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The original was posted on /r/hobbydrama by /u/avematerlibertas on 2024-02-05 20:38:48.
Peace be upon the Ant, not so much between its creators and its publisher.
TL, DR ants that really love Jesus, man. Like, a lot.
Hello once again, r/HobbyDrama! Previously, I brought you an account about some Brazilian religious propaganda made for kids and how it became part of a wider Internet/meme culture. While Dudão may have failed its primary objective of becoming a Christian substitute to secular children’s media, today’s theme is an entire beast of its own.
In this post, we will explore another iconic Brazilian religious character, Smilinguido (and friends), his origins and circumstances of creation, his wider cultural impact and its current state. We are going to assess how Smilinguido triumphed where Dudão met its stump, and how much of a unique phenomenon it was at its height.
As in the last post, all sources will be in Portuguese (the language barrier may be challenging; however, it's worth the read for a deeper look into the broader scene of Brazilian Christian children’s media).
This post is highly indebted to the extensive research conducted by Prof. Doc. Karina Kosicki Bellotti in her PhD thesis, “Delas é o Reino dos Céus”: Mídia evangélica infantil na cultura pós-moderna do Brasil (Anos 1950 a 2000) [For of such is the Kingdom of Heaven: evangelical children’s media in the post-modern culture of Brazil - 1950’s to 2000’s], and the interview given to Redomacast, episode 52 , by Smilinguido’s co-creator, Márcia Macedo D’Haese. Other sources will be credited at the end, in the bibliography section.
Also, it should be noted that most of the materials (comics, books, illustrated Bibles, and so on), are kind of a lost media. There aren’t many scans available online, so I’ll heavily rely upon physical copies and second-hand resellers for this research.
To understand Smilinguido and his origins, we must turn back in time, and set the context in which he was born; the progressive stages in which he would develop, change and grow. Only after that, I believe we will have enough baggage to approach the media itself. (I’ll probably divide this post in two parts, in order to better assess all the topics here discussed and analysed, so please, bear this one with me.)
VERY VEEEEEERY ABRIDGED HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Brazil, 1970s to 80s. The country is in the turbulent process of social transformations. The military government censors and controls much of the media vehicles, and processes of industrial, urban and communications development kickstarted in the 50s begin to take a more solid shape. National and foreign intermingle through cultural and religious exchange. Paradoxically, the military regime would decrease regulations and allow individual faith expressions, although monitored and at times persecuted.
The decade would also become important in the slow shift of Brazilian Protestantism, skewing from traditional hierarchical churches of various European and American Diasporas, towards Pentecostal, Revivalist and Fundamentalist movements (much of due to American missionary initiatives, the fatigue of traditional religions and the decline of Catholicism). The period highlighted a rift, between churches that promoted individualistic, material solutions for immediate earthly problems, and churches working towards ecumenical, inter-religious and inter-denominational dialogues (BELLOTTI, 2007, p.151).
It is in this scenario of change, shifts in religious demographics and global cultural interactions that Smilinguido would come to life.
IN THE BEGGINING THERE WAS AN ANT: THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA
According to Márcia Macedo D’Haese, visual artist responsible for the creation of the iconic ant, the initiative was brought forth after her husband ,Hialmar, gave a lecture on technology and faith to a youth group of the Igreja Evangélica do Cristianismo Decidido (Evangelical Church of the Decisive Christianity), in 1979. Bear in mind, this was a small local church, situated in Southern Brazil and associated with a German pietist missionary group (being part of those traditionally European Diaspora majority churches). It didn’t have the same sway and reach as larger denominations, neither did it hold the same amount of influence and capital as its concurrent emerging media-driven evangelists.
Hialmar defended that instead of generalizing and condemning television, radio, etc. as an evil instrument, Christians should be the ones responsible for making media work for the good (BELLOTTI, 2007, p.148). It was with this goal that, later in 1980, both Márcia, Hialmar, and some of the churches’ youths would establish Arvicris, Artes Visuais Cristãs (Christian Visual Arts).
The company became an independent entity to the church, although they provided it with the workspace and with donations.
THE ANTS ARE A PEOPLE NOT STRONG: THE ARVICRIS PERIOD (1980-1997)
In the beginning, the Ant was with form, but void of name.
Márcia D’Haese would constantly sketch and decorate her notebooks with the distinctive figure of an anthropomorphic ant, drawing the attention of her colleagues. She had already used the animal to illustrate various non-denominational Christian publications since the late 70s, without naming it or giving any character development. The animal soon became part of the company’s identity, describing themselves as “little ants, small and fragile, but very much excited and determined not only to criticize, but also to present a healthy message to the Brazilian people” (BELLOTTI, 2007, p.152).
At first, the Ant had the placeholder's name of Zecão (something akin to Big Joe). However, they changed it due to Hialmar’s affirmation that the company shouldn’t use poor quality materials, all “esmilingüido” (variation of desmilinguido, informal Brazilian Portuguese expression for something weak, crumbled). The members of Arvicris thought that the name sounded funny, and so Smilinguido came to be.
Carlos Tadeu Grzybowski, who signed as the first script writer for the ant, took great inspiration in the philosophy of storytelling adopted by C.S. Lewis. He prioritised stories instead of explicit religious or doctrinal messages, with biblical parallelisms and symbols, anthropomorphic representations and parable-like tales. “The message must be transmitted through situations and experiences rather than moral lessons and rules” (BELLOTTI, 2007, p. 180) instead of presenting easy answers and underestimating a child's capability of absorbing concepts. The materials were made less focused on reaching out for new converts, aiming instead to become a Christian supplement to children’s education.
Smilinguido’s personality and traits began taking form as Avicris’ products became more diverse. At first, production was limited to audiovisual slides with accompanying cassettes targeted at churches and Sunday schools. Smilinguido would illustrate bookmarkers given at the end of each lesson, with a Bible verse and the core message taught at the presentation.
Later on, as the company was able to produce and increase its distribution, so would its catalogue of licensed works, illustrating bookmarkers,t-shirts, key chains, bottoms, and much more. As such, Smilinguido would slowly depart from the supporting role as an accompanying drawing for biblical paraphrases and acquire his own identity.
Smilinguido and friends evolved from the desire to make a Brazilian Christian character that, well, was genuinely Brazilian. The cast embraced the regional varieties one can see all over the country, the richness of its natural environments and the proposal of reaching out to everyone and anyone by incorporating this colourful ensemble of characters.
For the duration of the 1980s and early 1990s, Arvicris would gain notoriety with the little ant and its many licensed products. The fame, nevertheless, made the company face an uncomfortable dilemma: how to preserve the original purpose of Smilinguido as an evangelistic vehicle and avoid it becoming another product of mass m...
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