Matojo

Pre-1960s

The comics were inspired by the artist's earlier life as a child back in the 1940s. The main character's design was even based on the artist himself.

1961-present

Matojo was first introduced in the pionero magazine. He only appeared in the first issue until shifting to the Mella magazine in 1964. In 1964, Matojo appeared in the popular magazine Mella. 1964 also marks the first appearance of matojo's parents and a majority of characters including Igor, Patricia, Ivan and Matojo's dog Lucas. In 1966, Matojo first appeared in the Pionero magazine, which marks the second time Matojo has appeared in a publication. He was first featured on issue 76 in the Pionero magazine. He appears with Igor together with a new character who was, and still, is unnamed. The appearance also appeared in Matojo's 25-year anniversary in the Zunzun magazine in issue 86, 1989 along with the previous 20th anniversary issue published in 1983. In the 1970s, when the Matojo comic strips were moving on to Pa'lante, the strips were shown in color for the first time.

In 1980, a new children's magazine was created, called the Zunzún magazine. The magazine became widely famous around Cuba and included characters like Elpidio Valdés. Matojo joined The Zunzún magazine and started making strips there. Unlike Pa'lante, which only had colors on shirts of characters, Zunzún had full color in the strips. In 1981, matojo made his first appearance on screen. The television series aired four episodes, each of them being called "Matojo no nada nada", "Buenos días Matojo", "Matojo va a la playa" and then "Matojo va a la Escuela". These shorts were produced between 1981 and 1985. The first short had more better animation, while the rest had more Limited Animation, an animation technique that was popular in Cuba at the time. In 1987, Matojo first appeared in the Comicos magazine, where his dog Lucas and Matojo Rodriguez appeared in a six-page comic strip, which was the longest comic strip in a magazine in the franchise. Matojo made brief appearances I the El Muñe during the late 1980s. Matojo would still appear in the Zunzún magazine until 1991 with a total of 104 comic strips published since the second issue in 1980. In 1994, Matojo made his final appearance on the Comicos Magazine.

Matojo would return with cameos in the Zunzún 30th and 40th anniversary, and Pa'lante's 30th and 50th anniversary. Matojo wouldn't appear in comics until 2023 in the Zunzún magazine. Matojo became widely popular on social media, and all the Matojo episodes are still available on YouTube.

Main protagonists

• Matojo: the main protagonist in the series.
• Ivan: Matojo's longtime best friend. He teaches Igor moral lessons.
• Igor: Ivan's little brother. He mostly causes trouble but Ivan teaches him to do the right thing.
• Patricia: Matojo's other friend. Matojo and her likes playing together.
• Lucas: Matojo's pet dog.

Adults and parents

• Matojo Rodriguez: Matojo's Dad. He teaches Matojo how to do things.
• Matojo's mom: She is Matojo's mom. Apart from the other characters looking more cartoon like, the mom looked more realistic, especially in the 1980s television series.
• Ivan & Igor's Dad: he is the unnamed dad of Ivan & Igor and only appeared once on the television episode "Matojo va a la escuela".

Supporting characters

• Pepito: One of Matojo's friends. He appeared once in Educación formal (1977), and then appeared in Buenos días Matojo (1982)
• José: Pepito's Father
• Paquito: Another one of Matojo's friends. He appeared in Educación formal in 1977, then in 1982's Buenos días Matojo (1982)
• Pequito's Mother: She is the mother of Paquito. She is notable for the segment in the 1982 episode, where she scolds Paquito for saying bad words.

Matojo no nada nada

Matojo no nada nada is the first episode of the series. The episode is more higher budget that the others. Matojo no nada nada was first released in 1981. Characters like Ivan, Igor and Patricia did not appear. But they rarely appeared in the poster.

Buenos dias Matojo

Buenos dias Matojo was the second episode in the Matojo television series. It is the first episode to have a lower budget. The episode was released in 1982 and it is about Matojo going to school with his classmates. the episode was based on the book "Educacion formal" (1977).

Matojo va a la playa

Matojo va a la playa was the third episode in the Matojo series. the episode was released in 1983 and is about matojo, his dad and his friends going to the beach. some of the segments were based on the comic strip.

Matojo va a la Escuela

Matojo va a la escuela was the fourth and last episode of the Matojo series. Released in 1985, the episode was about Matojo and his friends in school. some of the segments were based on the book "educacion formal" (1977).