book "educacion formal" (1977).

== Comic books ==
From 1977 to 1989, Lillo started making comic books of the character with a total of 8 published books. In Matojo's 20 year anneversary in 1983, he mentions that all the eight books had a total of over one million copies.<ref name=":3" />
* Matojo Educación formal (1977)<ref>{{Cite book |last=Manuel Lámar |url=http://archive.org/details/1977MatojoEducacinFormal |title=Matojo : Educación formal |date=1977}}</ref>
* Matojo: Ivan y Igor (1978)
* Matojo historietas (1978)
* Matojo y sus amigos (1979)
* Matojo no nada nada (1984)
* Matojo pelotero (1986)
* A Jugar con Matojo (1987)
* Matojo y Patricia (1989)

== Exhibitions ==
Matojo has had three exhibitions during the golden age of cuban comics. In Matojo's 20 year anneversary comic from 1983, Matojo mentions the three exhibitions.<ref name=":3" />

== See also ==

* [[List of Cuban films]]
* [[Elpidio Valdés]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==

* {{imdb title|38101505|Matojo Television series}}
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yew1855gDP8 Matojo no nada nada]
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0BeSncWrjI Buenos dias Matojo]
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ_kI1VvsHI Matojo va a la playa]
** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe1hgoyTlBk Matojo va a la escuela]
* [https://www.patrialibros.org/publisher/24 Zunzun issues]
* [https://revista.tebeosfera.com/colecciones/pionero_1964_upc_ujc_abril.html Pionero issues]
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[[Category:Cuban animation]]
[[Category:1961 comics debuts]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1961]]
[[Category:Cuban comics characters]]