Spring.
The colours.
The flowers.
Music.
Love.
Without doubt, spring...
...advertises itself better than anything in this world.
This is Mafalda.
And this is mummy.
Mummy, what would you like to do when you grow up?
This is daddy.
Hello!
Daddy. Every day we send a father...
...to that wretched office and this is what they send back.
l have decided to face reality.
lf it starts to look any better, let me know, okay?
This is Phillip.
Oh! l'll tell you what l'd like.
To go on safari!
l'd go deep into the dangerous jungle,...
...and in the morning, l'd follow the trail of a wild boar,...
...or a black panther, or a Bengal tiger,...
...or an Afircan lion.
Ah! l can see myself facing the wild beast.
His eyes will stare at me.
And l... And l...
What would l do?
And l...Oh!
How do l know what l'd do?
There are too many ways to be a coward...
Me contribute to humanity?
Me have kids to perpetuate the species?
What does the species matter to me?
l want to be a mother...
...not a factory making replacement parts.
This is Susan.
lt breaks my heart when l see poor people,...
...how about you?
l've got nothing against the poor. You saw me.
Quite to the contrary, l think they need help and protection.
And what is more,...
...l think that most poor people,...
-...don't do it out of spite. -What do you mean spite, Susan?
We should give shelter, work, protection...
...and welfare to the poor.
Why so much? Couldn't we just hide them?
This is Michael.
How does time get round the corners...
...in a square clock?
Tell us the story of your life.
Well, l was born,...
...at five months l had my first tooth.
Then, by the time l was two,...
...l could talk really well.
Now l go to nursery school, and...
Well, that's all.
The worst thing about being a boy,...
...is that when you tell your life story...
...it takes two seconds flat.
-This is Manolo. -We are all equal,...
...except some of us have money. Ha!
Hello, Manolo.
Do you only think about your future business?
Oh, yes. About my future supermarket.
l can see you now, all grown up,...
...in front of your supermarket.
ln front of my fabulous chain of supermarkets.
And you'll have lots of workers.
Hundreds and hundreds of workers.
And they'll work happily because you will pay good wages.
l will pay excellent wages.
No!
You're mad! Look what you made me say!
This is the world of...
...Mafalda.
Mafalda, Mafalda, Mafalda.
lt can be really hard to get up and face the world.
Good morning, world.
Good morning, mummy.
Do you know if they've banned nuclear weapons yet?
l'm not sure, Mafalda,...
...but l don't think so. Why?
Well, nothing special,...
...but it's be really nice to wake up one morning...
...and discover that finally,...
...one's own life...
...is one's own responsibility.
Do you have the duster, Mafalda?
Yes, mummy.
Well, if you're going to help me,...
...would you give the globe a good clean?
Should l clean all the countries...
...or just the ones with bad governments?
You just couldn't help giving your opinion on the world.
Out!
Leave my world alone!
Wretched fly!
Get out!
Take that!
l killed it.
Please tell me, did you have great plans for your future?
When l'm grown up,...
...l want to be an interpreter in the United Nations.
That way l can help people to talk to each other.
l'll learn English and Russian.
l think perhaps it would also be wise to learn karate...
...to settle any doubts.
What are all these books?
They're mine, from when l was a student.
You studied, but you weren't a serious student, were you?
Not a serious student? Of course l was serious.
So why didn't you finish studying?
Well, l got married...
Why did you leave university when you got married?
That's how it was.
You mean, if you hadn't got married,...
...you would have finished at university...
...you would have a degree...
...you would have had a title...
...and you would be somebody.
-Hello, daddy. -Hello.
Please tell me, what is the cold war?
Mafalda, even if l explained, you wouldn't understand.
Right, because l'm stupid...
lt's not something for children.
Alright then,...
...how about explaining it without the pornographic bits?
Nervocalm for one.
Nervocalm, of course. Do you have the prescription?
Here it is.
Good.
Nervolcalm. Nervo... here it is.
Here's the money.
Miss, this isn't for you, is it?
For me? No.
lt's for my daddy, who still hasn't explained to me...
...what eroticism means. Could you explain it to me?
But this container has been opened.
No, l had to give some to the poor pharmacist.
Poor mummy,...
...she's worried that l won't like it when l go to school.
lt'll be really easy to calm her down.
-Hey mummy? -Yes, Mafalda?
l want to go to school, and then l want to go to university...
...and l'll study hard, so that l won't grow up to be...
