Disney CRUJ

Disney Club (1997–2001), later renamed to Disney CRUJ (2001–2002), is a Portuguese-language Brazilian live-action series created by Cao Hamburguer. The series features a fictional pirate television station with Disney cartoons. They use the word "ultrayoung" (ultrajovem) as a replacement for "child".

Production
The word "ultrayoung" was based on The Ultrayoung Power (O Poder ultrajovem), by Carlos Drummond de Andrade.

Disney Club
A group of ultrayoungs form a group called Revolutionary Ultrayoung Comittee (Comitê Revolucionário Ultrajovem), or CRUJ for short. They operate the TV CRUJ, a pirate television station. They use disguises and codenames when they are hosting the TV show, and at other times they are shown taking off their disguises and using their normal names. Sometimes, they are briefly shown on the TV CRUJ camera without a disguise or accidentally say their real names to the camera, but then they hide or invent an excuse and then proceed like nothing happened. They advocate ultrayoungs' rights, such as the right to watch cartoons and to play, and they demand the use of the word "ultrayoung" instead of "child".

The founding members of CRUJ are, with their codenames between parentheses: Juca (Caju) as the president, Guelé (Chiclé) and Macarrão (Macaco), closely followed by Malu (Maluca), who arrived a few months later. In 1999, Macarrão leaves the show and two new members are introduced: Ana Paula (Pipoca) and Frederico (Rico). Frederico leaves in 2000.

The TV CRUJ operates in a secret room in the attic of Juca and Guelé's house, accessible through a hidden passage in Juca's bedroom. Juca uses Guelé's Mickey and Minnie Mouse umbrella as the antenna to broadcast the TV CRUJ signal.

Sometimes, the The Downstreet Gang (Turma da Rua de Baixo) is mentioned as a group of bullies who have some hostility against the CRUJ members, but at this point they are not shown in the story.

Disney CRUJ
In 2001, the show is renamed from Disney Club to Disney CRUJ and after that some changes are introduced:

There is a greater emphasis on the normal lives of the CRUJ members, who are shown interacting with other people on the street, and hanging out with Paracleto, a friendly man who sells pastels. Paracleto often appears to correctly suspect who are the members of the CRUJ, but does not seem to actually know their secret identities.

The Downstreet Gang (Turma da Rua de Baixo), or TRUB for short, is introduced as a group of four antagonists: Carla Carcará is their leader, and the other members are Ramela, Felipe Fedido and Maria Mole. They are played by the same actors and actresses as the current four CRUJ members. They form their own pirate television show, the TV TRUB. They repeatedly attempt to discover the secret identities of the CRUJ members, but always fail.

The same actors and actresses who play the CRUJ members also play some one-off characters when needed.

Eventually, Caju renounces the leadership and appoints Guelé as the new president, who acts in an authoritarian way. Soon thereafter, the TRUB accuses Guelé of holding office without being elected, which results in Malu becoming acting president, and CRUJ starting to hold elections for new presidents after that.

In 2002, both Maya and TRUB leave the show. Sputnik, a male teenager who is believed to be an extraterrestrial being who lost his memory is introduced. The CRUJ members and Sputnik investigage the mystery of Paracleto disappearing and reappearing in his trailer without explanation, and finds out that he was using secret tunnels below the city. They discover that Paracleto is actually Otel Carap, a former TV agent who participated in a team responsible for finding and terminating another pirate television station decades ago. In spite of that, Paracleto had deflected the agency and lived in Katmandu, Nepal until recently, when he returned to São Paulo, Brazil with the intent of helping the TV CRUJ members against the TV agents.

The agency wants to seize genius ultra-youngs to use their intelligence for their purposes. Sputnik is one of the targets of the agency.

Sputnik is eventually renamed to Max. In the end, the show is interrupted before he is able to regain his memory. The TV agents flee by helicopter to avoid being arrested, and Juca and Guelé tell their parents about Max.

Main characters

 * Juca / Caju

Juca (codename: Caju, which means "cashew") is the creator and the first leader and president of CRUJ. He has spiky hair, and his disguise consists of a black bandit mask. He is an inventor who used his skill to create the pirate television station TV CRUJ. He is Guelé's older brother. Juca has a crush on Maya.

He is played by Diego Ramiro. He joined the show in 1997, when he was 15 years old.


 * Macarrão / Macaco

Macarrão (codename: Macaco, which means "monkey"; "macarrão" is a nickname meaning "macaroni") is Juca's friend. His disguise is a monkey mask. When Juca says "Press play, Macaco!" ("Dá o play, Macaco!"), he answers "Right now!" ("É pra já!") and plays a Disney cartoon. When he leaves the show, Pipoca starts playing the cartoons in his place.

He is played by Caíque Benigno. He joined the show in 1997, when he was 13 years old. He left in 1999.


 * Guelé / Chiclé

Guelé (codename: Chiclé, which is short for "chiclete", meaning "bubblegum") is Juca's younger brother. His disguise consists of a black hat and Groucho glasses (i.e., large fake mustache, eyebrows, and glasses).

He is played by Leonardo Monteiro. He joined the show in 1997, when he was 7 years old.


 * Malu / Maluca

Malu discovered the signal of TV CRUJ and arrived at the hideout using a parachute. Her disguises are a wide variety of wigs and glasses of different colors. She advocates for female rights, and she likes to talk about clothes.

Catchphrase: "I'm not crazy! My codename is Crazy!" ("Eu não sou maluca! Meu codinome que é Maluca!")

She is played by Jussara Marques. She joined the show in 1997, when she was 12 years old.


