Wepa!note
Alma's Way is a PBS Kids animated series created by Sonia Manzano, who played Maria on Sesame Street, one of the first Latino characters on TV. The series is produced by Fred Rogers Productions and animated by Pipeline Studios (Elinor Wonders Why).
Alma Rivera is a 6-year-old Afro-Puerto Rican girl living in the Bronx, navigating everyday life with her family and her close-knit group of friends — Andre King, Rafia Huda, and Lucas Reed. During each episode, she takes a moment to stop and think, talking directly to the audience about the situation at hand.
Besides problem-solving, the series also showcases different aspects of Latino culture, such as language, food, customs, and music. Music is a huge part of the series and can range from Puerto Rican styles like Plena, Bomba, and salsa to other Latino genres such as Cuban son and Colombian cumbia. The theme song is written and produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and performed by Flaco Navaja.
It premiered on October 4, 2021. Television airings are followed up by shorts about Filipino culture called Jelly, Ben, and Pogo.
Alma's Tropes:
- Amicable Exes: In "Granny on the Go", Alma explicitly states that her maternal grandparents aren't married anymore, but they like making cookies together whenever Granny Isa visits.
- The Big Race: "The Longest Race," is about Alma and her friends participating in a race all across the park, and Alma being pressured into giving up by Howard when she starts to doubt if she enjoys the race or not.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Alma talks to the viewers, especially during her "Think Through" moments. However, she speaks to them as an equal and doesn't ask them for their help. Additionally, unlike other PBS shows like Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, none of the other characters ever acknowledge or seem to be aware of the viewers.
- Brutal Honesty: Characters tend to say exactly what they think and not hold back. Some examples are when Abuelo says that Lulu's mofongo isn't her best dish, or when Lulu tells Ruben that his apron is too small.
- Camp Straight: Uncle Nestor may be a dramatic actor, but he still has a wife, Gloria.
- Canine Companion: Alma has a dog named Chacho.
- Character Catchphrase: Alma always says "I gotta think about this" when she slips into her Think Through moments.
- Christmas Episode: "Alma's Nochebuena" is about Alma and her family celebrating Nochebuena (Christmas Eve), but Alma's traditions don't go right. No one in the neighborhood has any extension cords to turn on the animal lights. Also, we learn that Becca is Jewish.
- Clashing Cousins: Downplayed; Alma and Eddie usually get along fine. In "Alma vs. Eddie", they have a Friendly Rivalry in regards to their favorite baseball teams, but Alma goes too far with her pranks and upsets Eddie.
- Cool Old Guy: Granny Isa has traveled all around the world, and sends Alma postcards of the places she visits. She's also quite good at dancing.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Lulu is a normally good cook, but she's not good at making mofongo.
- Creator Thumbprint: The theme song was produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and it shows. Not only is there a rap sequence, but the beginning of the song goes "Le lo lei le lo le lo lai".
- Determinator: Alma makes things happen, and she doesn't hold back.
- Dogs Hate Squirrels: In "Chacho's Day Out", Chacho leaps out of the car to chase a squirrel at the park.
- Edutainment Show: The purpose of the show is to teach social-emotional skills as well as Latino culture.
- Eye Am Watching You: In "Alma's Movie Night", Andre mentions how squirrels ate his popcorn two weeks ago. He spots some squirrels and does the gesture.
- Eye Catch: In between each episode, there's a short blurb with Alma dancing in front of a teal background and the show logo enlarging.
- Five-Token Band: Alma's gang consists of Alma (Puerto Rican), Andre (African-American), Rafia (Bangladeshi), Lucas (white), and Eddie (Puerto Rican and has cerebral palsy). Sixth rangers Becca, Howard, Harper, and Yolette are is Jewish, Black, biracial, and Haitian-American, respectively.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: In "Bomba or Baseball", Alma has to perform in Uncle Nestor's Bomba show, but she also wants to go to the baseball game. She eventually decides to participate in the Bomba show...which happened to be the opener for the baseball game all along.
- Gratuitous Spanish: Spanish is incorporated in the show, given that Alma's family are Puerto-Rican.
