Carrusel (Spanish pronunciation:[karuˈsel]) is a Mexican children'stelenovela produced by Valentín Pimstein for Televisa in 1989.[1] It is based on the Argentinean character Jacinta Pichimahuida (first televised in 1966), and produced by and broadcast on Televisa in 1989. It covers daily life in a Mexican elementary school and the children's relationships with a charismatic teacher named Ximena. Among other plot devices, it deals with the differences between the upper and lower classes of Mexican society – specifically as seen in a romantic relationship between Cirilo, a poor black boy, and a spoiled white rich girl, Maria Joaquina Villaseñor.
Gabriela Rivero starred as main protagonist, while Janet Ruiz and Beatriz Moreno starred as main antagonists. Ludwika Paleta, Pedro Javier Viveros, Hilda Chávez, Flor Eduarda Gurrola, Joseph Birch, Abraham Pons, Mauricio Armando, Gabriel Castañon, Yoshiki Takiguchi, Manuel Fernández, Karin Nisembaum, and Silvia Guzmán starred as stellar performances.
Plot
The story begins with the daily lives of a group of schoolchildren from a Mexican primary school ("Escuela Mundial") and the relations of the latter with their teacher, Ximena. In the series, several issues about life, while stressing values such as love, trust and friendship touched.
The characters
Teacher Ximena Fernández is something like the embodiment of all that is good. She is a teacher, friend and mother to her students. She shows friendliness and enormous patience, she is loved by all.
Cirilo Rivera is a good boy, and the only child of black ancestry in school. He is the son of a humble carpenter and a housewife who adore him to the utmost.
María Joaquina Villaseñor is a rich girl, daughter of a renowned and prestigious physician (Dr. Miguel Villaseñor). Beautiful, selfish, overlooked by her classmates, but eventually learns to value the important things in life.
Laura Quiñones is a chubby yet romantic girl. She spends most of the day with a big sandwich in hand, and never misses an opportunity to let go a sigh and say, That's so romantic, or, You are very anti-romantic.
Kokimoto Mishima is a boy of Japanese origin and the only Asian child at school. Always with his hachimaki tied around his head, he was one of the henchmen and bodyguard of Pablo Guerra in the early chapters and later was replaced on paper as right arm by Mario Pablo Ayala. His signature phrase is: "Yyyaaaaa yyyyaaaaaa!!!" (a battle cry used in karate).
Bibi Smith is a girl of American origin. She is a polite and gentle girl, and a good friend. Bibi speaks Spanish imperfectly, since her native language is English.
David Rovinovich is a Jewish boy, angelic face and curly blond hair. He wastes no time with the girls, coming to fall in love with Valeria, one of his classmates.
Valeria Ferrer is the girlfriend of David Rovinovich. She is a cheerful girl and joker character who helps others but cannot help her joking, she is not as bad as Pablo Guerra.
Jaime Palillo is a robust, stocky, rough and clumsy child, but also very brave to come forward and defend his friends, especially Cirilo. His biggest complication is the school subjects. He's not outstanding in studies but gets some recognition after.
Pablo Guerra is the naughty boy of the class, but often his jokes go too far. He is used to annoy his sister Marcelina and play practical jokes on Cirilo.
Marcelina Guerra is the sister of Pablo. Pablo would often make fun of her, annoy her and show the quality of dislike towards her but Marcelina still likes his brother no matter what.
Daniel Zapata is one of the top students in the class and the leader of the "Patrulla Salvadora". He is regarded by all as a good friend and a good leader.
Carmen Carrillo is a noble, kind, and loving girl who has to endure the difficult situations faced by her parents. However, she tries very well to succeed at school and she is very excellent in her notes at school.
Jorge del Salto is a rich boy, smug and pampered by his mother, who thinks he is superior to all children by their economic status, having empathy alone with Maria Joaquina, who is the only one whom he considers in his class.
Mario Ayala is a boy living with his father and stepmother, the latter an abusive woman who loves tormenting Mario because she does not consider him his son. When he arrives at school for the first time, he responds badly to teacher Ximena who leaves the classroom crying. This causes him to be severely punished by his classmates. He later becomes the right arm of Pablo Guerra.
Alicia Guzmán is another of the girls attending the second year of teacher Ximena, being very fond of all the girls in the classroom, sharing many adventures with them. On one occasion, she suffers from appendicitis which causes her to be urgently operated on by María Joaquina's father.
Margarita Garza is a native girl from Monterrey that came to live in Mexico City with her mother. A distinctive characteristic, wearing a different uniform from the school children in Mexico City (She wears the uniform of the headquarters of the Escuela Mundial of Monterrey) with jacket and cowboy boots.
Clementina Suárez was a child who initially was in the second year of teacher Ximena, but had to drop out of school because her parents suffered a traffic accident and were hospitalized in Guadalajara.
Adrián García is a chubby kid who is a member of the "Patrulla Salvadora". There are no stories about him and no information about his family. He is mostly remembered for yawning during the intro.
