Turma do Balão Mágico ("English: The Magic Balloon Gang") was a Brazilian children's music group active between 1982 and 1986.
The group released six albums under the Columbia label, together selling a total of 13 million copies [1][2][3] and drawing up to 60,000 people in concerts.
In the same year, Vímerson Cavanillas Benedicto appeared at freshmen shows,[7] called "calouros" in Brazil, and was a success in commercials and parades.
Vímerson Cavanillas was too much of a complicated name for children, so the recording company picked the last syllable of his name (Benedicto) and joined it with the first, forming "Tobe" or Tob.
The success was so great that Balão had won a program on Rede Globo [15] (in March 1983) and received a major upgrade, with more animations, longer runtime, etc.
It was also in Balão Mágico that Orival Pessini created a character just for children that until today is a national reference for all ages, the Fofão, an alien and intergalactic being, a mixture of man, dog, pig, clown, ET and others.
Knowing this, CBS decided to revamp the group and invited Edgard Poças to produce the new album, and he then made a repertoire with songs aimed at teenagers.
For the great romantic focus of the album, the song "Se Enamora" was recorded, a success abroad (El Amore) and also imported here.
With Tob and Simony as the main performers, the album had 12 songs and a mini toy theatre was added to put together as a bonus gift.
In the following month, celebrating Children's Month, Rede Globo exhibited a special of the Magic Balloon Group, entitled The Magic Balloon Group em Amigos do Peito , which was a program by Augusto César Vannucci, was created by Stil, Edi Newton and Paulo Netto, written by Wilson Rocha, directed by Paulo Netto.
Som Livre brought together the biggest members of MPB for the recording of a special disc in celebration of the genre, among them was Balão Mágico.
Sales began to decline, and with members growing rapidly, the year 1986 would mark the end of Turma do Balão Mágico.
The fifth and last album, A Turma do Balão Mágico was released in October together with a tour across Brazil until December, when the group officially ended .
Former members of Turma do Balão Mágico, Mike, Tob and Simony without Jair Oliveira, Castrinho, Fofão, Luciana and Ricardinho, returned to perform together in April 2018, with several appearances on television shows, concerts and festivals.