The feature film ‘Buffalo Kids’, directed by Pedro Solís García and Juan Jesús García Galocha, has achieved the best debut for a Spanish animated film since the release of ‘Mummies’ (2023), according to the production company Atresmedia Cine.
The children’s western was released in cinemas on 14 August and has attracted more than 194,000 spectators in Spanish theatres, grossing more than one million euros in its first five days on the billboard.
This also makes it the best premiere for a Spanish film since ‘Padre no hay más que uno 4’, which hit theaters on July 18.
‘Buffalo Kids’ follows the adventures of Mary and Nick, the protagonists of the short film ‘Cuerdas’ (2013), winner of the Goya for Best Animated Short in 2014 and which, according to its directors, has more than 100 million views on YouTube.
In an interview with Europa Press, Solís said that they had made “what many people were asking for a reality,” which was “a longer story about these characters.”
Solís also clarified that ‘Buffalo Kids’ is not a sequel to ‘Cuerdas’, although the friendship between the characters continues and there are “references” in some shots. “It is a completely different adventure, because it is set in another era and in the American West,” explained the filmmaker, who specified that the film maintains the “emotional” part of the short film.
The film features Nick, a boy who suffers from cerebral palsy and who serves as a tribute to Solís’ son who died in 2021, as well as Mary, who plays his daughter. “For me, it means the opportunity to give life to my son three years after he passed away, just when we started with the film,” said the filmmaker.
The story behind ‘Buffalo Kids’ tells the true story of the orphan trains that existed in 19th century New York and that took the children through the West in search of a foster family. “When we heard about that story, it blew our minds, because it gave us the opportunity to develop ideas about what could happen on that trip,” Solís recalled.