Manuelita

Manuelita is a 1999 Argentine animated adventure comedy-drama film directed by Manuel García Ferré. It was Argentina's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination. It is also the first ever animated film by Scope, and the first ever family movie by Scope. Manuelita comes from a children's song of María Elena Walsh. Isa Cucinotta, co-curator of Rá-Tim-Bum Castle, said that Manuelita was as famous in Argentina as Winnie the Pooh was in the United States. Plot The Patriarch of the Birds (a character who first appeared in Trapito) tells other animals the story of Manuelita, the turtle. Born in Pehuajó, Manuelita had an adventurous and curious spirit since she hatched from an egg. A few years pass and she starts school with her two best friends, Dopi and Bartolito. A trio of dogs mock and bully them in their way to and back. When they take Manuelita's backpack and toss it around, Bartolito bravely stands up to her, pouncing one of the crooks, resulting in the two of them fighting on the ground. The other two crooks join in, but are chased away by the school janitor and assistant teacher Larguirucho (from The Adventures of Hijitus) on his bicycle. That night, Manuelita dreams of Bartolito as a knight coming to her rescue from the crooks, who are shown as a three headed dragon. The Patriarch tells that the years pass and Manuelita blossoms into a beautiful teenager. Bartolito is in love with Manuelita as well, and confesses his feelings in a letter, but when he tries to deliver it to her, they discover that there is a carnival fair in Pehuajó. Since the family plans to go, Bartolito decides to save the letter for later and join them. Seeing a giant hot air balloon, Manuelita asks for permission to ride in it, much to her parents' chagrin, but Grandpa convinces them to let her. Larguirucho holds onto the ropes that held the balloon on the ground, but the wind carries it, along with Manuelita in the basket, before anyone could climb to her rescue. Manuelita at first enjoys the trip, but after a mischievous seabird pops the balloon, she falls in the middle of what appears to be the Atlantic Ocean. There, she is picked up by a crew of pirate pigs in their ship after they mistake the basket for a treasure chest. The captain orders his men for her to be thrown into the brig of the ship until a decision is made about what to do with her.