...a frustrated mediocre woman, like you!
lt's good to reassure one's mother.
Hello, Manolo!
Hello!
Are you working?
Yes, can't you see?
Bloody hell!
What do you think?
Do we grow more from the belly button upwards...
...or from the belly button downwards?
l don't have time to answer such stupid questions.
What's more, we can't grow downwards, stupid.
Don't you know that's where the ground is?
So you're stealing the gold. Give yourself up!
l am the Lone Ranger!
The Lone Ranger?
Pleased to meet you, my name's Rockefeller.
What can l do for you?
There's always a sarcastic materialist...
...waiting to spoil my fantasies.
This can't be happening.
-Ants! -Ants!
Oh my God! This is a disaster!
The ants are eating my plants!
There's nothing worse than ants!
-Who's that? -Susan.
Come in, Susan. l'm glad to have you in my humble home.
This is my mummy.
She was a student, before she got married.
She went to school and everything?
-Of course. -Did she go to university?
-Of course. -And did she have a boyfriend?
A boyfriend? No.
So she went to the university for nothing.
-This is my daddy, see? -Hello.
Are you fixing the plug, sir?
No, l'm filling it with sugar. Then when the ants come...
They'll get electrocuted.
How could anyone be frightened by such a good idea?
l've finished delivering the orders, dad.
Already.
You're a pretty good fellow, my lad.
Come over here to your old dad.
Go on you little rat, go and play outside for a bit,...
...you've earned it.
A hug with my dad.
Just like everything,...
...as soon as you've got your feet on the ground,...
...the fun stops.
Get on! Why are you waiting? Go on, up you get!
l've got to go and help my mummy.
Well, l really ought to be serving in the shop.
lt's getting really late and l'd like to watch my soap opera.
Well, we'll just have time to play atomic war, right?
Yes!
Okay, bye.
ln this modern world,...
...even the games are getting shorter every day.
The newspapers are full of bad news...
...and nobody sends them back on account of it.
Life is full of bad things, but we all accept them.
You want me to take this salami back because the filling is bad?
Excuse me, madam!
Manolo,...
...my mummy has sent me to buy some olives.
Are they good?
They're special for executives.
Try one!
The problem is you're just like everybody else.
You just imagine you know what executives are really like.
Mr. Managing Director, the Rockefeller Corporation...
...begs for a few more days to raise the millions that are owed.
No!
To the table! The food's ready.
Soup! Not soup again!
But Mafalda, if you don't eat your soup...
-...you won't grow up. -Grow up?
Grown up like who?
Like mummy, like me.
Then it's just not worth it.
l look like a girl drying these plates.
A girl, a girl, a girl!
l have said to myself ten thousand times...
...that it is not girlish to help my mummy,...
...it is being a gentleman.
Gentlemen always help their mummies.
So don't confuse the two, right?
Being girlish is one thing,...
...but being a gentleman is quite another.
The good little girl cleaning the dishes!
Mafalda, turn that light off!
Go to sleep, it's midnight.
Okay.
As well as being mummy all day long,...
...she also does overtime.
Daddy.
ls everybody equal in this world?
Yes, Mafalda, yes. We are all equal.
Why don't you go to sleep...
...instead of worrying about things?
l'm not worrying, l only asked if we were all equal.
Okay, see you tomorrow.
But, equal to who?
Next we present a roundup of international news.
Mafalda,...
...turn that radio off and go to sleep. lt's 1a.m.
...dead, injured and arrested. Now for the traffic report...
The batteries are dead.
Or have they run out of international problems?
Good night, world.
l'll see you tomorrow.
Be careful, there are still lots of irresponsible people awake.
The role of public relations...
...is to show people, that we businessmen...
...have a human side.
-Susan. What are you doing here? -Hello. How are you?
Help yourself, Susan.
My father's shop invites you...
...to taste a delicious sweet.
Thank you.
Just one delicious sweet!
The role of public relations...
...is to show people we are human,...
...but not stupid.
Philip, would you go and get some milk for me?
l'm sorry, mummy. l just haven't got time.
What?
Of course for grown ups...
...that lie is always valid.
Here comes Commander Neil Armstrong...
...traveling through space.
NASA has sent him on a mission into space...
...to find samples of moon rock.
My mummy sent me to buy some bread.
Commander Neil Armstrong is returning home,...
...he's planning not to give the change back to NASA,...
...they've already got millions to spend on the space program.
Manolo's shop. Good morning!
