Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang

Zip & Zap and the Marble Gang (original title: Zipi y Zape y el club de la canica) is a 2013 Spanish adventure film. Directed by Óskar Santos, it is adapted from the comic series Zipi y Zape created by José Escobar Saliente. Produced by Mercedes Gamero and Mikel Lejarza Ortiz, the film has music by Fernando Velázquez; its production companies include Kowalski Films, Atresmedia Cine and MOD Producciones. Verónika Moral is among the cast.

The story follows the twin brothers Zip and Zap, who are sent to a summer school called Hope, run by the strict Falconetti, where every form of amusement is forbidden. Locked in a room as punishment, Zap finds a bag of marbles and, together with fellow pupils Filo, Micro and Matilda, Falconetti’s niece, forms the “Marble Gang”; after every prank the gang leaves a single marble behind. When the statue of the school’s founder, Sebastian Hope, is damaged, a map comes to light that sends the children after the diamonds said to be hidden beneath the building.

The film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September 2013, opened in Spanish cinemas on 4 October 2013 and was included in the newly created Sundance Kids section of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Generally well received by critics, it was followed by Zip & Zap and the Captain’s Island, released in 2016.