Elpidio Valdés. Popular Cuban children’s comic character, created on August 14, 1970 by the caricaturist, illustrator, comic artist and scriptwriter Juan Padrón . It was initially conceived as a comic strip to be published in the Pionero Magazine with the aim of entertaining and educating Cuban pioneers, but due to its popularity it was brought to television and then to the cinema .
Character
Elpidio Valdés is a colonel of the Cuban Liberation Army who in the 19th century fights for the independence of the country against Spanish colonialism, commanding a cavalry squadron with his companions María Silvia , Pepe el corneta , Eutelia , Marcial , and his brave horse Palmiche , among others.
It has achieved the status of cultural tradition among generations of children and young people who have enjoyed its adventures as an expression of Cuban nationality.
Character creation
First designs by Elpidio Valdés
Elpidio Valdés first appeared in 1970 in the printed magazine Pionero as a comic strip for Cuban children. It made the jump to the big screen in 1974 , in the animated cartoon Elpidio Valdés contra el tren militar , directed by Padrón, José Reyes and produced by the Cuban Institute of Film and Cinematographic Industry ( ICAIC ). Juan Padrón himself tells how the process of creating Elpidio Valdés was:
I was doing the comic strip about the samurai Kashibashi for the magazine Pionero, and in it there was a Cuban from the 19th century who I said was a mambi . I named him Elpidio Valdés so that he would look like Cecilia Valdés , and I drew him straight away, without a sketch. The main character was Kashibashi, but this guy (Elpidio), the things he said, that I made him say, were much more sympathetic to me than the things the Japanese said. So I turned over the 12 pages that I had “sketched” and started the whole story with Elpidio as the main character. [1]
Juan Padrón thought the half-Chinese was funny, he Cubanized him so much that he made him a sort of mestizo and dressed him as a mambi. And then the creator’s odyssey began: in Cuba there were hardly any references to how Spanish soldiers dressed, how they used their ranks. There was not much bibliography about Cubans either; but in any case it was easier to know:
With the creation of Elpidio Valdés I wanted to teach children what the War of Independence was like. Even I didn’t have a clear idea when I started the project. When I wanted to draw a Spanish soldier, I didn’t know what the uniform looked like. I did know what the Comanches and the Seventh Cavalry dressed like from movies and comics, but since nothing was done about Cuba, people were completely unaware of it. Now, thanks to Elpidio, Cubans know their own history better. [2]
Co-main characters
Elpidio Valdés with some of the co-stars of the series.
Friends
- Maria Silvia : his girlfriend and wife. (her full name is Maria Silvia Engracia Redondo y Aiguesvives) [3])
- Palmiche : his horse of various shades of brown and orange.
- Commander Marcial: his assistant. He died in combat in 1898 ( Elpidio Valdés against the Eagle and the Lion)
- Pepito: child and mambi soldier.
- Eutelia: girl and assistant of Maria Silvia.
- Oliverio: inventor of the troop.
- General Pérez: Elpidio’s boss.
Enemies
- General Resóplez : his greatest enemy.
- Colonel Andaluz: Resoplez’s assistant.
- Colonel Cetacean: Resóplez’s nephew.
- Half Face: captain of the counterguerrilla.
- Cortico: Media Cara counterguerrilla.
- Mister Chains : American landowner .
Film and television
Feature films
- Elpidio Valdés(ICAIC, 1979). It tells the story of Elpidio’s birth, the death of his father and the beginnings of the War of Independence. It takes place almost entirely in 1895 .
- Elpidio Valdés against Dollar and Cannon(ICAIC, 1983 ). It tells of Elpidio’s efforts to bring a shipment of weapons from the United States to Cuba . It takes place between 1896 and 1897 .
- More was lost in Cuba. ( ICAIC – Telemadrid, 1995 ). It tells the adventures of Elpidio during the American intervention in the War of Independence.
Short films
Poster for the short film Elpidio Valdés vs. the New York Police ( 1976 )
First series ( 1974 – 1980 ):
- Elpidio Valdés against the military train(1974)
- An adventure of Elpidio Valdés(1974)
- The Machete( 1975 )
- Mambí Clarion( 1976 )
- Elpidio Valdés assaults the convoy( 1976 )
- Elpidio Valdés vs. the New York Police(1976)
- Elpidio Valdés is surrounded( 1977 )
- Elpidio Valdés meets Palmiche(1977)
- Elpidio Valdés against the rayadillos( 1978 )
- Elpidio Valdés forces the trail(1978)
- Elpidio Valdés and the rifle( 1979 )
- Elpidio Valdés against the gunboat(1980)
Second series ( 1988 – 1992 ):
- Elpidio Valdés in Summer Campaign( 1988 )
Elpidio Valdés on his horse Palmiche.
- Elpidio Valdés attacks Sweet Jutia(1988)
- Elpidio Valdés Captured!(1988)
- Elpidio Valdés and the 5th Hunters(1988)
- Elpidio Valdés and Weyler’s grandmother( 1989 )
- Elpidio Valdés against the lancers(1989)
- Elpidio Valdes gets married(1991)
- Elpidio Valdés meets Fito(1992)
- Elpidio Valdés and the inventors(1992)
Third series ( 2000 – 2003 ):
- Elpidio Valdés faces Rezóples (2000)
- Elpidio Valdés against the iron fort(2000)
- Elpidio Valdés attacks from behind bars(2003)
- Pepe discovers the wheel(2003)
Special Episode
- Elpidio Valdés orders special mission( 2015 )
Books
- Elpidio Valdés against the dollar and the cannon , Editora Abril , 2007.
Songs
The main song of the series is sung by Silvio Rodríguez and is titled Elpidio Valdez [4] .
| Elpidio Valdes |
| For Elpidio Valdés, a patriot without equal, there is no gaito that can scare him. In combat, energetic and lively, his chest always gives in to the bullets. He does not believe in anyone, neither in this nor in that, nor in the beyond. He does not believe in anyone when it comes to seeking freedom. |