Adult Swim Collection Has Aptitude

The stop-motion animated sequence “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” is the primary Spanish-language authentic from storied programming bloc Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network imprint that’s residence to “Rick and Morty” and “Common Side Effects.” That’s objectively a milestone, although hardly what makes this dramatically fashionable present about lesbian amorous affairs and guinea pig welfare really feel so distinctive. Thanks to the worldwide attain of streaming companies, it’s now not so uncommon for English-speaking audiences to partake in programming like “Squid Game,” on Netflix, or “Pachinko,” on Apple TV+. “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” has sufficient ‘80s-inflected aptitude to carry our consideration, whether or not or not the viewer wants subtitles to translate the dialogue.

Created by Gonzalo Cordova (“Tuca & Bertie”) and dropped at life by the Mexico City-based animation studio Cinema Fantasma, “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” takes place in Quito, Ecuador — or not less than, a funhouse-mirror model of it. (Cordova’s household emigrated from Ecuador to South Florida when he was 6 years previous.) Spanish businesswoman Marioneta Negocios (Pepa Pallarés) is trying to rebrand guinea pigs, generally known as cuyes and continuously bred for meat in South America, from tasty deal with to cuddly pet. This public relations marketing campaign places her on a collision course with Doña Quispe (Laura Torres), a queenpin who operates a series of cuy butcher outlets.

This rivalry rapidly drags the ladies’s household and associates into its orbit. Doña Quispe’s daughter Nina (Nicole Vazquez) is a budding animal rights activist, waging teenage rebel by driving a supersized cuy — on this planet of “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads,” the creatures are available small and not-so-small varieties — across the metropolis. Marioneta, an inveterate girls’ girl, begins sleeping with Espada (Kerygma Flores), a sort of bullfighter who squares off with cuyes as an alternative of cows. (Yes, there are intercourse scenes on this present.) Marioneta’s assistant Coquita (Gabriela Cartol) does her soiled work on her behalf, from breaking apart with Marioneta’s lovers to serving to recruit Nina to their trigger. The tug-of-war is so enjoyable to observe that one barely notices each character is a lady, and just about all of them queer.

To the extent “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” has any sort of precedent in standard tradition, it’s the work of comic Julio Torres, whose HBO sequence “Los Espookys” and “Fantasmas” characteristic an identical mix of surreal humor, visible exuberance and Latin American affect. (There’s some artistic overlap; multihyphenate River Ramirez, a solid member in each Torres exhibits, is a credited author on “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads.”) The Henry-Selick-by-way-of-Almodóvar animation places “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” firmly in its personal lane; it’s simply encouraging to observe a distinct segment broaden whereas doing so by itself phrases. The solely time “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” slips into English is to clarify the Ecuadorean custom of burning effigies on New Year’s Eve, a customized that then types the premise for a plot.

“Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” packs lots into episodes that weigh in at simply 11 minutes every. There are the intelligent visible gags allowed by animation, like characters who fairly actually shoot daggers at each other whereas locked in a evident match; there are lots of jokes on the imperious, overconfident Marioneta’s expense. (“I have transformed myself from a rich girl to a rich woman,” she brags of her not-so-self-made fortune.) There’s a smattering of musical numbers. And there are guinea pigs. So, so many guinea pigs.

The first two episodes of “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” will premiere on Adult Swim on Aug. 18 at midnight ET and HBO Max at 9 a.m. ET, with subsequent episodes airing weekly on Mondays.