is a Spanish educational Children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It was produced by (TVE) and was broadcast on TVE-1 between 18 April 1988 and 27 March 1991. The show replaced and its format was identical to it.

The live-action segments of the series star the aliens Yupi and Astrako. Yupi is a full-body puppet operated and voiced by Consuelo Molina; while Astrako is played by . These live action segments are interspersed with educational animations, and with sketches starring puppets. The series was followed by , starring only the puppets.

Premise In the first season, due to malfunctions in their spaceship, Yupi and Astrako, traveling from the planet Tacatón, are forced to land on Earth near a small village. There, they quickly win the friendship of the locals. Their adventures take place in the village and at the site of their spaceship's landing, as they attempt to repair it and find the fuel they need to return to their planet.

In the second season, Yupi and Astrako, along with some of their Earthling friends, board a spaceship that arrives in the village. Their adventures unfold inside the spaceship and on the magical planet where they landed.

The live action segments in both seasons are interspersed with educational animations, and with sketches starring puppets such as the astronauts Estiri and Grou, the scientists Pi and Tágoras, and the couple Tuco and Canica.

Episodes

Cast The live-action segments of the series star two aliens: the kid Yupi and the spaceship pilot Astrako. Yupi is a full-body orange puppet operated and voiced by Consuelo Molina; while Astrako is played by . Some of the villagers in season one were played by Isabel Ordaz, Aurora Redondo, Luis Perezagua, and . Luis Barbero joined in season two as an earthling who lived on the magical planet. Among the actors who lent their voices to the puppets were Carlos Revilla, José Luis Gil, and . Penélope Cruz made one of her first acting appearances as Sleeping Beauty in an episode of season two.

Production (TVE) which had been producing in partnership with Children's Television Workshop (CTW), decided to end this collaboration and replace the series with a similar one produced in-house. TVE filmed entirely at its studios, where the sets for the live-action segments were built to full size. For the establishing shots of the fictional village, a meticulous scale model was built that reproduced even the smallest details. Yupi and the other puppets used in the show were designed by the company Harrison/Erickson in its New York studio. The opening theme song was composed by and and has different lyrics in each season.

The 162 episodes of the two seasons of the series were first broadcast on TVE-1 between 18 April 1988 and 27 March 1991. The series was also broadcast on TVE Internacional, and later on other networks in Latin America.

Legacy The series was followed by where in every 11-minute episode Yupi presents a famous tale which is recreated by the other puppets.

The publishing house Planeta DeAgostini launched a collection of thirty children's comic books titled , in which Yupi explains a topic in a didactic way in each of them.

"" has become a colloquial expression in Spanish that means "living/being in a fantasy world".

References

External links at RTVE Play