Los Trotamúsicos was a 1989 Spanish animated adaptation of the German fairy tale The Bremen Town Musicians by The Brothers Grimm.
It was originally an animated feature that more or less told the same story as in the fairy tale, but expanded on it by making the animals and the robbers individual characters:
- Koki: The red rooster, who plays guitar.
- Tonto: The brown donkey, who plays drums.
- Lupo: A white dog, who plays trumpet.
- Burlón: A blue cat, who plays saxophone.
They are confronted by three robbers and their dog:
- Chef: The leader of the robbers. A tall obviously Italian man who dresses in a white suit and looks like a maffiosi.
- Bestia: A brute and strong, yet stupid thug. He has an eyepatch.
- Tapón: A small dwarf, who always complains and has an obsession with chewing gum.
- Attila: Their dog, who is frequently insulted and pushed around by Chef for failing to do what he asks of him. Tapón usually uses him to ride to places, while the other bandits travel by bike.
Other recurring characters are:
- Ratt Rater: A raven with whom the Town Musicians are friends. He is somewhat of the manager of the group, who brought them together.
- The Major: The mayor of Bremen who has a moustache, a big busomed wife called Paloma, who usually faints and a not all that enthusiastic chauffeur named Otto. His child nephew and niece also frequently make an appearance.
Also, contrary to the fairy tale the cast does make it to Bremen and become famous musicians. The success of this feature eventually led to a spin-off in the form of a TV series.
Not to be confused with other animated adaptations of the same story, like the Russian Town Musicians of Bremen the German animated movie The Fearless Four, or the short-lived American series The Bremen Avenue Experience.
Los Trota Musicos provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: The animated feature told the fairy tale as we know it: the four musicans want to go to Bremen to become famous. After they accomplished their goal you would think that the story was over, but the makers still managed to make a TV series spin-off about their further adventures in Bremen.
- Adaptation Expansion: Most of the original fairy tale was expanded upon.
- Animal Stereotypes: The donkey is not too bright.
- Attack! Attack... Retreat! Retreat!: This usually happens whenever the villains try to attack our heroes. They run away quickly if things go wrong.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Chef is the tall leader of the gang. Bestia is the obese thug and Tapon is the small one.
- Cool Cat: He plays a mean sax.
- The Don: Chef. He dressed in a borsalino hat, a white suit and has Sinister Shades.
- Everyone Meets Everyone: This is how the band got together.
- Eyepatch of Power: Bestia is the strong thug and has an eyepatch.
- Faint in Shock: The mayor's wife usually faints whenever a situation becomes too much for her, complete with falling into her husband's arms.
- Feather Fingers: Koki the rooster is able to play guitar with them.
- Harmless Villain: The robbers can be a threat, but they are always defeated in the end.
- The Mafia: Chef looks like a member of the mafia.
- Meaningful Name: Lupo the dog. Lupo is derived from the Latin word lupus ("wolf").
- Named After Somebody Famous: Attila the dog is named after Attila the Hun.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Naming your guard dog Attila will have this effect.
- National Stereotypes: Chef is an Italian maffiosi and speaks with this accent too.
- Rule of Three: There are three robbers, their dog not included.
- The Runaway: All animals were forced to run away because they were mistreated by their owners.
- Running on All Fours: Despite often walking on their hind legs the Bremen Town Musicians still run on all fours.
- Shout-Out: In the opening sequence the Bremen Town Musicians at one point appear dressed up as The Beatles. Fittingly, Tonto plays the part of Ringo.
- Sinister Shades: Chef never takes off his shades.
- Stock Footage: The series re-used the same shots of the band playing, the animals running away, the robbers driving across the road, the robbers running away again and again in every episode.
- Surrounded by Idiots: The Chef usually blames his henchmen for all their failings.
- Talking Animal: It is implied that all animals are able to talk to each other, but humans can't understand them.
- Too Dumb to Live: Tonto the donkey, but still he is more smart than all of the three robbers combined.
- Villain Song: The villains have their own theme song, which they sing while driving across the road. You'd better hope the police doesn't overhear them!
- Wraparound Background: Especially obvious in the forest scenes.
