Based on a radio show that was broadcast for 11 years (1947-1958) and ended only when the host and creator, the genius Henrique Foreis "Almirante" Domingues, had a stroke. There were hundreds of horror stories, supposedly true, sent by listeners from all corners of the country, radiophoned and broadcast by Rádio Tupi in Rio de Janeiro. It became a book in 1951 (reissued in 1984), a film in 1969 and a TV show in 1994-1995, broadcast by the extinct Rede Manchete.

A volatile young man, Edu is a typical Rio de Janeiro middle-class kind, who flirts with multiple women at the same time. None of them, however, had managed to make him fall in love, until he met with mysterious Tatiana.

Born a fully grown black man in a village in the Brazilian jungle, Macunaíma later magically transforms into a white man before making an adventure-filled trip to the city of São Paulo. Once there, he becomes something of a dandy, falling in love with Ci, a revolutionary who dies in an accidental bombing. After robbing a ruthless industrialist, Macunaima returns to his village where he finds his newly acquired knowledge and possessions of little use.