Who's speaking, is it Manolo Jr.?
At your service, madam.
This is Mafalda's mummy. Could you bring me my order?
Right away.
Thank you, Manolo. Put it in the kitchen, please.
-Hello, Manolo, how are you? -Working as you can see.
A sweet?
Thank you, Manolo.
lt's delicious!
lt's a free sample of something my father's shop sells cheaply.
Now l understand. You have an ulterior motive.
But the poetry of commerce calls this public relations.
Please, have you got a soft drink or something?
Have a look in the fridge.
What's wrong with you?
There's a corpse of a dead bird in the fridge.
There's only a roast chicken.
What corpse are you talking about?
lt's dead and if it's dead, then what is it, huh? What is it?
No, not that, please no.
But son,...
...this is the chicken leg you're so fond of.
Education?
Are you going to study it?
No, but there are things that it's best to know about.
Here it is. Listen.
One should reply simply and clearly...
...to the questions of your children.
From today onwards that is how l shall answer Mafalda.
lt's not here either.
This is really mysterious. What does it look like?
Well, l give up.
Daddy, the world, l mean, the Earth, what sex is it?
What do you mean what sex...?
But Mafalda, how is the world going to have a sex?
On top of everything that's happening to it,...
...our poor earth is sexless?
When l'm grown up l'm going to have a son.
l'll breast-feed him, l'll bathe him,...
...as he's going to be a beautiful baby,...
...he'll debut in television.
Then he'll go to school and be top of the form.
Then he'll go to university and study medicine.
He'll be a specialist doctor, who makes lots of money.
He'll take me for drives in his huge luxury car.
Until one day he will meet a girl...
Mummy, l'd like you to meet my girlfriend...
And what if she's a bad woman?
An ambitious woman, out to destroy him?
What if she ruins him?
Bloody pregnancy!
What a lovely doormat, Michael! What does it say?
According to my mummy it says, welcome,...
...but l hate it.
-But why do you hate it? -ls that you, Michael?
Yes, mummy. l brought Mafalda home to play.
Your polishing slippers!
Where are you going without your polishers?
That's it, l'm the one who should be cleaning all day,...
...shut in here, me the idiot.
l hate the doormat because it's a hypocrite.
Don't play in the dining room.
-Yes, mummy. -And another thing. When...
...you've finished, don't leave your toys all over the place.
Put them away.
Don't run in your new shoes, you'll break them.
Don't jump on the sofa, you'll break it.
l'm tired of always hearing the same thing.
Could you tell me, what's the use of being a child...
...if they don't let you play?
Daddy, when you were a boy, did you go to school?
Of course l did, son, just like everyone else.
Did you learn lots of things?
Well, learn, we did learn.
The kids who were a bit slow,...
...they used to beat us.
But if they used to punish you, why did you use to go to school?
Because if l didn't go, then my father would beat me.
He'd beat some sense into me.
So then, your childhood was one long bout?
One long what?
l mean if you didn't get it from one side then...
-...you got it from the other. -Well, l suppose you're right.
Spare the rod, spoil the child.
We'll start going to school soon.
Do you realise, Susan?
We'll learn to read, to write and to do sums...
Don't you think it's wonderful?
Yes, in some ways yes,...
...but not in others, it's sad to throw away...
...a whole life dedicated to illiteracy.
l can't see what good it will do me...
...to go to school,...
...if the only thing l want to do in life...
...is get married and have children.
lf they only teach me to read and do sums,...
...well that could be useful when l do the shopping,...
...but as for the rest,...
...can you tell me what use the other subjects are?
Philip, you've already been in first grade,...
...what's school like? Tell us!
lt's hell!
What's wrong with you? Why aren't you playing?
We're going to start school soon.
What's wrong with that?
What do you mean, what's wrong?
When you were a boy,...
...weren't you upset when school started?
Me upset? But what's wrong with you?
lt's wonderful to go to school.
Yes, but God knows what the teacher is going to be like.
And then they start with the homework...
...and then there's no time to play or to read comics.
Next Monday all over the country school term will start.
Enough!
Yes, l didn't like it either, me neither.
Children grow so quickly...
Well, l could give you the next size up.
That's better, we'll take this one.
This one, but this one.
Do you think l'm a clown?
But Mafalda, l'll alter it.
l'll bring up the hem and l'll shorten the sleeves...
...then you can wear it next year as well.
What? l refuse to let you go about...
...sewing and unsewing my future.
What a cute little girl!
