CASTELO RA-TIM-BUM: THE COSTUMES … Documenta: Museu, Memória e Design – 2015 ISSN: 2358-5269 Ano II - Nº 1 - Maio de 2015 CASTELO RA-TIM-BUM: THE COSTUMES RESTORATION FOR THE

Moda Documenta: Museu, Memória e Design – 2015

ISSN: 2358-5269 Ano II - Nº 1 - Maio de 2015

CASTELO RA-TIM-BUM: THE COSTUMES RESTORATION FOR THE MIS EXHIBITION

Luiza Helena Freitas de Oliveira (Santa Catarina State University) Mara Rúbia Sant’Anna (Santa Catarina State University)

Summary: This paper presents the restoration process of the Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum series costumes, developed by TV Cultura, for the exhibition at the Image and Sound Museum (MIS) in São Paulo. Some costumes wereselected, costumes that challenged the team involved in the restoration process, but theydo not represent the totality of remanufactured parts, since the entire collection needed repairs at different levels because the costumes completed 20 years in 2014. Keywords: Costume Design; Restoration; Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum; TV Cultura; MIS.

Introduction

The Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum show, launched by TV Cultura in 1994, has reached at least three

generations and continues conquering the children and youth in Brazil and many other countries where

the program was exported and dubbed. To remember the 20th anniversary of the show, the São Paulo

Museum of Image and Sound (MIS) promoted last year the event "Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum - The exhibition",

presenting the reconstruction of the scenarios and the restoration of costumes and props.

For the composition of this paper, we conceptualize costumes based on the film literature,

television and theater, comparing it to the positioning of the TV Cultura by the time they created the series.

In addition, we described Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum characteristics and the exhibition held at MIS.

Complementing each article section, we reproduce quotes from interviews with two professionals

involved with the restoration process: Carlos Alberto Gardin, Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum costume designer, who

previously had produced Ra-Tim-Bum series, and Rebecca Beolchi, currently responsible for the

costumes of the new Sesame Street edition and the TV Cultura News, who also participated in the entire

restoration process.

We selected some costumes to describe the restoration process, pointing their materials, the

challenges and the final selection for exhibition at the Museum. This article analyzes the following

characters costumes: João de Barro, Patativas, Nino, Pedro, Caipora e Etevaldo.

Finally, we point out in the final considerations the limitations of TV Cultura structure as the textile

collection and initiatives that have emerged in the Padre Anchieta Foundation from that need.



Costume

A costume is popularly known as clothes that dress the characters on stage, but also elements

like hair, makeup and accessories. "The costumes [...] are one of the elements that help telling a story.

Appointed by common sense as actors 'second skin', never passes unnoticed by the critical and interested

eyes of fans" (MEMÓRIA GLOBO, 2007, p.13).

According to Cordeiro (2009), the scenic art could not exist without the spectator, who is the

receiver. The objective of the staging, which is to signify through numerous constituent languages during

its construction, it is also achieved through the appearance of each character, which contributes to the

visual body, turning it in a strong significance instrument for the show's proposal.

For Barthes, a "good costume" must fulfill its role without becoming the main scenic art focus,

otherwise it loses its purpose. When the costume becomes an end in itself instead of a means to an end,

then the server has become more important than the master, the costumes are "sick" (1964, p.2). Pallottini

said that "the first way to apprehend the viewer, the first way to achieve this creature, the character, it is

the visual way. The character shown itself initially under its physical appearance"(1989, p.64).As the first

contact of the viewer is the character costume, communication has begun before the first line been said.

The costume becomes a way of communication because the clothing plays a communicative

function with their presence. The message, as noted by Barnard, which is received by the receiver. "What

is most important in this communication description is the sender's intention, the efficiency of the

transmission process, and the effect on those who receive it" (2003, p. 52). The way the receiver decrypt

the message is crucial to signify the scenic work.

For the costume designer Carlos Gardin, Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum costumes creator, one of the

biggest challenges to design the costumes was the construction of the Castle and characters in their

costumes.

