Rio to sue Bart Simpson

2002-04-08 09:48

Rio de Janeiro - Can a city sue a cartoon character?

The city of Rio de Janeiro is apparently planning to do just that when it brings charges against the Simpsons, that zany American cartoon family, for overstepping yet another boundary of good taste.

The city actually plans to sue Fox Cable International for damages and would use the money to finance social work in its slums, according to the city's tourism director, Jose Guinle, quoted in the local media.

In the offensive episode - Blame it on Lisa - which ran last Sunday in the US, Bart Simpson and his family journey to Rio to visit a slum child supported by Lisa through small donations.

In the cartoon, the orphanage of "dirty children" is attacked by hordes of monkeys.

"If they are so concerned about our poverty and orphaned children, then they should put all the income from this episode into our city to help the poor," Guinle was quoted as saying.

The episode pokes fun at Rio, and shows a transport system that consists of Conga dancers, a boa constrictor that eats Bart on Rio's famous landmark mountain, and mice and rats stopping pedestrians from crossing a street, according to local media accounts. The episode, which has not yet run in Brazil, also has daddy Bart kidnapped by a taxi driver and mother Marge sexually harassed in a police station.

Rio last year spent nearly $9 million promoting its image abroad. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA