CAPTAIN KUK

Captain Kuk
MTO2 by Maria Teresa Carpino / Gama Movie Animation srl

Original title: Captain Kuk
Characters: Francesco / Capitan Kuk, Chiara / Kiara, Mabù, Golosix.
Production: MTO2, Rai Fiction, Gama Movie Animation srl
Regia: Loredana Middione, Francesco Colombo

Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Gender: Didactics / Adventure
Episodes: 26
Duration: 6 minutes
Recommended age: Children from 0 to 5 years old

The Ministry of Health has decided to advertise an educational cartoon for the little ones in these days. We are talking about Captain Kuk broadcast on Rai Yoyo, the digital terrestrial channel dedicated entirely to children.

The defender of healthy eating
The protagonist of the cartoon is Francesco a 10-year-old boy. The child transforms into Captain Kuk to save the inhabitants of Health, thanks to the power contained in fruit and vegetables. In fact, the role of the cartoon is to make children understand the importance of healthy nutrition. For this reason, little Francesco finds all his strength in fruit and vegetables that help him defeat the bad guys. He wears the typical clothes of a pirate but is on the good side: high boots, white shirt and belt at the waist with a lot of initial: the letter K. In the role of Francesco instead we see him in a modern little outfit with his sweatshirt and shorts. However, there is no lack of reference to fruit and vegetables that are represented on the sweatshirt he wears. Together with Francesco we also find little Chiara, his little sister. For her too, the look is characterized by a reference to fruit: a nice slice of watermelon on the green dress!

The cartoon airs on Saturday and Sunday so that children can see it, early in the morning at 8:50 am and then repeated in the afternoon at 17:50 pm (this was the programming of Rai Yoyo's schedule until last week). For now, two series have been made, each of which consists of 26 episodes. The third series is also being planned because the cartoon has met with some success in terms of ratings but above all it is liked by the little ones who learn without realizing it.

The characters of Captain Kuk
Who are the protagonists of this cartoon? As they said earlier, everything revolves around the adventures of little Francesco, a very intelligent child ready to experience great emotions but who gives up at the first obstacle. Everything changes when he transforms into Captain Kuk: he becomes brave and is not afraid to contend with his fearsome opponents. His enemy is Golosix who endangers the inhabitants of Health. His special powers can only be obtained if he eats fruits and vegetables. A bit like Popeye, Kuk finds enough energy to lift a boulder, for example, in spinach or other vegetables. In this way he manages to pass every test. He also has tools that allow him to understand what is the best food to eat to overcome difficulties.

Together with Francesco on the side of the good there is little Chiara, his little sister. She doesn't like fruit and vegetables very much but slowly she will learn to understand that they are very important. With its clasps in the shape of a clear strawberry it is essential for the happy ending of any adventure. She has great intuition and thanks to her Captain Kuk always manages to defeat Golosix. In Chiara you can see all the girls again, in fact it is certainly a trick to make sure that the cartoon is not labeled as something exclusive for boys. She too, like Francesco, changes her look when she is on the Health archipelago: putting aside the green dress with watermelon, she has a new pink one.

The name tells us a lot: Golosix is a pirate who looks like an 11-year-old boy. But you never understand what his true age is - What is his problem? Precisely that of being too greedy and thus endangering the inhabitants of Health. Golosix a bit like Captain Hook tries in every way, helped by his crew, to defeat Kuk. He never realizes that his plans, perfectly prepared according to him, never come to fruition, indeed.

Another key character in the series is Mabù the king of Health. Golosix turned him into a purple fur ball so he doesn't look like a human (the only thing left are the thin legs holding the fur ball). We know he is the king also because he wears the crown. He no longer speaks like a man but tries to express himself with mimicry. Chiara, however, always understands this even if Mabù often does not appreciate the pampering that Francesco's little sister gives him in public. Perhaps Chiara often treats him as if he were a puppet or her little dog. Mabù wants to oppose Golosix who reduces the inhabitants of his kingdom to starvation to satisfy his needs. Golosix has not yet turned them into hairballs like Mabù but devours everything that is edible and makes them sick. For this reason the king asks for the help of Clare and Francis who are transported to this parallel world.