Philip!
Philip, Philip!
Philip!
ls it true that at school...
...the teachers hit the children?
No, that was before. Now,...
...things are very different.
What? Now the children hit the teachers?
No, it's not like that either.
Like always,...
...the changes are never radical enough.
Bloody hell!
Are you going to read?
Just a little bit.
Remember that tomorrow we've got to get up early.
We've got to take Mafalda to school.
Mafalda going to school.
Just think Mafalda's going to start school...
Yes, it's true. lt's wonderful.
Our daughter's going to start school.
Our daughter's going to start school!
Daddy, daddy.
Yes?
About parents watching over their children at night...
Yes, what about it?
Your snoring is spoiling your parental credibility.
You saved me from the monster! Thank you, daddy!
This program was sponsored by Manolo's shop,...
...where everything is cheap.
What's happening?
-What do you want now? -l'm ready for school.
Come on, l mustn't be late...
...on the first day of school.
The moment has arrived.
Yes, her first day of school.
What's wrong with them?
Nothing. lt's just that some children...
...can't bear to be separated from their mummy.
Okay, see you later, sweetheart.
l'll come and pick you up after school.
No, mummy, l only have to go across the park and l'm home.
-Bye. -Goodbye, darling.
Will you please shut up? Shut up now!
Look at the little girl, she's not crying.
Aren't you ashamed by how she's looking at you?
She'll think you're a cry baby.
Don't you think so, little girl?
No!
The little girl has a conscience and sympathises with him.
Dear children,...
...once again, l welcome you...
...into this sacred instittution.
School.
To the smallest of you,...
...who are here for the first time...
...in this temple of knowledge,...
...l promise you that here you will find a second home,...
...where every teacher will give you...
...the thing that all mothers give their children.
Love.
That was lucky, l thought she was talking about soup.
Time for class, children!
Look, Susan.
A globe just like mine.
lsn't it beautiful!
But Susan, l think you enjoy...
...fighting the whole time.
lf our great heroes had never fought.
Who'd have heard of them now? Nobody, absolutely nobody.
lt's the first time l've ever heard of heroes fighting...
...to advertise themselves.
Philip, how was it?
Good, good.
l'm so lucky with my teacher.
She's such a wonderful woman,...
...kind-hearted... special.
You're very lucky to have a teacher like that,...
...because the teacher is someone we must see every day.
And every week,...
...and every month,...
...for a whole year.
She's an unbearable witch.
Hello, mummy.
Mafalda, how did your first day of school go?
Good, fine. Really good.
We learned loads of things.
What about you mummy? How was your day in this boring hole?
ls Mafalda back from her first day at school yet?
-How did you get on, Mafalda? -Fine, thanks.
Do you know that in our class...
...there's a tiny little globe?
A metal one, of course.
Are you ready? Time to eat.
Soup.
l was so happy today and now you have to give me soup.
Happy or not, you'll drink it up.
Why do l have to drink it?
Because l tell you to and l am your mother.
lf you need qualifications, l am your daughter.
And we both qualified on the same day, didn't we?
-Hello. -Hello.
ls your ice cream nice?
Yes, it's delicious.
Would you share with me?
Share? With you?
Alright,...
...for being mean and selfish the devil will punish you.
You'll see.
l can't even get a taxi when l need one.
Oh my God!
Damn it.
l bend down to pick up a book...
...and suddenly my back hurts.
What's wrong with me?
ls it that my body is ageing faster than l am?
Am l getting old?
No, how could l imagine such a thing at my age?
What if l've been sitting in a draught?
l've been sitting in a draught. Of course. That's it.
Obviously someone left a door open and...
...suddenly without noticing it, l'm thirty-seven.
Let me think!
How old did you say you were?
Please help homeless children.
Help homeless children, please.
Please help homeless children.
Please help the homeless children.
Peoples of the world!
Can we sit on our stomachs...
...while half of humanity lacks appetite?
What's wrong with them? Why are you looking like that?
lt makes me sad to see poor people as well.
Don't be such a hypocrite.
Please, believe me.
Look, when we're ladies...
...we'll start...
...a big foundation to help the underprivileged.
We'll organise dinner and we'll eat turkey,...
...chicken, piglets and all that stuff they eat at dinners.
Like that we'll raise funds...
...and then we can buy flour for the poor,...
...kidney beans, pasta, maize...
...and all those disgusting things that they eat.
lt's logical that others feel old when they're 37.
