) is an Italian cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

 animator, creator of many short pieces, mainly of a political or satirical nature. He created his first animated short "Tapum! the weapons' story" in 1958 at the age of 20. His most famous character, a hapless little man named "Signor Rossi

Mr. Rossi

Mr Rossi is a cartoon character created by Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto. He was first seen in several short films, about ten minutes each...

" (Mr. Rossi), has been featured in many animated shorts as well as starring in three feature films: "Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness" (1976), "Mr. Rossi's Dreams" (1977), and "Mr. Rossi's Vacation" (1977).

In 1965, Bozzetto produced his first feature-length animated film: West and soda

West and Soda

West and soda is a 1965 traditionally-animated Italian feature film directed by Bruno Bozzetto. It is a parody of the traditional American Western.-DVD:A PAL R2 DVD of the film has been released in Italy...

, a parody of American Western films. In 1968, Bozzetto released VIP my Brother Superman, a superhero spin-off. However, his best-known work is probably the 1976 feature film Allegro Non Troppo

Allegro non troppo

Allegro Non Troppo is a 1976 Italian animated film directed by Bruno Bozzetto. Featuring six pieces of classical music, the film is a parody of Disney's Fantasia, though possibly more of a challenge to Fantasia. The classical pieces are set to color animation, ranging from comedy to deep tragedy...

, a collection of short pieces set to classical music in the manner of Disney's

Walt Disney Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...

 Fantasia

Fantasia (film)

Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...

, but more humorous in nature, economical in execution and with more sophisticated narrative themes. After a long break, Bozzetto produced a live-action film in 1987, "Under the Chinese Restaurant", his last feature film work until assisting on the pilot for "Mammuk" (2002), an animated film set in prehistoric times (now being produced by Rai Cinema and The Animation Band).

1990 saw the release of Grasshoppers (Cavallette)

Grasshoppers (Cavallette)

Grasshoppers is an animated short by Bruno Bozzetto which condenses the whole of human civilization into 9 minutes, focusing primarily on the human race's predilection for warfare and the vanity of war...

, which was a nominee for the Best Animated Short Oscar.

In 1995, he produced an animated short for Hanna Barbera's "What A Cartoon" series entitled "Help?" and in 1996, in cooperation with RAI and with the support of Cartoon (Media Programme of the European Union), he created "The Spaghetti Family" a 26-episode cartoon television series.

In recent years Bozzetto has turned his hand to flash cartoon

Flash cartoon

A Flash animation or Flash cartoon is an animated film which is created using Adobe Flash or similar animation software and often distributed in the .swf file format. The term Flash animation not only refers to the file format but to a certain kind of movement and visual style which, in many...

s, most notably with the award-winning "Europe and Italy", a witty and graphically elegant commentary on European vs. Italian sociocultural attributes.

Awards (selected recent)

• (2003) Bergamo
  Bergamo
  Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...
  
   International Cinema Festival: Career award (Premio delle mura)
• (2001) Tehran
  Tehran
  Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
  
   Second International Animation Festival: Special Award of the Jury (“Europe and Italy”)
• (2000) Zagreb
  Zagreb
  Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
  
  Film Festival: Special Jury Award "for original observation of human diversity"
• (1998) Zagreb 13th World Festival of Animated Films: Life Achievement Award "for outstanding and universal contribution to the development of the art of animation"

External links

• Bruno Bozzetto's home page
• "Yes/No" flash cartoon satire on safe driving
• Film teaser for Mammuk, Bozzetto's project in (34 mb)