Ivo Caprino
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Ivo Caprino (17 February 1920 – 8 February 2001) was a
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
film director and writer, best known for his
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
films. His most noted film, '' Flåklypa Grand Prix'' ("Pinchcliffe Grand Prix"), was made in 1975.


Early life

Caprino was born 17 February 1920 in Oslo, the son of Italian furniture designer Mario Caprino and the artist, Ingeborg "Ingse" Caprino nee Gude, who was a granddaughter of the painter
Hans Gude Hans Fredrik Gude (March 13, 1825August 17, 1903) was a Norwegian romanticist painter and is considered along with Johan Christian Dahl to be one of Norway's foremost landscape painters. He has been called a mainstay of Norwegian National Roma ...
. Ingse Gude was a watercolorist, illustrator,
puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
maker, and author, born in
Oybin Oybin ( hsb, Ojbin) is a municipality in the Görlitz district, in Saxony, Germany, located very close to the border of the Czech Republic. Following the defeat of the Protestant armies by the Habsburgs in the Battle of the White Mountain in 162 ...
,
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
. The Caprinos divorced around 1927, and Ingse married the painter Bernhard Folkestad. After his death, she lived with the painter and art critic,
Pola Gauguin Pola Gauguin (6 December 1883 – 2 July 1961) was a Danish-Norwegian painter, art critic and biographer. Biography Paul Rollon Gauguin was born in Paris, France. He was the youngest of five children born to the famed French artist Paul Gauguin a ...
.


Early career

In the mid-1940s, Caprino helped his mother design puppets for a puppet theatre, which inspired him to try making a film using his mother's designs. Ivo used the surplus puppets as inspiration for his first animated film, ''Tim and Tøffe'' (1948), the result of their collaboration. The eight minute film, however, was not released until 1949. Several other films followed, including two 15-minute shorts that are still shown regularly in Norway, ''Veslefrikk med Fela'' (''Little Freddy and his Fiddle''), based on a Norwegian folk tale; and ''Karius og Baktus'', a story by
Thorbjørn Egner Thorbjørn Egner (12 December 1912 – 24 December 1990) was a Norwegian playwright, songwriter and illustrator known principally for his books, plays and musicals for children. He is principally associated with his narratives for children includ ...
of two little trolls—representing
caries Tooth decay, also known as cavities or caries, is the breakdown of teeth due to acids produced by bacteria. The cavities may be a number of different colors from yellow to black. Symptoms may include pain and difficulty with eating. Complicatio ...
and
bacterium Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
—living in a boy's teeth. Gude made the puppets for these films as well.


Work with Ingse Caprino

Following the success of ''Tim og Tøffe'', Gude was involved in all of her son's films until 1963. Gude made some puppets for a production by Frithjof Tidemand-Johannessen. Caprino had set up a film studio in the manor house, and Gude started working full-time on new puppets, which often had luscious proportions. The film, ''Veslefrikk med Fela'', was awarded the best children's film at the 13th Venice International Film Festival in 1952. The commissioned production, ''Den steadhaftige tinnsoldat'' (''The Steadfast Tin Soldier''), won several international awards. Gude filled the role of
cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
on the last film collaboration with her son. The puppet's voice role being played by
Liv Strømsted Liv Dommersnes (née Strømsted; 28 September 1922 – 6 April 2014) was a Norwegian actress and reciter of poetry. She was a member of group that founded Studioteatret in 1945. Personal life Liv Strømsted was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norw ...
. Gude died 9 December 1963 at Snarøya. The production of puppets was afterwards taken over by her granddaughter Ivonne Caprino.


Innovations

When making ''Tim og Tøffe'', Caprino invented a method for controlling the puppet's movements in real time. The technique can be described as a primitive, mechanical version of
animatronics Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...
. Caprino's films received good reviews, and he quickly became a celebrity in Norway. When he switched to traditional
stop motion Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...
film-making, Caprino tried to maintain the impression that he was still using some kind of "magic" technology to make the puppets move, even though all his later films were made with traditional stop motion techniques. Another innovative method used by the team, was the use of
condom A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper use—and use at every act of in ...
s for the creation of the puppets' facial skin. In addition to the short films, Caprino produced dozens of advertising films with puppets. In 1959, he directed a live action feature film, ''Ugler i Mosen'', which also contained stop motion sequences. He then made a feature film about
Peter Christen Asbjørnsen Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (15 January 18125 January 1885) was a Norwegian writer and scholar. He and Jørgen Engebretsen Moe were collectors of Norwegian folklore. They were so closely united in their lives' work that their folk tale collection ...
, who had travelled around Norway in the 19th century collecting traditional folk tales. The plan was to use live action for the sequences showing Asbjørnsen, and then to realise the folk tales using stop motion. Unfortunately, Caprino was unable to secure funding for the project, so he ended up making the planned folk tale sequences as separate 16-minute puppet films, book-ended by live action sequences showing Asbjørnsen.