Yes, but me, how could l possibly feel old?
Come on, l sat all day...
...in that wretched office without doing any exercise.
And if l went to the gym to do some exercise?
That's it some stretching.
One, two.
Mummy, your first boyfriend, was it him or someone else?
lt's not time for such questions it's time to sleep.
Come on go back to sleep.
But l just wanted to know if you were her first boyfriend or not.
Right, that's enough. Do you hear me? That's enough!
And you, who are you thinking about?
l'm off on a business trip, l'm an important executive.
l'm going to check out foreign competition...
...the growth of their companies...
...and their major supermarkets.
Bloody hell! What a life!
Getting the children to do free composition,...
...helps me to understand their characters,...
...as they express themselves through their paintings.
Just so,...
...painting reveals the personality.
Don't you mean...
...that the paint covers the personality.
l think l've got the wrong tube.
l left the other one at home...
Poor daddy!
What is this? Paint?
Come on, l don't believe you.
l promise you, l'm not lying.
But that's impossible. Not even a little black and white one?
No, but anyway, so what?
Am l a Martian because l don't have a television?
She hasn't got a telly! She hasn't got a telly!
-Daddy. -Yes, Mafalda?
The children at school look at me like a Martian...
...because l don't have a television.
Really? Well look, you could reply that...
...not having a television doesn't make you a Martian.
l already did. They said that it doesn't make me a Martian.
lt makes me an idiot.
Mafalda!
What are you doing, mummy?
l am cutting out a recipe.
What? Does the newspaper teach cookery as well?
No, but it shows different meals to vary the menu.
Did you find something yummy?
Yes, daddy's going to love it.
What is it?
Fish soup.
Soup! A curse on the freedom of the press!
At least looking after plants is a nice quiet hobby.
l want a television!
Let's see, let's see...
lt smells delicious!
A little more, a little more.
Soup!
You'll drink it up. All of it!
A relaxing shower.
A perfect shave.
An impeccable shirt.
A delicious coffee.
A happy family.
An excellent cigarette.
And this is where things stop being...
...like they are in advertisements.
What if l bought Mafalda a television?
l mean, all of her friends watch television.
Even if they do lounge around all day singing...
...those wretched pop songs.
No! That's enough!
l'm not going to let Mafalda be a retard singing commercials.
Cursed be the day that they invented television.
As the wise people at court...
laughed at Columbus.
Nobody believed him,...
...but he kept on believing that the earth was round.
-What a donkey! -Everyone believed it was flat!
Round like a ball.
He was stubborn that Columbus.
Okay children, did you understand?
lf you didn't understand put your hand up.
Yes, Manolo. Which bit of the lesson didn't you understand?
Well, if the truth be told,...
...l haven't understood a thing since the first day of class.
Bloody hell!
An interesting lesson today.
lnteresting. The teacher made me look stupid again.
They're going to kill me, when l get home.
Come on, Manolo, it won't be so bad.
l can see that you don't...
...have to avoid my dad's hand.
Or my mum's slipper.
And l have to go to school for them to treat me like that.
Like that.
lf l turned up once in a while, well it could be expected.
But to behave like that to someone who comes every day...
Behaving like that to a regular client!
Tell me, Philip, do you have a television?
-Yes. -l don't.
My daddy won't buy one. He says that it warps children's minds.
That's silly.
l've got a television and my mind isn't warped.
Well maybe my daddy didn't mean warped minds...
...maybe he meant deformed heads.
lf l buy Mafalda a television...
...she'll spend all day sitting...
...watching things that she doesn't understand.
And violent serials,...
...and advertisements that are of absolutely no use.
Has policy 7 47 expired?
No, no sir.
Please hurry up then, we've got to get it in today.
Right away, sir.
Television deforms children's minds.
And to think the Pope himself said that television unites the family...
lf the Pope had children he'd see it differently.
What the Pope have children? Have you gone mad?
Or do you want me to sack you for being a communist?
Philip, look at that cute little television.
How sophisticated!
Philip, do you watch a lot of television?
Sort of. But frankly it doesn't interest me very much.
There's no hope.
God gives bread to those who have no teeth.
-To those who have no what? -Tee...
Well, there was no reason to take it so personally.
Give me some chocolate.
Mafalda's going to be so happy when she sees this.
Come on you, little swine.
Do your prep. Study, you thick head.
Okay, go on hitting me...
...but one day l'll show you.
When l have my big chain of supermarkets,...