- Large Ham: Alma's Uncle Nestor is a theater actor and playwright; and even when he's not on stage, he tends to speak with a gleeful, over-the-top hamminess that sounds a lot like Raul Julia's over-the-top performance as Gomez Addams.
- Leeroy Jenkins: Alma is "impulsive, but trying to be more thoughtful".
- Kids Love Dinosaurs: Junior has several dinosaur toys, and his favorite one is Dippy.
- Meaningful Name: Alma's name is Spanish for soul, which fits with her resolve to help others and how she's basically the "soul" of her community.
- Military Brat: Harper's dad is in the military and currently stationed.
- The Moving Experience: "Goodbye, Howard!": Alma sees Howard packing boxes full of stuff and talking about going somewher,e which causes her to make the conclusion that Howard is moving away from the Bronx. She tells all of her friends and together they hold a goodbye ceremony for him. As it turns out, Howard isn't moving. He's visiting New Jersey for the week with his mom to help his cousins unpack at their own new house.
- Musical World Hypotheses: Falls under the Diegetic hypothesis. The clips shown on the show's website on pbskids.org shows the characters performing songs for each other, with actual instruments.
- Obsessive Sports Fan: Alma's favorite baseball team is the Sweat Sox, and her cousin Eddie's favorite team is the City Seagulls. This drives a rift between them in "Alma vs. Eddie," where Alma keeps pranking Eddie with what is essentially pro-Sweat Sox propaganda.
- Once an Episode: Alma's "think-through" moments where she figures out how to handle a problem.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Rafia is described as being sporty and competitive.
- Phenotype Stereotype: Alma and her family all have brown skin and large lips. Andre has even bigger lips and a wide nose. Rafia has a Roman nose. Becca has an aquiline nose.
- Pink Means Feminine: Alma wears a pink shirt.
- The Pollyanna: Alma is optimistic. If she puts her mind to a problem, she can figure it out.
- Prank Gone Too Far: In "Alma vs. Eddie", Alma pranks Eddie a few times, and while he finds them amusing, he tells her that he's done pranking. Alma doesn't listen, so she does another prank involving a balloon filled with glitter, which Eddie doesn't like at all. The Aesop of the episode is that jokes should be light-hearted and fun for everyone involved. If someone tells you to stop, you have to stop.
- Shout-Out:
- Alma's house number is 143, a tribute to Fred Rogers from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, who always liked that number as representative of the number of letters in each word in the phrase "I love you."
- In "No-Go Mofongo," Lulu sings about smashing plantains to the tune of Bizet's Les Toreaders
. She does it again in later episodes, changing the lyrics to reflect whatever she's doing at the time. - Alma's favorite baseball team is the Sweat Sox, a parody of the Boston Red Sox.
- In "Anniversary Surprise", one of the subway stops Tia Gloria stops at is "Manzano Avenue Station", a reference to Sonia Manzano, creator of Alma's Way.
- Slice of Life: It has simple, somewhat mundane plots and no fantastical elements.
-
Spiritual Successor: To Nina's World. Both are about a young Latina girl based on a popular figure in children's entertainment living in the city. Both shows, coincidentally, are animated by Pipeline Studios. - "Stuck at the Airport" Plot: In "Granny On The Go", the flight that Alma's grandma planned to go on to visit the Bronx is cancelled. Alma decides to video chat with her to show her the things she does there.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Alma's 'think through' moments allow her to pause life and talk to the viewer about how to solve the problem at hand.
- That Makes Me Feel Angry: "No Granny today? That makes me feel way, way, wayyy bad." courtesy of Alma in "Granny on the Go".
- Title Theme Tune: The theme song repeats the title of the show a few times.
- Token White: Lucas and Becca are the only white characters on the show.
- Unusual Euphemism: Combined with Gosh Darn It to Heck!, with a dash of Parental Bonus: Alma's mother tends to mutter the word "mofongo" (a Puerto Rican dish she's not good at cooking) under circumstances that imply she'd be cussing if her children weren't present.
