Topo Gigio
Encyclopedia
Topo Gigio was the lead character of a children's puppet
show on Italian and Spanish television in the early 1960s. The character, created by artist Maria Perego, debuted on Italian television in 1959 and has been customarily voiced by actor Giuseppe (Peppino) Mazzullo. The Italian
nickname
"Gigi" is a diminutive of Luigi ("Louis"), so Topo Gigio could be translated as Louie Mouse.
Topo Gigio, a soft foam mouse
with dreamy eyes and a childish personality, was very popular in Italy
for many years — not only on TV, but also in children's magazines, such as the classical Corriere dei Piccoli
, animated cartoons, movies, and merchandising. The character's popularity spread to the world after being featured on The Ed Sullivan Show
in the US
. Today, Topo Gigio still has a cohort of faithful fans, and has become an icon of Italian and Spanish pop culture. He performs regularly at Zecchino d'Oro
festival and other programs created by Antoniano
and RAI
. In 1965, a feature length motion picture Le Avventure di topo Gigio
(The Adventures of Topo Gigio) was released internationally.
The endearing puppet has made appearances and has a fan base in many other countries — including Argentina
, Bolivia
, Brazil
, Chile
, Colombia
, Costa Rica
, Dominican Republic
, El Salvador
, Ecuador
, Guatemala
, Japan
, Mexico
, Nicaragua
, Honduras
, Panama
, Paraguay
, Peru
, Portugal
, Puerto Rico
, Uruguay
, Venezuela
, and the former Yugoslavia
.
both in Austria
and Germany
; in Austria Mike Molto had a special small show to help the advertising industry in the early 1960s. (Austrian television advertising first started in 1959.) Topo Gigio was part of the Italian puppet show of Madame Maria Perego. A 1969 color television show especially for children in Austria and Switzerland
was called Cappuccetto and Her Adventures with her friends Lupo Lupone, Professor Lhotko, a fox, some other animals of the forest, her grandmother and a music band with five little mushrooms playing on guitars and singing.
During the 1960s, the American
Topo Gigio appeared on the long-running CBS-TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show
. Created by a troupe of Italian puppeteers, it took four people to bring the 10" tall character to life, three to manipulate him and one to create his voice. The puppet stood in a special "limbo" black art stage with black velvet curtains, designed to absorb as much ambient light as possible, which helped hide the puppeteers, who also dressed in black from head to toe. Each puppeteer operated a different part of Gigio's foam rubber body by using several wooden dowel rods (also painted black). The illusion was quite remarkable, since unlike traditional hand puppets, Topo Gigio could actually appear to walk on his feet, sing, make subtle hand gestures, and even walk up Ed Sullivan
's arm and perch on his shoulder. Careful lighting and TV camera adjustment made the "black art" illusion perfect for the television audience, though on at least one appearance, Ed asked the puppeteers to come out and take a bow, revealing their black-clad appearance (though deftly hiding Gigio's mechanisms to conceal the secret).
In more than fifty appearances on the show, the mouse would appear on stage and greet Sullivan with, "Hello, Eddie!". Gigio would occasionally talk about his girlfriend, Rosie. Gigio ended his weekly visits by crooning to the host, "Eddie, kiss me goodnight!" . Topo Gigio closed Sullivan's final show in 1971.
The character was introduced in South America, Spain and in Japan, which spawned a successful Japanese animated series. There was also a feature film
, released in 1965, The Magic World of Topo Gigio. The character still appears in Italian and Spanish speaking territories. He is also "the spokes-mouse" for the United Nations
.
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
show on Italian and Spanish television in the early 1960s. The character, created by artist Maria Perego, debuted on Italian television in 1959 and has been customarily voiced by actor Giuseppe (Peppino) Mazzullo. The Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"Gigi" is a diminutive of Luigi ("Louis"), so Topo Gigio could be translated as Louie Mouse.
