Compared to the Disney production or American, in Europe the work of authors such as Emile Cohl, Benjamin Rabier Starevitch and Ladislas, as good quality, was still at a level of craftsmanship. While the Russian animation studios specialize in producing teaching German designers (such as Viking Eggeling, Hans and Oskar Fischinger, Hans Richter and Walter Ruttman) took to abstract experimentation.
significant importance is the career German animator Lotte Reiniger that between 1923 and 1926, even before working with us, he created the first animated feature, "The Adventures of Prince Achmed ".
"The Adventures of Prince Achmed 'by Lotte Reiniger, 1926
So since the early thirties, whereas in America they develop better quality technical The European animation cinema is different, and trace its path through visual alternatives: the experience of glass Berthold Bartosch with drawings expressionist Franz Masereel (L'idée, 1931), the "screen" pins "of Alexandre Alexeieff (" Night on Bald Mountain ", 1933, music by Mussorgsky); collage of materials from heterogeneous Stan Brackagh up to the images drawn directly on film, that gave fame to Len Lye ("The Colour Box", 1935) and Norman McLaren ("Mosaic , 1965).
With the advent of World War II artists in Italy and in Europe, were forced to shut themselves up in their studio, where the other appearances were greatly reduced because of the call to arms.
"L'idée" Berthold Bartosch, 1931
addition to the attendance began to dwindle even raw materials, everything was rationed.
E 'Curiously, the lack of skilled workforce and specialized in those years led to a collaboration between a cartoonist and amazed that the authors, unwittingly, had game with a beneficial effect of trade for many artists who came into contact.
Many artists began drawing cartoon characters, even if the cartoon along with graphic arts, namely the comic, did not have a response comparable to that of film from the truth. In Italy a few names stand out: the poster Guido Cribs (author of the feature film "Life of Mussolini" never finished in 1927), and "country mouse and city mouse," 1935), by cartoonists Charles and Vittorio Cossio (animation " Zibillo the bear "of 1932), Antonio Rubino Pagot and Nino, the latter important for the development with his brother Tony's first animated feature film in Italy.
In addition to Guido Cribs and Carlo and Vittorio Cossio, Antonio Rubino in 1908, when it comes to the "Corriere dei Piccoli", wanted to publish some imported from the American comic book heroes, such as "Katzenjammer Kids" by Dirks (known to us as "Bibi and Bibo") to "Happy Hooligan" by Opper (known to us as "Fortunate") without leaving the original balloon. Later during the war years created the character "C. Caporal marked" for the newspaper "The translated". Thanks to the collaboration of several artists cartoonist tested later, but there is already talk of the years between 1941 and 1943, became famous for his first cartoon "In the land of frogs" and "Rossini Crescendo", even if completed in a period of difficult reperirbilità of unexposed film.
Also from the stable of the "Corriere dei Piccoli" the artist Roberto Sgrilli made in 1941 the short film in color "and Anacleto Faina", where the subjects look a bit 'zoomorphic style of Disney, probably intended by the author himself, giving life to fictional characters rather than investing their talents, as did some of his colleagues, for animated inserts in favor of military action.
"Anacleto and Weasel" by Roberto Sgrilli, 1941
"In the land of frogs" by Antonio Rubino, 1943
Also important is the work of Louis free thinking, the Roman designer, which makes scientific and educational nature films as "The tavern of TB "and" The twentieth century Crusader "in 1938, and animation projects.
In 1943 the disastrous events of the war had led to a sharp split in the country: in the north with the Republic of Salò fascism tries to piece together their own power. It grows in some cities the playhouse and Cinevillaggio of Venice, the antithesis of Cinecitta in Rome, housed in the halls of
famous Art Biennale, an attempt in this climate to try and give more voice to animated films. In Florence, meanwhile
the artist Piero Malatesta Crisolini was struggling with two short films, "Chichibio" and "Beppe Pan" (which was not completed), with the help of Charles Bachini (son of Romulus in 1935 that Bachini tried the first animated feature "Pinocchio") and Demetrio Lagana.
Chichibio was completed in 1944 and the plot is inspired by a novella of Boccaccio's Decameron.
The years between 1930 and 1940 are a new stimulus to creativity, even if the invention of sound in our country have come when the shadows of the war began to materialize. At that time the advertising signs announcing the film and talking film voiced guaranteed 40, 60 and 100 per cent. In short, an extraordinary event!
And if the sound makes its way into cinema in those years, this innovation in the arts seemed a new basis for experimentation. You can not say that, although in this period no traces of lead in animated feature films made, there was always a ferment uneven and diverse but at the same time encouraging and prolific of ideas and production of animations, with some notable collaborations with foreign artists and trespassing the geographical scope of our artists made in Italy. I have already mentioned that in recent years animated feature films are made almost non-existent, but I would tell the adventure that dates back to 1935 by three artists: Joachim coalesces , aka Attalus, along with Raul Barbara Verdini and Mameli that failed trying to create a "Pinocchio "animated Italian.
Given the time and not knowing how to be part of the team had to reach in the fluid animation technique, then the actions of the protagonist to the fluidity of the movements of other figures, this ambitious project was a failure: styles of the three designers, even when combined with completely different results, also at one point began to run low even money. Attalus after some time (1969) said of what happened:
" I know, today it may seem unlikely, but it went really well ." (1.)
