The Crystal Ball

Context & Trivia

«The Crystal Ball» was a pioneering program on Spanish television, notable for its use of puppets to deliver political and social satire. The most iconic characters were the Electroduendes (Electrogoblins): Witch Breakdown (Bruja Avería), Witch Trick (Bruja Truca), Video Fairy (Hada Vídeo), Master Camera (Maese Cámara), and Master Sound (Maese Sonoro). These puppets, designed by Miguel Ángel Pacheco, were characterized by their small mouths, a conscious decision by director Lolo Rico to differentiate them from Jim Henson's Muppets. The voices of the Electroduendes were performed by Matilde Conesa (Bruja Avería), Laura Palacios (Bruja Truca), Alicia Sáinz de la Maza (Hada Vídeo), Luis Perezagua (Maese Cámara), and Ángel Egido (Maese Sonoro). The Electroduendes represented technical aspects of the audiovisual world, such as the microphone (Maese Sonoro) or the camera (Maese Cámara), and their dialogues were filled with electronic-related puns. Through them, the program criticized capitalism and authority, even leading to parliamentary debate. The creative freedom in the use of puppets and their transgressive messages was a distinctive hallmark of the program, making it a cult classic and a benchmark in the history of television and puppetry in Spain.