Mort and Phil

Overview

Mort and Phil can be described as a pair of walking catastrophes, and no matter what kind of mission they are assigned they always manage to get it wrong. The results are almost invariably extremely violent, and most often directed towards Phil. At the T.I.A. (Spanish for "aunt", a parody of the CIA as well as "U.N.C.L.E.", the main organization of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), which combats "enemy organizations" like R.A.N.A. ("frog") or A.B.U.E.L.A. ("grandmother"), they interact with their boss, the bad-tempered Superintendente Vicente; with Professor Bacterio, a black-bearded, disastrous scientist parodying James Bond's Q; and with the fat, blonde secretary Ofelia, a parody of Moneypenny, whose attempts at seducing Mort always fail.

Outside Spain, the series is especially popular in Germany as Clever & Smart. After the 1980s, the albums have featured current news, like computer sabotage, the AVE, Islamic terrorism, Spanish and European politics, and specials for the Olympic Games and the soccer World Cup.

Ibáñez likes to introduce whimsies unrelated to the action especially in covers. A water tap can sprout from a tree, two mice may be chatting, a vase can contain a foot or an eggplant, etc. An eerie example happened in the final page of the album El 35 aniversario (1993) where a New York scene features an airplane crashing against the World Trade Center. This attracted attention after the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

Ibáñez issues several albums a year. One animated series and some animated films were also produced. There are two live-action movies based on the series, one of them made in 2003 in Spain titled La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón (Mort & Phil: The Big Adventure). A second movie was released in 2008, Mortadelo y Filemón. Misión: salvar la Tierra (Mort & Phil. Mission: Save Earth), marking the 50th anniversary of the series.

Mort (Mortadelo)

Mort is a bald detective with pebble glasses and a long nose who usually wears a black frock coat. He is always fighting with Phil, his partner, mostly because he tends to mess things up, usually to Phil's discomfort: his profound lack of skills to make his disguises believables and common sense have often made him a danger to everyone around him. His favourite hobby is wearing all sorts of (sometimes outrageous) disguises - professional and historical clothes and gear, animals, inanimate objects, even small-sized vehicles like miniature blimps and mopeds - which he mostly dons for special tasks or when he is on the run from Phil or his boss, and which all include his signature collar which obscures part of his mouth. He holds a grudge against Bacterio because he used to have lush hair until Bacterio offered him a supposed medicine against baldness, which actually made his hair fall out. His real name, Mortadelo, comes from "mortadela", a kind of sausage.

Phil Pi (Filemón Pi)/"Jefe"

Mort's partner and friend. He only has two hairs on his head and wears a white shirt with a black bowtie and red trousers. He usually insults Mort because Mort is quite clumsy, but is often at the receiving end of any mishaps which come their way, mostly in the shape of their outraged boss. As the leader of the two-man team, he is an educated man and an expert in a variety of fields. Mortadelo habitually addresses him as "Jefe" (Spanish for "chief" or "boss").

In the movies however, Filemón seems to be just as ditzy as Mortadelo, but his "bad luck streak" drastically increase (especially in the animated movie Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible.

Vicente /"El Superintendente"

Called for short "Súper" or just "El Súper". Vicente is the boss of Mort and Phil and is usually called "Súper" or "El Súper" by his underlings. While he, as the head of the organization, lives in splendor, indulging himself in expensive beverages and Cuban cigars, he keeps the T.I.A.'s operatives on an extremely tight budget; some central story plots revolve around Mort and Phil acquiring and testing new equipment for the T.I.A. because the gear used by the organization has long since gone (in very mild terms) virtual stone age.
El Super is bald and has a dense moustache, which makes him the object of mocking abuse by his underlings as a human walrus. He is very short-tempered and he usually gets angry with Mort and Phil because they fail in their missions, leaving a spectacular mess - occasionally at the expense of his own (and expensive) possessions. Just as often, however, he ends up as the one being chased by his underlings, as his frequently short-sighted assignments cause them no end of grief. He owns a variety of wild animals that he uses to coerce the pair, including tigers, crocodiles and he apparently has a soft spot for hippos.

Professor Bacterio

The T.I.A.'s black-bearded scientist and chief inventor. Mort blames him for his baldness (he had tried a new hair-strengthening concoction on Mort's then-lush mane, which made the hair fall out instead) and therefore the doctor is the unwilling prime recipient of Mort's practical jokes. His inventions, which are to assist Mort and Phil in their assignments, often fail quite spectacularly, mostly because they either achieve the opposite of what they are supposed to do, or work perfectly but fail at the most inconvenient moment. His name comes from bacteria.

Ofelia

The fat and vain secretary of Superintendente Vicente. She is still single and would like to become involved with someone (usually with Mort), but so far her attempts have been in vain. She is quite touchy her lack of luck with a relationship and being called fat; she reacts with corresponding violence when either of topics are brought up- and with her considerable weight, this is nothing to be ignored. She was the first female character created for the series.

Irma

The bombshell secretary of El Súper. Mort and Phil are in love with her (much to Ofelia's chagrin), but she is not interested. This character disappeared from the series after only 24 volumes.

F. Ibañez

The creator of the series himself has a number of cameo appearances, either by name or in cartoon form. Mostly he is (humorously) portrayed as the bald and bespectacled "Artist of the Nation", in perhaps the same league as Pablo Picasso. On several occasions, the series' characters often long for being "as rich as Ibáñez".

"Rompetechos"

A small man with a rather oversized head, receding black hair and a small moustache in a black suit. He is always put in as a comic relief character; although he wears glasses, they must either have the wrong prescription or are totally ineffective, because his eyesight is totally down. This causes him to react in ways which causes some inconvenience to Mort and Phil if they happen to cross his way. He both has his own comic series (little known outside Spain) and cameoes in Ibañez's other works.

The Minister

Vicente's boss (and the only person who he ever toadies to). His appearance changes constantly throughout the series. In recent appearances has been replaced by a caricature of the President of the Government of Spain.

Señora Superintendente

The wife of Vicente (also with an ever-changing face). While he may hold the rudder in the T.I.A., she holds the rudder in their household.

Bestiájez

The giant agent of the T.I.A. He usually has to hunt down Mort and Phil because they don't want to do their missions. A rather minor character, his face has changed many times in the past. Many other agents appear, most of them having descriptive surnames ending in "-ez" ("Bestiájez" comes from "bestia", beast).

Parody characters

There are also parodies of numerous celebrities and political personalities such as Ronald Reagan or José María Aznar.

Albums

In order of publication:

Animated series

There was an animated series in 1994 titled Mortadelo y Filemón with Spanish voice actors.

Film adaptations

Between 1965 and 1970, Rafael Vara directed 16 short animated films which were united in two films (Festival de Mortadelo y Filemón and Segundo festival de Mortadelo y Filemón). In 1970 he made a proper feature film, El armario del tiempo.

There are two live action films based on the comic: Mortadelo & Filemon: The Big Adventure by Javier Fesser (2003) and Mort & Phil. Mission: Save Earth by Miguel Bardem (2008).

Javier Fesser directed the 3D animated film Mortadelo and Filemon: Mission Implausible (2014).

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