ITT: characters that are huge in Europe, but failed in America - /co/ (#148970756) [Archived: 1109 hours ago]

Anonymous
6/11/2025, 9:00:34 PM No.148970756
IMG_4989
IMG_4989
md5: 29b8ac900054fe7764fbd2cb0ba79463🔍
Marsupilami is a huge cultural icon in European countries, but Americans have no clue who he is. Their only exposure to him was the Disney version, and even that is very obscure
Replies: >>148976423 >>148978092 >>148978813 >>148980167 >>148980455 >>148981465 >>148982958 >>148983491 >>148984233
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 9:20:57 PM No.148971143
Lucky Luke and arguably Donald Duck as a lead character. Basically you could name off most comedy/adventure driven comic series. American publishers have no idea how to sell them for whatever reasons.

This seems to affect Manga also where people in the US vastly prefer DBZ's more heroic fighting arcs over the gag/adventure driven Dragon Ball plots.
Replies: >>148971956 >>148972056 >>148973384 >>148980440
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 9:45:17 PM No.148971605
Although people in America know about Asterix I don't think its nearly as popular there as it is in Europe. I think most of them haven't read the comics they just know about a few of the movies
Replies: >>148971678 >>148971874 >>148978224 >>148980530
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 9:48:57 PM No.148971678
>>148971605
I only know Asterix through video games. There was a PS2 game that had parodies of Mario, Sonic, Rayman, Lara Croft etc… as enemies.
Replies: >>148971874 >>148973366
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 9:59:41 PM No.148971874
>>148971605
>>148971678

I only knew them for their video games too oddly. I had their Sega Genesis game as a kid and didn't really find out they were a long-running comic strip until the mid 2000's when I was on the internet more often.

Their designs always stood out to me though like they were supposed to be something more than they were.
El Barto
6/11/2025, 10:04:01 PM No.148971956
>>148971143
>arguably Donald Duck as a lead character
idunno, ducktales and kingdom hearts have given him quite the cult following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42DBCwvlxtg&pp=ygUZZG9uYWxkIGR1Y2sgOTB0aCBiaXJ0aGRheQ%3D%3D
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 10:11:00 PM No.148972056
>>148971143
>Donald Duck as a lead character
Absolutely not lmao, he’s universally known in America and leads in content
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 10:17:30 PM No.148972161
Le_Mane__ge_Enchante__
Le_Mane__ge_Enchante__
md5: d3283a998545bad87a49bb394b56127e🔍
>biggest claim to fame in America is the legendarily awful localization of the movie
Replies: >>148980191
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:00:23 PM No.148972798
Oggy and the Cockroaches
Replies: >>148973137 >>148973426 >>148977230
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:24:23 PM No.148973137
>>148972798
That one isn't huge at all
Replies: >>148973172
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:27:00 PM No.148973172
>>148973137
Retarded zoomer, it lasted over 20 years and had 2 spinoffs.
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:42:07 PM No.148973366
>>148971678
>There's murals depicting Raziel as a roman légionnaire in XXL2

basé
Where's Kain tho?
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:43:34 PM No.148973384
>>148971143
That's a bald-faced lie since the gag adventure series One Piece eclipses DBZ
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:47:44 PM No.148973426
1494166696-kklk
1494166696-kklk
md5: a00022e66fbe7d35b59855159c4d910c🔍
>>148972798
https://youtu.be/PceTOAJFnbM?t=172

