Anabel

***Anabel*** is a Brazilian flash-animated series created by Lancast Mota and produced by Sergio Martinelli. It was the first Brazilian animated series on Nickelodeon Brazil when it debuted on February 26, 2005 in the channel's Nick Patrol program. As of 2006 the show was exclusive to the channel TV Rá-Tim-Bum, where the second season premiered on February 5, 2011. The show also runs on TV Brasil. A comic strip adaptation also ran on the children's magazine *Recreio*.

## Premise

Set in the 1930s, the show revolves on a tomboyish little girl named Anabel, who lived in the city of Porto Alegre. She goes to school by riding the city's tramcars. On occasion Anabel also travels to fantastical and supernatural adventures from literary novels, encountering monsters and creatures. She also solves mysteries and stops dangers in the city.

## Why It Rocks

1. A very appealing concept of a Brazilian girl in the surreal world, like the *Little Audrey* franchise.
2. Anabel is a very adorable protagonist, as the Brazilian counterpart to Little Audrey, but unlike the character of *Little Audrey*, Anabel was not mischievous or bratty. Anabel was not only listening radio dramas and reading her literary novels, but she also have boyish hobbies, including hanging out with boys (especially Ulisses), playing sports and listen to Jazz and swing music. On top of that, Anabel was the very first all-Brazilian tomboy.
3. To promote the show that aired the following year, it had 30-second shorts in 2004, which are very successful.
4. The hand-drawn animation for the 30-second shorts was superb.
5. The second season was set in the recent years, with several modern styles and cultures, in a favor of the very huge, good success of the classic cartoon reboots in television history. However, it perfectly set it to the very lighter tone, compared to its very first season.
6. Memorable characters, including Theo, crow creating gates to thousands of worlds.
7. Like most of the cute tomboys, Anabel's tomboyish personality is so adorable.
8. Very appealing Disneyesque humor.
9. Anabel's character design looked so cute, as well as her most iconic 1930's-style tomboy-esque outfit.
10. Great writing.
11. The relationship between Anabel and Ulisses is very cute and it has a heartwarming chemistry between them.
12. Like the *Little Audrey* animated series, it spawned a comic strip series.
13. Cutesy theme song.
14. Very funny moments.
15. The surreal humor was appealing, similar to the Fleischer cartoons of the 1920s and 30s.
16. Decent references.
17. Impressive art style and backgrounds.
18. Despite its terrible animation, the limited hand-drawn animation was decent.
19. Top-notch voice acting, with Anabel's voice sounding so cute.
20. For being aired on Nickelodeon in Brazil, it was the very first Brazilian Nicktoon.
21. One of the very good shows aired on TV Rá-Tim-Bum, during the infamous pre-2013 era.

## Bad Qualities

1. Some gross-out humor. For example, when Anabel get in the shower, ***she tears off her skin*** (apparently off-screen), which is *extremely* inappropriate in a kids' show.
2. The flash-animation for the first season and the later 30-second shorts was stiff.
3. Surprisingly large amounts of animation errors.
4. Few of the episodes are poorly-received.
	* Both episodes, "O Dragão Valente" and "Fome Noturna", were both really disturbing and scary episodes, as they had ***gruesome red blood***, which makes the kids think that this show feels less like a children's cartoon show and more like a adult animated sitcom.
5. It only ran two seasons. The first season was aired in 2005, and the second season was aired five years later.
6. The second season (while decent) had a massive decline in quality, starting the episodes focusing more on slice of life and less on fantasy, and the fact that Anabel lives in contemporary days rather than in the 1930s.

## Trivia

* Lancast Mota devised and developed the concept of Anabel in the late-1990s.
* The show was financed by the Rouanet Law and TV Cultura in 2000.
* The English-dubbed version has yet to be announced by the British dubbing company.
	+ The English-dubbed version by the British dubbing company, has yet to be aired on the CBBC channel.
* Both episodes, "O Dragão Valente" and "Fome Noturna", are need to be banned for airing on the TV networks, but luckily, the television executives did the censorship, by recoloring the blood from red to ***green***.