Combo Niños facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Combo Niños
Genre	Action
Created by	Carlo de Boutiny Caroline Pierce Fabienne Gambrelle
Directed by	Jean-Jacques Lasarte
Voices of	Main: Christopher A. Kent Robert Allison Antonio Amadee Sarah Brohee Oscar Cheda Chloe Dolandis Rayner Graanchen Lissa Grossman Matthew Jorden James Keller Wayne Legette Additional: Stacy Schwartz Cecifia Torres
Composer(s)	Alain Garcia Noam Kaniel
Country of origin	France
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Stéphanie Kirchmayer Jacqueline Tordjman Marc Buhaj
Producer(s)	Bruno Bianchi Christian Leblanc
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	SIP Animation
Distributor	Disney–ABC International Television
Release
Original network	Jetix (international) TF1 (France)
Picture format	HD: 16:9
Original release	August 2008 (August 2008)

Combo Niños is an exciting French animated TV show that first aired in 2008. It was created by SIP Animation with help from Jetix Europe and TF1. The show follows the adventures of four young heroes who practice capoeira, a cool Brazilian martial art. Their big mission is to protect their city, Nova Nizza, from strange, magical creatures called "Divinos" that come from another dimension.

The Combo Niños have a special power! They can turn into powerful animal-like beings by touching unique totems that appear on the Divinos. When they transform, they gain amazing skills. These skills help them fight the Divinos and perform a super-strong attack called "Big Blastico." This attack sends the Divinos back to their own dimension.

Where Does the Story Take Place?

The show's setting looks a lot like countries in Latin America, especially places like Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. You can see this in the characters' clothes, the food they eat, and even their names. The use of capoeira fighting style also shows this influence. The characters also play a sport called Novanoc, which is a fun version of an ancient game played by the Mayans called pok-ta-pok.

Meet the Characters

The Young Heroes: Combo 4

The main heroes are four 11-year-old kids known as the Combo 4: Serio, Paco, Azul, and Pilar.

• Serio: His special animal totem is the Tigrillo (a small wild cat). Serio is usually quiet but has a strong personality. He enjoys poetry and art, even if he doesn't always show it. He's funny and a bit sarcastic. He secretly likes Azul but is too shy to tell her. When he becomes the Tigrillo, he gains super speed, agility, and strong claws.
• Paco: His totem is the Bull. Paco loves to compete and can be a bit tough. He sometimes likes to show off, especially in his favorite sport, Novanoc. Paco can get shy or grumpy when things annoy him. He might seem a bit silly sometimes, but he's a really nice person and a loyal friend. As the Bull, Toro, he gets amazing superhuman strength, enough to break buildings and create powerful sound waves. He also becomes very big!
• Azul: Her totem is the Eagle. Azul is calm and serious. She likes fashion and is very smart and intuitive. However, she can also be quite bossy. Azul has a special device called a DivinoBerry that helps her find and track the Divinos. Since she's the smartest, she usually plans how to stop and catch the Divinos. She doesn't know Serio likes her at first, but she starts to like him too over time. She's really scared of insects and snakes. When she turns into the Eagle, she can fly, create strong winds, control birds, and make loud, high-pitched sounds.
• Pilar: Her totem is the Iguana. Pilar is unique, cheerful, and likes many unusual things, like eating insects, seafood, and even some plants! Her favorite snacks are frozen pistachio nuts and blackberries. Pilar is very different from the others, especially when she dances or plays music. Sometimes she feels a bit unsure of herself. She's also very innocent and easily distracted, even during battles. But even with her crazy ideas, she often comes up with plans that help the team win. When she becomes the Iguana, her body can stretch and become super elastic.

The Wise Teachers: The Masters

The Combo Niños get guidance and training from their teachers, known as "The Masters."