It 's the case to cite the contribution of the Florentine painter Liontina Indelli , Mimma in art, in some experiments abroad. Once transferred to Paris, where he got to know personally the two great artists of the animation (Emile Cohl and Georges Melies, cinema genes in makeup) in 1934 together with the soul Pierre Bourgeon unable to complete a film " La découverte de l'Ameérique "and two short films" Dorothée et les Fantomes' and 'Le fromage d'Hollande. "
The audience greeted this work with enthusiasm and the following year Mimma was engaged in a double execution of two feature films, with the help of her husband Paul de Roubaix, who took care of' Animation: "Christophe Colomb" and "La Coche et la Mouche" based on the fable of La Fontaine.
"Dorothée et les Fantomes" and "Christophe Colomb" Leontina Indelli, 1934/35
Unfortunately a fire disaster that has befallen other times on the work of animators and then destroyed the tapes is not impressed and never saw taken by anxiety decreed the end of his career in the cinema one step. Similarly
during these years in Italy you can find some short signed by the German Lotte Reiniger, a teacher in the field of its famous silhouette.
a technical choice that has its roots in the "shadow puppets" used many years before the artist Caran d'Ache, animating behind a thin screen of transparent iron figures with jointed limbs.
So more than half a century after it begins to work on Reiniger silhouette cut with extreme patience, thanks to the skill of the artist, make them forget their poor consistency. In 1933 in Italy
door finish the work "Carmen" by Bizet and parody homonym in 1940 in Italy always sewed another short, "The Elixir of Love" a small masterpiece of all respect. That same year, the critic
Gianni Puccini composed for the magazine "Cinema" a lyrical assessment of which I reproduce below a few sentences:
"... the poetic truth of the story, feel the sun, the wind light of early afternoon, the cool under the full moon, as part of a really sweet, revised and grabbed the hand of the artist dowser, ready to seize more favorable opinion patterns and colors and to ignore any more. The most beautiful little film, lighting or almost melancholy, I would say, for the tender emotion it elicits, is the final stage of love, in the moonlight.
The glare of the moon, the delicate profiles of the two lovers make up a fascinating and extraordinarily safe cinematografica.Le figures Reiniger, enlivened by the affection, always have something tenderly reluctant movements, can not find the courage to jump in brutally ' adventure, to follow blindly the impulses. Moral scruples all European, all grown, they always retain . (2.)
If the pre-war period in Italy has meant the period of personal achievements, examples of this are the already mentioned Friulian the brothers Carlo and Vittorio Cossio, the young artist who is Italian - Russian, Paul Smith, appeared on the scene of the short films as an expert animator animated puppets and solid objects.
the late '20s Cossio, the two brothers began to work on some advertising by using cardboard cut out of the puppets equipped with jointed limbs. The same
Vittorio Cossio had to say at that time:
" The joints were possible because the points of attachment of the arms and legs, half-life and at the base of the neck, were made of copper pieces that held the parts together . Laid on the stage floor, beneath a portrait camera, the characters were then moved by hand and in stages, photographed one frame at a time. Of course, the movements were restricted to just the profile of the cutouts, and a jump in shares that is without perspective.
To obtain more in depth, at times they drew the character on the scene, which was then repeated with the changes on the operation, at every frame, including the setting . "(3.)
In fact, the two brothers Cossio had to learn some tricks of a technical nature which cost time and energy to many, without the possibility of a confrontation with others on the peninsula.
The technique of "cels" transparent, which is essential to achieve satisfactory expression of the results, lets you design once the landscape or scenic background, doing so by animating the characters were drawn and placed on sheets of cellulose acetate and transparent. This technique was invented in 1914 by the American Hurd, but in Italy, without any kind of comparison, this procedure would come much later.
The passion for cinema Cossio would have led the brothers to participate in 1932 at Milan's San Carlo Festival with the short film "Zibillo the bear."
"Zibillo and the Bear" by Charles and Vittorio Cossio, 1932
The Italian cartoon was considered the poor relation of cinema from this short film would be true and the past Massimo Milda unnoticed if it had not raised his voice by writing a piece critical
" Given this example of cartoons an attempt made with makeshift equipment and a small organization, we must recognize that as a start, the pitch can be flattering. Apart from the defects of finishing, ... [], the film is, and good. Very moving, figures and landscapes are alive, there are even the devices and details common to older Americans, such as Disney and Fleischer (...). The protagonists, a bear and a baby, are expressive and well-designed . (4.)
not discouraged by the results but the precariousness of the work of the Carthusian brothers cartoon after 1937 Cossio retreated in the activity of cartoonists who had committed years back and that in times of political boycott of foreign products gave some assurance of continuity.
Notes:
1. "Italy on board," the statement reported by Piero Zanotto Attalus and Fiorello Zangrando, p.12.
2. "Italy cardboard", "Elixir of shadow puppetry, p. 24-25, in" Cinema "vs, No. 96, June 26, 1940.
3. "Italy in cardboard," "Guide to the film advertising ', p. 26, Milan," The Modern Office, 1957.
4. "Italy in cardboard," "The patience of Job," p. 29 in "Cinema" vs, No. 99, 1940.
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