The Mézga family consists of Géza, the father, a comical and inept figure similar to Homer Simpson, his wife Paula who actually dominates family affairs, pubertal daughter Kriszta and 12-year old son Aladár, a child prodigy. The cat Maffia and a dog, Blöki (Zorro) accompany the family. Dr. Máris, their cynical neighbour, is regularly and unvoluntarily involved in disasters surrounding the family. The name "Mézga" means glue, mucilage or tree gum in Hungarian and was translated as rodina Smolíkových in Czech, La famiglia Mezil in Italian, Familie Metzger in German, Семейство Мейзга in Bulgarian, Família Mézga/Mesga in Portuguese, and Miazgovci in Slovak, always maintaining the literary meaning.