"I tried to use different colors in scene, which was very polluted and had more green, hazel and

pastels. So I created the clothes also very polluted with bright colors, for contrast. [...] Most of the main

characters had a fixed wardrobe, because our budget was limited". Gardin also told us how the story of

each character was reflected in their costumes:

Morgana was inspired by the Middle Ages, with a hair like those top hats [...] this is typical of fairy tales, witches and castles. It has a medieval skirt, from the 1400’s. Dr. Victor has an Einstein look, a costume that is made up, because it has a suit, an overcoat, the complete costume of a man how it was in 1940. He could not wear clothes to leave the Castle that was very different, he could not dress like Napoleon Bonaparte, for example. [...] Nino, in other hand, dresses like a boy from the beginning of the twentieth century: shorts, boots, things that leave him like a pageboy.



Rosi Campos (actress), involved in a velvet dress and silk embroidered with crystals, turned into

Morgana, a witch of 6000 years who lives in the highest tower of the Castle and have met famous figures

in the history of humanity, like Columbus and Leonardo da Vinci. Sergio Mamberti is Dr. Victor, also a

wizard, but a scientist too, going to work in the city every day and creating wonderful inventions in his

office. Cassio Scapin is Nino, a child with 300 years old, sorcerer's apprentice and loves to invent

impossible objects and play with his friends.

The “actor second skin” made the show a credible story to the spectators and allowed them to

live with each character adventures in each episode. As stated by Cunningham (1984, p.1), "the costume

is a 'magical' clothe - clothe that allows the actor to be someone else for some time [...]. The clothing

helps to focus the power of imagination, expression, emotion and movement of the character".

According to Patrice Pavis, "the costume is often a walking set, a scenario brought to human

scale and moving with the actor" (2003, p.165). This was seen during the narrative, as each costume had

its own story. Etevaldo, for example, was full of planets references, with rings around the body imitating

the rings of Saturn, and the balls stuck to the legs and arms like small planets. Caipora had the whole

outfit in animals prints, and skirts around the body of red hair, like fire - "Caipora walks in the woods like

an animal, but she is not an animal. Talks like people, but she is not a person". This was the Caipora’s

speeches, one of the most famous lines in the show.

The concern of TV Cultura was also the educational side of the program. Gardin was sought to

use the patchwork as a means of new discoveries of children throughout the series. Depending on the

position of the character and the camera, it was possible to discover a new color, or even something that

had not been realized until that moment. As Pavis said, "Today, in the representation, the costumes

conquer a much more ambitious place; multiplies its functions and integrates the set of work upon the

scenic significant. [...]to amplification effects service, simplification, abstraction and legibility "(2001,

p.168).

The Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum plot

Three children lost a kite and after trying to get it back, they found a castle in the city of São Paulo.

This is how begins the history of Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum series launched in 1994 by TV Cultura. With the

Federation of Industries of São Paulo (Fiesp) support, the direct participation of 250 people, resulted in

more than 5000 hours of recording and 3000 hours editing, making the 90 episodes happen (MIS 2014).



The Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum show is an "educational series that appropriates the fairy tales and

seeks to attend to market requirements, the televisual language and the expectations and needs of

knowledge and fun of children and youth" (CARNEIRO, 1999 , p.20).

Figure1 – Main characters from left to right: Biba, Zeca (or Zequinha), Pedro and Nino.Fonte: http://cmais.com.br/castelo.

In the interviews released by MIS with Flávio de Souza (creator and writer) and Cao Hamburger

(creator and director) it is clear that the program would be very different in its original setting. First,

because it should have been a continuation of Ra-Tim-Bum1 program keeping the best cadres of the first

season. Second, because, after the artistic approval, the project was canceled for demanding a very high

financial investment and everything had to be revised again, creating the story we know today.

The project was canceled. Still in shock, I returned to the production room, and in an old typewriter, sketched a pre-project adapting some of the original design elements (three children who have to go through a gatekeeper, Dr. Victor's castle, who was originally in the field, some of the characters and scenes) [...] the funny thing is that we started to like much more the new Castelo than the original project. In the process, I learned to see the limits as allies of the creative process. (MIS, 2014, p.45-46).

