Menino Maluquinho

Menino Maluquinho
First cover of the book released in 1980 by Ziraldo
First appearance	"book" (1980) "comics" (1989)
Created by	Ziraldo
Information
Species	human
Gender	Male

O Menino Maluquinho (The Nutty Boy) is a comic book and comic strip series created by Brazilian writer and cartoonist Ziraldo. It was based on the eponymous children's book published in 1980 which for many years was regarded as a classic of children's literature in Brazil, getting spun off into movies, plays and TV series. The comic books were published by Abril and Globo from 1989 until 2007. It was Ziraldo's second series of comic books, after "Turma do Pererê".

The main character, "Maluquinho" is a cheerful and optimistic 10-year-old boy who wears a pan on his head like a hat. Most of the stories revolve around the misadventures of Maluquinho and his friends with a light humour.

The first time a comic was published was in 1989, initially under the title of "O Menino Maluquinho em Quadrinhos" (The Nutty Boy in Comics). In the last years of publication they have been sold titles starring Julieta and Junim. There were a total of 162 comic books have been published over the years.

In 1995 Nutty Boy - The Movie () was released, directed by Helvécio Ratton, with a cast of Samuel Costa, Roberto Bomtempo, Patrícia Pillar, Othon Bastos and Luís Carlos Arutin. Maluquinho and his friends play during the holidays, and Maluquinho visits his grandfather's house. At the end of the film the grandfather dies, leaving his grandson very sad.

The film had a sequel in 1997 titled Nutty Boy 2 - The Adventure (), directed by Fernando Meirelles, with the same cast as the first film. In this movie Maluquinho tells his friends a story of another trip to his grandfather's house, where they discover a creature of fire called Tatá and become her friends.

In 2006 the channel TVE Brasil (currently TV Brasil) produced a live-action sitcom called Um Menino Muito Maluquinho. This was the channel's second adaptation of Ziraldo's comics, following A Turma do Pererê (). The series, usually narrated by an adult, follows the life of Maluquinho and his friends, alternating between their early childhood (up to age 5) and his current age of 10. The show became popular, winning several awards and being broadcast on other channels— TV Cultura and Disney Channel— but did not have a second season.