Provolino was an Italian
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 ...
character who enjoyed huge success in Italy between the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was created by
Castellano and Pipolo who also wrote the dialogues.
Television
The puppet was introduced by
Raffaele Pisu
Raffaele Pisu (24 May 1925 – 31 July 2019) was an Italian actor and comedian.
Life and career
Born in Bologna as Guerrino Pisu into a family of Sardinian origin, Pisu debuted in the drama theater and in 1945 he was one of the founders of th ...
in the
RAI
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...
variety shows ''Vengo anch'io'' and ''Ma che domenica amici'' in 1968.
A baby with big teeth, he was featured as the disrespectful alter ego of Pisu, with whom he had constant bickering which always ended with the catchphrase: "Boccaccia mia statti zitta!" (i.e. "bad mouth of mine, please shut up!"). The puppet was animated by the same Pisu and originally voiced by
Oreste Lionello
Oreste Lionello (18 April 1927 – 19 February 2009) was an Italian actor and voice actor.
Biography
Lionello was born in Rhodes (which was then a possession of Italy), to Calabrian parents, and grew up in Reggio Calabria. He began his career a ...
,
replaced by
Franco Latini
Franco Latini (September 12, 1927 – February 2, 1991) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He was considered to be one of the top voice dubbers for many animated films and cartoons for audiences across Italy.
Biography
Born in Pomezia, which ...
in 1969.
Comics adaptation
The character was later adapted into a comic series, which was created by Pier Luigi Sangalli and
Alberico Motta and which became the title character of several comics magazines (''Provolino'', ''Super Provolino'' and ''Provolino Story'') published by editor Bianconi between 1970 and 1990.
References
Puppets
Italian children's television series
Italian television shows featuring puppetry
1960s Italian television series
1970 comics debuts
1990 comics endings
Italian comics characters
Fictional Italian people
Humor comics
Comics characters introduced in 1970
Defunct children's magazines published in Italy
Comics magazines published in Italy
Defunct Italian-language magazines
Child characters in television
Child characters in comics
Male characters in television
Male characters in comics
Comics about children
Television shows adapted into comics
{{Italy-comics-stub