...my biography will be published...
...in all the newspapers.
And everybody will know how you mistreated me, dad.
This beating will also appear...
...as another bitter anecdote...
...of my childhood.
Go on hitting me, go on.
You just keep on giving me more anecdotes.
l'm home.
Guess what l've brought you.
A television. You brought me a television.
Well? What's wrong? Did you bring it or not?
Um. Well...
-No. -So what did you bring me!
Well, a bar of chocolate.
Bah! A bar of chocolate.
l want a television.
l never thought that a delicious chocolate...
...could have such a bitter taste of disaster.
Hello, Michael.
Hello.
What are you eating?
Popcorn.
Popcorn, popcorn.
lf you don't share when you eat...
...you'll turn into a frog with webbed feet.
You greedy pig,...
...don't you know if you don't share when you eat...
...you'll turn into a frog with webbed feet?
Look, to tell you the truth...
...we selfish people never believe...
...in those old wives tales.
Selfish brat!
Children, please write.
My mummy loves me.
My mummy looks after me.
Bloody hell!
My mummy loves me.
My congratulations, Miss.
Now we know that you have a mummy...
...who loves you and looks after you.
She's an excellent mummy.
Now, please would you...
...teach us something that is actually important.
My dad said that if he'd kept all the money he's spent...
...on my books and materials...
...and invested it in the shop,...
...he'd have made a 30% profit.
So?
l told him that my education and my culture...
...were also a good investment.
Very good, Manolo.
-So what did he say? -No.
Not with that retarded face of yours.
Hello. ls your mummy in, child?
The television!
Who is it, Mafalda?
Madam, we've brought the television.
Ah, yes. Do come in please.
This way, please.
-Where shall we put it, madam? -On that little table.
And where should we put the little girl?
But, Mafalda...
Mummy, they brought the television, didn't they?
ls it true or is it an illusion?
Yes, Mafalda. Daddy bought you a television.
Monocotyledons...
...have leaves...
...without petioles and their petals...
He loses the man marking him and also the full back.
l'd like to be a soccer player,...
...and not have to go to school.
This attack looks pretty dangerous.
He's getting near the area.
There's only one defender and the goalkeeper left.
l think he's going to score. He's going to shoot.
Foul! An awful deliberate foul.
Attention, ladies and gentlemen, we are informed...
...that he has broken his leg.
Monocotyledons...
...have leaves without petioles...
...and their petals...
lf l tell her not to watch so much television,...
...she'll end up hating me. Why don't you speak to her?
Right, me. lt's always got to be me.
Look Mafalda,...
lt'd be better if you didn't watch so much television.
Because sitting there for so long...
...your imagination...
What? You said that the television makes...
What?
What, darling?
Soup!
Get up, Manolo. lt's time to go to school.
Bloody hell!
l warn you that this time l'm serious!
l'm sick of it!
l'm not going to school and that's it! lt's over!
Do you see this you little swine?
Come on, Philip. Get up, you're going to be late.
No...! l don't want to go to school.
Mummy! l don't feel like going to school today.
What? lt's okay, Philip.
Stay home.
l too once was a girl...
...and l remember when someone was absent...
...l used to love to go and sit at their desk.
At my desk?
Never!
You'll never sit in my place you jealous fat pig!
l'll never give...
...that fat moron Bertolucci the chance.
My mummy doesn't smack me with the slipper anymore,...
...if she shows it to me it's enough to make me go to school.
-What? -Well that's it,...
...today audio-visual methods are fashionable.
Monocotyledons have leaves without petioles...
...and their petals and stamens...
...are arranged in groups of three.
Monocotyledons...
Goal!
Monopetioles...
No... no.
The Petimonodioles... No, no.
Oh, drat! How did it go?
Motopetoladons...
Oh, God, l've forgotten.
Alright, Manolo, read out yours.
This is entitled ''Spring''.
''When spring takes hold and begins'',
''the plants have lots of leaves and flowers''.
People drink more lemonade and soft drinks''...
...''and other sorts of drinks''.
''And beer and ham as well''.
''The shops shut later''...
...''because it doesn't get dark as early''...
...''as it does in winter'',...
...''when it's impossible to sell anything at 5:30 in the evening''.
''Spring, however, is a much better season''.
''We're all much happier''...
...''when spring comes''.
Manolo Boreiro.
Mother Nature is so clever!
lf that bird had died,...
...l wouldn't have been able to sleep for three months.
Hi-ho Silver!
