Kowalski is one of the four penguins from the Madagascar franchise and the character usually cast as the brains of the group, which is why fans ask him to explain or translate things. The Portuguese line traduz pra mim spread online as one of many short meme clips taken from dubbed animation and reused out of context. Its humour depends on that contrast between a serious military style team and a very ordinary request for help understanding words, names or instructions in everyday conversations online today.