 * Ana Paula / Pipoca

Ana Paula (codename: Pipoca, which means "pop corn") is a classmate of Guelé. She found the hideout by accident on a visit to do her homework with Guelé. She often has her hair tied or braided. Sometimes, she wears hats. Her disguise consists of a clown nose. She is introduced soon before Macaco leaves the show, and then she replaces him by playing the cartoons.

She is played by Danielle Lima. She joined the show in 1999, when she was 9 years old.


 * Frederico / Rico

Frederico (codename: Rico, which means "rich") is from a rich family and his parents are often travelling. Like Malu, he arrived at the CRUJ hideout by using a parachute. His initial disguise was a black cloth over his face, which was later replaced by an orange dog mask.

He is played by Murilo Troccoli. He joined the show in 1999.

Secondary characters

 * Paracleto

Paracleto is a friendly man who sells pastels, in a trailer called Parapastel. He was introduced during the "Disney CRUJ" era, where the characters often hang out around him. Paracleto often appears to correctly suspect who are the members of the CRUJ, but does not seem to actually know their secret identities.

He is secretly Otel Carap, a TV agent who spend decades in Katmandu, Nepal and returned to help TV CRUJ against the TV agents.


 * Maya

The girl that both Juca and Ramela like.

TRUB
These are the members of the Downstreet Gang (Turma da Rua de Baixo), or TRUB for short.

The word "carcará" means "caracara", a type of bird. She is the leader of TRUB, whose actress is the same as Maluca. She is bossy and stereotypically evil. She has a tendency to call out on Ramela when he says something stupid. She has long, straight, dark hair and wears black lipstick.
 * Carla Carcará

The word "ramela" means "rheum". His actor is the same as Juca. He tends to ask stupid questions or say stupid remarks, which cause Carla Carcará to be angry at him. He wears glasses and has lank hair.
 * Ramela

Maria-mole is a suragy sweet popular in Brazil, and the name Maria is equivalent to Mary. She is secondary character within the group. She lets down her straight hair, as opposed to Ana Paula who has her hair tied or braided. She does not appear as much as Carla Carcará and Ramela. She has the same actress as Ana Paula.
 * Maria Mole

His name means "Smelly Phillip". He is secondary character within the group. He does not appear as much as Carla Carcará and Ramela. He has the same actor as Guelé.
 * Felipe Fedido

Cast

 * CRUJ and TRUB
 * Diego Ramiro - Juca (Caju)
 * Leonardo Monteiro - Guelé (Chiclé)
 * Caíque Benigno - Macarrão (Macaco)
 * Jussara Marques - Malu (Maluca)
 * Danielle Lima - Ana Paula (Pipoca)
 * Murilo Troccoli - Frederico (Rico)


 * TRUB
 * Jussara Marques - Carla Carcará
 * Diego Ramiro - Ramela
 * Danielle Lima - Maria Mole
 * Leonardo Monteiro - Felipe Fedido


 * Secondary characters
 * Ary França - Paracleto
 * Marisol Ribeiro - Maya
 * Diegho Kozievitch - Sputnik

Opening theme
The opening theme consists of these scenes: A house with Juca working on his gadgets in the attic. He presses a button and takes a shock, and sparkles fly from various random windows in the house. The TV signal is shown travelling through the circuits of an electronic board, showing scenes Disney cartoons over the computer chips. The signal escapes to the room and bounces on the floor and the walls, breaking a lamp in its way. Finally, the signal travels through a cable and leaves through the improvised Mickey and Minnie umbrella, reaches a satellite with the format of Mickey's face and forms the Disney Club logo.

Catchphrases

 * "We are not children! We are ultrayoungs and deserve respect!" ("Não somos crianças! Somos ultra-jovens e merecemos respeito!")
 * "You can take hold of dad's seat." ("Pode tomar conta da poltrona do papai.")
 * "Press play, Macaco!" ("Dá o play, Macaco!") - Caju tells Macaco to press play and show a Disney cartoon.
 * "Right now!" ("É pra já!") - Macaco answers Juca and shows a Disney cartoon.
 * "I'm not crazy! My codename is Crazy!" ("Eu não sou maluca! Meu codinome que é Maluca!") - said by Maluca.
 * "CRUJ, CRUJ, CRUJ, bye!" (CRUJ, CRUJ, CRUJ, tchau!) - said at the end of the show.

Cartoons broadcast
Cartoons broadcast on Disney Club and Disney CRUJ include:


 * 101 Dalmatians: The Series
 * Darkwing Duck
 * Doug
 * DuckTales
 * Goof Troop
 * Hercules
 * Marsupilami
 * Mighty Ducks
 * Pepper Ann
 * Quack Pack
 * Recess
 * TaleSpin
 * Timon & Pumbaa

Awards

 * Nominated: Best Children's Program - Troféu Imprensa (1998)
 * Won: Best Children's Program - Troféu Imprensa (1999)
 * Won: Best Children's Program - Troféu Imprensa (2000)

Music CD
In 1997, a CRUJ music CD was released with original songs.


 * 1) Opening (Abertura)
 * 2) Revolutionary Ultrayoung Comittee (Comitê Revolucionário Ultrajovem)
 * 3) Reporter Rap (Rap do Repórter)
 * 4) Girls (Garotas)
 * 5) Juca
 * 6) Obligation (Obrigação)
 * 7) Chiclé
 * 8) On the Air (No Ar)
 * 9) Maluca
 * 10) Smelly Foot (Xulé)
 * 11) Macarrão
 * 12) Techno Teen (Tecno Teen)
 * 13) CRUJ Anthem (Hino CRUJ)

Legacy



 * In October, 12, 2015, Leonardo Monteiro, Diego Ramiro and Jussara Marques were interviewed together by Danilo Gentilo on the show The Noite com Danilo Gentili.