Mafalda animated series directed by Juan José Campanella coming to Netflix in 2025

Netflix will host an animated series adaptation of the legendary comic strip Mafalda next year. Argentine director Juan José Campanella, who won an Oscar in 2010 for 'Il segreto dei suoi occhi', leads the ambitious project produced by Mundoloco CGI. The series was announced in 2024 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the character's first appearance. Created by Argentine cartoonist Quino (Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón), who died in 2020, Mafalda features a six-year-old girl who dislikes soup and loves The Beatles. The comic strips blend lightness with critical depth, addressing topics from international politics to family dynamics with ironic and sharp observation. Campanella stated that Mafalda and her friends not only made him laugh but also forced him to open a dictionary, rewarding him with new laughter with each word learned. The first image released by Netflix suggests a soft visual approach that remains faithful to Quino's original graphic style while embracing a more contemporary language, moving from the essential black and white of the old strips. The director expressed that while they may not elevate Mafalda, as there is no level above hers, they dream of finding a new way to share her with their children. The character is often compared to Peanuts for maintaining a constant tension between innocence and awareness.