''The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix''

In 1970, Caprino and his small team of collaborators, started work on a 25-minute TV special, which eventually became ''
The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix ''The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix'' ( no, Flåklypa Grand Prix) is a 1975 Norwegian stop-motion-animated feature film directed by Ivo Caprino. It is based on characters from a series of books by Norwegian cartoonist and author Kjell Aukrust. It is t ...
''. Based on a series of books by Norwegian cartoonist and author,
Kjell Aukrust Kjell Aukrust (19 March 1920 – 24 December 2002) was a Norwegian author, poet, artist and humorist. Aukrust is principally known for his Flåklypa stories and Flåklypa drawings. Personal life Aukrust was born in Alvdal in Hedmark, Norway as ...
, it featured a group of eccentric characters all living in the small village of Pinchcliffe. The TV special was a collection of sketches based on Aukrust's books, with no real story line. After 1.5 years of work, it was decided that it didn't really work as a whole, so production on the TV special was stopped (except for some very short clips, no material from it has ever been seen by the public), and Caprino and Aukrust instead wrote a screenplay for a feature film using the characters and environments that had already been built. The result was ''The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix'', which stars Theodore Rimspoke ( No. Reodor Felgen) and his two assistants, Sonny Duckworth ( No. Solan Gundersen), a cheerful and optimistic bird, and Lambert ( No. Ludvig), a nervous, pessimistic and melancholic hedgehog. Theodore works as a bicycle repairman, though he spends most of his time inventing weird
Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...
-like contraptions. One day, the trio discover that one of Theodore's former assistants, Rudolph Gore-Slimey ( no, Rudolf Blodstrupmoen), has stolen his design for a race car engine, and has become a world champion
Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
driver. Sonny secures funding from an Arab oil sheik who happens to be vacationing in Pinchcliffe, and the trio then build a gigantic racing car, ''
Il Tempo Gigante ''The Pinchcliffe Grand Prix'' ( no, Flåklypa Grand Prix) is a 1975 Norwegian stop-motion-animated feature film directed by Ivo Caprino. It is based on characters from a series of books by Norwegian cartoonist and author Kjell Aukrust. It is ...
''—a fabulous construction with two engines, radar, and its own blood bank. Theodore then enters a race, and ends up winning, beating Gore-Slimey despite his attempts at sabotage. The film was made in 3.5 years by a team of five people. Caprino directed and animated. Bjarne Sandemose (Caprino's principal collaborator throughout his career) built the sets and the cars, and was in charge of the technical side. Ingeborg Riiser modeled the puppets and Gerd Alfsen made the costumes and props. When it came out in 1975, The movie was a large success in Norway, selling one million tickets in its first year of release. It remains the biggest box office hit of all time in Norway. Caprino Studios claims it has sold 5.5 million tickets to date. To help promote the film abroad, Caprino and Sandemose built a full-scale replica of Il Tempo Gigante that is legal for public roads, but is usually exhibited at
Hunderfossen Familiepark Hunderfossen Familiepark is an amusement park north of Lillehammer in the province of Oppland in Norway. The park is one of Norway's biggest tourist attractions, with over 275,000 visitors each summer. It also has a Winter Park which opens from ...
.


Later career

Except for some TV work in the late 1970s, Caprino made no more puppet films, focusing instead on creating attractions for the ''
Hunderfossen Hunderfossen is a village in Lillehammer Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located along the west shore of the Gudbrandsdalslågen river, about north of the town of Lillehammer. The small village features the Hunderfosse ...
'' theme park outside
Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...
based on his folk tale movies, and making tourist films using a custom built multi camera setup of his own design that shoots 280 degrees panorama movies.


Death and afterwards

Caprino was born and died in Oslo, but lived all of his life at
Snarøya Snarøya is a populated peninsula in the inner Oslofjord in Norway. It belongs to Bærum municipality in Viken (formerly Akershus) county. It is located south of the districts Lysaker, Lagåsen and Fornebu, and has 2,940 inhabitants. History ...
,
Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...
. He died in 2001 after having lived several years with cancer.Mistet min beste venn
Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...
, retrieved 9 January 2013
Since Caprino's death, his son Remo has had moderate success developing a computer game based on '' Flåklypa Grand Prix''.


Filmography

* 1975 – '' Flåklypa Grand Prix'' * 1967 – '' Gutten som kappåt med trollet'' * 1966 – '' Sjuende far i huset'' * 1963 – '' Papirdragen'' * 1962 – '' Reveenka'' * 1961 – '' Askeladden og de gode hjelperne'' * 1959 – ''
Ugler i mosen ''Ugler i mosen'' is a 1959 Norwegian mystery and adventure family film directed by Ivo Caprino. The title, which literally means 'Owls in the Moss', is based on the idiom ''det er ugler i mosen'' 'I smell a rat; there is mischief afoot'. The film ...
'' * 1958 – '' Et hundeliv med meg'' * 1955 – '' Den standhaftige tinnsoldat'' * 1955 – '' Klatremus i knipe'' * 1954 – '' Karius og Baktus'' * 1952 – '' Veslefrikk med fela'' * 1950 – '' Musikk på loftet/En dukkedrøm'' * 1949 – '' Tim og Tøffe''


See also

* Ivo Caprinos Supervideograf


References


External links

*
Caprino Studios – Official page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caprino, Ivo 1920 births 2001 deaths Deaths from cancer in Norway Stop motion animators Norwegian animated film directors Norwegian film editors Norwegian animators Norwegian puppeteers Norwegian people of Italian descent People from Bærum