14 Details and curiosities about the new version of Pantanal that went unnoticed by many fans

The premiere of the new version of the telenovela Pantanal is awakening the nostalgia of many people who followed the original plot in 1990. The remake, in fact, premiered one day after the 32nd anniversary of the premiere of the first telenovela.

And along with nostalgia, production in the new Pantanal arrived full of references to the past and hidden details that some soap operas miss. Not to mention the countless curiosities that surround the recording and production of this soap opera.

Therefore, the awesome.club decided to hand out a list of different references and curiosities behind the scenes of the new version of Pantanal to the soap operas.

Some people involved with the 2022 Pantanal are descendants of the cast and production of the original version. Starting with Bruno Luperi, who adapted the script for the novel originally written by his grandfather, Benedito Ruy Barbosa, who supervised them. He was just a child when his grandfather wrote the original soap opera and today he works in dramaturgy, having already written the soap opera Velho Chico with his grandfather.

Almir Sater was in the original telenovela as a musician and actor, playing the guitar player Trindade. Almir returns in 2022 participating in the re-recording of the opening, this time in the voice of Maria Bethânia, and also in the role of Eugênio, a chalana driver. His son, Gabriel Sater, is also present in the remake in the role previously played by his father, the guitar player Trindade. Like his father, he also participated in the soundtrack with the song Amor de Índio, theme song by the young couple Jove and Juma.

Anyone who had the opportunity to watch the original version of Pantanal will be able to notice from the remake that the locations used in both telenovelas are the same. Set designer Alexandre Gomes de Souza explains that they used six farms for production, three for recording and the other three for storage and accommodation. The main farm, which is called Rio Negro and is located in Aquidauana/MS, belongs to Almir Sater himself since the end of the recording of the original soap opera.

The new version of Pantanal still pays homage to its predecessor with scenes that are practically identical to each other. Even though they were filmed in the same place, the differences in nature are quite visible. In the 1990 version, we can see much more vegetation than in the current one, and this is reinforced by the Globo photograph, which uses more orange than green.

Minas Gerais actor Paulo Gorgulho also returned for the remake, after 32 years. In the 90s, he acted as the young José Leôncio, in the first phase of the telenovela. Now, he returns for a special participation as Ceci, the tired pawn and partner of Joventino (Irandhir Santos), in a kind of baton pass. In the plot, Jove is the son of José Leôncio. To add to Paulo’s excitement, he wore the same pants and hat as the original version.

Are your eyes trained? Because Pantanal not only features former actors, but also references to other works by Benedito Ruy Barbosa, as if all soap operas existed in the same world, a “Beneditoverso”. The character Tadeu Leôncio (played by José Loreto) appears wearing a Mezenga’s shirt. Classic soap opera writers do not forget this famous surname of the patriarch Bruno Mezenga, played by Antonio Fagundes in the 1996 soap opera O Rei do Gado.

The “Beneditoverso” will live only in the field of speculation, since the costume designer Marie Salles tried to explain what maledetto Mezenga is doing there, in the uniforms of the workers of Pantanal. Turns out she’s a big fan of Benedito’s plots. Furthermore, Marie has a special connection with O Rei do Gado, as it was when she worked as an assistant to the soap opera’s costume designer, Yurika Yamasaki.

You may have already seen this article on awesome.club a comparison between the casts chosen for the two telenovelas Pantanal. But did you know that some actors were quoted for the remake and ended up not making it? One of them was Antonio Fagundes, who would play Velho do Rio instead of Osmar Prado, but he turned down the role to give priority to his production company. But it would be cool to have Mezenga clothes and the patriarch himself in the soap opera, wouldn’t it?

Speaking of Velho do Rio, it seems that Osmar Prado took his role seriously. During the production of the remake, Almir Sater promoted parties on his farm and invited the entire cast. However, on these occasions, Osmar always politely declined the invitation. As Velho do Rio is a reclusive man, the actor thought it would be good for immersion not to socialize with his colleagues. In fact, after spending so much time at home and not shaving, Osmar didn’t even need a fake beard for the role.

Leticia Spiller was also invited to the cast, in the role of Madeleine, in the second phase of the telenovela. She declined the invitation due to scheduling conflicts. The production then looked for Maria Fernanda Cândido for that role, but she also turned it down. Maria is in the new movie of the Harry Potter universe, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The role ended up with Karine Teles.

The role of Juma was offered to Bruna Marquezine, who turned it down. She was confirmed in the cast of the hero Blue Beetle, inspired by DC comics. Vanessa Giácomo also turned down the role of Juma. Alanis Guillen was the final choice.

On the other hand, Rafa Kalimann, when he found out that a remake of Pantanal would be filmed, already started dreaming about playing Juma, as she herself said in an interview: “If you go with me, you can be sure that I will give it my all. to play the part”. She even canceled a trip to Africa and flew to the swamp, even before the production of the soap opera did, where she took some photos and shared them on her Instagram. There was even a photo with a jaguar!

The new Pantanal also went through some problems that led to replacements in the cast. This is the case of Giullia Buscacio, who was scheduled to play Muda. However, some delays in the beginning of the recordings caused a conflict in the actress’s schedule, who had to leave the production, being replaced by Bella Campos. Rafael Cardoso, on the other hand, was cast to live Jove, but was replaced by Jesuit Barbosa.

Like Rafa Kaliman, Juliano Cazarré was also looking forward to being called up to the cast when he learned that Pantanal would be re-recorded. But the invitation did not come. No problem, Juliano used all his proactivity and went to ask for a place in the squad. And he was brave, as he said he “would play whatever role they had”. Little did he know that his name was already being quoted for the role of Alcides, foreman of the antagonist Tenório (Murilo Benício).

One of the great characteristics that mark the soap opera is the presence of several animals from the swamp. For the special participation of these illustrious Brazilians, such as the 4 m anaconda that appeared in the first chapter, the production uses a technique called rotoscoping. It consists of filming the animal separately, then reproducing it frame by frame using computer graphics.

Some parts, however, require human interaction with the animal, such as when the anaconda curls up around the actor’s feet. The production obtained authorization to use real animals for this purpose, and keeps them in calm and stress-free places. In this way, there is a mix of reality and computation to create the striking scenes with snakes, jaguars and Pantanal birds.

The nostalgia of this soap opera is such that it doesn’t even seem that so many years have passed between one version and another. By the way, if you got to see the old Pantanal, which scene would you like to see again? Tell us in the comments.