WENOWEILLE WENOWEILLE WENOWEILLE

LA BOUCLE MÊME SUR 4CHINS
Replies: >>148973615
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:47:52 PM No.148973427
1616597403844
1616597403844
md5: 34a619079eca9f543a13a4cf0320e309🔍
I've started seeing Moomin stuff pop up in Barnes & Noble but they're still far from mainstream over here.
Replies: >>148973478 >>148980530 >>148980569
Anonymous
6/11/2025, 11:51:42 PM No.148973478
>>148973427
It's more as a franchise than because of just the comics/books/the anime, since the characters are inherently appealing visually
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:02:08 AM No.148973615
>>148973426
AYAAA
EESOOW
THE UNEASE
You can disposax
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 1:03:06 AM No.148974536
what about characters that are huge in America, but failed overseas?
Replies: >>148980207 >>148980364 >>148980459
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 2:06:57 AM No.148975320
spongebob
Replies: >>148975925
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 2:50:20 AM No.148975925
>>148975320
>spongebob
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 3:26:59 AM No.148976423
Hugo_characters
Hugo_characters
md5: ccd7a1d182de5a366b34a0b4486c6e2e🔍
>>148970756 (OP)
ENTER
Replies: >>148980681
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 4:34:45 AM No.148977230
>>148972798
Tbf Nick did try to bring it to the west, but Soccer Moms saw a tiny frame of a barely visible nude lady and had it pulled.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 6:12:48 AM No.148978092
>>148970756 (OP)
>characters that are huge in Europe, but failed in America
But why though?
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 6:28:50 AM No.148978224
>>148971605
I only know Asterix from thumbing past them on my way to Tintin at the bookstore.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 7:33:02 AM No.148978813
pdf_ef849ff0-31e1-012d-ccc6-0050569428b1
pdf_ef849ff0-31e1-012d-ccc6-0050569428b1
md5: 945ef4482e59590072fea24c20a722f6🔍
>>148970756 (OP)
Brother Rabbit regularly had his own stories in the European Donald Duck comics until a few years ago. People didn't know the connection to The Song of The South and racism so it wasn't a problem.
Genuinely took them cancelling his appearances that made me realise he was even in that movie as nobody here ever saw it.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 11:31:04 AM No.148980167
>>148970756 (OP)
Why did Disney even make a cartoon out of this?
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 11:36:14 AM No.148980191
>>148972161
Wonder what possessed Executives to dub the whole movie with dated references
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 11:40:55 AM No.148980207
>>148974536
Woody the Woodpecker is huge in Brazil
The Phantom is huge in Sweden
Lil Lulu is popular in Brazil
Replies: >>148980333 >>148980336
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 11:41:52 AM No.148980210
1743273431855
1743273431855
md5: 12266fbd9a7e67d3d80c614177eb90dc🔍
Who could forget Titeuf?
Replies: >>148980413
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:10:32 PM No.148980333
>>148980207
That’s not what he asked
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:11:10 PM No.148980336
>>148980207
That’s not what he asked
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:18:09 PM No.148980364
>>148974536
Animaniacs was too country-centric so never took off internationally the way Tiny Toons did
Looney Tunes arguably is only mega-popular in the USA, everywhere else it's just modestly popular (mostly Latin America) if not largely not known (Japan)
Replies: >>148980436
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:28:27 PM No.148980413
>>148980210
I hope everyone who ever commissioned this fugly character dies of necrosis.
Replies: >>148980453
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:34:25 PM No.148980436
1200px-MGM_T&J_Version_6_title_card
1200px-MGM_T&J_Version_6_title_card
md5: d3361a112770118c7c7ccf330de189e0🔍
>>148980364
The Japanese recognise the SUPERIOR western cartoon. That's all.
Replies: >>148980542
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:36:28 PM No.148980440
>>148971143
>Donald Duck
ENTER
https://youtu.be/LMzfX88ZmTw?si=rOzSYOUs_25cqHAX
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:38:08 PM No.148980453
>>148980413
Kys
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:39:02 PM No.148980455
>>148970756 (OP)
Dennis the Menace?
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:39:27 PM No.148980459
>>148974536
Not directly /co/ (Halo has comics and animations) but any IP related to the Xbox brand are nonexistent outside of the US and Mexico.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:56:02 PM No.148980530
>>148971605
Asterix and Lucky Luke are both borderline unknown in America man. I got into them as a kid because my dad often brought them back from business trips he took to Europe, and to this day I get confused looks if I reference even basic shit from them like the Daltons. Only Tintin has any mainstream recognisability here out of the Franco-Belgian big 3.

>>148973427
Moomin aired on some local channels here in the 90s, although it wasn't for long and was hardly a universal thing either.
Replies: >>148980569
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 12:59:35 PM No.148980542
>>148980436
It's not that they recognize it as better, it's that there's nothing to translate so it translates across language barriers far better then something wordplay and reference heavy
Same reason certain regions have Wile as their favorite shorts
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 1:04:48 PM No.148980569
>>148973427
>>148980530
Moomin was integrated into the Tumblr cultural sphere during the 2000s thanks to Snufkin and has existed in that space in the west since.
Replies: >>148980574
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 1:05:49 PM No.148980574
>>148980569
*2010s
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 1:30:58 PM No.148980681
>>148976423
Why are the girls hidding are they naked?
Replies: >>148981400
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 2:21:16 PM No.148980938
Corto-Maltese-storia (1)
Corto-Maltese-storia (1)
md5: bb9cacda2f9d9db39a9f442136a91941🔍
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 3:45:07 PM No.148981400
>>148980681
Yep, you tame the witch with your Hugo in the good end.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 3:56:09 PM No.148981465
>>148970756 (OP)
Are there any characters beyond capeshit that are well-known on both continents?
Replies: >>148981997 >>148985807
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 3:56:53 PM No.148981467
Marsupilami isn't that well known outside of France, tbqh
Replies: >>148981980 >>148983061 >>148985807
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 5:14:53 PM No.148981980
>>148981467
The Franquin albums were published in my godforsaken hellhole, but then Spirou was relatively big. Second tier mainstream or something, comics afficionados know him.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 5:17:06 PM No.148981997
>>148981465
The Smurfs
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 6:46:38 PM No.148982958
>>148970756 (OP)
Wojak
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 6:56:06 PM No.148983061
>>148981467
Pretty much all of it got translated to German, at least.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 7:36:08 PM No.148983491
>>148970756 (OP)
He looks like a leopard.
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 8:40:03 PM No.148984233
>>148970756 (OP)
Moot
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 9:56:31 PM No.148985289
come here anons
Anonymous
6/12/2025, 10:40:51 PM No.148985807
>>148981465
Going from europe to US, so not counting disney, Thomas the fuckng Tank Engine. Babar the Elephant. Madeline. Wallace and Grommit.

Honorary mention to Milfy and the Moomins which are big in Japan, and Shaun the Sheep. .

>>148981467
I vaguley remember them being around in disney shit in the US.