Samba de Amigo (TV series)

Samba de Amigo is a French-Spanish animated television series. Loosely based off the 1999 Sega video game of the same name, it was co-produced by MoonScoop Group, Pérez Entertainment and Carnival Animated Productions. A total of two series were produced, consisting of twenty-six and fourteen episodes respectively, making a total of forty episodes overall.

The show debuted in 2004, airing on France 5 in France and RTVE in Spain. The English dub was handled by Kuboian dubbing studio Soundini Group and premiered in 2005 on Playhouse Disney in Kuboia, and CITV in the United Kingdom. The show received generally unfavourable reviews from critics, who criticised the writing and new characters, as well as toning the franchise down to appeal to a preschool audience - the English localisation in particular received negative reviews for its over-theatrical voice acting. Despite this, it continued to air on television throughout Europe for several years.

Premise
Amigo is a funky, curious and music-loving monkey who lives in the fictional Carnival Island. Playing in a band called the Mambo Monkeys (Mambo Bunch in the English localisation), he spends a majority of his time playing with his band and/or helping his friends with their problems.

A musical number performed at the end of every episode, which is either a song present in the "Ver. 2000" edition of the Samba de Amigo video game, or a new original song created for the series. The musical number is always performed by the band Amigo is part of - he plays the maracas.

Differences to the video game
Likely due to the lack of plot in the original Samba de Amigo video game, Amigo and company were given new series-exclusive personalities. Amigo is capable of speaking, but rarely talks, typically instead shaking his head or shaking his maracas (which he always carries with him). Amigo is depicted as a child in the series, whilst the games made his age ambiguous.

Characters returning from the video game include Amigo's sister Amiga (though she is now called Amina, likely due to copyright issues), Bingo and Bongo (who are no longer mechanical and now walk on all four paws), Linda, Rio, Chumba and Wumba, and Pose. Several new characters have been introduced, including Amigo and Amina's parents (whose names are never revealed), and their friends from school.

Unlike the video game(s), the television series also features a villain, Goliath (Arman in the English localisation), a lion who is jealous of and tries to get rid of Amigo. Despite being the main antagonist, he only appears is just over half of the episodes.

Mambo Monkeys/Mambo Bunch members
The Mambo Monkeys are the band that Amigo is part of. They perform a song at the end of each episode. Nearly all of the members originated from the Samba de Amigo video game. In the English localisation, the band is instead called the Mambo Bunch, likely due to the fact that only some of the members are actually monkies.
 * Amigo, the maraca player, is the show's main protagonist, an orange monkey who sports a fedora. Though he is very shy, thus barely talks, he is shown to be very passionate and caring, thus he always aims to help everybody whenever they are in need. Amigo never holds grudges against anybody, and treats everybody, even people who are out to get him, fairly. He almost always carries his maracas with him.
 * Amina (originally called Amiga), the tambourine player, is Amigo's sister, who he is nearly always seen with, likely due to their close relationship. She is generally a bit of a troublemaker, and enjoys causing mischief, something which often annoys the others. Despite this, she is shown to be very intelligent and strategic. Though a nuisance towards most of her friends and acquaintances, she has a soft spot for Amigo.
 * Pose is a strange black figure creature, who acts as the group's singer. He often gets annoyed over the fact that Amigo gets more attention than him, and seems to have a one-sided rivalry with him.
 * Bingo and Bongo are a blue and pink bear duo who play the bongos. They do not talk but can make sounds (typically snickering sounds). Unlike the games, they are depicted as real instead of mechanical, and walk on all four paws.
 * Linda is, according to the show's bible, a teenage "butterfly girl", who acts as the group's backup dancer. Unlike the other band members, she received a minor redesign or the series.
 * Rio is the band's trumpet player, she wears cheetah clothing, and generally likes to show off. Rio's characteristics differ in each of the dubs - the French and Spanish dubs insist the character is a male, yet is referred to with female pronouns in the English localisation. Though her species is not made very clear, the English dub refers to her as a dragon, despite not looking like one.
 * Chumba and Wumba are two cheetahs who play the mandolin and drum respectively. They both claim to be professionals in martial arts, though they perform little comabt on the show, arguing that it is supposed to be for self-defence instead of fighting. They usually appear out of nowhere, often making a sudden appearance when there is danger or a mystery.
 * Cactus (called Ractus in Spanish dub) is a large catcus creature and the band's piano player. He has the tendency to appear and disappear with a puff of smoke accompanying him. Though a new character for the show, he seems to be inspired by a group of cacti creatures in the video games.

Production
Newly opened Pérez Entertainment received the rights to produce an animated series based on Samba de Amigo in 2002. A joint-venture with MoonScoop was established in order to assist with the production and animation. According to a former employee of Pérez Entertainment, the development of the show was unorganised and confusing, and the writing team were only given five days to write the stories of the twenty-six episodes of the first series.

Theme song
In the French and Spanish versions of the series, the theme song for the first series is "Hora de Festa", whilst the theme song for the second series is "Vamos a Carnaval", the latter of which is a song from the Ver. 2000 edition of the Samba de Amigo video game. The English version simply uses an English version of "Vamos a Carnaval" (retitled "Party at the Carnival").

Reception
Samba de Amigo was met with generally mixed to negative reviews. An IGN reviewer called the series "absolutely horrendous", criticising the show for having repetitive plot lines, annoying characters, unnecessary educational value and limited inclusion of music. GamesRadar cited the show as "enough on its own to put people off the game". Animator and author Amrit Freeland said it was "very silly, but surprisingly entertaining and robust". Common Sense Media awarded the show a 3/5 rating, arguing that it is "far from Disney's standards" but has enough positive messages for children of all ages.

The show's characters and their show-exclusive personalities were critised by critics and fans alike. A BBC critic compared Amina negatively to Norman Price from the Fireman Sam television series, and also argued that the characters "act and sound like they are from a cartoon for three year-olds". Canadian website WatchMojo stated that Cactus had a "offensively stereotypical" Mexican accent. Arman was criticised by several sources as being a boring villain, and was an unnecessary addition to the show, however, a GameZone reviewee cited the character as one of the show's highlights for his "sinister and sneaky" behaviour.

Despite the poor reception, the show was nominated for a KGC Award for Best New Television Series, but ended up losing to Melanie.

France

 * France 5 (2004-2010)

Spain

 * RTVE (2004-2008)

Arabia

 * MBC3 (2005-2015)

Canada

 * Treehouse TV (2006-2013)
 * Toon-A-Vision (2018-2019)

Central and Eastern Europe

 * KidsCo (2007-2013)

Germany

 * Suoer RTL (2006-2008)

Hungary

 * Minimax (2006-2009)
 * Playhouse Disney (2009-2011)

Italy

 * JimJam (2006-2011)

Japan

 * Kids Station (2006-2017)

Kuboia

 * Playhouse Disney (2005-2013)

Sweden

 * Playhouse Disney (2006-2011)

United Kingdom

 * CITV (2006-2009)
 * Playhouse Disney (2009-2011)

United States

 * PBS Kids Sprout (2006-2011)