Here Captain Kuk finds his ship which obviously has the shape of a large vegetable, a large yellow pepper. Chiara and the inhabitants of Health fight together with him against the bad guys and in the end thanks to the extraordinary power of vegetables they always win. The fruit seeker helps Francesco choose the vegetable or fruit to use to defeat the evil Golosix and his crew always on the hunt for food. All the episodes take place on the Archipelago of Health even if Chiara and Francesco, being two normal children, live in a real city and then are transported, thanks to the contraption used by the older of the two, to the fantasy world. The islanders have to fight against Golosix and Mabù asks Francesco for help whenever he needs it. The child thus becomes Captain Kuk and defeats his enemies with the cry of "greening" instead of boarding. Of fundamental importance in the construction of the story is Chiara, the little sister of the little hero. In fact, she is able to understand what Golosix's evil plans are and to devise solutions to ensure that Captain Kuk is able to defeat the enemy.

Where is it broadcast?
The cartoon aired for the first time on February 18 and is broadcast from March 10, 2012 only in the morning at 8:50 on Rai Yoyo. Two complete series have been made so far, each of which consists of 26 episodes. Each episode is very short and Chiara with little Francesco (in the role of Captain Kuk) explain to the little ones what all the properties of a fruit or vegetable are. For example, there is the episode dedicated to the discovery of the properties that an orange can have with its C vitamins, how to fight sneezing? By drinking a nice juice or eating a kiwi rich in vitamin C. This is the advice that the captain gives to the islanders who cannot stop sneezing and could be defeated by the terrible and evil pirates of the Golosix crew. Or there is the episode dedicated to the discovery of the potential of iron found in vegetables such as spinach. The first series is just going on air these days and will be followed by the second. As for the third, it is hoped that it can be broadcast and have the same success as the previous ones.

The direction is entrusted to Loredana Middione; the screenplay to Teresa Carpino, Alessandro Liggieri and Silvia Mastrangelo. The music is by Daniele Silvestri and Gianluca Misti. As we said previously, it was created in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The theme song is really very nice after all it is written and sung by Daniele Silvestri who says he is very happy to have collaborated in this cartoon.

Mothers will surely have appreciated this cartoon since every day they try to come up with anything to see their children eat vegetables. In fact, this is precisely the purpose of the cartoon, to make children understand that they cannot always and only eat snacks. A fruit, for example, is always good and certainly better than hyper-calorie biscuits full of chocolate. For this reason the Ministry of Health has embraced the cause of cardboard: obese children are more and more and something must be done to prevent. Moreover, this kind of experiments are not new. For example, in France many cartoons and even commercials are shown in which the importance of fruit and vegetables is highlighted. A nice glass of fruit juice instead of a glass of fizzy drinks for example; an apple to end the meal or a banana or maybe a fruit smoothie for a snack. And then the vegetables that are even more difficult for children to eat. Very often mothers have to invent everything: chop the spinach, make the vegetables invisible in the soup, pretend that the peas are little balls that must end up in the children's jaws-galleries. Captain Kuk was born precisely to educate children who are increasingly victims of fast food and unhealthy foods. It is hoped that with the arrival of the third season there will also be a little more advertising to allow all the little ones to know this cartoon. For the Ministry of Health, an excellent result has been obtained and it is still possible to do better: the child understands what must be done to prevent an illness and does it while in front of the TV and having fun.

The Minister of Health, Renato Balduzzi, compares Captain Kuk to Popeye and is not completely wrong. How many children have heard from their mothers "eat all the spinach if you want to be strong like Popeye to defeat the bad guys". And this is what the cartoon sets out to do: educate but entertain at the same time. In addition, Kuk also gives children many tips for a snack: a nice smoothie, a fruit salad that is not full of sugar; and he still teaches them to play with the colors of fruit and vegetables. Perhaps we adults should also devote more time to feeding children. It is easy to open a piece of furniture and take out a snack more difficult is to prepare a smoothie or even simply peel a pear. Perhaps we should also reflect by looking at the cartoon. After all, we know, it is always said that cartoons are only for children but in reality they always have a message for adults. It would be enough to think of the fact that 39% of Italian children between 8 and 11 years are obese to understand how much it is necessary to intervene immediately without waiting for this figure to become even more impressive. To make sure that children love this character even more, the Ministry of Health has also thought of creating games and gadgets as well as illustrative brochures that you can easily find on the Ministry's website.

We close by telling you that a beautiful musical has also been made on the adventures of Captain Kuk.

CAPTAIN KUK

Video by Capitan Kuk