Topo Gigio, a soft foam mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
with dreamy eyes and a childish personality, was very popular in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
for many years — not only on TV, but also in children's magazines, such as the classical Corriere dei Piccoli
Corriere dei Piccoli
The Corriere dei Piccoli , later renamed Corriere dei Ragazzi and nicknamed Corrierino , was a weekly magazine for children published in Italy from 1908 to 1995...
, animated cartoons, movies, and merchandising. The character's popularity spread to the world after being featured on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
in the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Today, Topo Gigio still has a cohort of faithful fans, and has become an icon of Italian and Spanish pop culture. He performs regularly at Zecchino d'Oro
Zecchino d'Oro
Zecchino d'Oro is an international children's song festival that has taken place every year since 1959.It was started by Cino Tortorella, and the first two festivals were held in Milan...
festival and other programs created by Antoniano
Antoniano
Antoniano can refer to:People:* Giovanni Antoniano , Dutch scholar* Silvio Antoniano , Italian cardinalPlaces:* Institute of Antoniano, an educational and charitable institution in Bologna, ItalyOther:...
and RAI
RAI
RAI — Radiotelevisione italiana S.p.A. known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane, is the Italian state owned public service broadcaster controlled by the Ministry of Economic Development. Rai is the biggest television company in Italy...
. In 1965, a feature length motion picture Le Avventure di topo Gigio
The Magic World of Topo Gigio
The Magic World of Topo Gigio ) is a 1965 Italian animated family film directed by Federico Caldura. It is also known as The Italian Mouse and The Magic World of Topo Gigio...
(The Adventures of Topo Gigio) was released internationally.
The endearing puppet has made appearances and has a fan base in many other countries — including Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, and the former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.
Shows
During the first half of the 1960s (especially in 1964), there was a TV music show presented by the British singer Chris HowlandChris Howland
John Christopher Howland is a British radio and TV presenterwho opened German radio programmes for English music. Hereby he has changed German radio broadcast which has been dominated by English music ever since....
both in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
; in Austria Mike Molto had a special small show to help the advertising industry in the early 1960s. (Austrian television advertising first started in 1959.) Topo Gigio was part of the Italian puppet show of Madame Maria Perego. A 1969 color television show especially for children in Austria and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
was called Cappuccetto and Her Adventures with her friends Lupo Lupone, Professor Lhotko, a fox, some other animals of the forest, her grandmother and a music band with five little mushrooms playing on guitars and singing.
During the 1960s, the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Topo Gigio appeared on the long-running CBS-TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
. Created by a troupe of Italian puppeteers, it took four people to bring the 10" tall character to life, three to manipulate him and one to create his voice. The puppet stood in a special "limbo" black art stage with black velvet curtains, designed to absorb as much ambient light as possible, which helped hide the puppeteers, who also dressed in black from head to toe. Each puppeteer operated a different part of Gigio's foam rubber body by using several wooden dowel rods (also painted black). The illusion was quite remarkable, since unlike traditional hand puppets, Topo Gigio could actually appear to walk on his feet, sing, make subtle hand gestures, and even walk up Ed Sullivan
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent "Ed" Sullivan was an American entertainment writer and television host, best known as the presenter of the TV variety show The Ed Sullivan Show. The show was broadcast from 1948 to 1971 , which made it one of the longest-running variety shows in U.S...
's arm and perch on his shoulder. Careful lighting and TV camera adjustment made the "black art" illusion perfect for the television audience, though on at least one appearance, Ed asked the puppeteers to come out and take a bow, revealing their black-clad appearance (though deftly hiding Gigio's mechanisms to conceal the secret).
In more than fifty appearances on the show, the mouse would appear on stage and greet Sullivan with, "Hello, Eddie!". Gigio would occasionally talk about his girlfriend, Rosie. Gigio ended his weekly visits by crooning to the host, "Eddie, kiss me goodnight!" . Topo Gigio closed Sullivan's final show in 1971.
The character was introduced in South America, Spain and in Japan, which spawned a successful Japanese animated series. There was also a feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
, released in 1965, The Magic World of Topo Gigio. The character still appears in Italian and Spanish speaking territories. He is also "the spokes-mouse" for the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
.