Cao Hamburger also remebers about how the technological innovations influenced the way of

doing the show, despite the broadcaster limitations. "We were in the early 1990s, and the concept of

Windows had just appeared [...]. I was inspired by that idea. The Castle should be a place full of links to

be accessed. With a touch you could open a window, a door, a new universe"(MIS, 2014, p.46).

Nino, the central character who is 300 years old and actually called Antonino Quantum

Strativarios III, was inspired on scenes in Ra-Tim-Bum TV show: a actress reprenting a girl who spoke

1Rá-Tim-Bum was a program launched in 1990, winning that year's gold medal at the New York Festivals, in which two brothers, Leah and Ivo, turned the TV on and watched several scenes about colors, shapes, the alphabet, numbers, and personal hygiene (MIS, 2014).



with his bald doll. The idea of making the castle residents a family of sorcerers helped to tie the plot and

put Nino in the sorcerer's apprentice position, an ideia by Flávio de Souza inspired in the film Fantasy

(Disney): "[...] one of the things he wanted most was to find and use - hidden from the owner - the Dr.

Victor magical starry hat, which is very similar to the starry magic hat that Mickey picks up and uses

hidden from his sorcerer"(MIS, 2014, p. 32).

The exhibition at MIS

The Museum of Image and Sound (MIS) promoted the Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum exhibition from July

16, 2014 to January 25, 2015. The museum had to make a marathon in the last week, keeping the doors

open during the night between the 24th and 25th of January. About 410,000 people visited the exhibition

(UOL, 2014).

The exposition occupied the first and second floors of the museum and was divided in two

different parts. In one part, visitors could check the collection of objects such as props, photos, costumes.

In another part, visitors could literally enter in the castle through more than ten recreated scenarios such

as the lobby, the library and the kitchen. Original objects were exposed, like the Painted Cat, the Bad

monster, the snake Celeste and Tap and Flap boots. Complementing the exhibition, there was an area

composed of screens and headphones, making possible to watch testimonials written by the actors of the

original cast and several other people.

The costumes were exposed through mannequins provided by the Museum, but sometimes it

didn’t reflect the original dimensions of the characters. Rebecca Beolchi, costume department assistant

of TV Cultura for 7 years and who collaborated in the restoration of the costumes and in the exhibition at

MIS, said about the difficulty of "dress" some of mannequins by differences in measures of the actors of

the original cast. "We had difficulty to suit the Caipora, the mannequin was very small. There were people

who said 'wow, I did not know that Caipora was so small', but it was the mannequin they provided to us”

(BEOLCHI, 2014).

The restoration process

The Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum costumes were created by Gardin, but it was Edson Braga, Gardin’s

assistant at the time, the main responsible for maintaining the conservation of costumes during those 20

years, which was fundamental for an exhibition after so long period.



The costumes were stored in a location without refrigeration, which is not ideal for preservation

of cuts. The clothes were hanged on hangers and wrapped in black TNT (nonwoven fabric) to prevent the

damage caused by lighting and allowing the fabric to breathe. The shoes were stored with fillers in order

to maintain the form thereof.

For the exhibition, the costume team had to make an inventory listing the costume composition

of each character, since there was no such thing on TV Cultura. A staff person was asked to watch the

videos and write down the costumes including the elements that did not appear all the time, such as Biba,

Pedro and Zeca umbrellas and raincoats.

Figure2 – In rainy day, each had his cape and his umbrella in different colors. Source: http://cmais.com.br/castelo.

Some accessories or clothes were not found at the time, so they decided to purchase or make it

again, depending on the complexity of the piece. "The people took away [the objects] when filming, only

the main objects stayed with us" (BEOLCHI, 2015). For Rebecca, the main difficulty in restoring the tissue

is the clothes age: the seams are already dropping, the elasticity is lost and some materials will even

deteriorate with simple handling.

The João de Barro’s pants (better known as "little bird") had several latex filaments exposed and

had to be completely restored, because the material disintegrated. In addition, the butterfly tie had been

lost and was made again in a similar fabric for a previous exhibition at Caixa Econômica (bank), but before

the event at MIS the costume team located in the collection a piece of the original fabric and made the

original accessory again. The "feathers" of the body (which are actually lycra strips with PVC tensioned

inside) had to be reinforced stitching.