We'll rob a bank and get away with a great haul.
Go on, l'll cover you.
This is a robbery!
lf you don't like the prices, go to another shop, madam.
l'm sorry, it's a habit.
Susan, stop in the name of the law!
l've been shot.
Great sorrow and mourning will be caused by the loss...
...of someone like me, a person who gained the love...
...and affection of everybody who knew me.
My death will leave a gap difficult to fill...
...in many different circles of society...
...in which my noble character manifested itself,...
...my sensibility, my generous heart.
What's wrong with them? Don't you want to play?
Look, a bee.
Shall we kill it?
No, it's wrong to kill bees.
-No? -No,...
Bees are good and hardworking,...
...they make honey which is healthy and nutritious.
Now l understand.
We shouldn't kill them because they work for us.
lsn't that it?
How beautiful!
Thanks be to God that it's spring!
Thanks be to God that it's spring and l'm still alive!
l do say the silliest things.
Hello.
Are you the dove of peace?
Long live aggression! Long live the H-bomb!
lt really is the dove of peace!
Hello, Manolo.
Hello, Susan.
So, you're putting up the prices, are you?
l'll bet that's the part of the business...
...that you like best, isn't it?
No, no, you know how it is.
The costs go up and we have to increase our prices.
All that inflation, all that inflation...
Finally ones gets fond of it. Bloody hell!
How much does your daddy earn?
Well, you know, the shop doesn't leave us much profit.
Sometimes we even lose money.
Are you serious? Then my daddy...
...earns more than your daddy does.
Don't you understand, Michael?
Hows the world not going to have problems?
When it's daytime in America, it's night in China.
Do you understand?
So that means half the world is awake...
...while the other half are asleep.
That's it. That's why it's impossible for them to get on...
...500 million people are having lunch...
...while another 700 million are snoring.
-Certainly. -lt probably means that...
...the divisions in this world are not political,...
...but to do with sleep.
What's up with Michael, Mafalda? Why is he walking like that?
Since it's night on the other side of the world,...
...he doesn't want to wake the people that are asleep.
That reminds me of something that Mao said,...
...if all 700 million of the Chinese people...
...agreed to stamp on the ground...
...at the same moment,...
...the world would be in serious difficulties.
lsn't that funny?
No, it's not funny.
We'll have tea and we'll gossip like ladies do.
Let's play.
Right, who's going to say the first stupidity?
Me. l've got it all planned out.
Firstly, l'm going to be a great lady.
Then l'll have lots and lots of children.
Then l'll buy a big house, an immense one.
Then l'll buy a cute little car.
And jewels, lots of jewels.
And then later on, l'll have grandchildren.
That's not a life, it's a royal family.
Yes, yes, yes.
l don't think l'll go to work today.
Are you really going to stay home?
Well...
l'll stay, l'll stay. Yes, yes.
l knew that would happen.
We know that the Earth is shaped like a...
Like a what?
Like a...? lt's...
Yes, it's a what?
Ah, yes. lt's a sphere.
A sphere. Yes, that's correct.
And it is slightly dented... Where?
ln the spirit.
At the poles, Manolo. At the poles.
Well, in 1853,...
Mr. Juan de Garay,...
...who had just disembarked from a boat on the river Plate,...
...was killed. By whom?
Oh, no. l might be slow, yes,...
...as slow as can be, but an informer, never.
Manolo, why so serious? What's wrong?
l'm worried about my exams.
Come on.
You'll see how it all works out okay.
Exams aren't that bad.
ln the end, they'll be easier than you think they are.
-What are you talking about? -About what's in store for us.
That's it, Philip's worried about his exams.
What does a cat have to do to live? Be a cat.
What does a bear have to do to live? Be a bear.
What does any animal have to do to live?
Be an animal.
What do l have to do to live?
l've got to be a doctor, an actor,...
...a pilot, a builder, a chemist or whatever.
Why does man have to play the stupid role...
...of a superior animal?
Can you see anything different?
Yes, l can see your watch is not automatic,...
...waterproof, or luminous and it doesn't have a calendar...
...like my daddy's watch.
Pardon me, would you mind if l ask how much your daddy earns?
No, of course l don't mind...
...if you ask me that.
Well, how much does your daddy earn? How much does he earn?
Well, l'm sure you also won't mind if l don't answer that.
You show off.
Hello, Michael. Aren't you bored all alone?
-No. -Do you know?
Neither Mafalda, nor Philip, nor Manolo...
