31 Minutos, la película 2008

On a remote island, a Blonde Buffalo, a rare and curious creature, makes a break for freedom but is thwarted by the island’s owner Cachirula, accompanied by her loyal assistant Wool Star. As Cachirula grapples with the loneliness and contempt she feels from the animals in her collection, she crosses paths with the smuggler Tío Pelado, who promises to deliver the last Juanín, the most valuable animal on Earth. Cachirula pursues this dangerous bargain with a mix of pragmatism and danger, aware that the deal could change the balance of power in her domain. Cachirula, Catalina Saavedra

Meanwhile, in mainland Chile, Juanín Juan Harry [Rodrigo Salinas] is the producer of the premium news program 31 Minutos, overseen by the inept but earnest Tulio Triviño. Juanín has arranged a generous gift for Tulio, yet he frets about losing his job if anything goes wrong. The show kicks off with a festive broadcast, climaxing in a painted portrait of Tulio that has been altered to show him sitting on a toilet, a ridiculous humiliation that seeds trouble. Tulio Triviño [Pedro Peirano] grows angry and fires Juanín, who is then lured by the cunning Tío Pelado to accompany him to the docks. The team around them discovers Juanín’s innocence, but their rescue attempts are foiled by cunning and circumstance.

At the docks, a guilt-ridden Tulio rallies the crew to mount a rescue, commandeering a private yacht to chase the doomed vessel. As they race across the waves, a broadcast reveals that Cachirula has Juanín captive. Back at the zoo, Cachirula presses Juanín to believe that his friends no longer care for him, and she eliminates Tío Pelado as the sole witness left to testify against her plans. Juanín, in danger, begins to see through her deception.

A violent storm roils the sea, and journalist Juan Carlos Bodoque [Álvaro Díaz González] is thrown overboard and lost to the depths. The boat is swallowed by a whale, and inside its belly they discover Tío Pelado. Exiting the whale, they wash ashore near Cachirula’s island. Juan Carlos is briefly seized by a tribe of Huachimingo people who initially mistake him for Tío Pelado, but they release him once his true identity is proven.

Guided by Tío Pelado, Tulio reaches Cachirula’s castle and makes a clumsy attempt to apologize to Juanín, though the reconciliation remains out of reach. The next day, Juan Carlos returns with the Huachimingos to join the crew on the beach. Juanín secretly explores an off-limits area of the zoo and uncovers a grim truth: the Blonde Buffalo had been beheaded for rejecting Cachirula, a revelation that underscores Cachirula’s ruthless ambition. Cachirula orders Juanín’s execution, but a captive Huachimingo warns the crew and a rift inside Cachirula’s forces begins to show.

War erupts as the news team, aided by the animals rescued from Cachirula’s clutches, clashes with Cachirula’s army of dolls. Tulio, Juan Carlos, and the Huachimingo forces infiltrate the castle, freeing Juanín and releasing the remaining animals, though Cachirula cattily re captures Juanín and hurls him from a cliff. Tulio dives after him, and the pair are saved again by the whale that had swallowed them earlier. The villains’ hovercraft explodes in their panic, forcing a retreat.

In the aftermath, Juan Carlos wonders about staying with the Huachimingos, but learns that their spots are tattoos, prompting a change of heart and a return to the crew. The story closes with a joyous party as the team and the animals celebrate their hard-won victory and the bonds that formed through the ordeal.