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Nothing says love like being yanked by the arms.

Simplemente Rita (Simply Rita) was a very unusual combination of a telenovela (Latin American Soap Opera) and a cartoon show. A scathing parody of Telenovela clichés (as well as of the life of immigrants in the United States), it was produced by a Colombian animation company for the International Telemundo network from 2001 to 2003. It was in Spanish and ran for 30 episodes. It still reruns on some Telemundo affiliates.

The story was about a young woman named Rita who goes to New York City to try to achieve her dream of becoming a famous singer. She falls in love with a clueless former rich brat named José Gabriel who is also an immigrant, and her musical career is manipulated by Pete Duke, a candidate for city mayor who is desperately trying to earn the votes of the Hispanic community. Hilarity Ensues.

You can watch it online (in Spanish) here.

Tropes used in Simplemente Rita include:

American Dream
An Immigrant's Tale: Most of the cast.
Big Applesauce
Bilingual Bonus: Many jokes (spoken and written) are in English.
Bratty Half-Pint: Duke's adopted son, who sides with Rita.
Cartoon Physics
Deus Ex Machina: All the major problems are resolved in the last episode, in a parody of the Happily Ever After endings of telenovelas.
Eagle Land: Mixed Flavor.
Fan Service: Rita, and a few other female characters.
Four-Fingered Hands
Gonk: The Narrator, in an intentional contrast to his Wicked Cultured personality (he's broadcasting from a booth while wearing an undershirt and smoking a cigar.)
- Subverted in that he had surgery to look handsome for the woman he loved, only to discover she was ugly too.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: José Gabriel.
Just a Stupid Accent: Every character speaks in an exaggerated version of his national accent (including the American characters). This is a Take That to many actual Telenovelas where the actors don't bother to adapt their accents to the setting.
Limited Animation
Medium Awareness: The characters occasionally mention the fact that they are on a TV show.
Mistaken for Cheating: Both Rita and José.
Radio Drama: This is what the show is implied to be; we see the narrator broadcasting from a booth. He claims the events actually happened, but he's not exactly trustworthy.
Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor
Serious Business: Latin food, drink and songs. To ridiculous levels.
- Not to mention their votes, which Duke is willing to do anything to get, including murder!
Shout-Out: Several, to both Hispanic and American pop cultures. Most notably, Rita sings at the "Mala Vista Social Club", a reference to the famous Buena Vista Social Club. (Buena Vista meaning Good Sight, Mala Vista meaning Bad Sight.)
Star-Crossed Lovers
Super Senses: José Gabriel has a superhuman sense of taste; it's his only employable skill.
Smug Snake: Pete Duke.
Tsundere: Rita, especially with José Gabriel.
Upper Class Twit: What José Gabriel used to be. Now he's a lower class twit.
X Meets Y: Soapy TV show meets wacky cartoon.
Zany Scheme: Several, by both the good and the bad guys.

Revision as of 05:46, 12 March 2014 (view source) Dai-Guard (talk \| contribs) m (Dai-Guard moved page Simplemente Rita (Animation) to Simplemente Rita over redirect: Remove TVT Namespaces from title) ← Older edit		Latest revision as of 21:30, 4 January 2020 (view source) Robkelk (talk \| contribs) m (removed Category:Turn of the Millennium/Western Animation; added Category:Western Animation of the 2000s using HotCat)
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Line 1: {{work}} [[File:Simplemente_Rita_5264.jpg\|frame\|Nothing says love like being yanked by the arms.]] "''[[Simplemente Rita"]]'' (''Simply Rita'') was a very unusual combination of a telenovela (Latin American [[Soap Opera]]) and a [[Animated Series\|cartoon show]]. A scathing parody of Telenovela clichés (as well as of the life of immigrants in the United States), it was produced by a Colombian animation company for the International Telemundo network from 2001 to 2003. It was in Spanish and ran for 30 episodes. It still reruns on some Telemundo affiliates. The story was about a young woman named Rita who goes to New York City to try to achieve her dream of becoming a famous singer. She falls in love with a clueless former rich brat named José Gabriel who is also an immigrant, and her musical career is manipulated by Pete Duke, a candidate for city mayor who is desperately trying to earn the votes of the Hispanic community. [[Hilarity Ensues]]. You can watch it online (in Spanish) ~~here~~ [http://www.adnstream.com/video/TeZlVerYas/Simplemente-Rita-ep1\ here]. ~~----~~ {{tropelist}} ~~=== Tropes in ''Simplemente Rita'': ===~~ * [[American Dream]] * [[An Immigrant's Tale]]: Most of the cast. Line 20: * [[Gonk]]: The Narrator, in an intentional contrast to his [[Wicked Cultured]] personality (he's broadcasting from a booth while wearing an undershirt and smoking a cigar.) ** Subverted in that he had surgery to look handsome for the woman he loved, only to discover she was ugly too. * [[Jerk ~~With~~with a Heart of Gold]]: José Gabriel. * [[Just a Stupid Accent]]: Every character speaks in an exaggerated version of his national accent (including the American characters). This is a [[Take That]] to many actual Telenovelas where the actors [[Not Even Bothering ~~With~~with the Accent\|don't bother to adapt their accents to the setting]]. * [[Limited Animation]] * [[Medium Awareness]]: The characters occasionally mention the fact that they are on a TV show. Line 34: * [[Smug Snake]]: Pete Duke. * [[Tsundere]]: Rita, especially with José Gabriel. * [[~~Upperclass~~Upper Class Twit]]: What José Gabriel used to be. Now he's a lower class twit. * [[X Meets Y]]: Soapy TV show meets wacky cartoon. * [[Zany Scheme]]: Several, by both the good and the bad guys. {{reflist}} [[Category:~~Turn~~Western Animation of the ~~Millennium/Western Animation~~2000s]] [[Category:Supernatural Soap Opera]] [[Category:Western Animation]]