Figure3 – João de Barro costume, from left to right: (1) during program scene, (2) Carlos Gardin sketch and (3) separate costume for display in the MIS. Source: http://cmais.com.br/castelo, pictures edited by the author.

For Patativas ("birds" that accompanies João de Barro), the costumes had to be all redone. As

the mannequins for the exhibition had higher measures than the actresses (Ciça Meireles and Dilmah

Souza), and knitted pieces had lost its elasticity, it was necessary to fabricate new blouses and pants with

lycra.

This fabric was a “pluminha” with elastane, a velvet type, but shorter. This tissue is not in the market anymore, so we decided to make a replica with normal lycra. [...]It is a good-looking fabric that is sold in stores to make dolls, so I couldn’t use because the clothes were well fit. [...] The boots were yellow, but faded with time, quite changed their color. (BEOLCHI, 2015).

Figure4 – Costumes of Patativas, from left to right: (1) program scene with original costumes; (2) exhibition at MIS with replicas of the costumes in lycra. Source (1): http://cmais.com.br/castelo. Source (2): Personal Collection. Images edited by

the author.



For Nino’s costume, it was necessary to redo some of the seams. The pants and shirts were

made of grosgrain ribbons amended, giving the effect of striped. The waistcoat buttons also needed to be

strengthened, as they were beginning to fall. The materials used in the costume were velvet, silk, cotton,

grosgrain and velvet ribbon. The wig that appeared in the exhibition was not used in the original program.

The shoes were varnish and were with faded colors over time, but could not be repainted. The solution

was to apply body moisturizer to hydrate the leather (BEOLCHI, 2015).

Figure5 –Nino costumes, from left to right: (1) blouse with square velvet, (2) blouse grosgrain ribbons, (3) Carlos Gardin sketch and (4) costume selected for display in the MIS. Source: http://cmais.com.br/castelo, pictures edited by the author.

Figure6 – Pedro costume, from left to right: (1) T-shirt with the side in blue and purple with design in blue and yellow, blue shorts, blue hat; (2) T-shirt with the side in the same colors, only reversed, with design in red and orange, orange shorts,

orange hat; (3) costume selected for exhibition at MIS. Source (1 and 2): http://cmais.com.br/castelo. Source (3): MIS, 2014. Images edited by the author.



Pedro also had two versions of costumes: same model of shirt, shorts, coconut hat and tennis,

changing colors only. In inventory, the blue hat and the orange shorts were not located. The shirts were

sewn all with apparent overlock sewing, as if they were inside out. The design on the shirt, which looks

like a skull with star eyes, it is made of cut fabrics finished in overlock.

The costume of Caipora had to be restored almost at all. The material had to be applied again

delicately fringe by fringe. "The costume of Caipora was one of the last I began to restore, and then I had

to send everything for the MIS. The embroidery at the end was unfinished" (BEOLCHI, 2015).

Figure 7 - Caipora costume, from left to right: (1) program scene; (2) Carlos Gardinsketch; (3) costume exposed at MIS. Source (1 and 2): http://cmais.com.br/castelo. Source (3): Personal Collection. Picture edited by the author.

For Etevaldo, the team was in doubt whether restore it or make it again, "because the lycra lost

elasticity, the costume was dirty. We decided to restore it, and I think it was the best way out. The fingers

had to be redone, because they are made in resin, if falls to the ground, it brokes" (BEOLCHI, 2015). The

Etevaldo costumer's inspiration came from an ET drew by Carlos Gardin stepson. Maybe that's why

Etevaldo’s costume is one of the most ludic of all characters.



Figure 8 –Etevaldo costume, from left to right: (1) program scene; (2) Carlos Gardin sketch; (3) exhibition at the MIS. Source (1 and 2): http://cmais.com.br/castelo. Source (3): Personal Collection. Picture edited by the author.

When we asked Rebecca which was the biggest challenge at this restoration process, she thinks that find

the same or similar materials as the original one. "Sometimes you have to change the color tone, the

format [ornaments, stones]. I think that was the hardest part" (BEOLCHI, 2015).