• Master Grinto is the main teacher for the Combo Niños. He teaches them capoeira and how to fight the Divinos. He used to be a Combo boy himself, and his totem is the Monkey. The kids really depend on Grinto, especially when they have problems in their lives. He helps them by giving encouragement and showing them the right path. He often says, "Don't you think? I think." He works as a librarian at the school where the kids study.
• Old Head is another Combo Master. He was also a Combo hero in the past and was even Grinto's teacher! His totem is Dragon Wing. Old Head is literally just a head made of stone. This happened when he was coaching Grinto in a battle against a Divino. He ended up in the Divino's world, and as punishment for being a teacher, his body turned completely into a stone head. But he's still alive and helps Grinto train the Combo Niños. He can be a bit strict and prefers old-school training methods. His real name is Bernie.

Mystical Creatures: Divinos

The Divinos are magical creatures from another world. They used to cause a lot of trouble and chaos in the human world before they were sent back to their own dimension. Most of them want to take over the human world, but they are stuck in their own dimension. However, a character named Diadoro's plans have brought them back to the human world. Even though Diadoro wants them to follow his orders, the Divinos often ignore him. Some might help him for a while, but they usually want to break free and try to conquer the world on their own. Each Divino has one of the four totem symbols on its body. When a Combo Niños touches the symbol that matches their animal totem, they can transform into their powerful Animal Form.

Other Important Characters

• Diadoro used to be the mayor of Nova Nizza. He lost the last election because he wanted too much power. He's always trying to find ways to get rid of the current Mayor and become mayor again. With his assistant Gomez, he looks for portals to bring Divinos into the human world to help him. But he always loses because the Divinos often betray him and don't follow his commands.
• Gomez is a scientist who knows where all the Divino portals are and how to summon the creatures for Diadoro. He's always inventing new gadgets to call the Divinos and try to control them, but his plans usually fail. Even though he's almost like a servant to Diadoro, Gomez always supports him.
• Miss Solidad is a kind and quiet teacher at the school where the Combo Niños study. She loves teaching children and uses games to make learning fun. However, the school Director Bronka often limits her because he thinks she doesn't teach properly.
• Director Bronka is the strict and grumpy director of the school. He insists that children are educated "properly," no matter what happens outside or how well the teachers, especially Miss Solidad, teach.
• Mayor Ruelas is the current Mayor of Nova Nizza. Almost every time Diadoro is defeated, she finds a way to make him look even worse than he already does.
• Michael is a school boy and a big fan of the Combo Niños. He doesn't know that his classmates are the actual heroes!
• Millie is a school girl and Michael's best friend. She gets along well with everyone and is always cheerful.
• Ralph is a school boy who uses a wheelchair. Despite this, he's an excellent Novanok player and also makes cool piñatas.
• Telmo is another classmate of the Combo Niños. He is Paco's big rival and Pearl's friend.
• Pearl is a very rich school girl. She thinks she's the best and spends her time annoying everyone, especially Pilar, because she's jealous of her.

Episode Guide

How Was Combo Niños Made?

Combo Niños was created by a French animation studio called SIP Animation. The actual animation work was done by a Malaysian studio named Inspidea [ms].

The show was first announced in October 2004. It was planned to be ready by early 2006. Each episode was expected to cost about US$370,000 to make. Back then, the character Diadoro was imagined as a "down-on-his-luck e-trader."

Where Did the Show Air?

Besides Jetix channels in Europe and Latin America, Combo Niños was also shown on several other TV networks around the world.

• In Australia, since there wasn't a Jetix Channel, the show aired on free TV channels like Seven Network and 7TWO. Disney had a long partnership with Seven's parent company.
• In France, the series first aired on TF1 (during the TFOU block). Later, it moved to Disney XD (which used to be Jetix France). This was because TF1 helped produce the show. Disney XD started showing the series in December 2009.
• In the United Kingdom, the show aired on Jetix and also on the GMTV-owned Toonattik block. Toonattik was shown on ITV1 and CITV.
• In Turkey and Romania, the show was broadcast on Kanal D.
• In the Middle East, the show aired on MBC 3, which also showed other Jetix programs.

See also

In Spanish: Combo Niños para niños