The stop-motion animated series “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” is the first Spanish-language original from storied programming bloc Adult Swim, the Cartoon Network imprint that’s home to “Rick and Morty” and “Common Side Effects.” That’s objectively a milestone, though hardly what makes this dramatically stylish show about lesbian love affairs and guinea pig welfare feel so unique. Thanks to the international reach of streaming services, it’s no longer so unusual for English-speaking audiences to partake in programming like “Squid Game,” on Netflix, or “Pachinko,” on Apple TV+. “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” has enough ‘80s-inflected flair to hold our attention, whether or not the viewer needs subtitles to translate the dialogue.
Created by Gonzalo Cordova (“Tuca & Bertie”) and brought to life by the Mexico City-based animation studio Cinema Fantasma, “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” takes place in Quito, Ecuador — or at least, a funhouse-mirror version of it. (Cordova’s family emigrated from Ecuador to South Florida when he was 6 years old.) Spanish businesswoman Marioneta Negocios (Pepa Pallarés) is attempting to rebrand guinea pigs, known as cuyes and frequently bred for meat in South America, from tasty treat to cuddly pet. This public relations campaign puts her on a collision course with Doña Quispe (Laura Torres), a queenpin who operates a chain of cuy butcher shops.
This rivalry quickly drags the women’s family and friends into its orbit. Doña Quispe’s daughter Nina (Nicole Vazquez) is a budding animal rights activist, waging teenage rebellion by riding a supersized cuy — in the world of “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads,” the creatures come in small and not-so-small varieties — around the city. Marioneta, an inveterate ladies’ lady, starts sleeping with Espada (Kerygma Flores), a kind of bullfighter who squares off with cuyes instead of cows. (Yes, there are sex scenes on this show.) Marioneta’s assistant Coquita (Gabriela Cartol) does her dirty work on her behalf, from breaking up with Marioneta’s lovers to helping recruit Nina to their cause. The tug-of-war is so fun to watch that one barely notices every character is a woman, and virtually all of them queer.
To the extent “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” has any kind of precedent in popular culture, it’s the work of comedian Julio Torres, whose HBO series “Los Espookys” and “Fantasmas” feature a similar blend of surreal humor, visual exuberance and Latin American influence. (There’s some creative overlap; multihyphenate River Ramirez, a cast member in both Torres shows, is a credited writer on “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads.”) The Henry-Selick-by-way-of-Almodóvar animation puts “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” firmly in its own lane; it’s just encouraging to watch a niche expand while doing so on its own terms. The only time “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” slips into English is to explain the Ecuadorean tradition of burning effigies on New Year’s Eve, a custom that then forms the basis for a plot.
“Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” packs a lot into episodes that weigh in at just 11 minutes each. There are the clever visual gags allowed by animation, like characters who quite literally shoot daggers at one another while locked in a glaring match; there are many jokes at the imperious, overconfident Marioneta’s expense. (“I have transformed myself from a rich girl to a rich woman,” she brags of her not-so-self-made fortune.) There’s a smattering of musical numbers. And there are guinea pigs. So, so many guinea pigs.
The first two episodes of “Women Wearing Shoulder Pads” will premiere on Adult Swim on Aug. 18 at midnight ET and HBO Max at 9 a.m. ET, with subsequent episodes airing weekly on Mondays.
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