Oskar Santos brings Spain’s most famous (and naughty) twins to the big screen

by Sergio Ríos Pérez

03/08/2012 - Spanish cinema, despite its celebrated diversity, is mostly known abroad for its genre films, although in the local market the latter share the limelight with comedies and dramas, a genre related to auteur films. Despite the existence of a very large market for them, Spain however produces very few family films for the general public. To partly fill this gap, Zipi y Zape y el Club de la Canica (lit. "Zipi and Zape and the Canica Club") has been shooting since July 9. The film is based on what is probably Spain’s most popular comic beside Mortadelo y Filemón.

Despite the original comic, created by José Escobar in 1948, being strongly anchored in the imaginary of Spanish culture last century, its treatment in this film is very innovative, as it is more inspired by films like The Goonies, Harry Potter, and Hugo. According to FX company userT38, in charge of the film’s concept, “The comic’s characters have been updated very intelligently. [...] The challenge was to find attractive aesthetics to suit the taste of new generations, while remaining loyal to the original characters.”

Zipi y Zape y el Club de la Canica will be Oskar Santos’s second feature film after a completely different feature debut, a thriller with a hint of the paranormal titled For the Good of Others [trailer] (2010). His latest film, like his feature debut, is produced by Mod Producciones, this time with Zeta Cinema, Antena 3 Films, and Kowalski Films. His international sales agent is Film Factory Entertainment, while Disney is to distribute the film in Spain through Buena Vista International España well into 2013. It’s a promising prospect for a film like this one aimed at the general public.

In the film’s screenplay, written by Francisco Roncal and Jorge Lara, naughty twins Zipi and Zape are boarders at the Esperanza College where games are not allowed. They found the Canica Club in defiance of adult authority.

(Translated from Spanish)