Final considerations

Despite the structural constraints to conserve the costumes of the Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum series,

such as temperature and humidity control, for example, the zeal of the people on TV Cultura costumes

team made possible for most of the collection be preserved after 20 years. This shows how the lack of

technology is not fully limiting for the conservation of the textile collection, and that even in a company

dedicated to cultural production, the understanding of the importance of conservation and preservation of

institutional textile materials memory is still precarious.

Another action adopted by TV Cultura, requested by older employees, is the costumes recording

of each character through photos and tissue samples, preserving the textile collection. The Memory

Center of Padre Anchieta Foundation was created in 2005 and preserves the memory of the shows.

The exhibition of original sketches drew by Gardin was only possible because he saved them. "I

had not saved anything when I created the Ra-Tim-Bum, but for Castelo I kept willingly, because the initial

idea was to give continuity to the program," said Gardin.



The costumes are still held by the MIS while the Museum evaluates the possibilities in making

new exhibitions at other cities. "I think if they had a permanent museum, it would be a success," said

Rebecca. We also believe that, but Brazil still faces the challenge of creating a culture of memory and

preservation.

Referências

BARNARD, Malcolm. Moda e Comunicação. Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, 2003.

BARTHES, Roland. Diseases of Costume (As doenças do traje teatral). In: Ensaios críticos. Lisboa:

Edições 70, 1964.

CARNEIRO, Vânia Lúcia Quintão. Castelo Ra-Tim-Bum: o educativo como entretenimento. São Paulo:

Annablume, 1999.

CORTINHAS, Rosângela. Figurino: um objeto sensível na produção do personagem. Dissertação

(Programa de Pós-graduação em Artes Cênicas). Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 2010.

CORDEIRO, Gisele Aparecida. A comunicação visual do figurino cênico no teatro de rua: um estudo de

caso no processo de criação imagética do grupo 'tá na rua'. 2009. 70 p. : TCC (graduação) -

Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Centro de Artes, Curso de Moda, Florianópolis, 2009.

MEMÓRIA GLOBO. Entre tramas,rendas e fuxicos.Globo: São Paulo,2007.

CUNNINGHAM, Rebecca. The Magic Garnment: Principles of Costume Design. Nova York: Congman,

1984.

MIS. Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum – A exposição. São Paulo: Museu da Imagem e do Som, 2014.

MIS – Museu da Imagem e do Som. Programação: Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum – A Exposição. Disponível em:

<http://www.mis-sp.org.br/icox/icox.php?mdl=mis&op=programacao_interna&id_event=1602>.

Acessado em: 05 mar. 2015.

PALLOTTINI, Renata. Dramaturgia: construção do personagem. São Paulo: Editora Ática,1989.

PAVIS, Patrice. A análise dos espetáculos: teatro, mímica, dança-teatro, cinema. Trad. Sérgio Sálvia

Coelho. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2003.

_____, Patrice. Dicionário de teatro. São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2001.

PORTAL do Governo do Estado de São Paulo. Costurando o passado lúdico da TV. 4 out 2007.

Disponível em: <http://www.saopaulo.sp.gov.br/spnoticias/lenoticia.php?id=88298>. Acessado em: 07

mar. 2015.



UOL. MIS reabre saguão do Castelo Rá-Tim-Bum e promove leilão de peças. Disponível em:

<http://guia.uol.com.br/sao-paulo/exposicoes/noticias/2015/01/27/mis-reabre-saguao-do-castelo-ra-tim-

bum-e-promove-leilao-de-pecas.htm>. Acesso em: 06 mar. 2014.

Entrevista

BEOLCHI, Rebecca. Entrevista concedida a Luiza Freitas em 05 de março de 2015.

GARDIN, Carlos Alberto. Entrevista concedida a Luiza Freitas em 07 de março de 2015.

Documents

CASTELO RA-TIM-BUM: THE COSTUMES … Documenta: Museu, Memória e Design – 2015 ISSN: 2358-5269 Ano II - Nº 1 - Maio de 2015 CASTELO RA-TIM-BUM: THE COSTUMES RESTORATION FOR THE