Mexican American animated television series
El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera (sometimes shortened to El Tigre) is an American Flash-animated television series created by Jorge R. Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua for Nickelodeon.[1] The series centers on a 13-year-old boy named Manny Rivera, who is trying to choose between being good or evil while dealing with bizarre enemies, as well as a superheroic father and his villainous grandfather. The show is set in Miracle City, a city based on and located at Tijuana, where Jorge grew up. El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera was the first Nicktoon to be animated with Adobe Flash after O'Grady, which was exclusive to The N.
The show's screening was on January 19, 2007, in the first-ever Nickelodeon Creative Summit held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, as a special treat for the 60 exclusive attendees. A sneak peek of the series aired on February 19, 2007. The series had two runs on two different networks; Nickelodeon from March 3, 2007, to June 20, 2008, then Nicktoons Network from August 7 to September 13, 2008. 26 episodes were produced.
Premise
Set in the fictional crime-ridden Mexican-American metropolis of Miracle City, El Tigre follows the adventures of Manny Rivera, a 13-year-old boy with superpowers trying to choose between being good or evil. Manny's father is a superhero known as White Pantera and wants Manny to grow up to be good and fight evil. Manny's Grandfather is a supervillain known as Puma Loco who thinks Manny should go to the dark side.
Production
El Tigre was created by a husband-and-wife team named Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua along with others who were employed to make the show. The couple made the project from experiences they had when they were younger. Manny Rivera is based on Jorge's young self. Many things known in the show were based on actual events or parts of Jorge's life. His father was an architect (which was viewed as good) and his grandfather was a general in the military (which was viewed as evil). That idea was exaggerated to the idea of superheroes and supervillains. The city Miracle City is likely based on Tijuana, where Jorge grew up.
El Tigre's Decision of Destiny
On January 25, 2008, Nickelodeon allowed viewers to vote on the ending of an episode, deciding whether El Tigre would choose the path of heroism or villainy.[2] "The Good, the Bad, and the Tigre" premiered later that same day with the ending chosen by the voters. Voters ultimately chose the heroic ending, in which El Tigre defeated Django and Sartana. If the villainous ending had been chosen, he would have helped Django and Sartana conquer the world, but turned against them by launching them through space to take the empire for himself and Frida, and ruled over the world into old age. After they remembered to free the now elderly White Pantera and Puma Loco from all their tyrannical fun, their reunion was interrupted when Sartana and Django recruited an army of aliens to retake her throne, in which the Rivera men (along with Frida who rides a mech) leap into action to battle Sartana, which cuts with the title "The End?".
Broadcast
El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera had its first screening at the first-ever Nickelodeon Creative Summit held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on January 19, 2007 as a special treat for the 60 exclusive attendees. The series premiered on February 19, 2007 as a sneak peek. The series then premiered regularly on Nickelodeon on March 3, 2007 and it has aired until June 20, 2008. Each half-hour episode consists of two different segments. The series would later premiered on Nicktoons Network on August 7, 2008.
The final episode aired on September 13, 2008. After the series ended, reruns continued to air on Nicktoons until May 5, 2021. It also aired on TeenNick's NickRewind block from March 20 to April 17, 2021. The series had its Canadian debut on YTV on May 4, 2007.
Merchandise
Video games
A videogame based on the series, also titled El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, was released for the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2 in 2007.
El Tigre is a playable character in the Nintendo DS version of Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots, and he also makes a non-playable cameo appearance in Nicktoons MLB.
El Tigre appears as a playable character in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, along with a stage based on the Miracle City volcano arena.[3]
The series also had several internet browser-based games on Nickelodeon's official website, including a fighting game that could be downloaded through the Nick Arcade website, titled Festival De Las Piñatas. El Tigre was also a playable character in several Nickelodeon-crossover browser games, including Nick Arcade's Nicktoons HoverZone.
Toys
McDonald's Happy Meal featured El Tigre toys for a limited time in January 2008. They include El Tigre, White Pantera, Puma Loco, and Señor Sinestro.
Home media
The episode "Night of the Living Guacamole" was to be featured on the Nick Picks Vol. 6 DVD, with a release date for August 7, 2007. However, the DVD was cancelled for unknown reasons.[4]
The series DVD was released as Season 1 on a six-disc set on November 23, 2011, as a manufacture on demand Amazon exclusive.[5] The series is also available to purchase on iTunes and Amazon Prime Video digitally.
Since July 26, 2023, the entire series was added to Paramount+.
| Title
|
Episode count
|
Release date
|
Episodes
|
|
|
Nick Picks Vol. 6
|
1
|
—
|
"Night of the Living Guacamole"
|
Print media
An upcoming art book, titled "The Art of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera" is scheduled to be released on July 9, 2024.
Other appearances
The characters Manny, Frida, and Grandpapi/Puma Loco make an appearance during a 2D animated scene in The Book of Life which is Jorge R. Gutierrez' first feature-length film. A wallpaper with El Tigre's design can be seen in a later scene as well as White Pantera in another scene.
El Oso (renamed as Bear Killah) appeared as a recurring character in Maya and the Three (also created by Jorge R. Gutierrez).
Reception
Critical
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the series three out of five stars; saying that, “Tweens will enjoy the zany characters and exaggerated stories, but parents might take issue with the young characters' penchant for troublemaking, the absence of a strong role model for Manny, and the overall lack of repercussions for his questionable behavior.”[6] The first season received an approval rating of 100% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on six reviews.[7]
Amid Amidi of Cartoon Brew wrote that "El Tigre offers hands down the most dynamic implementation of Flash I’ve ever seen in an animated TV series, seamlessly combining the cinematic possibilities more commonly associated with 3D CGI alongside the organic appeal of drawn animation," while also stating that the series has an "annoying tendency to stage too many scenes on slants and diagonals, voice acting performances that I couldn’t understand."[8]
Awards and nominations
| Award
|
Category
|
Nominee
|
Result
|
| 35th Annie Awards[9]
|
Best Animated Television Production for Children
|
El Tigre
|
Won
|
| Character Animation in a Television Production
|
Monica Kennedy – El Tigre
|
Nominated
|
| Character Design in an Animated Television Production
|
Jorge R. Gutierrez – El Tigre "Fistful of Collars"
|
Won
|
| Music in an Animated Television Production
|
Shawn Patterson – El Tigre "Yellow Pantera"
|
Nominated
|
| 36th Annie Awards[10]
|
Writing in an Animated Television Production or Short Form
|
Scott Kreamer – El Tigre "Mustache Love" – Nickelodeon
|
Nominated
|
| Character Design in an Animated Television Production or Short Form
|
Jorge Gutierrez – El Tigre "The Good, The Bad and The Tigre"
|
Nominated
|
| 35th Daytime Emmy Awards[11][12]
|
Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation
|
Sandra Equihua, Character Designer
|
Won
|
| Jorge Gutierrez, Character Designer
|
Won
|
| Gerald de Jesus, Art Direction
|
Won
|
| Eddie Trigueros, Storyboard
|
Won
|
| 36th Daytime Emmy Awards[13][14]
|
Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program
|
Dave Thomas, Gabe Swarr & Andrea Romano
|
Won
|
