The Nickelodeon show "The Casagrandes" has been off the air for the couple of years, but the family is now back on-screen — this time in movie form.
"The Casagrandes Movie" is streaming on Netflix. It starts with the character Ronnie Anne turning 12, and looking forward to spending her summer at the skatepark. But, her mom has a different idea: a trip to visit family in Michoacán, Mexico.
Lalo Alcaraz is a co-writer and cultural consultant on the movie. He’s also a cartoonist and the first artist-in-residence at the Arizona State University California Center. He's also done work with ASU’s School of Transborder Studies.
He joined The Show to talk about "The Casagrandes Movie."
Full transcript
MARK BRODIE: So what does it mean to you to have your work in movie form rather than episodic TV shows?
LALO ALCARAZ: It's nice, considering the history of “The Casagrandes,” you know, we made it to three seasons, and during the last season, they said we're going to have a movie, and it was a great, a great rumor that turned real, and then, you know, sadly, the show was canceled. Still lives out there on Nickelodeon and Paramount, but here we are after the show's, you know, ended, and we get to make a big comeback with the movie that just goes epic, right? So it was, it felt like, you know, a nice, you know, return, but it also felt like a new, a new saga, you know, a new, a new leg of the journey.
BRODIE: Well, and quite literally, right? Because, in the movie, you take the family not just to Mexico, but to a very specific place in Mexico, which it seems like it almost kind of becomes the place, almost becomes another character in the story.
ALCARAZ: No definitely. I have also, aside from co- writer credit, I have story credit because I was the guy with the big mouth when I first, first heard about the movie, kind of said, it's got to be a trip to Mexico, you know, like that. That was my big, broad-strokes idea. And when I was finally asked to develop a pitch, I had developed it so that they would go to mic rock in a place that is magical, like many places in Mexico, it's beautiful and is very, very it's one of the big cultures in Mexico. But it's also a place that doesn't get a lot of props or a lot of attention, I think, in films, and so it's good, you know, that we got to focus on something new and different, but also iconic. And yeah, the place is alive. And as the story goes, it really, really comes alive.
BRODIE: Yeah. And so while the family is there, we also learn in the movie about an indigenous culture that's there. I'm curious how important it was to you and maybe to your co-writers and creators here, to not just have a family from somewhere else go and, you know, look at how, you know, sort of exotic everything is, but to really get to learn about the people who live there?
ALCARAZ: Yeah. I mean, “The Casagrandes” backstory is, you know, the abuela, you know, is from that area in Mexico, and is an immigrant, right? So she grew up there. And we have, we had introduced in the series, her mom, the great grandmother, and a parrot. So these we bring back these characters, according to the director Miguel Puga, he dropped those in to the show to develop the background of the characters, and had them come in as new characters, and then we go see them and learn that they are indigenous and they are from the purapecha culture, which you know, is, you know, it makes the point that in Mexico, there's, you know, 67 languages spoken that are not Spanish. And there, there's indigenous people everywhere and in Michoacan, has one of the great cultures, purapecha.
BRODIE: So let me ask you about that, because one of your roles in this movie was that of cultural consultants. So I'm curious what that entails you doing when you are taking a film and a story to a particular place with a particular culture that you're trying to teach people about and show them, you know, without being exploitative or, you know, without being sort of stereotypical about it?
ALCARAZ: Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that, because we had two others because, you know, some of this stuff beyond. My, my skill level, you know, there is, there were two other consultants that were brought in to consult on the Indigenous language of Burecha. And then we had another consultant that advised on the mythology, you know, of that area. You know, it's not a documentary. It is a kids’ movie. But it is important, you know, to stay true to the real people, they exist.
BRODIE: So you mentioned that this is obviously a kids movie, and I'm wondering how you see, you know, sort of the cultural component and the the language component of this movie playing with kids, and I'm wondering if you maybe wrote it a little differently, since it's for kids, than you would have had it been for adults?
ALCARAZ: Well, we, you know, writing for kids animations definitely has its own challenges. You know, there's lots of rules that you learn about. And I mean, I didn't go to learn on the job, you know, doing “The Casagrandes.” But I think to me, it's a victory to show kids a new culture and and kind of explain it to them, and then not talk down to them, but kind of make it clear to just, if you write it clear and and you're sincere and respectful, kids get it, and if it's an interesting story, which is what you know, the the next squad of writers, the next team of my co-writers came up with, I know, you know, kids will love it.
BRODIE: I’ve read you quoted elsewhere where you've talked about how relatable the story is for a lot of families and a lot of kids who, especially, you know, living in the the southwestern part of the U.S., where, you know, for the summer, you would sort of pack up the car or pack up the truck and head to Mexico to visit family or see where, you know, where your parents or grandparents come from. I'm wondering, given that, do you see things like your childhood, or elements of your childhood when you watch this movie, or how much of that may have crept into the writing of the movie?
ALCARAZ: Oh, yeah, lots of it. One of, you know, my family, we didn't really, we would go to Tijuana every other weekend. You know, it wasn't a big deal because we grew up on the border of San Diego. I grew up on the border of San Diego. But, yeah, no, I, you know, I channeled some of the experiences like, you know, camping with my friends family, going down to Baja in a camper. And those were the best summer visits, even just, you know, crossing the border and going doing something like that. But also, I did experience going down to visit my family during summer, and we stay out there for, you know, a month or two at a time. And that is, you know, something that we get to experience. It's kind of unique, I think, you know, crossing the border, going into another country, and seeing go, going to the old country, as they call it, right, yeah, and it's, it's something that I knew would definitely appeal to a lot of the audience, bring back memories, maybe, and then maybe spur more trips, and maybe get the kids off the devices, and, you know, haul them down to go see their their grandma, their abuela, and, you know, live in a different world, even if it's just for the summer. I think it's a beautiful experience.
BRODIE: All right, that is Lalo Alcaraz, co-writer and cultural consultant on “The Casagrandes Movie.” Lalo, nice to talk to you. Thank you.
ALCARAZ: Thank you so much.
