Iván Ramírez, His Alux and Love for Animation

From a young age, Iván Ramírez Gamboa was captivated by classic cartoons like Looney Tunes, where the visual humor and expressiveness of characters like the Road Runner spoke louder than dialogue. 

Unlike popular series of the time, such as “Dragon Ball,” cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny inspired him with their dynamism and simplicity. But all these characters were very foreign to Iván, which led him to dream of creating characters that reflected his culture. As a child, during vacations in the Riviera Maya, the region’s nature, archaeological sites, and mythology fueled his imagination.

Though he once considered becoming an archaeologist, a lack of opportunities led him to focus on art, where he found a unique way to share cultural knowledge, something he began doing in earnest in secondary school.  At the time, animation programs didn’t exist in Mexico, let alone in Mérida. As moving abroad was out of the question, Iván began carving his own path as a self-taught artist. 

As the years passed, he took his first steps into broadcast media, doing voice work and then illustrating characters based on his ideas. Iván’s Alux didn’t emerge from a single moment of inspiration, but rather over time as he sketched characters for himself and would send them to a friend in Guadalajara. Little by little, his characters, including the Aluxito, began to take shape and become more refined. 

The television series that would become “La Gruta del Alux” began at Yucatán’s state university radio station. While creating two-minute segments for an existing show called “Materia Prima,’ Iván realized he needed a name. “Where do aluxes live? In caves,” he thought, and so “La Gruta del Alux” (“The Alux’s Cave”) was born. Though the segments were considered a little silly and over the top for a university station, the team, lacking resources, embraced the project.

“They would not even loan us microphones. We had to buy our own. They thought we would break them or something. This was a project born of love and a DIY spirit,” recalls Ramírez.

To attract a larger audience, Ramírez began creating and recording parody songs, which quickly gained a cult following. A producer encouraged him to record an album, Kimbomba Show, featuring 13 tracks blending humor and local culture. Songs like “Los Pastores a Xcaret,” “Contigo Perdí,” and “La Chafa” went viral thanks to piracy. Ironically, the lack of copyright control helped spread his work, and it made monetization impossible.

From radio to animation: A self-made journey

The leap to animation came during an internship at Canal 13, where Iván and his team were tasked with creating an ecological video for a Japanese audience. There, he created Hermy, a hermit crab, sparking the idea for an animated series. Sergio Neri joined as the lead illustrator and animator. Iván, alongside his brother, wrote scripts and recorded 24-minute episodes, split into six segments.

The universe of “La Gruta del Alux'” expanded with characters like Zootz (which means bat in Mayan), Chuchul Zootz (his elderly version), Sahuayak (a stick insect), Kisín (a devil), Hatzajá (the evil wind), Tía Tata (a squirrel), and Kikán (a pig). Though Iván disliked his own voice, he ended up voicing nearly all of the characters — except Tía Tata, played by Claudia Domínguez, and Sahuayak, voiced by his brother. Though the Aluxito would remain at the heart of the show, other characters, especially Zootz, would also become extremely popular. 

‘La Gruta del Alux’ hits screens

The show premiered on Canal 13, but station director Ricardo Ávila pulled it due to creative differences. The series found a new home at SIPSE in 2004, airing in their children’s block, where the 50 episodes ran. The show became an instant hit because of how unique and funny it was… the fact that the music was so good (and funny) could not have hurt either. 

For a decade, a legal dispute over the Alux’s rights kept the characters on hold. However, Iván eventually reclaimed the brand and, after the production company Tópicos, which claimed to own the rights, went bankrupt. Iván turned to social media, recording personalized greetings as the Alux and collaborating with venues and fan conventions like Tsunami, which are organized across southeast Mexico.

Legacy and relevance today

As animation remains expensive, Iván now prefers maintaining creative control and has adapted his creations through puppetry, where he performs on stage and through social media platforms. Iván also sells merchandise: T-shirts, mugs, caps, and especially plush toys, available only at live events to avoid middlemen and inflated prices. “La Gruta del Alux” remains popular through YouTube and bootleg videos, with even newer generations in Yucatán easily recognizing the character and songs. 

“La Gruta del Alux’ is not a luxury brand and should not be inaccessible to the average person. I created these characters to share them with everyone, not to get rich,” reflects Iván.

Iván would like to see “La Gruta del Alux” return to TV screens, but not unconditionally.

“Our show is very niche. It’s very specific to the Yucatán, but heck, if some streaming platform wanted to pick it up, of course, as long as I had the control to make sure they would not butcher it!”