...will tell me how much their daddies earn.
l think they're just envious, because...
...l'm sure my daddy earns lots more than their daddies.
lt seems to me that you...
...are just a little bit jealous,...
...because my daddy earns much more than your daddy.
That's right, isn't it Michael?
No, compared to the earnings of bankers,...
...or soccer players, or oil men,...
...our fathers earn a pittance.
Flies are so lucky, they don't have to go to school.
l'd like to be a fly,...
...l'd zoom about and l wouldn't have to study,...
...those wretched times tables.
Once time three is three.
Two times three is...
Look Manolo, can't you see?
That dove doesn't know what money is.
But clearly it's very happy.
You, however, blindly believe...
...that money is the most important thing in life.
Of course money isn't everything,...
...there are also cheques.
There's something that l don't understand.
lf we go up into the sky when we die,...
...then what on Earth has the cemetery got to do with it?
-ls it a sort of Cape Kennedy? -Michael.
You said to me that when we die we go up into the sky.
Yes, why?
Well, how do they send fat people on a journey like that?
But, Michael.
Only the soul goes into the sky,...
...the body stays here on Earth.
What? You mean the body is a returnable container?
At last school has broken up.
No more worries about studying lessons.
Finally, no more homework.
No more sums, or dictations.
No more geography, or important people, at last.
Oh my God! What'll we do now...
...with all this freedom before us?
Susan.
Hearing the children play reminds me of my youth.
So many fantasies: Shoot outs, fights, Tarzan,...
...The Phantom, Sandokan,...
...Mandrake, Flash Gordon.
lt makes me feel like a kid again.
Sandokan to the rescue!
-Sand can what? -What's he talking about?
Where's the queue?
-What's he playing at? -Something old fashioned.
No, l'm a kid too, like when l was young.
Listen to this!
lt says here that a nuclear war would cause...
...the deaths of...
...700 million people.
700 million people...
...all dead together at the same time?
That's what it says.
How disgusting!
ln something so promiscuous,...
...who knows what sort of person you might end up dying next to.
Why don't you explain all this about a world crisis to me?
Why not.
You're a girl and children just don't understand...
...grown up subjects.
Alright, but promise me one thing.
What is it? Tell me.
When l'm grown up, l don't want you to say...
...that us grown ups...
...don't understand your affairs as only the old understand them.
Well. what do you think?
Thank you very much, Manolo.
The poor are so thankful when you give them something...
Dad, dad!
This year we've really scored with the calendar!
She's going to be really happy with this present.
-Hello, Susan -Hello. Hows it going, Manolo?
l've brought you a calendar, a present from my dad's shop.
Do you like it? Mafalda and Philip were speechless.
Yes, Mafalda and Philip...
...have just given me two. But thank you anyway.
Bloody hell!
And those sunglasses?
lt's holiday time, isn't it?
Holidays. Let's talk about holidays, Mafalda.
l love talking about them, can't you see?
Talking about making preparations.
l could spend my whole life talking about them.
You see, not everybody can afford to pay for holidays.
No, no, no. Did you know...
...that l'm going on holiday next week?
What a coincidence! l'm going on holiday as well, Susan.
Yes?
-So, you're going on holiday? -Yes.
-Where are you going? -l'm going to the mountains.
How lovely!
Yes, my mummy went there on her honeymoon...
...and she says its fantastic.
When people get married...
...everything must seem so beautiful...
Don't you think so, Philip?
No! You're mad!
Philip just hasn't got a sense of humor.
The silly boy didn't even realise l was joking.
lt's ready.
Well, all the ornaments are in place.
Daddy, l really want to see the Christmas tree lit up.
Okay, Mafalda.
Wait, there's one more.
Here daddy, the star's missing.
Of course, right on top, goes the star of Bethlehem.
Yes, yes, daddy. lt's the star that guided the three kings.
Yes, Mafalda,...
...and do you know what was in their saddlebags?
l'm sure l know what they had. Spare fuses for the electricity.
Everyone in the world, pay attention!
We're going to dedicate our Christmas song to you.
Now guys.
Silent night! Holy night!
One second. Peace and love.
They did get on with each other, didn't they?
Because if you've forgotten the meaning of these words...
...it's of no use trying to use them, isn't it?
Silent night!
Holy night!
All is calm!
All is bright!
Praise yonder virgin and her child!
Sleep in heavenly peace!
Mafalda, Mafalda, Mafalda.