Each section of ”Women carrying shoulder pads“The average out to about 11 minutes, but the show paces a lot with what some time it has. In its first two episodes, which premiered August 17, the Adult swimming The series includes murder plots; Steamy lesbian sex scenes; A little girl riding around the streets of Quito, Ecuador on a gigantic guinea pig (or guinea pigsAs the Subtitics of the Show names them); and some of the twoest melodrama seen on American TV Then the heights of “Melrose Place.” With such creativity as shown, Stop-Motion Series Status Because the channel’s first Spanish -speaking series is only half of what makes it distinct.
The series is located in a fantasy version of the 80s Ecuador and tells a complex story about romantic love and business intrigue Via the medium of stop motionFocusing on the women surrounding Marioneta Negocios (Pepa Pallarés), a business woman trying to market Cuys as a pet rather than food, a campaign that puts her in the cross chairs in Doña Quispe (Laura Torres), a celebrity chef who runs slaughter shops who serve the small rods as meals. Their feud – who draw their friends, families and lovers with them – have the bow and amazing 80’s fashion by a Pedro Almodóvar film. It is a simple show, one that creator Gonzalo Cordova describes as a result of wanting to make a series that really represents him.
“In the middle of a pandemic, I was looking for work, like many people, a little more desperate than usual, and I got a lot of developmental things that didn’t feel like me, but it felt like it was brought to me because I’m Latino,” Cordova said in an interview with IndieWire. “There would be things like a Mexican family in the working class in East La, and I don’t try to put down these ideas, but I’m Ecuadorian. I’m from southern Florida, literally the other side of the continent. I would not have had to do as much research as anyone else to get that right.
Cordova, who cut the teeth as a writer on animated series such as “Tuca & Bertie” and “Undone”, had only the vague ideas for what would become “women wearing shoulder pads” a few years before he opened it, when he went to a doll show at Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Los Angeles. About the same time he had seen Almodóvar films at Criterion Channel and wondered what would happen if the two were mixed together.
Before working on the show, Cordova had been a fan of melodramas: he quotes women’s pictures in the 40s as Joan Crawford’s “Mildred Pierce” as films he loves and said Almodóvar’s films such as “Women on the border of a nervous degradation” speaks to him because of their mixing and sincere. Cordova said while trying to portray Ecuador on the show, he felt that the tone was one who felt appropriate.
“I grew up and heard all these family stories about Ecuador and about things that happened in my family, and they were all so melodramatic and over the top and exaggerated,” Cordova said. “For me it had a connection to his world, to the way his films in the 80s are very colorful and over the top. And I wanted to see if I could put a character from his world, and kind of put it in that world and see what would happen.”
To capture the 80’s aesthetics, the Cordova decade at the Los Angeles library in the center, where he looked at design books from the time period to help him create the bright clothes and fantastic power costumes that give the show a distinct appearance. One thing he wanted to end to avoid was to make a show that looked “movie” 80s “, a parody of the decade with Jeggings and Poofed Up Hair, but instead create something that felt like a piece of media from the actual time period as” working girl. “To found the imagination, he and his team examined Ecuador and took research from the city to design the streets and
Animation for the series was made by Cinema Fantasma, a Mexico City-based studio run by the Arturo brothers and Roy Ambriz. Working with the show was a challenge, said Arturo, due to the series’ unusual reach for a stop-motion production. He estimated about 60 miniatures were used during the creation of the series, many of which had several costume changes. “Every day we drove and tried to find out where this doll was required, if maybe the hand had loosened and it had to be replaced, which animator would animate on which landscape,” he told IndieWire.
“Usually when you see Stop-Motion productions there is a set of two characters and with the same clothes. But for this production we needed to create many different sets,” Roy Ambriz told IndieWire. “Some sets were used only for one shot or for a scene, but it creates and helps melodrama. They are real people who work, but they are miniatures, they are toys. So I think there is something comical in the medium, this type of animation is used to create a parody of life.”
Throughout the eight-episod season, “women who carry shoulder pads” have plenty of laughter derived from their absurdist fantasy world. But Cordova and his writing team hold the increased drama of the overall plot, resulting in a series where humor and the serious moments are often fully intertwined.
“Some of the things that made me laugh most will be the things that people think are dramatic. This speech that is so emotionally is what I laughed at,” Cordova said. “It’s done with dolls. It is the fun element of the show is to treat the dead serious, but then get this connection between real life and reality in the show.”
“Women wearing shoulder pads” have not yet been renewed for a second season, but Cordova already has ideas for where he wants to take these characters if he were to get more episodes to play with them. One of his plans? To slightly tone down melodrama next season in favor of a whole season that takes inspiration from other genres, including but not limited to Film Noir.
“When I examined this, I really got erotic thrillers,” Cordova said. “I think I want to go in that direction.”
When he talks about his creative philosophy while doing the series, Cordova quotes his experience of working with “Tuca & Bertie” creator Lisa Hanawalt as particularly influential for how he went to the series. The most important advice he taught from her? That it is ok to throw something on the wall if you bring your own passions and obsessions to the experience.
“I want to show the whole ass,” Cordova said. “It’s okay to do something and just not be sure if it will work, but you like it. I really tried to stick to it while I did the show. This show is not made to please anyone except me.”
“Women wearing shoulder cushions” are broadcast Sunday nights on adult swim.
